An early start this morning found us whistling through the Ho Chi Minh City traffic, across town to STU (Sanoi Tech University). Later, members of our study away group would present information on the US culture and Missouri, along with all the great things Missouri state university has to offer.
Before even entering a classroom or being introduced however, we saw a lot of the students outside playing volleyball, soccer and basketball. Almost effortlessly a volleyball game broke out between STU and MSU, a friendly competition that produced some first class volleyball (briefly), some great laughs and, unfortunately quite a bit more sweat than we had anticipated so early in the morning. Nevertheless, it was great to have so much fun with students who we had never even met, from a completely different culture and who speak a different language.
After the presentations were done we organized to meet some of the students at the soccer fields by the university later in the evening. After hours of enjoyment playing soccer with these students I had never met before, I took a moment to truly appreciate the value of sports, and how it can bring people together… Here we are, a bunch of random students from Missouri State, in Vietnam, meeting and greeting new people that cannot understand our language, but still having an amazingly fun time!