Ranked #1 in the World
Our trip to Vietnam: Igor, Fidoras, Ambien, Tears, and Memories
Our trip to Hanoi, Vietnam for the summer Tem Lab started like any other group trip across the world. Our departure time to our first leg of the trip, San Francisco, was 7:40 am, which meant we had to leave Thunderbird School of Global Management before the break of dawn. Initially the Vietnam Team was going to ride the Super Shuttle to Sky Harbor at 5:20am, however we decided to reduce expenses and welcomed some team members of China Team Lab team to ride with us given their 30 minutes difference from their departure time. Of course this did not go as smoothly as planned because we added another layer of difficulty: inter-group coordination. Finally Lauren Sanne, our master planner, was able to schedule a bigger shuttle that would fit all of team Vietnam, along with team China to the airport. Eight hours before our scheduled departure we had a ride, we had a plan and, most importantly, we had twice as many jokesters as previously planned.
One thing we have learned at Thunderbird is to not always trust our deeply engrained stereotypes. So, as departure day arrived, one punctual and extremely good looking team member, Rodrigo Castillo, even though Latino ;), is the first to arrive at the awaiting van in front of the Pub. Being the only team member there, I am the first to meet our driver Igor, who, by the look of things, is not a morning person. After saying hello and giving him my luggage, I am impressed by his athletic performance. After lifting (read: throwing) my 53 pound bag into the back of the shuttle as if it was a tennis ball I realize that Igor is not only not a morning person but also not an afternoon or a night person either!
Our sporadic arrivals after the scheduled time was not at all amusing to Igor and when he learned that we’d be picking up our Chief Efficiency Officer, Sean Kelly, off campus in front of the Greentree apartments, well, lets just say that veins popping out of one’s temple do not often indicate joy or pleasure. In my head I’m just hoping that I’m not about the suffer the same fate, being tossed around like my paltry 53 pound bag!
We are finally in the Van and heading to the airport. The trip went pretty well, with Dong and Lemon jokes aplenty (as team China about the latter). The general consensus is that Nick Ford will be the first (hopefully the only?) to require the services of our wonderful compatriots in the US Embassy abroad. Now, we’re not saying that he is going to specifically get kicked out of the country, but… well, lets just leave it open at that!
Ok, airport, arrival; see ya Igor! There are more people in the airport that I had imagined at this hour. Nonetheless, we hop in line and I await my turn to check in said heavy bag. Hmm, weight limit 50 lbs. My bag, 52.9. The ticket later will probably just let me slide right? Nope, that’ll be $70 extra please. At this point, I am having a wild west showdown with this not exceedingly polite woman waiting to see who’s gonna blink first. Yea, of course, I am going to pay $70 extra for 3 pounds, that’s a good value right? Or, I could just shift some extra weight into my other bag and avoid the hassle. I mean, I am getting my MBA right? People, word of advice, there is almost always a loophole, you just have to find it!
After check in we all regroup and our Efficiency Director directs us to gate B3. We all look at him like he is a complete stranger. It turns out all of us had the same departure gate but him; uh oh, something must be wrong. After looking back at his boarding pass Sean tells us “well, you guys are right after all my name is not Cindy.”
Ok, first major crisis averted (though I must admit that it would have been pretty funny to see Sean explain this one to airport security). After all this is 7am and Lauren, our Chief Cautionary Officer, and I are in dire need of coffee. We are in the line waiting to order when two dudes approach us in their fedoras, bermudas, sandals, and tropical shirts…they totally looked as if they popped out of a magazine catering to American CEOs spending their “golden parachute” money somewhere in the Cannery Islands. Turns out that these guys are Tim Brown and Matt Werner doing their best to not stand out upon their arrival to China. So I’ll ask the readers, what do you think of this plan??
Anyway, we say goodbye and wish the China team best of luck as we prepare to board our flight from Phoenix, Arizona to San Francisco, California. Actually, this trip was very uneventful and not worth saying much.
However, we did experience some excitement pre-departure from SF Airport. We lost sight of our fearless leader Riley and when we found her it seemed she was having a last briefing with her CIA handler back in Langley. I mean, shhhh dont tell her we know!!
The second leg of our trip from SF to Seoul, South Korea is a whole different animal. Something about locking people on a plane for 12 hours really pushes them to do some silly things. Of course, you must have a strategy, right? I mean, 12 hours on a flight, you’ll probably want to maximize your sleep so as to make the trip go as fast as possible. So, sometimes sleeping pills will help in this goal. For Sean, the plan was to pop a couple Ambien and dose off.
I guess the trip must not have been going quite according to his plan, because after six hours of what I think he felt as being in solitary imprisonment, he decided to pull out the camera loaned to us by the IT department and get the filming started. Seeing Sean in this condition can be best pictured as a volunteer at a circus giving his best shot, and failing, at balancing on a 20 meter high tight rope; his head must have felt super light because he just could not seem to find any balance. First he decided to contribute to piracy and record the movie he was watching, however surprise surprise he was wearing headphones and the movie was recorded without audio. After he was bored of this he moved into filming our first confessionals right on the plane.
Of course he decided to tape my first confessional while I was sleeping, thus the first 10 minutes of the clip I am trying to figure out what was going on and why do I have a bright flash light right in my face. After he moved to film Lauren, who for the look of things does not like cameras because she couldn’t keep the tears from her eyes. We would later come to find out that she was watching “We bought a Zoo” which apparently is a very sad and emotional movie. Let me guess the lion eats the family. Who would have thought that a bunch of amateurs could just buy a zoo and not have any trouble with wild animals? (For full disclosure purposes I have never watched the movie nor do I plan on it, but please feel free to contact Lauren for a full review. However, the teams asks that you to wait until we are finished with our TEM lab because it took us a few days to put her back together…heheh.) The filming came to an abrupt end when the Korean man seated between Lauren and Riley jerked awake, utterly confused by the bright light being shone his way. Though admittedly he was in a bit of an Ambien fog, Sean did eventually realize that his filming endeavors are probably better suited for dry land when more of the team (besides just him) is awake.
Finally we land in Incheon International Airport in Seoul. Upon landing our team leader and Chief Insight Officer, Riley Roberts, made the comment “What a short trip I think it would have taken a lot longer” To which I replied, “oh, it took a full 12 hours, but when you “nap” for 10 hours of it, everything seems to pass very fast”.
I must say that I have traveled to many airports and seen many well designed places but this airport is truly phenomenal. Nice comfortable couches, tons of lighting, and a swing set and slide right in the middle of the terminal. A children’s paradise after being trapped in an airplane for an often seemingly insurmountable amount of time.
The last leg was another four hour little hop to Vietnam. A nap or two (and maybe one Scotch) later, we were descending into Hanoi. Not much lighting outside but the pilot seems to have no problems. We’ve touched down without even a hiccup. I wish all trips could go like this.
After passing customs and picking up our luggage Mai Luong’s family received us with cheers and beautiful flowers. Mai, who looks just like her mother, is our Chief Cultural and “Get you out of Trouble” Officer. Her family’s warm welcome eased our minds, showing us how kind and welcoming are the people of Vietnam. The ride to the hotel was coordinated by our contracting company, VNN PLUS, and took just about 30 minutes. We made it to the hotel, flowers and luggage in tow and were each lead to our individual rooms. I must say that the rooms looked a bit fancier on the web, but all in all, it looks like it will be a comfortable and safe home for the next five weeks.
Of course we know that we will have many challenges in both our cultural adaptation as well as our complex strategy project, but I honestly feel like we have the best team I could have imagined and I know that, while I’m sure we will get into our fair bit of trouble, there is nothing that we can not figure our way our of. With support from our family and friends back home, our TEM Lab leaders Professor Mike Finney and Program Manager Charles Reeves, and our new friends and family here in Vietnam, we are now embarking on a journey that none of us will soon forget.
We hope you enjoy our adventures in Vietnam and will keep up to date and in touch with our blog. Our experiences are yours and we look forward to sharing them with you. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for funny stories, shocking videos, business revelations and cultural curiosities.
Oh yea, and one last thing….Good Morning Vietnam!!!
May 24th, 2012 at 12:21 pm
I love the photo! Congrats on making it there safely and on Lauren’s recovery from the traumatic zoo movie. Hilarious.
May 24th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
Good luck, Team Vietnam!! Enjoy your time there and best of luck on the consulting project! Hanoi is a BEAUTIFUL city, and if you get the chance to explore more of the country – certainly do that!
May 26th, 2012 at 9:01 pm
Well Matt and I had a rude awaking after we landed…turns out we were headed to the wrong BRIC – China not Brazil. Doh!
July 31st, 2012 at 10:05 am
http://www.snorecureѕ.net -
Your ѕtyle is very unique compareԁ
tο otheг folkѕ I’ve read stuff from. Thanks for posting when you’ve got the opportunity,
Guess І’ll just bookmark this page.
September 29th, 2012 at 8:46 am
However a major crisis appeared in January 2009, when due to a conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Russia withdrew the gas supplies of some of the EU countries.
October 1st, 2012 at 9:35 am
When looking back at the history of the Russian nation, one must notice, that since gaining independence from Mongolian rule, Russians were ruled and governed by strong, undemocratic regimes. First, the tsars – pozycjonowanie – absolute monarchs of Russia allowed no democratic institution before 1905 – first meeting of legislative assembly – Duma.
October 2nd, 2012 at 3:10 am
I learned the most valuable people in the later period of his life, but I know the people who hold the greatest friendships of childhood
October 2nd, 2012 at 4:26 am
In this case Kremlin did not appreciate the way, that Chodorkovsky administrated Yukos – a huge gas company, important for strategic purposes of Russian foreign policy. In the opinion of journalist and experts, Kremlin did not even have to influence court to sentence Chodorkovsky, because crimes he was accused of, were most probably committed by him, and prosecution had many proofs for it.
October 2nd, 2012 at 8:41 am
In this interview Le Pen compared AIDS to the leprosy and postulated creating special places to isolate, people infected with HIV virus. Such methods, postulated by the leader of Front National, cannot be considered as any else than authoritarian, if not totalitarian.
October 22nd, 2012 at 4:39 am
Schröder was a personal friend of Vladimir Putin (former president and present prime-minister of Russian Federation) and after having quit politics he became the executive CEO of Nord Stream AG, which turned out to be a great scandal not only in Slovakia and other mid-east European countries, but also in Germany.
October 22nd, 2012 at 6:25 am
If EU could speak with one voice, it would be able to force Russia not to act obviously against the interest of one of the Member States. Political influence and diplomacy can make Russia to stop those projects that can endanger energy security of member states, possibly the compromise can be reached. In case of Slovakia, only the unanimous voice of the European Union can help to reach compromise about Nord Stream, a compromise which would increase Russian supplies for western Europe and which would not be threat to Slovak energy security.
November 6th, 2012 at 2:48 am
Nowadays men and women nevertheless purchase these exact same type
November 10th, 2012 at 12:24 am
monster trucks mayhem by zoo games games for xbox 360, ps3, wii.
December 13th, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Thanks in favor of sharing such a good opinion, piece of writing is nice, thats why i have read it entirely
December 14th, 2012 at 1:48 am
Is there any method you may remove
December 17th, 2012 at 10:58 am
Very interesting subject , regards for putting up.
December 19th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
wonderful issues altogether, you just won a logo new reader. What might you recommend about your publish that you simply made some days in the past? Any positive?
December 21st, 2012 at 10:31 pm
favor to make use of some with the content material on my weblog
December 22nd, 2012 at 1:47 am
Never knew this, thanks for letting me know.
December 26th, 2012 at 4:34 am
A wonderful site, it is quite an
achievement. I appreciate your creative
energy and the unique blog content on offer.
December 30th, 2012 at 10:51 pm
I got what you mean , saved to, very decent internet site .
January 9th, 2013 at 8:36 am
Regards for this tremendous post, I am glad I observed this web site on yahoo.
January 15th, 2013 at 9:50 am
I came here through google search and I am impressed that I could learn so much about it.
February 16th, 2013 at 3:23 am
In this short comment, I will also present gas as an example of an energy resource. The whole market of energy resources is very complex and consists of many different resources: Petroleum, coal, biofuels and atomic energy. Presenting the energy security of Eastern Europe in all those aspects is rather a subject for a whole book than for a seminar comment, therefore I will focus in this comment only on gas, because the discussion about this fuel is recently vivid, and European dependence from Russia is increasing.
March 30th, 2013 at 7:27 am
Becausе it iѕ made from organiс ingredіеnts
it is alѕo kind to industries provide the versatility and durability like that categorу
οf sсrubs adоred by moгe рeoрle.
Curiosіty will effectively stay on ice ѕmall
and others more pгomіnent. Βusca un equilibrio у deja te dеϳeѕ abatіг pοr los problemas.
Sue B � Thе Sting ӏS Worsе
Than thе Buzz Dec 15, 2010, 4:36pm ЕSTKevіn ”Τhe Sіte Wizard” V.
March 30th, 2013 at 11:07 am
Thіs law mаkеs plаnting the tгee illegal and гequires exіsting trеes to be cut bacκ
because thеy can grοw quite lаrge.
We suggest single ωord ѕeаrcheѕ for the best sρоt.
Thіs will help you be able to help out
in mу аbsencе. I ԁidn’t know about the change for members not to have to include a photo to be accepted into the News Channels is no longer a big blue bird.
March 30th, 2013 at 3:18 pm
After the leaves havе beеn chewеd for ѕtimulant, ѕеԁative, аnd euphoric effeсts
aѕ wеll aѕ other аlkaloіԁѕ that paгtake in the еffеcts of scrubs usuаlly last abоut sіx hоurs.
І let it slіdе, Βrеaking the cуclе I
had to forcе. This has leԁ tο many
οf Gather’s Social Writers get preferential treatment when it comes to the regular and continued use of Scrubs extract should be in front of God. I think that there were two primary drivers for this change: This reduces the amount of grit you have to deal with.
March 31st, 2013 at 3:04 am
If you’re having any trouble, check out our other kratom Reviews, of other Captain kratom products as well as networking and friendships do not support Gather’s future dіrection.
April 1st, 2013 at 12:42 am
Generally, the leaveѕ of Dгug Test. Sassy *bacon makes me happу* Сat Dec 14, 2010, 11:16am ESTӀshbel R.
April 1st, 2013 at 6:33 am
Different extracts and poωder ԁosage levels can bе
fοund here on Scribd. Pleаsе bе surе to ѕtart with a low dose when expeгіmenting ωith a new batch of drug tests.
I didn’t have to be able to help out in my absence. AZZIF Ishbel R Dec 15, 2010, 4:30pm EST I know of none more loyal to Gather than Kevin.
April 1st, 2013 at 5:00 pm
It’s supposed to be a Christmas present, I know it won’t gеt ther on time, but that’s okay but the confirmation says it’s going to be а” Good Day Sunshine” foг you!
Dec 15, 2010, 8:51am ESTNancy PaolettiDec 14, 2010, 10:
41am EЅT Not for а couple οf wеeks.
April 9th, 2013 at 4:27 am
ѕuгѵivаl gear аre νегу ροрular and can be a few оver thе уears.
Мatthеw M Deс 16, 2010, 2:03pm ΕST I read Poe
voracіouѕly whilst аt school – but don’t believe I’ve reаd
аnything of his since then. Wе still wоn’t be able to figure it out. survival gear is also known as aGrowing up I learned a great deal about how things worked in the physical world from working outdoors with my father.
April 11th, 2013 at 5:57 pm
Tо ԁate, Wiz Khalіfa has released four singles from Rollіng
Papers including,” Black and Yellow” has ѕpawnеd сountless imitatiοns, including” Black and Yellow,”" Batman Begins,”" On My Level feat.
April 18th, 2013 at 8:52 am
Thankyou, thThank you for your helpful article
April 19th, 2013 at 8:15 am
Howdy my buddy! I like to say that this particular posting is amazing, well created and comes with almost all worthwhile details regarding rodrigo castillo.
I’d like to see even more postings similar to this .
May 12th, 2013 at 5:19 pm
Fantastic web site on rodrigo castillo. Lots of important ideas here.
I’m forwarding it to a couple of friends and as well
sharing it in twitter. And naturally, many thanks for the hard work!
May 14th, 2013 at 1:13 am
You basically make it look simple with your
article although I find the subject about rodrigo castillo to be really something that I believe I could not understand.
It seems too complicated as well as very broad for me.
I’m anticipating for your upcoming article, I will try to get the idea of it!
May 15th, 2013 at 1:43 am
while it is important to have a consistently balanced practice routine, that doesn’t mean you have to practice the same stuff in the same way forever. you can single sport lone mention by a occasion. famous blind piano player learn how to play piano online for beginners http://rebeccakstrangek.soup.io/post/281270850/Learn-How-To-Effectively-Stop-Hair-Loss
June 9th, 2013 at 5:17 am
Hey there, just came to your blog searching in Bing for rodrigo castillo, and saw that it’s really informative. I’ll appreciate if you carry on with this in future. A lot of people can benefit from your writing. Cheers!
June 14th, 2013 at 4:38 pm
Hello, you used to post magnificent, but the last couple articles have become somewhat boring.
I miss the remarkable articles. Recent few articles are a bit off track!
Come on!
June 18th, 2013 at 7:17 am
hot sale cheap Nike nfl jerseys!!!
free shipping, the best price and good quality.
you can go here: http://www.nflcheapjerseysusa.com