Today's the last day that we'll be taking classes at UEF. We had the most interesting culture lecture today and it was definitely more enjoyable than a lot of the others, mostly on account of the professor that gave the lecture. He told us about the culture pertaining to meanings behind things that we deal with everyday like numbers and art. He told us how a really ugly painting can actually mean something pertaining to the creation of the world and how different numbers of flowers for example mean different things (nine flowers is basically a marriage proposal while four might mean death).
In language class, we basically had a really long "test." Our instructor really had us doing a bunch of activities to demonstrate how much of what she taught we were actually able to retain. I'm really glad we were able to do this in groups because it was a whole lot harder than I expected. First, she got us to count to 10 in Vietnamese. I didn't think it would be that hard, so I volunteered for my group. I had to get a little help from my boy Bo, one of the UEF students, because I was still getting my numbers mixed up. We had to be able to say a lot of conversational stuff as well. Gotta admit, that was a bit of a struggle too. Despite that, I'll definitely miss being in this class. Our instructor was incredibly entertaining and made every class enjoyable. Afterwards, as usual, we went to what would be our final lunch at Kent International's canteen.
After lunch, we visited the Xá Lợi pagoda, a nearby Buddhist temple. This wasn't just any ordinary Buddhist temple, this is a temple that was used as a gathering place for Buddhist monks protesting the Southern Vietnamese government during the Vietnam War. This isn't a place that many tourists would go to since it is out of most people's way. We were greeted at the door by an elderly monk. Before entering, we had to take of our shoes and put on robes and aprons to cover up. The first thing I saw when I walked in was a huge Buddha in the back, as well as giant carvings depicting moments of his life. Afterwards, we went to the Venerable Thíc Quảng Ɖức Memorial. Behind the statue of him self-immolating, there is a carving of him self-immolating in front of a huge crowd of monks.
From the memorial, we walked to the War Remnants Museum, formerly the Exhibition House for US and Puppet Crimes. The museum primarily contains exhibits pertaining to the American War. A lot of these really show the Americans in the country as being pretty evil. Regardless of my views on the war, I couldn't help but to feel bad, especially when I walked into what I called "the orange room." At first, I was slightly drawn into the room on account of the dim lights and the bright orange walls. Then I realized why everything was orange. It was an exhibit to display the effects of Agent Orange on the country, both during and after the war. Although the exhibit was shown in a way to favor the Vietnamese like all of the others, it was still very upsetting to see just how the chemicals used in the war still affect the country. I was definitely glad to learn more about the war from the perspectives of those affected the most.
Somehow I wound up back at McDonald's. It was so good round two was definitely necessary. Akhil came with us and he made some friends.
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