The first of ten weeks here in Hoi An has already passed, and I feel like I have gotten a good overview of the city, and already experienced a whole lot! The students are from all over Norway, in addition to three from Vietnam. Coming from the capital (of Norway) myself, I don’t have much of a dialect, so it’s great hearing all the different Norwegian dialects, and learning about their cities. I also appreciate having people from Vietnam in the class, as they can give us a better understanding of the culture, and also, we get along well.

This first week has been so full of experiences and new things. I am really enjoying my time here. After our first day of school, we went to a beach/pool club to celebrate one of our classmates’ birthday, and to get some tan. It was really nice there!

Later that day, we went to the Old Town to check out the famous ‘night market’

There was a lot to see there: the canal was full of lanterns lightening up in the dark evening. The selection of food was also incredible! Everything from Vietnamese shrimp pizza, to fried squid and frog. The night market was full of tourists, and a little chaotic, but still a great experience. We ate good local food, looked at all the different souvenirs and toys and clothes. We have already gone back to the night market and Old Town a few times, it’s a lovely place to stroll around both during the day and evening. The famous Japanese Bridge is also located there.

Besides from the night market and shopping, we have been driving a lot around on our bicycles. The landscape is quite flat here, no upward or downward hills, making it the perfect place to bicycle. The local people all drive motorbikes, but the traffic is crazy here, so I’ll stick with my bike for now.

A propaganda poster I saw while exploring my neighbourhood, it’s quite a few of these around town.

 

Some of us also visited a nearby temple. The architecture was impressive, and it was really a cool experience to go inside an look. We had to take off our shoes, and walk in on this acupunctural mat. The outside garden was beautiful, I really liked this place. I felt so calm leaving there, I will definitely go back whenever I feel a little stressed.

 

-Una-