the reeyality blog

Again, posting this a little late. I had started writing my final blog post on the day of my flight from Vietnam, but did not have a chance to publish it last weekend. So, with a few updates…here it is:

When I first heard about the CSC Program through a coworker (in my first year at IBM), I started a two year “stalking” period of the internal and external websites – I followed the current teams through their twitter posts and blogs, read the message boards, and anxiously awaited the day I could apply. For the non-IBMers, this program requires, at a minimum, two years of experience with IBM and top performance ratings. The application cycle for me opened up in April 2012, marking my 2 years and and 2 month-versary at IBM. I spoke to my (previous) manager during  the application process, and he warned me that because of my short tenure, I should understand that even though  I may have the credentials and strong essays, there was a small likelihood that I would be chosen – especially since the application process was open to all employees, globally.

So, you could imagine my excitement when I opened the very first email about the trip. I had been aching to do something this summer, and the timing for the trip couldn’t have been more perfect!

This experience has taught me a lot about myself and my limitations, tested my strengths and weaknesses, made me more adventurous (especially with food), showed me how to connect with people from different backgrounds, tested my patience, and above all, given me an experience that I will never forget for the rest of my life. I can’t even describe in words what is was like to work with translators, sit face-to-face with a client who was trusting, attentive, and wrote down every word we said. As the youngest member on the team, at times it was unnerving to not feel adequate or knowledgeable enough to provide the right information to the client. There were many times where I was put on the spot and asked directly by the client teams about concepts and technologies that I had previously barely dabbled in. But as is my character, instead of losing confidence, I found the strength and thirst for knowledge, and was surprised at how I maintained my composure and confidence during these times.

Another thing that pleasantly surprised me was the extremely positive response I received when I contacted folks within the IBM network. While researching technologies for our last set of recommendations, I had to randomly search our directory of over 400,000 employees and reach out to partners and associate partners in a sector of IBM that I had never reached out to before. The responses were helpful, the questions were relevant, and their advice was valuable.

And lastly, after being in Chicago, I realize now how much I miss the Vietnam 10 Team! From our managers, to our translators, and of course, the IBMers, life will never be the same.

      I miss the conversations, the laughs, the jokes, and mostly, the unique mix of accents that characterized our group so fittingly. We grew together, faced our challenges together, and learned together. To Mercedes, Brad, Dan, Andrea, Ladislav, Veena, Adam, Meghna, Mando, Renata, and Joe – thank you for everything. Best wishes to you all and I sincerely hope that our paths do cross again =)

Xin chào!

So, I apologize for posting late, but this last week has been crazy! I will attempt to catch you up! First things first, work! We finished our final presentation and management training session on Leading Effective Meetings and Organization in the Workplace with the client on Tuesday of this week (Day 26). They were delighted with results, asked to keep in touch for future advice, and gave us a lovely silk embroidered “painting”. This type of artwork is handmade with delicate silk threads. Unfortunately, the piece was a little too large with the frame, so I will find a new frame when I get back to Chicago.

The client took us out for a fancy dinner on Tuesday night before dropping us to our hotel one last time. We were the first team finished with our presentations, and it felt bittersweet to be done – happy with a successful project, but also sad to not work with these amazing people again. Finishing on Tuesday did give us free time though, which was great considering how busy our trip has been!

Here are some final pictures from our training session:

Goodbyes are hard =/ – final pic with our amazing translators:

To our Nguyen and Thien, I hope that we do keep in touch – you were both amazing and I wish you all the best in your futures =)

For our Sunday plans, one of our team members organized a trip for us to visit some military sites from the Vietnam War (or as they call it in Vietnam, the “American War”).

Quick review:  The Vietnam War lasted about 20 years (roughly, 1959 – 1975) and consisted of three main armies – the Northern Vietnamese Army, Southern Vietnamese Army, and the infamous Viet Cong (guerrilla army in the South who sought to unite the country under the communist ideals of Ho Chi Minh). In 1954, at the end of the First Indochina War, a settlement in Geneva (the Geneva Agreements) divided Southeast Asia into Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam – Vietnam was to be temporarily divided along the 17th Parallel with a communist government in the north under Ho Chi Minh and a democratic government in the south under Ngo Dinh Diem. The United States, seeking to stop the spread of communism, trained the Southern army  and provided military advisers to help combat the guerillas. For the Americans, the war began in the Gulf of Tonkin, when a US warship was attacked by the Northern Vietnamese army. President LBJ launched the American army (mainly, the marines) to Vietnam sending a total of almost 600,000 troops and advisors to support the South.

The Vietnam War did not necessarily follow a conventional battle style, but instead involved small actions amidst the sweltering jungles in southern Vietnam. One of the worst battles, known as the Tet Offensive (occurring during the Vietnamese New Year in 1968) was a surprise attack from the Northern Army and Viet Cong. The two sides had previously agreed to a cease-fire during this time, so the Viet Cong / Northern Army took the US and Southern army by surprise. Most of the initial attacks were quickly contained by the US and Southern Vietnamese armies and they inflicted massive casualties on the communist forces. The most note-worthy battle during this time period is the month-long and deadly Battle of Huế resulting in the destruction of the city by US forces while the Communists executed thousands of residents in the Massacre at Huế. (By the way, we are on assignment in Huế!)

Back in the US, President Nixon was elected and began the process of “Vietnamization” and started withdrawing the US troops from Vietnam. Nixon also ordered the US troops to train the remaining Southern forces as they left the country (these trained forces were known as the ARVN – Army of the Republic of Vietnam). Pushing through ARVN forces with ease, the Northern army and Viet Cong captured Saigon on April 30, 1975, forcing South Vietnam’s surrender and reuniting the country under communism.

As part of our Sunday tour, we saw the only remaining structure that lasted from the bombing (a Church), drove through the previous DMZ, walked over the river and stood on the line that previously divided the two sides, and visited the famous Vinh Moc Tunnels – a complex, underground tunnel system located slightly north of the DMZ that housed over 60 families during the war.

The church – outside and inside

Bullet holes in the walls

Present day DMZ

Standing on the division line between the North and South

(Left) A look to the South, (Right), A look to the North

Each sided blasted propaganda, all day  – (left) South tower  (right) North tower

The Northern flag – had to be rebuilt multiple times during the war due to the bombings

One of the 13 entrances to the Vinh Moc Tunnels (this was Entrance #13)

Map of the three story tunnel system

Tools used to dig the tunnel

Trenches surrounded the campus above ground for quick hiding and transportation of materials

One of the many bomb holes

The last picture I took before entering the tunnels

Unfortunately, I did not last in the tunnels too long. The claustrophobia that I didn’t really know I had worsened, and I had to rush out for some fresh air! The tour underground was quick, but I guess I have to wait to get the pictures from my teammates later! Edit: I did view them off their cameras, it’s dark, small and hard to picture, but still an impressive system!

For our last weekend of the trip, we were given a “free weekend” from the company, which of course we filled up pretty quickly! The recap from Friday and Saturday is below…I will describe Sunday in another post.

Friday: After a productive work-day in the morning, we took a break in the afternoon to check out Ho Quyen – an arena built in 1830 that was used for fights between elephants and tigers. The elephants (represented the royalty) and the tigers (which were de-clawed and “de-fanged”, representing the commoners) were set to an unfair battle for the Emperor’s entertainment. In each case, the battles were clearly fixed, resulting in a valiant elephant winner (subliminally squashing any signs of resistance from the people). The fights took place annually, with the last one occurring in 1904. You have to use your imagination for this one, but for not having any renovations for over 150 years, the arena is still impressively standing intact.

Nearby, there was a temple for elephant worship:

After this trip, we came back and joined the rest of the team for a pleasant dinner at Le Caramel, a Western, Italian, Vietnamese restaurant and took a lengthy late-night swim at the pool.

Saturday: 3 Words.”Treat Yo Self”

(Ref: Parks and Recreation“Treat Yo Self” ) Basically, Saturday was a much-deserved day of relaxation, pampering, and eating! We spent the day at a nearby resort and swam in both the pool and the lovely South China Sea. A few of us (myself included) received high quality massages in the picturesque suites and had a few fresh juice cocktails. I was too busy relaxing to take a lot of pictures…but here is a glimpse of the gorgeous resort:

For dinner, one of our team’s translators graciously invited us over for dinner. There is a significant difference between home-cooked Vietnamese food and the food we are served at restaurants. The home-cooked meals are more flavorful, fresh, and cooked with a lot more heart =)

  The dinner was amazing. The resort was  amazing. All in all, Saturday was one of my most favorite days of the trip!

We have been here for 21 days?! Crazy!!

The last two days have been very focused on work. We have three main pieces to our project that we must complete before leaving next week!

The first is, management training. We held Session #2 this evening on Effective Communication – topics included Active Listening, Giving Employee Feedback, etc etc. We have one last session next Tuesday.

Me and my partner

During the “telephone activity”

Assignments 2 and 3 are related to technology. The first on a low-cost ERP system (for those not familiar with this term, we are looking for a full IT solution to manage their business processes from the warehouse, to materials tracking, to the customer). The second is a handheld solution to help mitigate some mistakes that are regularly occurring in the factory. I am in touch with some partners / APs from our GBS Industrial sector to discuss some ideas and recommendations for accomplishing this. The research process is going slow because of the time it takes to get my questions answered. I think I will also need to set up some calls / demos to truly understand the technologies before providing our recommendation to the client.

Dinner tonight was at a high-end Vietnamese restaurant called Chic, you can see my vegetarian feast below.

Also, we had the opportunity to take some pictures from the rooftop of our training room’s building, and got some beautiful snapshots of Hue.

That’s all for now! T-1 Week left in Hue!!

-R

This evening, we held our first management training session for our client on Teamwork – how to build a team, the characteristics of an effective team, and how to deal with conflict. We introduced two original team building activities that really resonated well with our audience. The first was a jigsaw puzzle activity and the second, a more complicated problem solving activity involving paper lily pads. The audience was initially reluctant to speak up when we asked open-ended questions, but after they warmed up to us and the topics, we were happy to have a lot of participation.

IBMers presenting

We had about 40 employees attend the session

Working on the Jigsaw Puzzle activity

Lily pad activity

Lily pad activity

After the session, our client Vice Director took us out to a fancy Japanese restaurant where we had a lovely meal.

From left to right: Brad (IBM CSC), Nguyen (Longhorn translator), me, Mr. Khanh (Vice Director), Mrs. Khanh (Vice Director’s wife), Mr. Nghia (Head of Business Planning)

We have a pretty busy week ahead of us – one more training session and trying to consolidate our preliminary recommendations for some ERP and CRM low-cost software. So, sorry for the short post, but it’s time to get some sleep!

We are now at the start of Week 3 of our month in Vietnam, just a little more than halfway, and I think it is safe to say that over the last few days, most (if not all) of us have started to feel a slight onset of homesickness. Mainly, I think it is food-related which is, of course, combined with missing our loved ones at home and, for me at least, other random luxuries. Here is a list of 10 things I do miss back home, some of the things (just by knowing me) you could probably guess…

1. CHEESE. Cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan….all of it. My mouth waters just thinking about opening the wrapper of even a basic Kraft Mild Cheddar cheese (you know, the one with the blue wrapping?) and slicing off a sliver! With team members from Canada, Argentina, Slovakia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, India, and Hungary the lack of tasty, quality cheese seems to be something that we all really miss. (Giordanos, I take back everything I said about your pizza being too cheesy…a slice of your deep dish pizza would be heaven right now!)

2. POTATOES. Again, if you know me, number 1 and 2 should not come as a surprise to you. I think my college diet consisted of baked potatoes piled with cheese or mmm Lays potato chips (it’s a surprise people still think I’m skinny) almost every day. There are french fries available in the “touristy area” of Hue and we have pretty much ordered them every time we are eating at one of these restaurants! We were also able to snag some overpriced Pringles after the beach yesterday…did you know they make a Seaweed variety here?

3. MEXICAN FOOD. I know, I know, the top 3 things on my list are foods, but I can’t help it. Guacamole, queso, salsa, picante, tacos, tortilla chips, pico de gallo, sour cream, black beans, enchiladas, burritos, margaritas, mojitos, and martinis! I may be a Chicagoan (which by the way, we hit our one-year anniversary of living Chicago this month!), but I can never get enough Tex Mex! Trudy’s, Taco Bell, Chipotle…where art thou?

4.   TELEVISION. Season and series finales for a number of shows including How I Met Your Mother and The Office are waiting for me in my room on my DVR. Yes, I am that behind…yes, I have read your Facebook statuses, and no, I cannot figure out a way to get to nbc.com or cbs.com. (The websites work, the videos do not) I will mention that we do get some English channels here – Disney, Cartoon Network, the Discovery Channel, HBO, Star Movies, CNN, and ESPN. The timings are awkward for shows like Game of Thrones (which I am two seasons behind anyway), but I have been able to catch some random movies like Bruce Almighty and Along Came Polly…

5. NETFLIX. Arrested Development came out this last weekend, and I can’t watch ANY of it! If you tell me anything about the new season, you might lose me as a friend.

6. THE GREAT GATSBY MOVIE. Sure, this might be old news to pretty much everyone reading this blog, (yes, I know Rotten Tomatoes only gave it a 50%) but I left Chicago one day before the movie was released. I am still excited to see my boys Leo, Amitabh Bachan, and Tobey Macguire acting in Fitzgerald’s masterpiece.

7. LAUNDRY. The hotel washes three pieces for us for free daily, but the detergents are harsh and don’t leave my clothes smelling artificially like a rainforest or spring day. It might be a small thing to care for, but it is still something I miss!

8. MY DATA PLAN. AKA Unlimited data on my cell phone. There have been times when Google Maps, Gmail, Facebooking, Twittering or just plain researching would’ve come in handy while away from the hotel wifi…I guess I can also add texting in general to this item. I don’t do it a lot, but being constantly in contact in family and friends would be nice =)

9. FACEBOOK. Chances are, you have accessed this link through my Facebook page so this might not make sense to you….but “technically” Facebook has been banned in Vietnam by the Government. As with everything in technology, there are “workarounds” which involve tunneling to an out-of-country network via VPN. So don’t worry, I can access it fine, I just have to waste thirty additional seconds for my VPN to connect.

10. FRIENDS & FAMILY. This goes without saying.

I do not mean this post as any sort of complaint, but more of an FYI in case you’re curious. I love my team here, we get along great, and I truly have developed meaningful friendships with each and every one of them.  In fact, the thought of having to part actually pains me and is definitely something that I do not want to think about right now. And, of course, let’s not forget, how gorgeous this country is and how wonderful and inviting the people are here. After all, I would never to get to see any of this in Chicago:

Goodnight for now =)

Over the weekend (Day 16 and 17) we rode back to Danang and visited the quaint town of Hoi An for some more site-seeing and shopping!

First stop – Paradise in Danang. On the way to Hoi An, we stopped over in Danang to visit the Marble Mountains. Since some of the team members arrived early and were able to check out the Marble Mountains (my first post in Vietnam!) at the beginning of the trip, we took a slight detour and relaxed at a gorgeous Hyatt Regency =)

  Stop 2: Lunch. The non-veg and veg group are always split up:

Veggies:

Outside the restaurant:

Stop 3: Hoi An. I will let the pictures highlight the stops on our walking tour:

Our hotel:Chinese Pagoda:

                 Japanese Bridge: The symbol of Hoi An. It is a covered bridge with a Buddhist pagoda attached. It was constructed in the 1600s, still standing. It also has small altars of dogs and monkeys, the reasoning of which is still unknown.

The pagoda:View from the bridge:Silk Factory and Lanterns:

Silkworms and cocoons    

For the rest of night, most of us did some shopping in the market and found some great hand-crafted items.

The next morning, we started our visit at MySon – the remnants of over 70 Hindu Temples built by the Cham people in the early 4th-14th centuries. We first attended a traditional Cham dance/music performance. Then, we walked through the mountains to see the ruins. After having preserved the beautiful temples for centuries, they were all destroyed due to the carpet bombing of the American army during the Vietnam War. The site has been recognized by UNESCO as evidence of an Asian civilization which is now extinct. The temples are shrines for the Hindu Lord Shiva, but many of the idols have since been removed and placed in a museum in Danang (which we also had the opportunity to visit) for preservation. It was great to see the Hindu Gods that we believe in represented in this culture. Most were recognizable and beautifully carved in stone.

Dance and musical perfomances, very similar to Indian classical music and dance:

The remnants of the Hindu temples

Holes from the bombing

The statues conserved in the museum in Danang

Lord Ganesha:

Brahma: For Lord Shiva:

Goddess Lakshmi:

Next stop, the tallest Lady Buddha Statue in the world (also in Danang). It is 67-meters high, 17-meters in diameter and has 17 floors. Each floor worships a different Buddha. The 17th floor has a flight of stairs leading to the statue’s head.

After this, we had two last stops. One, at the top of a mountain on the way back from Danang and the second, a quick swim at the beach =)

This is just small glimpse into the pictures we took over the weekend.  I have many many more that I will share later =)

And now, back to work!

Day 15

So today, after a decent work day, we spent some time at a center for disabled children here in Hue. The kids performed two amazing songs/dances for us, we gave them presents + donations, and had the opportunity to play with them too!

    A little present from the team

 My favorite kiddo

After wrapping things up, we stopped by a beautiful coffee shop in the Citadel

My Vietnamese Coffee:

And ended the night with the local scene + karaoke!

It was a fun Friday Night here in Hue! We are off early tomorrow to Danang, so I will get some sleep now and leave with you a taste of our karaoke selections…

Friday night and the lights are low
Looking out for the place to go
Where they play the right music, getting in the swing
You come in to look for a king
Anybody could be that guy
Night is young and the music’s high
With a bit of rock music, everything is fine
You’re in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance…

You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, diggin’ the dancing queen!

OH and of course, our translator sported the burnt orange tonight! After all, what’s  a good night without some burnt orange??

=)

Sorry I haven’t been able to write in a few days! I have combined the last three days in this post.

During the daytime, we have been having very productive work days (feeling redundant saying this every day, but I guess it’s good that we are able to get a lot of work done quickly). We completed our first draft of management training materials, translated them into Vietnamese,  and reviewed the presentations with our client. Turns out, they want to hold each topic as a separate three-hour session after work hours, so for next week and the week after, we will be hosting the sessions from 6 PM – 9 PM on Tues/Thurs. In parallel, we have received an overview of their software solution (basically, Microsoft Excel with some ties to a SQL db) and understood their main issues with attempting to manage data through this system – only one user can access the docs at a time, nothing truly relates or is connected, it is hard to have real-time data available, storage, analytics. etc. etc. They would like us to recommend some solutions (freeware mainly) to better manage their production process and customer relations. A typical IT problem for most companies…but with the lack of resources, expertise within the company, and budget…it becomes a slightly more difficult challenge.

Outside of work we have done and seen some interesting things. I had somewhat of a cold, so Day 12 was an early night for me – after we came back from the client’s office, I slept early and didn’t anything too interesting.

Day 13 – our awesome “Longhorn translator” invited the entire IBM CSC team to her house for a traditional, home-cooked Vietnamese dinner.

Delicious vegetarian food – tofu, spring rolls, fried peanuts, morning glory (water spinach), spicy soy sauce, and rice

Dessert – Coffee and neutral flavored jelly

More Dessert – A full jackfruit

Hanging out at Nguyen’s house

Singing and Dancing performance after dinner

Cleaning up after dinner

Day 14 – Buddha’s Birthday! For the less-religious, what that basically means is eating vegetarian food (no onions and garlic), maybe visiting a temple / pagoda at night, and gathering to watch the parade in the evening. Minus the pagoda visit, we did accomplish the other two items (of course, the vegetarian part came pretty easy to me =) )

A few pics from dinner, it is always incredibly hot outside:

Fried jackfruit with sesame seeds – delicious!

The parade on the streets:

Lotus flower lamps

Ridiculous traffic outside due to the celebrations and the floats – note how this random double decker bus tries to make it through the crowd…

Drinks and Dessert before going home

Tomorrow, after work, we will be going to an institute for disabled children to give them some gifts and spend some quality time with the kids =)

-R