#cafe_su_da

I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking on my IBM Corporate Service Corps project in Can Tho, Vietnam today for two reasons:

I had a brief conference call with my friend, Krista, today - the first time I spoke with anyone from the team since we finished one month and two days ago (until we spoke, I hadn’t even realized we had said farewell that long ago).

Part of the CSC post-work experience is to share with others, internal to IBM and externally. I’ve been working on my presentation materials for this purpose for a few weeks and finished up today (just in time to present on Monday to my IBM team).

Since I’ve been home for nearly four weeks, I think I’ve “processed” my experience as a whole enough to look back fondly, share some highlights, and mention things I miss. (As usual, these are in no particular order.)

Keeping company with some REALLY great people: It’s been nice “seeing” my CSC friends on Facebook and the internal IBM Connections product and chatting with What’sApp, but it’s not the same as talking with them or better yet, talking a quick walk down to the Saigon Bakery or Tea Shop, chatting the entire way about our day, work, the city, etc. I especially miss my “CSC besties!”

Focus on ONE project with ZERO conference calls: I handle multi-tasking at work quite well (weather it’s good or not), and sometimes I even relish a change in focus, but it was quite wonderful to focus on only one project for a full month! Better yet, I had NO conference calls and nothing on my calendar other than meetings / presentations with CUSC. There were no interruptions. Can you imagine working like that full time?

Fresh, healthy, delicious food: The Vietnamese people made every effort to obtain the freshest foods and prepare it carefully to deliver the best flavor! Fruits and vegetables were plentiful, as were vegan and vegetarian options. While I said I missed a few foods from home, now that I’m back, I know I should eat more fresh fruits/vegies and less cheese. That will take more discipline than I care to exercise currently.

Clean clothes delivered daily: I don’t recall every blogging about it, but all of my laundry was done for me -- as frequently as daily when we were in Can Tho! Sure, we lived in a hotel, but we may have had to do our own laundry. Fortunately, the hotel (and many other Vietnamese businesses) did laundry each day, so I never had to deal with it (sort, wash, dry, etc.). I just left my dirty clothes in a basket in my room for housekeeping each morning and then put it away when it was returned clean at the end of the day. This reminds me of my glorious laundry-free year in Okinawa, Japan (though I payed $20 US per month for “mama-son” to do that).

$.50 US (that’s 50 cents, folks) cold beer delivered: Okay, this really refers to me time in Da Nang (central Vietnam) for my honeymoon after the CSC project, but still -- a single, cold can of beer was 50 cents US, and the employees working the beach “stand” delivered it to our beach chairs! We had very inexpensive beer in Can Tho also, though it was more difficult to get it cold to start there.