2008 Blogs

Dancing with the Stars...at Vinpearl

04/16/2009

My Vietnamese adventure continued today with another enjoyable outing.  Recently, the Vinpearl Land English Club invited me speak on American culture, so today I took a speed boat to Hon Tre Island, home to the 5-star resort and amusement park.  Many of the staff who work there take English so they can better serve their international clientele.  As my tour of the grounds and interactions with a very gracious staff confirmed, this would be a lovely place to "get away from it all."

The meeting's organizers wisely sandwiched the guest speakers between skits and games during the more than 2-hour meeting.  We began with a  contest pitting different departments against each other as they performed skits designed to teach us something about cultures around the world.  Another guest speaker and I served as judges,  which of course made us feel like we were on dancing with the stars.  With the level of enthusiasm in the room, you would have thought the prize was a million dollars!

 

The couple pictured here were part of a skit on the culture of Italy,  while other groups demonstrated the Japanese tea ceremony, tai chi, and history of the ao dai.  English club members listened attentively to the talks on American culture and tourism, and after the break Michael (the other speaker) and I served as judges for a speaking contest on the theme "Why I Love Vinpearl."  Contestants spoke with enthusiasm, passion, and humor, and I especially liked the young woman who said she left her troubles at home and came to the office "with my happiness."  The meeting concluded with a quiz contest in which four teams answered factual questions designed to reinforce their knowledge of the resort complex. There are, for example, 48 cabins on the cable car!

Following the meeting I toured Vinpearl's beautiful grounds and hotel.  I saw water aerobics on one of several beautiful swimming pools and wished that I could join them.  When the sun began to set, I snapped this view of the shoreline and pools, snacked on some chicken and french fries, and then saw a water and light show set to music.  When the show concluded, my hostess, Michael, and I climbed aboard a cabin on the Vinpearl cable car, the longest cable car (to cross the sea) in the world.  I was glad we did this at night since I couldn't really see the water we were passing over, just the beautiful lights of Nha Trang's shoreline.  As today's outing illustrates, Vietnam is indeed a land of many contrasts.