Ten days of Summer Program 2019 was one of the most intriguing experiences for Japanese students who immersed in a harmony of the ancient values and the life of modern youngsters in Vietnam.
Enjoying the modern daily life at Hanoi
Haruna Fujinaga, Ritsumeikan University, Japan
“There is a lot of young people in a coffee shop in which I enjoyed tasty drinks. They was happily singing Vietnamese songs at that time. I was very surprised because in Japan, many Japanese young people are so shy and not confident to speak and sing in a public place. The young people in Vietnam have a lot of confidence. They are really powerful and active, which changed my personality into an active person.” shared Haruna Fujinaga, a student studying Literature at Ritsumeikan University, Japan.
The coffee shop that Haruna talked about is “Cộng Caphe” – a coffee shop that carries a pure Vietnamese theme with propaganda posters and communism has been driving the whole community by storm, especially with the youngsters.
The coffee shop Haruna visited
Tasting one of a kind “Egg Coffee”
Huang Ningfeng, Ritsumeikan University
“As I know that many years ago, when people in Vietnam did not have condensed milk to make coffee, they invented a unique recipe of using egg to make “egg coffee”. The recipe remains until now and that is the reason why I had a chance to taste it. The drink is so sweet but it is fine with me. I really enjoyed it.” Huang Ningfeng, a student studying Policy Science at Ritsumeikan University excitedly said.
The egg coffee is a Vietnamese drink which is traditionally prepared with egg yolks, sugar, condensed milk and robusta coffee. The drink is made by beating egg yolks with sugar and coffee, then extracting the coffee into the half of the cup, followed by a similar amount of “egg cream” — egg yolks which are heated and beaten, or whisked.
Egg coffee in Hanoi
Being surprised about the role of Vietnamese women in society
Di Yaohan, the University of Tokyo
“I was so impressed when learning things about Vietnam. As my research, statistics of women’s participation in society was so positive. Working women’s rate is 66% in Vietnam whereas it is only 48.8% in Japan. Vietnam ranks the 5th place among 16 Asian Pacific countries while Japan is on the 13th. I did an small investigation about why Vietnamese women have more working opportunities so that I found that in Vietnam companies have to prepare the position for women after maternity leave (around 80% women can return to work). Sufficient baby site and house keeper service is around 300 ~ 500 yen/h) and women in Vietnam have great supports from their family members.” Di Yaohan, a student studying Liberal Arts at the University of Tokyo shared.
