By Eric Tran
As a part of my internship, we live in a volunteer house with a lot of other people. Because there are so many people to feed the house actually hires cooks to come in twice a day to make us lunch and dinner. Sometimes though, when I want to switch things up, I might go out to eat with friends or even have food delivered to the house. The area our house is in is also residential, and there are street vendors and proper eateries on literally every street, so I can rest assured that I will never go hungry.
Recently, I went out to eat with some of my students. I teach at the Hanoi University of Industry, so the students are actually around my age, so we naturally got along really well. Once I was done with my project and was no longer their teacher, we went out to eat Korean Barbecue as just a group of friends, and it was a really nice experience. They treated me out so I didn’t have to pay anything, and they also did most of the grilling, even though I offered to do it for them (because I actually like to do the grilling!). We ate at a street-food type restaurant, meaning there was no physical building where we sat to eat—just chairs and tables and the grill. It was very cozy, the food was delicious, and the time I’ve spent with them and the other new friends that I’ve made here in Vietnam has all been very rewarding. I look forward to coming back soon and going out to eat with them again!
