Vietnamese? Yes Please!

Today, Kyle, Mia and I (Megan!) decided to expand our culinary horizons and try out some Vietnamese food together! We visited V Nam in North Vancouver. After much deliberation over the menu, the food arrived, piping hot and ready to eat.

Kyle, about to dig in!

Kyle, despite his love of chicken, opted to try something the waitress recommended to him. He ended up getting a beef dish, called Pho Tai Bo Vien. This dish looked so good, I am definitely going to have to try it when I get to Vietnam, if not sooner!

Mia is ready to chow down!

Mia is a vegetarian, and had the vegetable stir fry with vermicelli. Before we head over to Vietnam, we are going to try to get her to eat meat, because it is such a staple food in Vietnam. Mia and I won’t be heading over until August, so for now she gets a pass with the veggie dish.

Here's hoping I don't have food stuck in my teeth while I pose with my delicious food.

I had the Chicken Chow Mein, which was delicious. The sauce had just enough kick to it and the vegetables tasted so fresh. The noodles were rich and flavourful. I realized that I may need some more practice using chopsticks after Kyle and Mia finished eating much faster than I did.

Over lunch, we talked about places we are hoping to travel and what we want to do with ourselves once we've finished school. It was such a pleasure getting to know the people that I am going to be working on this amazing project with. I think our personalities complement each other really well and I can’t wait until our next meeting.

Near the end of our meal, Chris stopped by! We further discussed some of the exciting initiatives that we are going to be putting forth soon to get the project as much exposure as possible. I have a feeling that this won't be the only time we go out for Vietnamese food together. The only thing that will make our future lunch dates better is the lovely Marina joining us! 

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Correspondence from another Continent

I just love how this project connects people from all over the world! 

A few weeks ago I made a new Facebook friend named Ashley (Thuy Anh Pham). Not only does she live in Hanoi and is interested in volunteering with the CBT Vietnam project but she is a student at Vietnam National University Hanoi majoring in English. Although we have never met, we are both very excited about our new friendship and all the great things the PATA funded CBT Vietnam project is doing. 

We plan to meet each other for the first time this August, when I travel to Vietnam as one of the Capilano University student volunteers continuing the ongoing work of the CBT project. Ashley is excited to help me learn about her culture and recently told me about the Tet holiday which marks the Lunar New Year that they are celebrating right now! This festival is about purity and renewal and the celebrations can be compared to our Western Thanksgiving, New Year's Day and Easter all in one Vietnamese New Year.

This new friendship has really got me thinking about how social media connects people from all over the world. I am really looking forward to learning more about the Vietnamese culture from Ashley.

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CBT Vietnam girls' night out. Getting to know each other.

With our first official meeting coming up, I was the only one who didn't know any of the newly selected CBT Vietnam project volunteers. I am taking the Destination Resort Management Program at the Squamish campus and the other five were from the North Vancouver campus.  All I knew is that we had all been selected to represent Capilano University and the PATA Foundation on this amazing adventure as change makers.
 
I wanted to get to know my team, so the night before our first official Thursday morning meeting, I asked if anyone wanted to get together in Vancouver for a casual meet-up. Only Cat Lapointe and Rachael Dolina were available. The others, Nic, Maggie and Caitlin were unfortunately busy.

Girls' night out it was!'

Cat and I were onto our second drink by the time Rachael joined us and ordered a root beer. Rachael started us off telling us all about her life's adventures and her decision to dive into the Outdoor Recreation Managment Diploma Capilano University with no experience in the field - one that would change her life forever.

Cat's life story was also facinating and was told over a huge plate of nachos. When I think about the more recent events of Cat's life I would say that she is a professional student. Before Cat committed to the Bachelor of Tourism Management degree program she had been studying fashion design, and before that she studied sciences. In her current position, Cat manages to utilize all of her education in  as a Travel Designer. My life story was told while we were waiting for desert, a delicious chocolate mud pie, shown in the picture below.
                 

Rachael (left), Kristine - me (centre) and Cat (right)

After sharing a huge plate of nachos and desert we agreed to call it a night as we all had to get up early for our first CBT Vietnam meeting the next morning. Before we parted, Rachael asked Cat and I for some advice on a personal decision she had been struggling with. With our advice to each other you could tell that we had truly bonded!

I enjoyed our girls' night out and now I am even more excited about the CBT Vietnam project knowing that I will be working along side some amazing people like Cat and Rachael!

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