Recent times in Vietnam: Group exams and red-tailed monkeys

Four weeks ago, we were fortunate to have the leader of the conservation efforts for the Son Tra nature reserve visit us. She came to give a lecture about her work, the island, and its wildlife in general.

At the end of this lecture, she promised those of us who had been there and listened that we would later get to visit the nature reserve and have a tour by a local guide. We recently had the opportunity to go on this trip, and it did not disappoint.

We were all overwhelmed by the magnificent view, the wild forest, and the beautiful red-tailed douc langurs, which is the name of the rare monkeys that can only be found there. These are relatively large monkeys with long red tails that live in the trees of Son Tra.

As we moved deeper into the forest, at first we saw several of the "usual" monkeys here in Southeast Asia, and only after some searching did we find the red-tailed monkeys.

My friend and I were so fascinated by them that we lingered in the forest after the others had moved on, and we almost got left behind.

It was a very special experience to be in the middle of the natural habitat of an endangered animal, and to have the opportunity to experience this up close.

The last hectic days are upon us here in Vietnam. The lectures are finished, the group exam is due to be submitted, and people are starting to dread the end of our time here.

The group assignment should be about 10,000 words long, and we have just over 2 weeks to write it. The workload is very manageable, but the job needs to be done, so it's important to work with focus.

Fortunately, my group is almost at the finish line, and we just need to write the conclusion. Although one might think that writing the group assignment is very tiring, and perhaps something one dreads before getting here, the writing weeks are very nice and relaxing.

It's fun to work in small groups on topics you largely choose yourself. Conducting interviews is also very enjoyable, but it's often wise to bring along a Vietnamese classmate who can translate.

Last week we had our final dinner with the house representatives (a student from each house who has meetings with the Kulturstudier staff throughout the semester). Manager Vinh, as always, took us to a very good local place.

At this restaurant, they served pork skewers, rice pancakes, and spring rolls.

These dinners throughout the semester have been enjoyable, both because we get to know the teachers, but also because Vinh always takes us to places we might not have gone to otherwise.

He has also been very nice and invited us for a beer after football and volleyball matches, which everyone greatly appreciated! Last Thursday, we played our final match against a local team, and it turned into an exciting 'trilogy' where we won the first game 8-7, they won the next 7-6, and we won the last one 7-6.

After we finish here in Vietnam, an individual exam remains. Some choose to stay a few more days in Hoi An to write, while others go home or continue traveling right away.

Selv skal jeg skrive i Hoi An ett par dager, før min reise går videre i retning Indonesia. Det er veldig fint å enten reise før eller etter studiet, for det er så mye fint å se i denne regionen. Andre land mange drar til er Kina, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand eller Kambodsja.

Etter vi har levert gruppeeksamen, og før folk reiser videre, er det tid for en avskjedsfest. Jeg tror de fleste grugleder seg til dette, men det blir fint å ha en siste ordentlig fest med hele gjengen – og Vinh, selvfølgelig!