IBS student Tom Willems says hello from Vietnam

Hi there!!

As a third year IBS student I was asked to write something about my experiences during my internship here in Vietnam. At the moment I’m doing an internship at Dutch Lady Vietnam Food and Beverages Co. Ltd, an affiliate from the Dutch company Friesland Foods. For a period of 5 months I’m working in the management accounting department of the company.

The office and factory are located just outside Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), the city where I’m living at the moment. It is a very lively city, there is always something happening here, which makes it a great city to live in.

So far I’m really enjoying my internship, however sometimes it can hard be hard because of the cultural differences. For example: colleagues answer your questions in a very narrow way, information that is related to the topic you are asking about is often not communicated. Communication can also be difficult because some of my colleagues don’t speak English very well.

One of the most difficult parts of working in Vietnam is that people often say ‘yes’ when they actually don’t understand you. At first I thought this was just some nice theory you learn at school, but in fact it is true and can really be hard to deal with. Also difficult is that some of them seem to have a huge amount of respect for you just because you are European. Because of that it can be hard to establish a social relationship, let alone friendship. Luckily, over time the contact with most of them has become much better than in the beginning, this makes going to work a lot more fun.

Fortunately most of my colleagues are very friendly, they are always willing to help and have time for my questions. They are also interested in other ideas, languages, habits, etc just like me. During the first week they already invited me to a wedding and a karaoke party. Both were great to experience and helped to get to know my colleagues on a more personal level. During lunchtime they also try to teach me Vietnamese, but that has not been a big success so far because it’s a really difficult language.

Although I lunch with my Vietnamese colleagues most of the time it is also completely normal here that you, as a trainee, have lunch with the (Dutch) general manager and other MT members.

One of the best things about coming to Vietnam is that there is plenty to do in your free time. The country is beautiful and for a few dollars you travel through the whole country by bus. In Saigon, the city where I live, there are plenty of places to visit, during both day- and night-time

So far it has been a great experience to live and work in Vietnam and it is something I can definitely recommend other students to do as well.

Tam biet!

Tom Willems