The second journal

My name is Bao Ngoc Nguyen and I was born in Vietnam. As far as I am concerned, knowledge
of food is one of the easiest ways to understand the culture of one nation. From my point of
view, Vietnamese cuisine is the most famous culture that all citizens are proud of. No one can
deny the fact that Vietnamese cuisine is extremely diverse which is often divided into three main
categories which are related to three regions: the North, the Central, and the South. In my
opinion, “Banh mi” or Vietnamese sandwich is the most well-known food in my hometown that
people often eat for their breakfast. It is a short baguette with a thin, crisp crust and soft, airy
texture which is often eaten with meats, pork sausage, and vegetables. In addition, people often
add paté which is a condiment from the French cuisine along with red chili and butter to increase
its flavor. Furthermore, I am very proud that “banh mi” is admitted into the Oxford English
Dictionary, thus it becomes an entry in the canon of existing 600,000 English words. Not only
food but also music makes the Vietnamese culture unique. Many tourists come to the north of
Vietnam to enjoy “Ca tru” which is a genre of musical storytelling performed by a featuring
female vocalist. Since 2005, “Ca tru” has been recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the
Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Finally, I believe that most visitors find surprising at
traffic in Vietnam when they come to this country. Surprisingly, Vietnam is the second-largest
motorcycle ownership in the world after Taiwan. During the rush hours, the number of
motorbikes is too many. Therefore, traffic jams on the day are also common in the cities which
are the biggest problem in my nation.

When I come to other countries, people often mistake Vietnamese people for Chinese people due
to their similar appearance. In addition, some people believe that Vietnamese and Chinese
culture is the same. From my perspective, Vietnamese culture was heavily influenced by Chinese
culture due to the 1,000 years of Northern rule. At that time, Vietnamese people often used the
Chinese script as the main language. However, following the independence from China in the
10th century, Vietnam began a southward expansion to Champa and Khmer. After that,
Vietnamese culture was influenced by French culture during the French colonial period.
Simultaneously, the Vietnamese language was first introduced which was known as the
Vietnamese script or Latin Vietnamese. As a result, the Vietnamese culture is the combination of
the culture of China, France, Champa, and Khmer. Furthermore, foreigners are often scared of
the Vietnamese people because they think that the Vietnamese people overact, especially the
street vendors. Nevertheless, the Vietnamese people are famous for their hospitability. If there
are guests coming to the house, whether familiar or strange, close, or unfortunate, they will try
their best to be attentive and hospitable.

Regarding the second session of Business Communication, I learned about the workshop on How
to write a Resume and Cover Letter, and the culture of different nations. In my opinion, this
session is very useful. Firstly, the Resume and Cover Letter workshop provided effective
methods to write the resume and cover letter by using keywords that matched with the job
postings. Additionally, Ms. Clementa Stan helped students how to write a resume and cover
letter in a logical position to attract the officer of the Human Resources Department. With all the
knowledge gained from this session, I believe that I can enhance my resume and cover letter to
get a chance to attend a job interview. Furthermore, the students also had a great time sharing
their culture. My team members were from Bangladesh and India. Therefore, it was a great
opportunity to know the culture of India and Bangladesh. For example, my team members shared
that traffic jams in Bangladesh were very terrible. In addition, I learned that India was socially,
culturally, and linguistically very diverse. From my perspective, knowledge of different cultures
improves my understanding of the characteristics of a person. Therefore, I can interact with them
extensively and effectively. As a result, strong interpersonal skills give my career a boost and
enhance my profession and personal success in a variety of ways.