Group exams, lazy days on the beach, and a crushing volleyball defeat

The last few days have been spent working on the group assignment. The assignment constitutes 40% of our final grade, and we are using the last 3 weeks to work on it.

All groups have been assigned a topic to write about, and subsequently, we have submitted a more detailed problem statement and description of the task that we are developing ourselves.

The group assignment is a great opportunity to apply the interview skills we learned in connection with the Katu village tour, and we get to write a bit about the different theories we have learned in the classes.

In the spring, the weather in Hoi An is generally very nice throughout the semester. The temperature remains stable between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius, which means that beautiful beach days are very possible quite often.

Our very skilled local teachers took us for a lesson on the beach yesterday, which was received with great joy. It was a perfect combination of school, swimming, and relaxing on the beach.

Overall, the stay in Vietnam so far has been a very nice way to combine experiencing a new continent, learning about an exciting field, and relaxing in a pleasant climate for 10 weeks.

The combination of short school days, pleasant temperatures, proximity to the beach, and affordable food and drink makes Hoi An an ideal place to live.

Our Vietnamese classmates have been very good at showing us different aspects of the Vietnamese culture that we wouldn't have been able to get an insight into without them.

Among other things, we've had the opportunity to attend a Vietnamese school ball at the University of Danang, where we have classes on Mondays. A bunch of us went without really knowing what to expect. We dressed up as best we could and arrived full of anticipation.

Even though many of us (especially the girls) looked very nice, we were no match for the Vietnamese. The ball was quite different from what one experiences in Norway, with a greater focus on pageantry, and slightly less on dancing and drinking. We had a great time, and ended the evening at one of the many cozy bars in Da Nang.

Where we managed to win both our football matches against Vietnamese teams, our efforts on the volleyball court were not as successful.

Manager Vinh had organized a match against the local football team, where it turned out that his son was also playing. Although we had braced ourselves for a tough match, and had tried to devise a good game plan in advance, we stood no chance against the local opposition.

Despite the close call, the girls managed to preserve Norway's honor by narrowly winning 2-1 in an evenly matched third set – admittedly after a crushing victory in the first set, and an equally crushing defeat in the second set. The third set was also close, but fortunately, the girls managed to secure the victory in the end.

As we now see the end of our stay approaching, everyone is already dreading the time when our time in Hoi An will come to an end. We are all determined to enjoy the remaining time.

Even though we have already seen and done a lot here, there is always more to discover. As I write this, I am sitting on a train on my way to the former imperial city of Hue, which is a three-hour train ride through the beautiful and wild coastal landscape outside Da Nang.

Here I will spend my weekend and explore the city with a larger group of 15 people from the study. This is just an example of one of the many weekend trips one can embark on from Hoi An.

We are really looking forward to the last few weeks, but we will make the most of the remaining days!