Established in May 2011 with 7 members, Local Supporting Team (LST) is the youngest team of AIESEC Hanoi. As LST is the external team of AIESEC Hanoi, every member does the best to support AIESEC Hanoi
Involve in Buddy system
Co-operate with X-team, LST has run very smoothly the buddy system. In the first period, each intern has already had 3 buddies – 1 X members, 2 LST members. Until now, all the interns have realized and worked very well with their buddies.
Help interns get used to the culture
By the homestay program, outgoing days, extra classes: cooking class, Vietnamese class, and many many other events; hopefully we bring the best intern services toward interns and help interns stay away from culture shock.
Support AIESEC Hanoi Project
LST is providing intern-service to interns who participate in “Earth 'n' Me” project held in Hanoi from June – September. The project is divided into 2 periods, and currently, LST is doing our job for the first period, and on the way making plans for second period.
Cooking class is one of the most exciting activities run by LST. The last class was hold on Thursday 20th July and our lesson was to cook a Vietnamese traditional dishes called “Rice Noodles Rolls”. This dishes is quite familiar with Vietnamese people but this was the 1st time that interns had enjoys the roll. Ms Lan Phuong, Mr. Hiep and I was responsible on that day. We started the class later than the schedule due to bad weather L it rained heavily but finally, all interns had came ^^.
Before cooking, Ms. Phuong introduced some ingredients for the dishes
Everyone listened with high concentration to Ms. Phuong’s explanation
Firstly, we had to deal with beef , sliceed the beef thinly, aromatized the beef with “hạt nêm”, oyster sauce, onion, pepper for about 30 minutes to spice up the flavor. Then heated the cooking oil, put Western onions into, stired the beef until it was well done, poured the beef into a clean bowl.
After that we made the sauce for the rolls. Then the final step was to spread a noodle sheet above a tray, put fresh vegetable and beef above the noodle sheet then tightly roll up the sheet. It seems to be difficult with interns but anyway everyone looked so excited and satisfied with their creative work J
So now let me introduced a rice roll plate made by interns after practicing some hours A It’s unbelievable that they can make so great rolls like these ^^ w0w !
On behalf of Local Supporting team, I want to make this note only for you – our dear intern.
Although the time we spent together was not so long, and we haven’t got so many chances to hang around; but for our team, you are not only an intern but also one of our friends.
On the day you take the first step to Hanoi and Quan picked you up, Quan – your buddy said that you were a talkative and friendly person; and on the second day we first worked with you at a very “silly” intern meeting, we knew that we were going to have a very enthusiastic intern that would be ready every time we invited you to go with us.
Huan, all of the LST member really hope that you will get well soon. We are very worried when knowing that you get disease in Hanoi, and at that moment, we did not know what to do but only stand there worrying. We even did not know that you came back to your hometown. On behalf of the team, I am very sorry for everything.
This is our farewell present for you… HUAN – GET WELL SOON !!!
One of the priorities of LST is to introduce Vietnamese culture and history to interns. Therefore, we held an outgoing day for all interns to discover Hanoi’s places and custom.
At 3:00 pm, interns and LST members gathered at Cam Tu Monument then went straight to The Huc Bridge (meaning Morning Sunlight Bridge). LST members introduced about the meaning of The Huc Bridge’s name and the history of Hoan Kiem Lake there. The legend related to these Hanoi must-see places was worth knowing. When we got in through the entrance to the bridge, Joe was quite curious about the decorations on the gate. Then, LST members explained about them and the war between Le Dynasty and Chinese Ming Dynasty thousand years ago. Afterwards, some people bought tickets to go inside the Ngoc Son Temple (Temple of Jade Mountain) while others sat on the bridge to get to know each other.
After visiting Ngoc Son Temple, we walked around Hoan Kiem Lake to watch the way Hanoians did exercises, played chess, and enjoyed the landscape there. The reason why this scenic spot is the social focal point of Hanoians was gradually revealed. Interns had chances to cross the street in Hanoi, which was truly a challenging experience to go to Ly Thai To Statue.
Hoan Kiem Lake is just between the Old Quarter and French Quarter so we chose to discover the magnificent French colonial buildings first. Hanoi Opera House with Vietnamese Flag interested the Indonesia girl, Ratih due to its classical architecture. Then we walked to Trang Tien ice-cream store to enjoy the most famous ice-cream of Hanoi. Maggie said that this frozen dessert attracted her a lot because of its delicious taste and incredibly cheap price. There was some nearby bookshops so we got into to pick up several local maps.
After having a break at a café, interns and LST members went to the Old Quarter to have dinner. “Bun thang”, a famous dish in Hanoi was chose. Eating on the pavement was also an interesting way to experience the life style of Hanoians. In Hanoi, “Life takes place on the pavement” and the scene that people gather to eat together and sit on the plastic stools is ubiquitous and this is definitely an experience that foreigners should try. The restaurant was a cuisine street and opposite the shoemaking street so interns could have small conservation about culture in Hanoi as well as watch the life of Hanoians there.
Dong Xuan Market at night, a popular destination of the local at weekend.
8:00 pm, we walked to night market which sold a variety of products with cheap price. The market is on crowed streets that have tons of fashion wholesale shops and alleys, which are also a unique feature of the capital.
Finally, beer store was the last destination and it was also the climax of the trip. We came across the bia hoi corner which was on the intersection of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen Street. The awesome attraction of this beer store was not only the fresh beer but also its ambience. Sitting outside on the pavement, watching the steam of motorbikes and people went by, taking loudly and laughing so much was extremely an unforgettable memory about Hanoi of interns as well as all LST members.
I have just finished all my preparation for tomorrow meeting with my dear interns, and now it is time for me to review my energetic day before going to bed.
A month ago, I registered for Earth and Me seminars and fields trips. At that time, I wondered how they would be: interesting ?! practical ?! or just like the others environment seminars or conferences held by other organizations. I mean there might be no differences: theories - activities - and so on. However, what made my mind curious was the way AIESECers organizing, so I decided to join to see what the young could do differently from the other professional conferences.
BUT - yesterday evening, I received an email that I had not been chosen as the participant of the first seminar. I felt quite sad and disappointed - the feeling like when I lost something. While I was trying to registered for the other seminars as AIESEC Hanoi expanded the registering time, I received another email from Earth and Me project. As a Local Supporting Team Member, I was invited to the seminar: Waste Management of AIESEC Hanoi held on Friday July 15th, 2011 as an motivator. The other members in my team were also invited to become the motivators for the seminars. SO WHAT - it is our honor to contribute to the Earth and Me project. In addition, it reminded me of the benefit of joining in Local Supporting Team - "free seats in seminars - field trips - other activities of Earth & Me project".
I came to the seminar in the afternoon earlier than the starting time - and WOW - many people were there; and the first impression that I found out was that the participants were all ready to join in the seminar held by the very young student members of AIESEC Hanoi. The atmosphere was NOT stained but friendly and practical. People were divided into groups with the facilitators as foreign interns. That amazed me, and it was also what I was looking for. Let view back 1 hour before I came to the seminar; I was at home, dressing and thinking "Oh dear, the seminar may just like: people sitting on the chair, listening to the presenters, sometime feeling sleepy because of a long presentation" - but hell NO, it was different. I even could not feel sleepy any moment because everything was so successful.
Have you ever joined in a seminar or conference where there is no electricity and people still LOVE to participate? That was another difference I found out. It seemed like the electric-off could not decrease the enthusiastic atmosphere in this big room. NO slide show, NO air-condition, NO image clues did not mean NO success. As Duong - president of AIESEC Hanoi said "We are saving the electricity" (and why does saving electricity contribute to the green planet, please join in the next seminar: Energy Conservation to know more about it).
I was also impressed by the MC - Arthur, a handsome guy from Brazil. Yes, I knew him before but he was a really good MC on this day. I liked the introduction time of all the interns. I am interested in the presentation of Anastasiya and Arthur about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) which contains more than 35 million tons of garbage. Actually, before their presentation, I had not had any idea of what GPGP was; I even did not know its existence on earth.
Many people wondered why there was a huge patch in the middle of Pacific Ocean without the human action. Men have not taken a huge ship to bring all of the garbage to that "waste continent"; but men indirectly causesof GPGP. According to Arthur when he answered a question from one participant, by throwing the trash on to the land, people make GPGP bigger and bigger. The fact is 80% of garbage on GPGP coming from land, only 20% from ship. The reason is that when rain comes, all the garbage on land may be swept away to the river, and the rivers often lead to the ocean. The garbage which cannot be recycled like plastic bags will existed for thousand years or forever, and they drift along the ocean flow to a place now we call GPGP. In Indian Ocean, there is also a garbage patch but smaller then Pacific; so that men are making two news continent where there are no houses, no trees, no people, but LOTS OF GARBAGE. It is terrible !!!!
GPGP - North Pacific Gyre
The presentation from an AIESECer about people behavior and awareness made participants enjoyable. I like his way of presenting - funny, amazing, but also serious. He gave us the fact number of garbage in Hanoi. He made a comparison between To Lich river and Singapore river - Kallang Basin. He had many many real examples and I like it. I like his quotation that "Put the garbage word out of your mind - if we think it is garbage, it will be garbage - if we think it is useful thing, it will be usable for us". Thinking about this quotation for the rest of the day, it really works with me - I know what I can re-use rather than throw them away.
Singapore river now is no more polluted (Photo: kualalumpurian)
What I like more in the seminar is that people feel no fear of discussing. All the atmosphere was friendly and collaborative. For example, my group had 10 people from different school and at different ages. We had a 16 year old girl but also 22 year old student. How diversified! All the members in a group contributed a lot at the discussion time and we all talked in English. Everybody gave their ideas, that why we had four impressive presentations from different groups. Because of no electricity, we did not have any music; however I still known the amazing and incredibly awesome body movements from AIESECers and interns that I have never done before. It made me feel fun and relaxing.
Again, was this seminar different from the other seminars by other organization ?? YES IT IS. The theories might be not much different, but the ways the YOUNG did were different - the ways AIESEC did made participant feel like they had to do something immediately and right after the seminar - the ways AIESEC Hanoi organized made people feel NOT stained or nervous, but open and interesting.
I do not know what to say right now. I do not care about the electric-off anymore - I just want to join in every single next seminars and field trips. I am WAITING for them !
8:59 PM
Local Supporting Team
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