Krista's Vietnam Adventure

For those who want to know what I'm up to while in Vietnam for my IBM Corporate Service Corp assignment -- I will try and share everything I can right here!

[kristashibata]

July 17.....and Vietnam and Team #12 is still on my mind

So -- I still haven’t put all of my final photos of Vietnam onto my blog...sigh...getting back home to real life and my day job has pretty much consumed me since I landed back in Canada on June 7. I have finishing my blog on my to do list....so I will get to it...sometime. 

In the meantime, a few things have happened in the last couple of days that have brought my memories of Vietnam to the fore front. Yesterday, we had our Team #12 wrap up call which officially closes our work together as a team. I must admit, I got teary eyed as I heard everyone’s voices and the Sametimes were flying between me and many of the team. BUT -- we have all decided we want to stay in touch and have a regular phone call to share updates. So I get to look forward to hearing people’s voices again in late August. We have also kept up our group Whatsup chat and I’m Facebook friends with many too so we will stay connected.

Over the last week, IBM Ottawa has been hosting a camp for 21 children and today I have the pleasure of presenting my trip to Vietnam to them. I’m going to keep it light and fun and introduce the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility to them. I have lots of photos to capture their interest and I hope they ask me lots of questions.

It’s also mid year so time to reflect back on 1H15 and see what good things I did. Well I can tell you the highlight of my first half of 2015 was CSC and my trip to Vietnam. As part of that reflection, I finally opened the memory jar the TRUSTpay team had given me. I was overwhelmed by the nice messages given to me. To the TRUSTpay team -- you are quality people. I have loved following the TRUSTpay FB updates and exchanging emails with you. It looks like you continue to drive business while having lots of fun and thriving as a team. Keep up the great work.

One of the best things I ever did was document my trip via a blog. Not only could everyone read my stories while I was away but now that I’m back, it’s a permanent record of my memories and thoughts. I have to figure out how to turn it into a photo book!

Happy Friday everyone.

[kristashibata]

Back on Canadian soil....priorities included having Timmies. And good thing for me Canada is a card based payment society cause I had no Canadian cash but not to worry, just used my debit card and thought of everyone at Trustpay. I will spend time tomorrow catching up the last 5 days of my blog. CIAO for now. One more flight before I get home.

[kristashibata]

Check out from hotel with two awesome guys. Ho Chi Minh City airport.....first leg in the journey home.

[kristashibata]

In Saigon....had a burger for lunch.....yummy. Hanging with Robert for the day.

[robertquinncsc]

My friends

Thursday June 4

It is now 3.30am on June 4. I have had no sleep tonight as too many thoughts are playing with my mind. How quickly the time has passed.

We spent Wednesday morning preparing the final presentation. After lunch Krista presented the last session (Search Engine Optimization). Once that was completed TRUSTpay interviewed / filmed the 3 of us. 

In about 5 hours from now we will head over to the TRUSTpay office to present our Final Presentation. This presentation will be filmed and I will be interviewed as part of a CSC presentation. I am sure the last activities with TRUSTpay will be emotional for all of us. While we created the final presentation we were all astounded by what the team has delivered during this short period of time. Whats more, we have already seen ideas generated thru the workshops be implemented!

Today June 4, is exactly 4 weeks since I left Öckerö on this adventure. When I said bye to my family that morning who would have thought of what the next 4 weeks would bring. I had heard and read quotes from previous participants that it was a life changing experience. Little did I understand just how changing it would be. I have been able to share and enhance my skills. I have gained many new skills from other team members (both IBM and TRUSTpay). I have learnt about many new cultures thru other CSC team members. Found out what a wonderful country Vietnam is and how truly amazing the Vietnamese people are. On a personal note,  I truly believe I have grown as a person because of this experience. I have my passion for life back. Life after CSC Vietnam 12 will be very different to life pre May 10.

The whole CSC Vietnam 12 team have played a part in making this a memorable time BUT there are 3 people that have enriched my life more than they could ever imagine. I am talking about my 3 close team mates who I can call my friends - Phuong, Krista and Sahana.

Phuong, our very special Vietnamese translator (who handled the Australian, Canadian and Indian accents as if she was a native of each) and also a very special person. I will miss you Miss P.

Krista, our IBM Canadian guru who has inspired us all; I can not put into words how you have lifted me. I am honored to call you my friend.

Sahana, our IBM India adventurer; I blogged earlier this week my thoughts of Sahana. You have a special place in my heart.

My simple words can not describe these 3 people but they have been truly inspirational; supportive; funny; talkative; a shoulder to lean on; put up with my humor and weird accent; and shared the same goals and passion for this adventure. The success we have had with TRUSTpay is truly a team effort. I have made 3 very close friends that until May 10 had never met. Our friendship was built over a very intense few weeks but I hope it will last a lot longer. I could write pages on these 3 people as they have given me so much. My life is certainly enriched because I met you 3. My door is always open to you and your families. You never know when I will knock on your doors!

We will all keep in touch and as Krista says ‘there is a reason for everything’. It is going to be extremely difficult to say good bye this weekend but I am sure we will meet again.

THANKYOU my friends with all my heart.

[kristashibata]

Robert - I hope you don't mind that I am sharing your blog with those reading my blog. I am sharing this because it illustrates how lucky I am to be part of a team made up of amazing people like Robert, Sahana and Phuong. Thank you, Robert, for the heart felt message. My life has been made better because I now have all three of you in my life. Thank goodness for Facebook and Skype and WhatsApp so we are only a click of technology away!

[kristashibata]

Tears.....

So I knew the end was coming and I know I cry easily so expected some tears today as we get ready to check out of the hotel here in Can Tho and get on a bus back to Ho Chi Minh City. But...I under estimated how emotional I would be and how much I have connected with everyone and everything involved in the program. I am taking photos of the "last time of...." and with each of those I am flooded with the memories of the last four weeks. Colleagues and client are posting awesome heart felt messages that bring tears as well. I have one last official work duty this afternoon as I am presenting our client to representatives of the Vietnamese government. So I will enjoy my "lasts" now, do my presentation and get on a bus for one more day in Ho Chi Minh City before I fly out on Sunday. Stay tuned as there will be much more to come before I have finished sharing everything from my time here.

[kristashibata]

Behind in my blog

It is my last night in Can Tho and I know I am very behind in my blog but the last couple of days have been crazy busy so I promise to catch up on the plane ride home. Stay tuned as lots of amazing things have happened over the last few days. I am emotionally and physically exhausted (in a good way). Life long friendships have been formed and life altering change in me. This has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. More to come when I have time.

[kristashibata]

Last night in Can Tho. I learned what a "wefie" is and took some.

[kristashibata]

This afternoon (June 3), we are being filmed by our client, Trustpay, to give our personal opinions on the prepaid card market. Robert was kind enough to go first!

[kristashibata]

Here are some of the photos from last night's amazing farewell party hosted for the Trustpay and IBM teams. It was a night to remember that was full of games, singing, dancing and of course food. I will post more later when I have time to write down all of the details and share more photos. Thank you Trustpay team for the beautiful messages in a bottle and a special thanks to Steven who designed the custom card I received. The Trustpay team is very special as they may be young but they are dedicated, smart, caring and driven. Mr. Eric and Mr. Henry are great leaders and I thank you both for being at the party and being such wonderful hosts. Lily and the team that planned the party and did all of the work - thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will never forget last night! There were so many smiles and more photos than I think I could count. Watch for another blog with more photos on this.

[kristashibata]

Wonderful experience learning about Vietnam from our translators who also treated us to food and drink (rice moonshine - my description of it) as well as gifts. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. All of you are wonderful people. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take more photos. Martin and I were being the "crazy Canucks".

[kristashibata]

Today's afternoon treats at the Trustpay office. Robert and I chose the cakes and brought them to the office for the Trustpay staff. Trustpay treated us to something that contained the "stinky" fruit with eggs. Oh boy, the smell was something else but once I got past the smell, I actually enjoyed the taste. We also had coconut water to go with our treats. Another yummy afternoon. Oh and we had a very successful work afternoon too as Robert presented recommendations to scale customer support and talked about social support. We even used our WA Community and Forum as an example. Then I presented on market opportunities and steps to take to market the Trustpay products outside of Vietnam. Next up - Tuesday night is our farewell party with Trustpay where we hear we will play games and sing Karaoke. Can't wait! Then on Wednesday I present on Search Engine optimization and we are being video taped to share our personal perspective on prepaid card use in Canada. Wednesday night is our CSC Team 12 wrap up dinner. Thursday we do our final presentations and surveys with Trustpay. We will be video taped on Thursday as well. Friday we present to the Vietnamese government and leave Can Tho. The tears have already started to flow as people realize we are almost done here. What a ride this has been. Life altering! More to come tomorrow on my adventure going to an art gallery and finalizing our final presentation.

[kristashibata]

Sunsets from Saturday, May 30th on Phu Quoc beach.

[kristashibata]

Here are a few more photos from my weekend in Phu Quoc. Just to clarify how this trip fit into the overall CSC experience. This past weekend was the only free weekend of the whole trip and it was our personal choice as to what we wanted to do for the weekend. It was also a week end that we paid for out our personal finances. So the weekend wasn't about IBM or work but rather a personal weekend. I am so very very happy that I chose Phu Quoc as the place to spend my free weekend as it was just what I needed to recharge my batteries for the final sprint to the finish line. The sun, sand and relaxation was awesome and the resort was absolutely spectacular. I would recommend the Cassia Cottage Resort as THE place to stay on Phu Quoc.

[thebehrspot]

In our way back from Rach Gia, we happened across this unique site: It appeared local farmers were herding ducks down the river. There were THOUSANDS of them – this is just a glimpse Carol captured – so interesting!

[kristashibata]

It was so cool to see ducks being "herded" down the river and then either up the river bank and across the road or into their pens in the farmer's yard. Wish I had captured the photo of a bunch crossing the road as it was a site to see.

[kristashibata]

Final week……the whole group is working in our meeting room at the hotel this morning. Wrapping up final deliverables and prepping for final presentations to be delivered this week. And on Friday morning, we will be meeting with Mr Pham Gia Tuc from the Vietnamese government where we will have the opportunity to present what our client (Trustpay) does and what we have done through our work together. So it may be the last week here in Vietnam but it is shaping up to be extremely busy with lots of deliverables, lots of dinners and logistics to be ready to leave for HCMC on Friday. The week is going to pass very quickly I believe!

[kristashibata]

Miss Lily, one of the management team of Trustpay, wrote this amazing blog from Trustpay's perspective of our time spent working together. She has captured wonderful photos that tells the story of our partnership and the work we have accomplished together. She also captures the comrady between the IBM and Trustpay teams where we have forged friendships and learned about each other personally. This experience has re energized me and reminded me how fun work can be! Thanks, Miss Lily and Mr Eric and the whole Trustpay team for a life changing experience that I will never forget.