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Today is was raining when we woke up. It didn't rain hardly at all when we were in Bangkok so it makes it seem like a more gloomy place here. We had to get up early to tour a garment factory with a sales rep from Target. It was so hard for all of us to stay awake for the presentations that were given today. I guess it was because we got into Saigon late last night, had to get up early and then it was raining on top of that. Oh well, got to learn to suck it up, business is business.
The garment factory that we went into was making Gillian O'Malley pajamas and Mossimo shirts. First they have to inspect the material that they get to make sure it is the right quality and the right color. Next the material had to be unfolded and allowed to be unstretched. After that, patterns can be traced onto the material and cut out. Then it is sewed together and ironed. They showed us all the TQ steps that are built into the process to assure quality. Every garment made has to go through a metal detector to make sure there are no broken needles in them. The price tags and hangers are added on and then they are folded and packaged. That's right, the price tag goes on before it ships to the U.S. And the garments are made 3-6 months before they are sold. The Target rep said they are already finished with clothes for Christmas! I didn't get alot of pictures with workers actually working because their lunch break started right after we got in.
The garment factory fed us lunch and it was so good. They let us eat in a more privileged area so I thought it was really rude that one of the girls in our group refused to eat the food they made us. She claims that she's a vegetarian, but she's just picky. There were plenty of vegetarian items that obviously did not have meat. She got some rice and just sat there and didn't even touch it. The workers even made her some eggs and she didn't eat them. How rude!
In the afternoon we went to a furniture factory. It took a long time to get there and where ever it was it was hot. I can't quite explain the process because it was a lot louder in this factory, but I did get a lot of pictures. I thought the neatest part was the painting process. The workers were spraying white paint on some window frame looking parts and the excess spray is caught by running water behind. It's kind of hard to explain, but there's a picture . The manager was Chinese and didn't speak English but he was still kind enough to offer all of us a soda and a power point of how they operate. They make items for Target, as well as places like IKEA and Wal-Mart.
For dinner, my team went to a Vietnamese fast food place called Lotteria. The only other fast food place here is KFC, no McDonald's or anything. We had to access if we think Lotteria could successfully enter Denton, TX. The boys on my team loved the food and were convinced Lotteria would succeed. I, on the other hand, had to offer my strategic advice and suggest that long-term they would have some serious competition and that Denton is not made up entirely of college students.
The motto for Asia is "Same Same, But Different" Everyone's getting a shirt that says it. Vietnam is similar, but different to Thailand. From what I've heard, each Asian country is that way...same same, but different. It'd be neat to find all those differences. Vietnam is definitely cheaper than Thailand, which is nice. There are more motorbikes than cars and the honking is INSANE. It's just their way of saying "behind you" but it's so different to all of us.
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