Team Cucumber – A group dynamic

Team Cucumber consists of five awesome members, Tran Tu Thanh, Chau Son, Nguyen Van, Nguyen Hailey Lan, and myself.  We are named Team Cucumber because of Son’s mystical abilitiy to continuously pick the same cucumber from the prize box during our first EAP party, then it was fate that brought him and then the rest of our newly-formed Project Kiem An group to the power of the du leo. 

From the very beginning our group got along well. There were never any large disagreements and everyone had something to do.  Van had most of the connections that made our interviews possible, from the banker to the recycler to the flower seller.  Hailey Lan also provided us with some of her friends like the MC to interview and was present at every single interview asking questions and keeping track of answers.  Both Van and Lan were also able to provide us with all of the Vietnamese versions of the interviews.  Lena was also able to get us in contact with one of her Vietnamese friends to interview and was very helpful with editing and writing the Vietnamese-to-English translations.  Son was similar in providing links in the Hanoian community and was an excellent writer and editor.

I myself, had no connections to provide us with interviews, but I did try to attend all of the interviews and though I did not make it to one.  At the interviews I was not too helpful at asking questions, because of the language barrier, and mostly came along for moral support and comradery.  Mostly I wrote out the English versions from their translated transcripts and wrote introductions.

Usually when working in groups I like to take more of a leadership role because I like things to go exactly as I have envisioned them, and in a lot of my experience others do not mind someone else taking over who is not them.  However in this situation I was very willing and able to take a less prominent role, seeing as I was just starting to learn about Vietnam and Vietnamese.  We had a very equal group dynamic so I was still able to have input and suggest questions to be asked to our interviewees as were my teammates.  Sometimes I would wonder how helpful I was at Project Kiem An because during a majority of the interviews I just sat, listening and not comprehending anything that was going on.  However I could contribute in the English sections and it was sooo interesting to be able to hear some of out interviewee’s stories straight from them.  

This project enabled me to meet many people I never would have and learn about occupations that I did not even know existed.  I only wish that we could have met up more though and have more group bonding, though the lack is understandable due to everyone’s busy schedules. I love my group!

Van, me, Hailey, Lena, & Son aka Team Cucumber!!!