GRIP, Internships Abroad A Beach Trip to Remember with Phenikaa MaaS

Environmental Sustainability in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

I never expected to like the startup culture as much as I do now. As someone who enjoys predictability and structure, I wasn’t sure if the flexibility of startup work would fit me. However, I was pleasantly surprised by my internship experience and have come to love my company and its work culture.

This summer, I have been working at Phenikaa MaaS, a tech startup that focuses on developing transportation and mobility solutions. From the start, my supervisor and coworkers welcomed me and the other two Penn interns. They would take us out to lunch or order food with us, plan weekends to take us around the city, and try to get to know us outside of work. Despite some challenges with the language barrier, I have loved spending time with them in ways I likely wouldn’t have been able to if I was working at a large company with a more hierarchical structure.

One of the turning points in my relationship with my coworkers, and one of the highlights of this summer, was when I went on a weekend trip to Vung Tau, a city in Southeast Vietnam with many beautiful beaches. This trip was paid for by the company, from the bus and the villa we stayed at to all the delicious food. At 6 AM, we hopped on a bus and drove two hours to the beach from Ho Chi Minh City. I had never seen many of my coworkers outside of a work setting, so it was surprising – but refreshing – to see them immediately start blasting music and singing throughout the ride. After a delicious lunch of fresh seafood by the ocean, we drove to the beach and began team-building activities for the afternoon.

I couldn’t understand the instructions for the activities (since they were in Vietnamese), but my coworkers helped to translate, and I was able to participate and have a lot of fun. We were split into teams that competed against each other in various activities on the beach, such as the Tower of Hanoi challenge, a dance-off, and a hula hoop team link challenge. I could see how Phenikaa MaaS values teamwork and adaptability as teams complete all the challenges, and how this translates into their work culture as well.

After spending some time in the ocean, we went back to our villa and got ready for dinner. It was a night of celebration and joy; everyone sat in a circle while employees were presented with awards for their accomplishments. After dinner, there was a talent show and more karaoke throughout the night. I liked seeing my coworkers across different teams joke around with each other, and even with the CEO. I realized the startup culture's open communication and casual camaraderie aspects were part of what made going to work so enjoyably, and I could clearly see it throughout the trip. Overall, this experience was incredibly fun, and I’m so glad I got to know my coworkers better and understand the excitement of working at a startup.