Should auld acquaintance be forgot?

Happy New Year! Yesterday was the first day of Tet (the Vietnamese lunar new year) and marks the start of not only a new year, but also a break from teaching. Tet is a major event here in Vietnam and is unmatched by all other holidays. Imagine Christmas, New Year’s, Independence Day all rolled into one and you have some idea of this holiday’s significance.

Tet is a time to see your family so Vietnamese around Vietnam partake in a massive migration – usually out of cities and into the countryside to visit their ancestral homes. As such the cities (especially Hanoi and HCMC) become virtual dead zones where almost all the shops are closed and the streets and sidewalks become passable as there are nearly zeros cars and motorbikes. It’s fantastic!

Unfortunately I will not be in Vietnam for Tet as tonight I am boarding a plane bound for San Francisco to begin interviews for medical school. 9 days, 4 states, 4 interviews, 21,911 miles. Jet lag here I come!

To kick off my trip I spent a few days in Ho Chi Minh City taking in the flower markets of Tet and catching up with Trevor, another Fulbright ETA and we visited a nearby park and waterfall which was wonderful and super relaxing. Then I spent 1 day in Hanoi visiting a uni friend from Australia and in 8 hours it’s take off. Pictures are at the end of this post.

The story of note – and one of the best teaching moments I have had so far was at the end of my classes last week – which was the last week of teaching before the students got their Tet break. At the end of class we had about 15 minutes to spare and I wasn’t about to start the superlative adjective grammar point so I was punting for something to do with the students when it dawned on me that I could be Mr. America and infuse some much needed American culture into the classroom. So we had a quick conversation about the Georgian New Year (Jan. 1^st) and Tet, customs, traditions, etc. Then my students asked me to sing. They have been dying for me to squeak out some notes and so far I have fended off the requests but I couldn’t see anyway out of this one. So I quickly cudgeled my brain for a New Years song, that was American (or western) and that I could sing in key. Auld Lang Syne! I sang it, quite well I might add and finished. The students clapped I took an obscene bow with a flourish triggering more laughter and I was ready to send my students home when they proceeded to stand up and sing for me. They sang 4 to 6 songs about Tet and spring – some even in English!

It was so moving and one my proudest teacher moments. When I arrived they were too petrified to try speaking any language in front of me for fear of making a mistake and now they are singing! SINGING! One more time spontaneously SINGING! I was such a proud teacher. As they filed out, wishing me and my co-teacher happy new years it struck me that these moments are what Fulbright is all about. It’s not language, it’s not grammar, and it’s not teacher to student. It’s people sharing cultures and song and finding the commonalities about the New Year and what that means. Moments like that are the jewels of Fulbright and I am so happy of have taken part!

Picture (and video) time! First the flower market in HCMC, the park outside HCMC and then some shots of Hanoi all dressed for Tet. Happy New Year everybody! Chúc Mừng Năm Mới

One of the major parks in HCMC became a vast sea  of flowers and it smelled great. Flower are important decorations for the New Year.

The park/resort was a 2 hour bus ride out of the city but it was worth the trip. It was peaceful and practically empty. 

Video of the waterfall and lagoon.

Trevor and I. Trevor teaches in the South, near the bottom of the country. He is the most southern of all the ETAs. 

The streets of Hanoi all dressed for Tet.