Somewhere on this blog I had stated my
intention to write weekly (perhaps a bit overzealous). This is my second post in 3 weeks…not a great start,
but it should be noted that I have spent the past couple weeks fighting through
a visa/plane flight quagmire. I will not bore anybody with the minutia but I
will provide the condensed version here.
The issues started three weeks ago when
the travel company who books travel for the Fulbright booked my flights and
then failed to inform me or send the itinerary to my program director for
approval. They realized this clerical error when I called them to follow up on
my travel since I hadn’t heard anything from them in three weeks. After a few more calls and
e-mails between travel agents, myself and the Fulbright SE Asia regional director in NYC
my fights were booked. Meanwhile I had not heard anything about the status of
my visa, which was the last piece of this puzzle. On Friday I received an email
from the US Embassy in Vietnam with my visa code, sans one small detail.
My visa dates were valid starting the
first day of orientation and the flights that comply with the Fly America Act
arrive in Hanoi at 9:40 pm each night, which means I would miss the first day
of orientation. At this point my contact in Vietnam at the Embassy was exploring options to
get a new visa, I was calling the travel agency to move the flights, and it was
Friday, which means that nobody will be doing business on either side of the
pacific for the next two days. This uncertainty and back and forth lasted
through Monday afternoon. Despite everybody’s best efforts I will have to
arrive the night of the 30th in Hanoi and miss the first day of
orientation (which will be videotaped for me). Unfortunately the first day of orientation is full of lectures from the staff at the US Embassy on topics including politics, economics and sensitive issues in US-Vietnamese relations.
This is perhaps my first real interaction
with international communication, or miscommunication. Part of this journey is
learning to operate in a new culture with different norms and rhythms. As a
result I am trying to learn to go with the flow, which is not natural for me.
Adopting a slower and more relaxed lifestyle might be challenging but I can’t
really complain about slowing down.
As I near my departure in less than two
weeks I am most worried about the teaching. I have never lectured an entire
class before and the mechanics of teaching a foreign language are elusive to me
at this point. A large part of the orientation is devoted to teaching the ETAs
how to teach English to non-native English speakers. That will help, but I am
wondering if 2 weeks will be enough to make me an effective lecturer. I think of
the professors and teachers who had an impact on me and who were effective in
the classroom and I am wondering how they did it. I want my students to feel
comfortable to make mistakes and try speaking the language. In a culture where
saving face is highly valued and rote learning is the most common lecture
method I am wondering how I can get my students to open up, be expressive,
communicative and critically analyze the rules and grammar they already know.
Plus the thought of writing my own syllabus, midterm, final exam, assignments,
lesson plans and managing my own classroom looms large. Given my limited
practice executing these tasks Nervous Nelly and Trepidation who took up
residence in my head a couple weeks ago are growing more pronounced on a daily
basis and will continue to do so until I touchdown.
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