Being Grounded

I know I know I haven’t posted it two entire weeks. I can’t blame it on lack of Internet, rather on a busy schedule. In the past two weeks I gave individual oral exams to over 200 students, selected the best 110 to be in my 3 classes and then last week was my first week of teaching. Thus I will give everybody the highlights, but first a message to all my teachers and professors.

I never knew or truly appreciated how HARD it is to teach. The sheer amount of time it takes to make lesson plans, create PowerPoint presentations, appropriate homework, good handouts that won’t confuse students, and track down fun music, games or videos that advance the lesson and serve a purpose is daunting. What’s even more difficult then the planning is standing at the front of the room and taking that leap and hoping, praying even, that most of your students follow you. I am ashamed to say that I never really thanked most of my teachers. The outstanding ones in college I feel (or hope at least) that I stressed to them the role they played in my development. But for all the others: Ms. Daughtery and Ms. Wegman in Council Rock, Ms. Pettit and Mr. Tellex at French Road, and the many at Brighton High School thank you. Thank you for your selfless service and kindred spirits.

Now on to the show:

• TEACHING! – I loved it. It was so much fun, even that day when we didn’t have any power. I have a co-teacher in the classroom Co (meaning female teacher) Dung who recently returned from Australia with her Masters in English and she is an angel. We meet at the start of the week to review the lesson plan, activities, presentations, handouts and homework for that week and get synced up. In the classroom we were able to move in and out of each other rather seamlessly leading various parts of the lesson. Plus, if needed, she can translate grammar points and directions into Vietnamese. We will teach together for my entire placement. It looks like it will be a wonderful eight-and-a-half more months.

• My College Administration – These people are wonderful. Not only have they really integrated me into the college faculty but they are incredibly flexible. Last Friday (September 21) the US Consulate hosted a dinner for the Fulbrighters in HCMC and I didn’t think I would be able to attend, but when I told the college I was thinking of going they reworked my weekend schedule so I could go.  In total 7 ETAs and 4 researchers attended. It was so much fun to see everybody. We were screaming like schoolgirls when we saw each other, freaking out the locals every time. And for literally the entire day we were talking a mile a minute, using slang, dropping words, finishing each other’s sentences. It was great and felt so good to be with family again. My 24 hours in HCMC were exactly what my soul needed. 

The sign on the back of the bus seats on the bus to HCMC. It's a steep fare in Vietnam. I heard if you take the bus to Hanoi the bus company gets to keep your legs too. It's a hilarious mistranslation. What they mean is don't keep your feet up on the seat backs. But somebody translated it word for word. It's moments likes these that I love!

Rainbow from our hostel balcony.

There we are. The Fulbrighters and staff from the US Consulate in HCMC as well as our host and his wife.

• Bong the Dog – Bong (meaning flower) is the college’s dog whom they acquired to do some experiments on and since he lived they now keep him as the local pet. Bong has a gimpy leg so he totters around on 3 and he is the cutest dog in the world. He also doesn’t get much love, but being an American from the minute I saw him I scratched his head and ears and now whenever he sees me he wags his tail, hobbles over and we have a good long petting session. Seriously I love this animal and when I pet him I feel like I am petting my girls at home. The only difference is that my cats are only excited to see me for the length of time it takes them to realize that they are not getting food and then the optimism and shining love in those kitty eyes ebbs back into the usual spite and indifference. Beggars can’t be choosers so I take what I can get!

Like my cats he was an uncooperative model. First he was bashful.

Then he was over excited.

Now that's the shot! Gotta love this guy. He's a trooper and such a friendly dog.

• Badminton. Nearly every night the college staff plays 2 hours of badminton following the conclusion of classes and they have invited me to play. So far I have played about 4 or 5 times with them and I am quickly becoming a regular… a really sucky regular. Until I arrived in this country my experiences with this game were limited to lazy summer backyard BBQs and carried a gentile sophisticated air. Well this shuttle must have done something in its former life because it was being wailed across the court so fast I could barely see it. Everybody here (or at least those I play with) is really good. So good in fact that I am convinced there is Vietnamese genetic predisposition to this sport. One might imagine that being nearly two heads taller and longer then anyone around me would prove to be an advantage. WRONG! It’s more limbs to traipse across the court. These guys and gals are hitting superhero poses in the air and slamming this shuttle while I look like a tazed and confused Bambi learning to walk for the very first time and only using two of my four feet. Despite being constantly schooled I sometimes land good shots (entirely by luck) and it is tons of fun. Being with my colleagues and bonding over my clear lack of skill really makes me feel like I am slowly earning my stripes here and that is key to a successful placement, regardless of the humiliation.

• Knocked Down. Now for the downers. While I was in HCMC and leaving the dentist I was hit by a motorbike and knocked to the ground. It was a case of serious miscommunication. I was crossing doing the head swivel and thought I made eye contact with a biker because I looked at him and he nodded. So I kept my straight and steady path toward my cab and turned to look the other way for traffic in the other direction. Next thing I know I was making contact with a motorbike. I was knocked to the street and only had some scrapes and a nice bone bruise on my leg. Nothing was broken but I was sore the next day with a nice welt where I was clobbered. It reminds of those really hard skating falls where you boot-out and land directly on your hip. It hurts like crazy but you can still move it and for a week or so it complains but eventually it dies down. So far I have been able to walk, run, dance and play my regular inept badminton on it so I am not worried. What was kinda funny was that morning I got another interview at a medical school high on my list. So while I was somewhere near cloud nine Vietnam brought me back to earth, literally. Ouch! The lesson: you’re never safe on these roads…especially in HCMC and Hanoi.

• Tonal misfortunes continue. To make my class more comfortable I introduced myself in Vietnamese saying basic things like my name, where I was from, age, colleges, and where I lived. I worked on this for a week or so with my Vietnamese teacher before I broke it out in front of students. The first time I tried this I used English intonation on top of the Vietnamese language and hilarity ensued. I tried to say: "I am American. I come from the United States of America and I live in Cao Lanh". What I said was: "I am a noddle. I come from the land of the flat flower and I live in Feather Bridge". The joys of Vietnamese.

Have a good week readers and sorry again for the lack of weekly posts. Please forgive me?