OK class let's get started with our exam for Unit 1. We will pass out the exams and start with the listening section on the first page.
Now does everybody have an exam? Good. Let's get started. Quiet please.
Whisper, whisper, whisper, psst, psst
No talking, look at your own paper.
Whisper, whisper, psst, psst
I said no talking...followed by menacing glances at loose-lipped offenders daring them to open thier mouths.
Student A (I won't name names) why do you have your notes out?
You never said we couldn't use notes - just no talking!
Oy vey! I am hereby rescinding my application to the police academy and crossing Law Enforcement off my list of potential careers. The talking is one thing, but the blatant cheating (I mean they didn't even try to hide it) was another. As a student I hated cheating...I worked my butt off to juggle school, work and research and I respected my teachers and the institution too much to sully it or my own reputation. The ethos in my skating days was that you "could only skate what you brought" - if you weren't ready or ill prepared then it sucks to be you so try your best and don't debase yourself by cheating or bluffing. As a student the same rule applied, and I made sure I was all over it and on top of it. I often turned in students I saw cheating, if they were dumb enough to cheat then in my opinion they were also foolish enough to reap what they sowed. Thus when I caught my students cheating I tried to say levelheaded and not over-react. So I calmly confiscated the material and allowed the test to proceed. I don't want to be a stereotype, but busting out the angry akimbo American was my only shot at establishing decorum. That night however I sent a few professors and teachers an email entitled "Professional Advice - I Feel Like the Titanic" - not my best week. My co-teacher and I gave the exam because we knew most of the students weren't studying and we were right. Hopefully these grades will motivate them to work harder.
Luckily the weekend provided some levity. I went on a picnic with some members of the college. We drove about 2.5 hours outside Cao Lanh to a large paddy/pond and then climbed/slid down to a boat, which took us across the water to a house, which hosted a lunch for us. The entire time we were in the boat I kept seeing the scene in the Sound of Music where the kids stand-up in the boat and it tips over in all the excitement. Replace the Alps with jungle and the 7 children with 8 grown men and 2 cases of beer plus one American who is scared s**tless and you're there. We were inches from the water and everytime somebody breathed the boat's center of gravity shifted. I just held by breath. Nobody else was nervous they were talking on their phone calls, making jokes (probably about the American who is turning crimson and blue) and just having a gay old time. I was so relived to be on land - you have no idea!
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| The Sound of Music boat |
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| Across this paddy lunch awaited. In this case both the journey and the destination were equally interesting. |
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| Here's the abnormally tall American trying to get in...and all the Vietnamese are praying |
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| Sitting down now - only slightly less nervous. |
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| Here we are on the way back to the car. That smile is equal parts joy and fear - after all we're not at land yet. |
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| Some ducks near the house. |
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| Some flowers in the garden. |
I'm not eco-phobic just a distant eco-friend. I am glad that nature is there, I just don't like to immerse myself in it (Dr. Ashely, my research advisor has personal experience with this). I will admit that there is a soft spot in this urbanite's heart for Lake Placid, NY - especially if my view of it is from a lodge with a roaring fire, cozy blanket, hot coca and a good book! For me nature is something to be enjoyed with creature comforts... Nature 2.0!
The meal was wonderful and the people were very friendly. The incredible luxury and responsibility of a Fulbright is that you become embedded in a community and unlike a tourist you get to visit real people and see how they live in an unadulterated, unmodified and organic way. It's a window into their world and I am privileged to be allowed to peek through it.
I must run. I have class in the morning and English Speaking Club tonight - Halloween edition!
Now that the ESC Halloween is concluded and I have had a good night's rest there are two more things I wanted to briefly mention. The first is how this little day trip has made me appreciate Cao Lanh that much more. This excursion was into the country - the sticks really. It is a real dichotomy - the landscape, colors and people are gorgeous and yet the infrastructural development is still a work in progress. Visiting this home and seeing how remote and removed from the world these people spend their daily lives made me realize for the first time that by Vietnamese standards I am still an urbanite - even in Cao Lanh City which would be a small town by US standards. My hosts for the afternoon lived with their entire family and they slept on tables - no mattresses, no AC and limited Internet. I am very lucky - not only to be placed here at Dong Thap Community College which has clear channels of communication, good facilities, and the most wonderful staff, board of rectors and my host and co-teacher who have become my surrogate big brother and sister (I swear to God these two people are just angels - my co-teaching and guardian angels). But also to be in a large city with a supermarket, parks, bakeries, restaurants, cafes, banks, shops and to be within walking distance of all of it - the walk is completely safe at night as well and is well lit. When I got back I was tired for sure - but before I laid my head on my pillow that night I counted by blessings both here and an ocean away. My family, friends, possessions, education, freedom, sound body, capable mind, and all the love in my life are just some.
My trip to the sticks also served as something of a public service announcement. On the way home I watched a Vietnamese man be arrested. I don't know what he did - but the police were wailing on him - no joke I was watching a re-enactment of Rodney King. A crowd formed (the typical Vietnamese reaction to public displays of losing face) to watch this arrest being made and eventually it dispersed. It jolted me back to the political reality that is Vietnam - Communist Vietnam that is. The police are not to be questioned or trifled with or questioned in any way on any matter and don't ever end up on the wrong side of the law. Alrightly then, I think that's it for this post. This weekend I will post about the Halloween ESC and bobbing for fruit - Vietnam style!
Have a good day readers.
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