That Classic American Game - Bobbing for Guava

It was Halloween last week! Well, not really but I held my English Speaking Club (ESC) on Halloween last week - so it arrived a bit early in Vietnam. Halloween is not a holiday here - so it's incredibly fascinating to the Vietnamese, especially the activities, costumes, songs and the like. The question that confronted me was how do I explain a holiday that I have not partaken in nearly two decades? I stopped dressing up well before most of my other classmates and found the entire holiday to be somewhat asinine and frivolous. Plus I was an athlete so getting a bag full of candy was pointless.

Luckily my co-teacher Co Dung knew what types of questions the students would have and what things they would be interested in. We started with a Jack-o-Lantern drawing contest, did some vocab and Halloween hot seat, the scary storytelling followed by Bobbing for Apples. But they don't have apples in Vietnam; actually they have tiny Vietnamese apples or big apples from China that people won't eat because they are from China. So Co Dung and I were in a pickle - we had to find a fruit that floated, that was large enough to be difficult and a fruit that wasn't too expensive. Thus the Guava was chosen!

The ESC was so much fun. The first ESC we ran in September was daunting. We expected 30 - 50 students to show up but 100 did. Yikes! So Co Dung and I spent the entire evening trying to manage them and get them involved - as you can imagine it wasn't entirely successful. So this week we walked in with an impending sense of doom. But only 30ish kids came - and they were so into English and the things we planned that it was awesome and so far it was the most fun I have had in front of a lecture hall. Next month is Thanksgiving... how can I explain Tom the Turkey????

Students enjoying the Jack-o-Lantern drawing contest.

We had a number of excellent drawings - seriously really good. I was expecting an outline of a pumpkin. I was proved wrong.

Scary right? Me teaching!

The results of the contest - Co Dung and I had to work really hard to pick the winners.

Let the bobbing begin. To make the kids more comfortable I bobbed for the first time in nearly twenty years. I came up with a mouthful of water and some guava - I bit too hard!

This guy was ridiculous. He got 1 guava, 4 plums and 1 persimmon in 60 seconds. Needless to say he won.

Last week there was a conjunctivitis epidemic going around Cao Lanh. An astute person might ask how a person with the Vietnamese language skills of a toddler (i.e. me) knows this. Did he read it in the paper? Did somebody translate it for him? Did he overhear it in another conversation? These are all pragmatic and cogent questions - the answer is no to all of them. So then how does yours truly know that there was a conjunctivitis epidemic last week - yours truly got first hand experience! I woke up Wednesday and my right eye wasn't feeling right - it felt heavy. I assumed it was tired and went on my day. That morning teaching it kept feeling irritated - I assumed it was from the chalk dust. I got home from class and looked in the mirror and it had a laundry-pink tinge and the pupil was dilated.

My only thought was "Oh S**T". I made a promise to myself not to end up in the Vietnamese healthcare system. A direct strike by a motorbike couldn't do it but conjunctivitis did. I immediately called my host (AKA Guardian Angel, AKA Mr. Hung) and said "Mr. Hung I have a question...". I start most of my calls with him this way and I think he's learning to dread the phrase. I asked if he knew of any good optometrist and that I needed to go immediately. He picked me up and we went to one near the college. The entire ride over I was thinking how could I mime my symptoms? Or employ Pictionary in the exam room? Turns out miming and picture drawing were unnecessary - he spoke English! I used Mr. Hung's Vietnamese skills once! Long story short I am fine and just used drops and pills for the next couple days. If it weren't for Mr. Hung I would be completely lost. He is so patient and levelheaded that I can freak out and he smooths things over - he's the ying and the yang - I'm just the pretty face.

Another positive note from last week and this week. In class my students are asking for me when they have a question or need help! Yes - to continue the popular misquoting of one Ms. Sally Fields "they like me they really like me". I'm not sure they like me yet, but they are growing more comfortable with me and confident in their own language skills to ask the foreigner. There are many ways to measure a mile - if I have to measure it millimeter by millimeter I will.

One final and unrelated note. A few days ago a Philadelphia University student passed away in an automobile accident that occurred near the Philadelphia University campus. I didn't know the student but as an alumni of Philadelphia University I will forever be a member of the PhilaU community and family. In times of unjust tragedies like this, communities come together to support and console each other - and PhilaU is no different. It pains me to hear of and see this event befall a community I love, am indebted to and identify with. My thoughts and prayers are with the family of the student who have suffered an unspeakable loss and with the faculty, staff, students and wider community left to grapple in this sudden loss.

To every parent who has children that are safe - tell them you love them. To every child - call your parents and tell them you love them. Tell your friends you care and don't let things go unsaid. The time we are given on this planet from cradle to grave is inexplicably short and to see it end prematurely makes it that much more poignant and precious. Just take a moment to say, "I love you" or "thank you" - all the things that go unspoken in the chaos, tumult and monotone regularity of daily humdrum life. This week my heart is with Philadelphia University and a bereaved community coming together in grief and shock.