Monday, November 16, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
i love being loved
Alaina and I get lots of texts from students, since we give out our mobile numbers. Some of my personal favorites have been:
• I’m nga. You are extrovert- a girl with lovely smile☺could you give me your nickname,please?when are you going to come back USA?have a good trip!
• What are you doing now? Are you sleeping? Do I annoy you? This morning we all were so excited when talking with both of you. You are two friendly Americans
• We are all nice to meet you.And I want to make friend with you so much. You are pretty social, talkative. Do you want to visit more tourist attractions in Hanoi?
• Hello Eliza! I am Ha.We met each other at my class on Tuesday.Do you remember me? I am very glad to make friend with you.Welcome to Vietnam.If having problem,don't hasitate to tell me! I 'll help you.If I have a chance to visit America,will you agree tobe a tourist guider.?hihi.Goodluck for you
• WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU TIRED?
• OH. I AM FINE. THANK U. I LOVE U HAVE A GOOD NAP .
• Excuse me.hello.my name hien.we can do frjend.sometime we can talk eachother through telephone.ok.now you are student.or you work.i can do make frjend. ok
• I’m nga. You are extrovert- a girl with lovely smile☺could you give me your nickname,please?when are you going to come back USA?have a good trip!
• What are you doing now? Are you sleeping? Do I annoy you? This morning we all were so excited when talking with both of you. You are two friendly Americans
• We are all nice to meet you.And I want to make friend with you so much. You are pretty social, talkative. Do you want to visit more tourist attractions in Hanoi?
• Hello Eliza! I am Ha.We met each other at my class on Tuesday.Do you remember me? I am very glad to make friend with you.Welcome to Vietnam.If having problem,don't hasitate to tell me! I 'll help you.If I have a chance to visit America,will you agree tobe a tourist guider.?hihi.Goodluck for you
• WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU TIRED?
• OH. I AM FINE. THANK U. I LOVE U HAVE A GOOD NAP .
• Excuse me.hello.my name hien.we can do frjend.sometime we can talk eachother through telephone.ok.now you are student.or you work.i can do make frjend. ok
Monday, November 2, 2009
I'm a Professahh! Kinda
Every Tuesday and Thursday is an adventure, some better than others. These days I have my internship with Alaina at Hanoi Open University where we teach English. Or rather, we sing, work on pronunciation and answer lots and lots of questions on a good day. Originally I liked my internship there because we would go into classes (we never have the same class twice) and the students would be very excited to be able to talk with us. If we were lucky the teacher would be there to help facilitate a discussion, since our Vietnamese is lacking. Lately though we are left to teach pronunciation by ourselves to classes. This is fine by me, I don’t mind independence. The hard part though is when they hand us a class of 90 students and a shotty microphone. How can we work on pronunciation with 90 students, who can’t even hear what we are saying, let alone understand, with no one to help us translate to Vietnamese? The other difficulty is the fact that often we will go into a class, and try incredibly hard to motivate students with our extensive lesson plans, but some just don’t care and talk during our class. For example, we read out a story for the students and then asked them to take three minutes to write out one sentence explaining the story. We got back blank stares, so we asked if they understood the assignment. They said they did. So we told them to write sentences. A few students tugged out a pen and paper and started to scribble, while others just stared into space or leaned their head against their hand for three minutes. After seeing this I asked them where their sentences were and they just looked at me and started to write down something, while making a weird “what do you think you’re doing” face. This has happened multiple times and it makes me feel so frustrated because I try so hard to communicate and to help them learn, but if they are not even willing to help themselves then I can’t do anything. Sometimes I feel like the students, and sometimes the teachers as well, think that since we are there we can simply hand them English proficiency. Which is not the case.
Anyhow our internship is difficult and sometimes feels pointless, but we are definitely learning a lot about the Vietnamese education system and its inner workings. When we do have the chance to teach with a teacher, we are often told to have punishments for the students that do not say correct answers. This is somewhat of a cultural and moral dilemma for me; being a student of the American educational system I tend to think that as long as a student tries, then they are doing a good job and that they do not deserve a punishment: rather, they need encouragement. Another cultural difference is communication. At one point a male teacher invited Alaina and I (but Alaina thinks he has a crush on me) to a Halloween party the same night of ours. We declined and said that although we wanted to go, we were hosting our own party, and invited him to it for after his. I definitely said something wrong because he looked physically in pain after I declined him, as if he had asked me to marry him or something and I declined. He kept fidgeting and gulping, also averting his eyes. I apologized and left, and later learned that I need to skirt around the subject of not attending, rather than outright saying it. Ooops. Yet another cultural blunder I’ve had was in class, when the students were taking turns reading out loud a paragraph on Halloween we had handed out. Not only do the students read in a whisper so that you can barely hear, but everyone around talks. I kept announcing that people needed to stop talking because they were being rude. When they didn’t stop, I picked on some girls in the front laughing and making a lot of noise by sternly saying, “please stop talking and disrespecting the person who is reading.” They proceeded to eye me and themselves and stopped talking. I at that moment realized what I had done— to them, it is not considered rude to talk when others are talking, including the teacher. I have seen this everywhere and in each class. Even more, what is disrespectful to me is not disrespectful to them. Being American I have a more individualized perception of the workings of the world, and thus talking while another person is talking out loud for others is not showing them respect for what they are doing— whereas here it is much more about the group, so if people in the group want to talk, they talk. And boy is it frustrating, especially when your Vietnamese is lacking and you can’t hear your students reading.
Our day at the internship goes a bit like this. We walk twenty minutes and on the way cross the busy highway and walk through a local market, trying not to step on animal blood but enjoying the sights. As we near the school we spot the trusty bo bia ngot lady selling her delicious creations from a white box at the end of her bicycle. She’s there every morning and afternoon, and Alaina and I are absolutely addicted to bo bia ngot, which is a crepe filled with sugarcane, shredded coconut and black sesame seeds. It melts in your mouth and has the most satisfying caramel and coconut aftertaste. Anyhow we also stop for ca phe sua da which kicks us into gear and gets us buzzing for our first two hour class. Whenever we get to work we’re ushered into one of the teachers rooms and told to sip little cups of tea as we watch students watch us from the hallway. At this point in time one of us is usually offered a vow of marriage by one of the two unmarried male teachers, which is awkward. We then wait until a teacher comes to stake their claim on us (lately it’s meant a free period for them) to teach in their class. Like I said before, if we are lucky, students will for the most part be very excited to have foreigners visiting their class and we will answer questions about America and Vietnam for two hours, with the help of the teacher. (We are often asked about our boyfriends, why we don’t have them, when our wedding is and why we don’t know when it is, and whether we find Vietnamese men attractive.) This could be also mean us singing songs for two hours with or without a teacher— or just going ahead with our lesson plan with no teacher and upwards of 90 students at a time. We never know what we’re gonna get, which is both thrilling and frightening. We always attempt to fit in our pre-made lesson plan into the abilities and attention span of the students we’re given for that period of time and sometimes it’s more challenging than others. After the first class of surprises we head to the local Bia Hoi restaurant, complete with a hanging mutilated goat carcass which becomes more skeletal each time we visit. We sit facing the other wall and we order by pointing to random dishes and seeing what we get. We cross our fingers that it does not contain goat. Later, in the second class, we have another set of surprises awaiting. The second class is always more tired and solemn, maybe after a large lunch and a busy morning, and it’s much more challenging trying to teach. Usually at this point we've held it long enough and we decide to brave the bathroom. Bathroom is a loose word, you need a bath after you go to this room. But that's just the way it is. Typically, upon entering, your nostrils hit a wall of urine stench which doesn't cease and can be explained by the puddles on the floor. There are three "stalls": one wide open with no doors and a wide trough, like a woman urinal, and a bucket of brown water for flushing/pseudo-toilet paper; one missing a door and often you'll get the back view of some girl peeing; and finally one with a door. Oh, and they're all squat pots. Meaning a hole to aim for and places to put your feet. Sometimes when I'm done I just come out laughing; it's the one thing that I just can't seem to get used to while living here. You've just gotta laugh it off and then wash your shoes.
Overall the experience teaching at Hanoi Open University thus far has been ok. We still have plenty of time to grow into it and become better at it, but we are faced with many challenges. This is good for me though, since I may want to teach as a profession when I’m older.
Anyhow our internship is difficult and sometimes feels pointless, but we are definitely learning a lot about the Vietnamese education system and its inner workings. When we do have the chance to teach with a teacher, we are often told to have punishments for the students that do not say correct answers. This is somewhat of a cultural and moral dilemma for me; being a student of the American educational system I tend to think that as long as a student tries, then they are doing a good job and that they do not deserve a punishment: rather, they need encouragement. Another cultural difference is communication. At one point a male teacher invited Alaina and I (but Alaina thinks he has a crush on me) to a Halloween party the same night of ours. We declined and said that although we wanted to go, we were hosting our own party, and invited him to it for after his. I definitely said something wrong because he looked physically in pain after I declined him, as if he had asked me to marry him or something and I declined. He kept fidgeting and gulping, also averting his eyes. I apologized and left, and later learned that I need to skirt around the subject of not attending, rather than outright saying it. Ooops. Yet another cultural blunder I’ve had was in class, when the students were taking turns reading out loud a paragraph on Halloween we had handed out. Not only do the students read in a whisper so that you can barely hear, but everyone around talks. I kept announcing that people needed to stop talking because they were being rude. When they didn’t stop, I picked on some girls in the front laughing and making a lot of noise by sternly saying, “please stop talking and disrespecting the person who is reading.” They proceeded to eye me and themselves and stopped talking. I at that moment realized what I had done— to them, it is not considered rude to talk when others are talking, including the teacher. I have seen this everywhere and in each class. Even more, what is disrespectful to me is not disrespectful to them. Being American I have a more individualized perception of the workings of the world, and thus talking while another person is talking out loud for others is not showing them respect for what they are doing— whereas here it is much more about the group, so if people in the group want to talk, they talk. And boy is it frustrating, especially when your Vietnamese is lacking and you can’t hear your students reading.
Our day at the internship goes a bit like this. We walk twenty minutes and on the way cross the busy highway and walk through a local market, trying not to step on animal blood but enjoying the sights. As we near the school we spot the trusty bo bia ngot lady selling her delicious creations from a white box at the end of her bicycle. She’s there every morning and afternoon, and Alaina and I are absolutely addicted to bo bia ngot, which is a crepe filled with sugarcane, shredded coconut and black sesame seeds. It melts in your mouth and has the most satisfying caramel and coconut aftertaste. Anyhow we also stop for ca phe sua da which kicks us into gear and gets us buzzing for our first two hour class. Whenever we get to work we’re ushered into one of the teachers rooms and told to sip little cups of tea as we watch students watch us from the hallway. At this point in time one of us is usually offered a vow of marriage by one of the two unmarried male teachers, which is awkward. We then wait until a teacher comes to stake their claim on us (lately it’s meant a free period for them) to teach in their class. Like I said before, if we are lucky, students will for the most part be very excited to have foreigners visiting their class and we will answer questions about America and Vietnam for two hours, with the help of the teacher. (We are often asked about our boyfriends, why we don’t have them, when our wedding is and why we don’t know when it is, and whether we find Vietnamese men attractive.) This could be also mean us singing songs for two hours with or without a teacher— or just going ahead with our lesson plan with no teacher and upwards of 90 students at a time. We never know what we’re gonna get, which is both thrilling and frightening. We always attempt to fit in our pre-made lesson plan into the abilities and attention span of the students we’re given for that period of time and sometimes it’s more challenging than others. After the first class of surprises we head to the local Bia Hoi restaurant, complete with a hanging mutilated goat carcass which becomes more skeletal each time we visit. We sit facing the other wall and we order by pointing to random dishes and seeing what we get. We cross our fingers that it does not contain goat. Later, in the second class, we have another set of surprises awaiting. The second class is always more tired and solemn, maybe after a large lunch and a busy morning, and it’s much more challenging trying to teach. Usually at this point we've held it long enough and we decide to brave the bathroom. Bathroom is a loose word, you need a bath after you go to this room. But that's just the way it is. Typically, upon entering, your nostrils hit a wall of urine stench which doesn't cease and can be explained by the puddles on the floor. There are three "stalls": one wide open with no doors and a wide trough, like a woman urinal, and a bucket of brown water for flushing/pseudo-toilet paper; one missing a door and often you'll get the back view of some girl peeing; and finally one with a door. Oh, and they're all squat pots. Meaning a hole to aim for and places to put your feet. Sometimes when I'm done I just come out laughing; it's the one thing that I just can't seem to get used to while living here. You've just gotta laugh it off and then wash your shoes.
Overall the experience teaching at Hanoi Open University thus far has been ok. We still have plenty of time to grow into it and become better at it, but we are faced with many challenges. This is good for me though, since I may want to teach as a profession when I’m older.
Friday, October 30, 2009
balance
A few weeks ago I would have bludgeoned the following thoughts of out my mind: I like Vietnam. I am having a good time. I am learning a lot. About myself, about the world.
A few weeks ago my homesickness was clouding my whole outlook on everything. I had a very negative attitude, as a sort of "defense" against what was frustrating and challenging me. Yet that was only making it worse (silly brain). Luckily I've come to face the fact that this experience is a good one (which grows on me by the day) and although there are many challenges, there are so many more gifts. At this point I miss silly things: pancakes, my bed, clean bathroom facilites... which I will have again soon enough.
Vietnamese awesomeness:
banh xeo (vietnamese savory pancake)
the fact that my mattress has "good time" written all over it
LITTLE MUNCHKIN CHILDREN that may find their way into my suitcaseI've come to find that although life here seems on the surface utterly chaotic, it's actually rhythmic, even harmonious: all the parts work together, like one big organism. Motorbikes practically choke you as you attempt to cross the street, yet as you make your way one by one they swerve out of your way, like water going around a rock. Trash is everywhere, yet is (usually) picked up by trusty street workers, who even sort the recyclables.... more on this later
halfway through
Today I noticed I am halfway through my time in Vietnam. I also realized that this corresponds with the amount of toenail which has grown since I left the US:
I wonder if I will be able to clip off the last sliver of blue the night before I return home.
I wonder if I will be able to clip off the last sliver of blue the night before I return home.
Monday, October 19, 2009
surprise performances and "when is your wedding?"
Sunday: Woke up for 8 am and went to Hanoi Open University, the place Alaina and I will be interning at. There we attended the ALOHA (English Club) women’s day celebration. Apparently whenever Vietnamese get together, they sing. And so do their guests. So being the guests of honor we were informed minutes before the start of the presentation that we were required to get up and perform some songs. All eyes on us and not having any choice in the matter Alaina and I got up and sang the chorus to the “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” from The Lion King, “Under The Sea” from The Little Mermaid and “Oops! I Did It Again” by Britney Spears. I’m not sure if they thought it was funny or just pathetic, but they laughed and clapped when we were finished. Then the whole 2.5 hour program proceeded, with 2-3 songs performed between each woman day feature. Twice we got up to answer the same questions, but asked in different forms, like “How do you feel about women’s day?” or “how do you feel about a day dedicated to woman?”.
Monday: Today I attended my first Vietnamese class in Hanoi, where we practiced talking about our future wedding and husbands. No joke. The teacher kept asking us— for an hour— when will you get a boyfriend? (I don’t know) Why don’t you have a boyfriend? (I don’t know) When will you have your wedding? (After I have a boyfriend) What will he be like? Handsome, rich or intelligent? (Ummm…)
Later for the VNLC course all of us went to the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum.
Afterwards Cathy, Brittany, Kelly and I went to “Olympia Gym” to sign up so that we could work out on occasion. We walked in and although it was dirty and old (what isn’t, though?) it was also hilarious. Huge muscle men posters plastered the walls and techno music blasted from the floor above. The first floor seemed to be the men’s muscle building floor, and the second was the cardio/aerobic class are, which was all women. Working out in… bikinis? Yes, bikinis. Even leopard print ones. They were also all doing outdated calisthenics. We climbed to the last floor to find some actual treadmills and one elliptical machine— and a woman wearing all spandex and a marble-colored thong leotard over it. Fabulous!
Monday: Today I attended my first Vietnamese class in Hanoi, where we practiced talking about our future wedding and husbands. No joke. The teacher kept asking us— for an hour— when will you get a boyfriend? (I don’t know) Why don’t you have a boyfriend? (I don’t know) When will you have your wedding? (After I have a boyfriend) What will he be like? Handsome, rich or intelligent? (Ummm…)
Later for the VNLC course all of us went to the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum.
Afterwards Cathy, Brittany, Kelly and I went to “Olympia Gym” to sign up so that we could work out on occasion. We walked in and although it was dirty and old (what isn’t, though?) it was also hilarious. Huge muscle men posters plastered the walls and techno music blasted from the floor above. The first floor seemed to be the men’s muscle building floor, and the second was the cardio/aerobic class are, which was all women. Working out in… bikinis? Yes, bikinis. Even leopard print ones. They were also all doing outdated calisthenics. We climbed to the last floor to find some actual treadmills and one elliptical machine— and a woman wearing all spandex and a marble-colored thong leotard over it. Fabulous!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
men with long nails, girls peeing in front of stores.
I was sick, as I wrote, and ended up having to go to the hospital, It was a cultural experience, though, that may have made up for the others (don’t get me wrong, I would have definitely preferred not to have gone). Ruby insisted that I go, so we hopped onto her motorbike and headed over. Beforehand she warned me that they might try to make me buy medicines I don’t need and we might have to pay bribes to see the doctor—we didn’t have to pay a bribe, as far as I understood, but we did convince them to see me because I was from a group of American students, two of whom are interning at the hospital. Thankfully I got a bed in the back of some waiting room/office area, away from the real emergency room. Like any hospital the emergency room was filled with emergency cases, but unlike in America (or any hospitals I’ve been to there) everything was out in the open, with blood and pain and everything. So I was thus thankful to be in my own little corner. After I saw the doctor and he examined my stomach, they drew a little blood and put me on an IV. There was a serious lack of communication. The nurses didn’t know how to work the IV because for both the flow was incredibly slow and a few hours later the doctor would check it, tsk tsk the nurses and turn it much faster, so that it would run down in an hour instead of twenty four. At one point a few hours into the experience the nurse came in and told me she needed to take a liter of blood, and naturally I was like why the f do they need a liter of blood, they already took blood twice. But somehow that got forgotten and then the nurse came in with a mysterious white pill which when asked she didn’t know the purpose for and went to ask the doctor. Finally I was let out after getting my blood results back, which said I had normal results but may have a minor infection in my stomach or intestines. They gave me a prescription for antibiotics, as I assumed they would, and I went on my sick but merry way back to the dorm where I watched Pride and Prejudice for the second time and fell asleep. The next day, Friday, I continued having stomach pains and occasional dizziness but was able to go to photo class by Hoan Kiem lake to take pictures of the “urban ghosts.” Saturday I still had mild stomach pains after eating but I had an appetite and rewarded it with a delicious burrito. Thankfully I am feeling much better and hope to be able to finally start getting into some sort of normal routine in the upcoming week, which I was unable to start while sick.
Now that we’ve been touring all around Vietnam (Saigon, Mekong Delta, Central Region, Hanoi) there are some behaviors I’ve seen take place in all parts of the country that I find to be interesting, and some disgusting. First off is the one I noticed right off the bat: the woman who covers herself from head to toe, most commonly with special socks, pants, shirts/jackets, gloves, face mask and sometimes head scarf, so as to remain pale. This is of course interesting to an American girl who grew up with the image of tan skin as beautiful, and who until just recently was somewhat insecure of her very white skin. I also find the dynamic between men and women interesting— I tend to only see couples at the parks, where they can hide in the shadows and make out. I’ve also seen men with long nails (which I find rather disgusting) and was informed that this is a sign of class in that you don’t have to do manual labor and thus your nails can be long. It’s so weird to have a male waiter who will lean up against the wall and pass the time by cleaning and picking at his nails. The last thing I have seen, which at times can be shocking, are people openly peeing in the streets. I find this just gross, because then people step in it and track it everywhere at it also just adds even more smell to the place. But also, how can the Vietnamese, who seem so conservative about showing cleavage and about male/female relations, just openly pull down their pants to pee? In the middle of the day, in the middle of a busy street, in front of a store!? I’ve seen grown office men, little naked boys, semi-clothed teenage girls, but not adult women thus far. I may faint when I see that.
Now that we’ve been touring all around Vietnam (Saigon, Mekong Delta, Central Region, Hanoi) there are some behaviors I’ve seen take place in all parts of the country that I find to be interesting, and some disgusting. First off is the one I noticed right off the bat: the woman who covers herself from head to toe, most commonly with special socks, pants, shirts/jackets, gloves, face mask and sometimes head scarf, so as to remain pale. This is of course interesting to an American girl who grew up with the image of tan skin as beautiful, and who until just recently was somewhat insecure of her very white skin. I also find the dynamic between men and women interesting— I tend to only see couples at the parks, where they can hide in the shadows and make out. I’ve also seen men with long nails (which I find rather disgusting) and was informed that this is a sign of class in that you don’t have to do manual labor and thus your nails can be long. It’s so weird to have a male waiter who will lean up against the wall and pass the time by cleaning and picking at his nails. The last thing I have seen, which at times can be shocking, are people openly peeing in the streets. I find this just gross, because then people step in it and track it everywhere at it also just adds even more smell to the place. But also, how can the Vietnamese, who seem so conservative about showing cleavage and about male/female relations, just openly pull down their pants to pee? In the middle of the day, in the middle of a busy street, in front of a store!? I’ve seen grown office men, little naked boys, semi-clothed teenage girls, but not adult women thus far. I may faint when I see that.
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