2/3 of the way through Orientation (Part 1)

I promise that I won't be one of those (many) people who start blogs, put down a few posts, and then abandon them!

This was originally going to be a longer post with updates about my activities and more general reflections, but it got too long, so I've split it up into 2 parts.

Vietnamese Lessons

The first two week of my time in Hanoi were dominated by Vietnamese lessons! All day, every day. We had class from 8:30-4:30 on M-F, and we learned an insane amount. We went from practicing the vowels on Day 1, to being able to have full conversations (on limited topics) on Day 10. As per usual, I have really struggled with Vietnamese, but I've definitely been working hard to get better.  I try to speak with every taxi driver, every bus driver, every tour guide. Its slow going, especially because Vietnamese has 6 tones, so every word can mean 6 different things based on how its said.

Definitely, Vietnamese is still a work in progress- I'm continuing to take lessons once I get to Lao Cai, and I'm always adding to my vocab booklet. While (as of now), I'm comfortable buying stuff on the street, ordering food in a restaurants, getting directions, making (very) brief small talk with locals, I want to get a lot better. Next time you see me, I'll be a lot closer to fluent (although definitely not that close to fluent, haha).

Last day of Vietnamese class!

Ninh Binh

On our first weekend in Vietnam, we wanted to go to Ha Long Bay as a group of 14 ETAs, but the region was flooded, so we went south, to Ninh Binh. It was beautiful (google "Inland Halong Bay" or "Ninh Binh" if you don't believe me). We kayaked through a cave (which was a UNESCO World Heritage site for reasons never made clear to me), went to an old pre-Hanoi capital called Hoa Lu, and finally climbed through the largest temple complex in Vietnam. Definitely a fun adventure and a bonding experience with the other ETAs.

Ninh Binh: this photo doesn't really do it justice

Kayaking through a UNESCO World Heritage Cave

Giant statute alter type things

13 Story pagoda, unfortunately closed

Mai Chau

On our second weekend, Fulbright Vietnam organized a bonding experience in Mai Chau, a beautiful province also south of Hanoi. We headed out on Friday afternoon and stayed at Mai Chau ecolodge, a more beautiful and luxurious place than we had any right to stay at. We went biking, kayaking, walking through a local village. Josh and I befriended a tour guide and he invited us to play soccer with some of his friends. We had some fun, despite the ridiculous humidity, and the fact that only one friend showed up.

Amazing pool

Rice paddies everywhere!

Killer outdoor shower

View from the the ecolodge that Erik and I shared

We went biking through the fields- I was curious what a rice paddy would feel like to fall into.
Sadly, my camera did not survive the trip.

(I did not intentionally go into the rice paddy)

Teacher Training

After finishing Vietnamese lessons, we have been in teacher training for last two weeks of orientation. While Vietnamese was a new skill, and crucial to survival here, learning to be a teacher is really our focus for being here. That being said, we have very little information about our classes or students, so its hard to prepare (and easy to be anxious). I know that I will be teaching Speaking and Listening to 10 classes a week, meeting with 10th grade English, Chemistry, Maths, and Physics majors, as well as 11th grade English majors- twice a week for each group. I know I have a textbook and syllabus and that is far more than the rest of the ETAs have. They mostly know that they will be teaching, but not who or what or for how long.

As you might imagine, lacking this information makes it hard to conceptualize and apply the information we are being given. How does one make a lesson plan for students they've never met? Fortunately, several members of our group are experienced teachers, and I will rely on their expertise. I'm shadowing my first week in Lao Cai, and then I can just teach from the textbook until I get more comfortable with my students and their level of English. In an ideal world, I'd know more, but one (of the many) lessons I'm learning in Vietnam is how to be flexible.

Homestay

My third (and final) weekend I did a homestay with a Vietnamese family. I stayed with a VN National working in the Fulbright Office, a woman named Chi Hanh. She has a husband named Anh Long, and two 4.5 year old twins named Ben and Nim (think Benjamin) who speak Vietnamese, but can understand English, which Chi Hanh speaks fluently.

My goal in visiting was to see (from the inside) what a typical Vietnamese nuclear family looks like. It typically includes another generation (typically the man's parents), and while Chi Hanhs parents and in-laws are healthy and young enough not to live in their apartment, I did get to meet her father (Ben and Nim's grandfather!). We went to the zoo, the ethnology museum and had pigeon for dinner one night. Definitely less "adventurous" than going and exploring provinces south of Hanoi, but I'd say more educational.

Eating pigeon with anh Long, Chi Hanh, Ben, and Nim

A 3rd world zoo had a lot of concrete and chain link, just like I expected. :(

When I saw this, how could I not do it!?

Chi Hanh has a sick apartment!

They LOVED playing Temple Runner on my phone for some reason.

I realize that these last couple posts have been lots of information, with little reflection and analysis. There is a reason for that. Until I have been here a sufficiently long time, its hard to know what is common. What is typical for Vietnam, and what just one person/one person having a bad day? It rained every day for the first week, but only once since. In order to avoid making overly broad generalizations, I've tried to refrain from drawing conclusions, but instead limited myself to observations.

Now, I still can't make any conclusions about Hanoi, much less Vietnam. However, I can draw some conclusions about how I've been doing, which is what part 2 of this blog will be about.

Onwards. Always Onwards.
Daniel