First Week of Teaching

I'm glad I wrote this post after my first week of teaching instead of just my first day! Had I written this after one day, it would have been more "@!#$ what have I gotten myself into?" and now I'm more "Dang. This will be hard but I can totally handle it!"

I told everyone this summer that this year would push me out of my comfort zone- and it is true- I'm definitely uncomfortable! :)

Teaching

Teaching started out being really difficult. It is really hard to be super energetic and peppy when I'm teaching a lesson for the third time in three periods. Also, I didn't realize what a big percentage of my personality is based on humor, so I'm trying to find innovative ways to be funny when my students don't really speak English. This has led to me being way over the top in terms of gestures and facial expressions. The kids have been really receptive- they all want to learn from me, so its nice that I'm starting off with positive points-I'm the new, American, foreign teacher (it helps that I'm male too- not many English teachers are male).

One reason I have to be so peppy is because students are shy. Even after being prompted multiple times, they won't speak loudly. Their classmates can't hear them, I can't hear them, even when standing right next to them. I've been working on helping them realize that is OK to make mistakes- their other teachers can be highly critical of mistakes, so I want them to know that my classroom is a safe space. (I tell the story of how I accidentally asked a Vietnamese man if he loved me, when I meant to ask him if he could understand me). It will be a work in progress, I'm sure. Some former ETAs have said it takes months for them to get louder, so I'm trying to be patient.

My schedule is pretty easy: I teach 10 Physics, 10 Math, 10 Literature (non-majors), 10 English and 11 English, all twice a week. I teach only in the morning, three times on Mon/Tues and twice on Wed/Thurs. This means I finish by 10:30 every day, so if I want to head out to Hanoi for a weekend, I can.

(Just to be clear, I teach English to everyone- even if you are majoring in Physics or Math, you still need to take English! In my high school, you specialize in one subject and take more of that. So, if you specialize in Math, you take 6 math periods per week and only 3 English ones. Flip that if you specialize in English. In my high school, you take all your subjects in the same room. The teachers move from room to room instead of students.)

I'm teaching 10 periods per week (but you count teaching major periods- teaching English to English majors or math to math majors double, so really 14). A full course load is 17 or 18 periods. So, I'm close to 3/4 time, not full time. The real teachers teach 18 periods in the morning and extra periods (for extra pay) in the afternoon.

I'm not going to lie- the first couple days were TOUGH. I was exhausted and scared. I wasn't scared of teaching or my students or anything, I was just nervous if I was going to be creative enough to create innovative lesson plans for an entire year! Fortunately, 45 minutes is really not that long a time. I have a textbook to teach from in 10 and 11 English, and I just borrow games for the non-majors.

Originally, I was the non-majors' (10 Math, Physics and Literature) only teacher- teaching grammar and grading them. I explained to the school that I wasn't qualified to give assessments or teach anything other than Speaking/Listening and so they've given me a co-teacher for each class. This is great because it means if I need to miss class, all I have to do is prepare a lesson plan ahead of time and I can have more time to travel around Vietnam!

As the week wore on, each day got easier and easier, each lesson went better and better. The students are more used to me, I'm more used to them. While it started really poorly, I think everyone feels better every lesson!

Opening Ceremonies for the new school year, even though
school had already been going for 3 weeks!

All the local officials came out!

Everyone (include my co-teacher) got dressed up in
Ao Dai ("Ow Zai")

After Opening Ceremonies, the students competed in sports.
I "led" the student team  (left) to a massive defeat against the alumni team (right).
My friend James is Number 6 in red.
If you're wondering, the current team doesn't have their jerseys for this year yet, the jerseys
last year certainly look cool!

Boredom

I anticipate being bored a lot in Lao Cai (or LC, as I will henceforth be calling it). I teach only for a couple hours every morning, and while the students are in class (7:15-11:25; 1:10-4:30; 7:30-10 every day but Sunday), I'm left to my own devices.

I've explored, but LC doesn't have a lot to do or see. It has some markets and a park, but no movie theatre or central square or library. Not even many cafes to post up and do work in! I'm going to keep exploring (I've only seen 3 of the 4 districts with any thoroughness), but I'm not super optimistic.

So far, I've read 4 books (the Airborn series and Siddartha), watched 4 movies (Dear White People, Mean Girls, Up in the Air, and Gideon's Army), and watched a ton of Youtube videos. So, by all means- send me your recommendations of books and movies to consume!

I'm also working out everyday from 3-4 (add on a 20 minute bicycle transit on either side) and playing basketball from 4:30-6.

I've made a sign up for students to sign up to have a meal with me, so I can have lunch and dinners with people. So far, I've been mostly passive-letting people invite me places. However, I know that that will slow down, as I lose my novelty, so I'm making an effort to connect with people who treat me like a normal person (i.e. not screaming hysterically whenever I say "hello") of which I have found at least 3 so far!

Friends

Making friends was one of the things I was most curious about (sorry for the passive voice). My co-workers are mostly either a) busy, b) older, or c) do not speak English. I can communicate with them but not to a sufficient degree to get any meaningful information from them.

My students are much younger- most of them are 15-16 and treat me like a....celebrity? I'm focusing on introducing myself and my foibles so they will know I'm a normal person and not an...object? Its weird- I get treated like a thing to be admired and screamed at, not a person to be talked to.

Fortunately, I've been able to make 4 friends so far!

My closest friend is James. He graduated last year from CLC (my high school) and we lift and play basketball together every day. He has great English! Unfortunately, he is leaving for the police academy at the end of the month, so he is focusing on introducing me to his friends, so I can have people to play basketball with!

I've also befriended two German girls who teach English at Lao Cai High School Number 1, about 20 minutes from me. I feel bad for them- they are only 18/19 and they just got placed in Lao Cai. They applied for a gap year to Vietnam, and all their friends are in Hanoi! (Fortunately, they have each other). They are really great and interesting people, and I would hope to be able to travel with them. The only thing is- they might leave- teaching is really hard for them because they didn't get any of the training that the Fulbrighters got. They just applied to come to Vietnam for a year; they only found out that they'd be teaching and in LC upon arrival! For very tough circumstances, I'm so impressed at how cheerful they are!

Me, Olivia, and Pauline

Finally- I've made friends with a retired Singaporean sailor named Phillip. He works out at the gym everyday. I'd say its weird that he is always there when I'm there, but the gym is only open Mon-Fri from 3 pm -7 pm, so you end up seeing the same people every time. Cool dude, good English and great spotter! (Also- very weird to lift in kilograms! Requires a lot more math to figure out what I'm lifting!)

Loneliness

After teaching (which is difficult, but getting easier), my next biggest problem has been loneliness. While many people in LC have gone out of their way to invite me to dinner, culture shock has definitely been hitting me hard. I definitely appreciate how far out of their way people have gone- there is really no getting around it- I miss my family and friends!

I was pretty surprised to come to this realization. I don't usually get homesick. Of course, I miss my friends and family- if I haven't hung out with you lately, I miss you and want to know about your life! I wasn't expecting the homesickness to be quite so strong. In college, I skyped my family once a week or once every two weeks. Not too much, and I didn't skype them because I was homesick, I skyped them because I wanted to stay involved in their lives.

Here, I've found myself talking to my family every day, sometimes even more than once a day (in the morning, which is night their time, and in the evening, which is morning their time). I become much happier once I realized that I could talk to my family and friends more often if I wanted to- I didn't have to limit myself to once a week...which was a limit I set for myself for some arbitrary reason.

So, while I always knew I had great friends and family, I've been really astounded at how willing everyone has been to skype/call/e-mail/fb message/snapchat me at all hours of the day and night. Truly, I didn't know how great everyone was until I left!

While the first two weeks in LC have been really difficult, every day has been getting easier and easier. The more I find out about Vietnam, the more everything makes sense. I have some really interesting travel plans coming up (I'm visiting Chin Yee this weekend, visiting Josh the weekend after, and going to Sapa the weekend after that!)

Picture I show when people ask to see my family- sorry Adam, but its a great picture!

The thing about Vietnam (and maybe, about post-grad life) is that everything I do, I do for the first time. That means that every day is easier than the last!

Onwards. Always Onwards.
Daniel

Welcome to Lao Cai

Its the end of Week 1 in Lao Cai, so I figure its time for an update (and while Week One is only one week, I have a much better sense of what life in Lao Cai will be like, I hope).

Arrival

When I first arrived in Lao Cai, I caused a bit of a ruckus. Students came flooding out of the classrooms and screaming. And I mean screaming- like, at a One Direction concert. It was loud. I was quickly surrounded by 30 girls all asking for my phone number and facebook address. It was slightly overwhelming, especially after a tiring 6 hour journey from Hanoi (1 hour in a taxi trying to find the bus station and 5 hours on the bus).

I'm not going to lie- I was slightly overwhelmed by how much new stuff there was in Lao Cai. Some of it was understandable- I have to learn where everything is in a new town where I can't read the signs. Some of it was less so- my bathroom is open to the elements and I couldn't figure out how to dry my laundry until someone showed me. I would have to say my first day was definitely the worst so far in Vietnam- very overwhelming. Just everything. After one week, I know where stuff is and I have people I can ask if I can't find it, which has gone a long way towards making life more comfortable.

Mornings

In the morning, I usually observe classes. In Lao Cai, there are 24 "major" classes- 8 each for 3 grades (10-12; majoring in English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math, Literature, Chinese, and "undeclared" or A1). Students have 5 periods in the morning (7:15-11:25), then an hour break for lunch. After lunch, students have 4 more periods (1-4:30ish). Then, they have a 3 hour break, followed by 2 hours of mandatory homework time (7:30-9:30) followed by bed time! Its a wonder they are able to anything other than study!

I have been assigned to teach 4 classes 2-3 times a week, for a total of 10 periods a week. So, I teach 10 and 11 English, 10 Math, and 10 Physics. I teach the English classes twice a week and the Math/Physics classes 3 times a week (Oh, did I mention they have school 6 days a week!? Crazy, right?) So far, I've observed all the classes a couple times, both in English class and in other subjects. As Lao Cai is a gifted high school (the only one of 5 high schools in the city) they try to have their classes in English as much as possible.

As you might expect, the teachers really struggled to communicate in English and they frequently lapsed into Vietnamese. Its hard to teach a subject in a foreign language! They seemed embarrassed and apologized to me frequently. I assured them that they shouldn't apologize until my Vietnamese is as good as their English (which I doubt it will ever be!)

As all my classes are in the morning (and on Mon-Thurs) I have afternoons off. Also, the classrooms are fairly modern, even by American standards. I know that Lao Cai is a little wealthier due to being right by China, but still!

On the right is a smart board that can detect and translate handwriting!

Swanky sound system

Practicing for Opening Ceremonies tomorrow

View of the school- 5 levels, with a teacher's lounge on the 3rd

Afternoons

So far, my afternoons have been unproductive. I got a bicycle, which I'm using to start to explore the city. I've joined a gym ($11 bucks a month) and plan on working out a ton while I'm here. Every day, from 4:30-6, there is basketball practice, so I've joined that pretty regularly. I am the tallest guy, but there are three other guys who are between 6'0 and 6'2, so its not like I'm towering over everyone!

 If life is as slow as I think it might be, I may be asking you for book recommendations soon!

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be here, but I feel...weird not doing stuff, you know? I'm used to being hyper-active and hyper-involved all the time. If I had free time, I quickly filled it with another club, class, or scheduled activity. Also, I felt like I have this great opportunity, but even maximizing it as much as I can (travelling every 2 or 3 weeks; eating every meal with students and teachers; learning Vietnamese; getting in great shape), I'm still going to have a huge amount of free time. Its just going to be a learning experience- learning to slow down. Learning to be alone, I guess.

Random Thoughts

• Teachers are really respected here. One day, I had lunch with another teacher, but it was paid for a student's family who was in the same restaurant. We only discovered when we went to pay the bill!

• If you haven't heard of Sapa, it is to Lao Cai what Las Vegas is to Nevada. It is the place to go. When I say I'm in Lao Cai to people in Hanoi, they reply "Sapa!" It is by FAR biggest name in Vietnam north of Hanoi. I saw signs for Sapa everywhere in Hanoi and everywhere in Lao Cai. It is the thing to do. It was about an hour away by bus and once I saw it, I saw what the fuss was about! It was beautiful! I paid special attention to how to get to Sapa and how to get around- I know that almost all the Fulbrighters are going to want to come visit me for the purpose of going to Sapa. It has the highest mountain in IndoChina (Mt. Fansipan, or as I call it, Mt. Fancy Pants). 

• The other thing I realized today was that there is a huge difference between knowing I'm  going to feel something and actually feeling it. I knew that life in Vietnam would be slower and different, but it is quite another thing to experience. I knew Vietnamese would be tough to learn, but actually struggling to learn it was difficult. I kept thinking that if I anticipated how I would feel in a certain situation, it would make the feeling less intense/less bad. I guess anticipating feelings doesn't negate them. (Bummer, right?)

Anyway, I have Opening Ceremonies tomorrow, where I'll hopefully get to play on the teacher's teams for volleyball and basketball. After that, I start teaching on Monday. I'll post again soon on my mis-adventures in teaching.

Onwards. Always Onwards.
Daniel

P.S. Oh, here are some pictures of my room!

My room- it has AC and a fan, but it also gets quite chilly in winter, apparently

Gotta have snacks. I'm hooked on these things called Dynomite Chews which
are mint-chocolate flavored.

Pretty spacious room, right?

I got kitchen and washing machine. Only bummer is that it is open to the environment,
so bugs and stuff can get into this room, so I usually keep the door closed. Also,
a guy who lived here two years ago said that when its January and its 40 degrees out, it
can be quite brisk.

One weird thing, when I run the water, it comes out the little hole in the bottom
left and into a drain on the ground

I thought this was a toy for a second, I found it in my bed the first night.

If you're wondering what it is, yes, its a lizard skeleton.