Teaching
Teaching. The reason I'm here! There is good news and bad news on this front. The good news is, teaching has gotten a lot easier and more consistent. For most teachers, they have a completely different schedule every week, but mine has solidified and is the same every week (thank god). I teach 5 classes twice a week, for a total of 10 periods (which is about three quarter time for a VN teacher in Lao Cai).
Monday:
2nd Period (8:05-8:50)- 10 Physics (Lý)
3rd Period (9:00-9:45)- 10 Literature (Văn)
4th Period (9:50-10:35)- 10 Maths (Toán)
Since these guys are all non-majors, I typically just teach the same lesson 3 times, with a decrease in difficulty for 10 Literature because they are less advanced. The skill level in these classes can vary pretty wildly. Some of the kids are near the major level, while some struggle to even understand the directions (like "stand up and point at the person next to you.")
Tuesday:
2nd Period (8:05-8:50)- 10 Maths
3rd Period (9:00-9:45)- 11 English
4th Period (9:50-10:35)- 10 English
I usually teach 10 and 11 English the same general thing, but I increase the difficulty for 11 English (for example, today I went over the difference between discreet and discrete for 11 English). I might make 10 English analyze a poem, but then make 11 English analyze it AND create their own verse, or something like that.
Wednesday
2nd Period (8:05-8:50) - 10 Literature
4th Period (9:50-10:35)- 10 English
I usually just chill in the teacher's lounge and decompress during my break during 3rd period. 10 Literature is (by far) my least advanced class and 10 English is very advanced, so it takes a big mental shift to switch between them.
Thursday
2nd Period (8:05-8:50)- 10 Physics
3rd Period (9:00-9:45)- 11 English
Thats it! While it might not seem like a lot, I often pick up "extra" assignments, like working with the national team (the 6 best students in the province who will compete in the national exam) or helping English teachers prepare for their recertification exams and stuff like that. A lot of it is just explaining idiomatic expressions ("Getting the hang of it" or "As right as rain") or coaching pronunciation.
Instead of just having discrete lessons (Get it? haha), I've divided my classes into 6 lesson units (covering about 3 weeks each) where we examine a topic through various avenues. So, we might do a reading lesson on the founding of America, a music lesson with the Star Spangled Banner. Or, for the "Body and Me" unit (I'm following the textbook for the non-majors), we did some body-related vocab then played Simon Says. Then, the next lesson we did a debate with various medicine/body rights related problems.
So, on the positive side, teaching is getting easier. The students can understand me better, I know their capabilities better, and I can start designing more interesting lessons.
On the negative side, it is hard to be creative and energetic all the time. Students can always tell when I'm exhausted or in a bad mood and they feed it back to me. They've also started talking more (a good sign) but now they won't shut up. They have the bad habit of talking when their peers are talking. They don't talk when I speak of course, but they will often talk over their peers, which can really cripple their friends self-confidence. (Many, many, many) Vietnamese people struggle with confidence with regards to their English. I've tried to boost their confidence by telling them stories of me making mistakes in Vietnamese, but it only has a limited impact. (For example, one time I said: Tôi thich ăn bun instead of: Tôi thich ăn bún. The difference, of course, is saying I like to eat mud vs. I like to eat rice noodles. :0 )
Again, it has only been 5 and a half weeks of teaching so I'm still learning a lot about classroom management and effective lesson planning. Overall, I'd say I'm pretty "meh" about teaching. I don't hate it (getting the class to learn something or have fun is pretty fun for me, plus I've started to like public speaking), but I don't love it (it is stressful to create lesson plans every week and public speaking can be emotionally draining).
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| You have to learn pronunciation! |
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| We had a color war. As the only teacher...I got targeted. This was only 1/3 of the way through. |
Living
As you might have noticed, I have a lot of free time! I spend most mornings teaching, then have lunch and catch up on what is happening in America. I eat lunch with students maybe twice a week and eat by myself the other days. In the afternoon, I either lesson plan, nap (especially the day after 1 am Packer games), watch a movie, or go into Lao Cai city work out or to hang out with Olivia and Pauline.
The weather is stellar here. It is in the high 70s or low 80s most days (apparently it will never get below 50). It doesn't rain much- maybe only twice a week for an hour or so. No big deal. Last week we had a storm and it rained continually for 3 days, but some weeks it hasn't rained at all. Definitely not your "tropical jungle" experience that most people think of when they imagine Vietnam. If you're trying to imagine Lao Cai, it looks a lot like a developing, small city in West Virginia than it looks like Tropic Thunder. Lots of construction (re: development) and lots of trees and mountains.
There is not a ton to do in Lao Cai other than play sports with students (every day from 4:30-6!), work out, or hang out with Pauline and Olivia. While I hang out with students and teachers some, hanging out with students is undeniably awkward- they are 15 and my students! Teachers are better, but they often have their own social calendars with their Vietnamese friends, or are just busy working. While I'm not by any definition lonely, I definitely wish I had more social interaction, it just may be on me to initiate it!
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| Street shot of Lao Cai |
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| Heading to the market |
Travelling (and getting Sick)
I do wish I have travelled more. I've only been to Sapa, Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Bac Ha and Si Ma Cai so far. This weekend, I will go to Ha Long Bay, and I have arranged for trips to Hue and Dien Bien Phu before I return home for a short break in December. Twice the night before I have been due to depart, I have gotten sick. The second time my dehydration was so severe I required hospitalization and an IV. While I quickly recovered, going to the hospital was not a particularly fun experience! Especially when no one spoke English (an English teacher from the school accompanied me and helped me translate!) Also- to my horror- when they put my IV in, they didn't use gloves! I'm still trying to recover from that. Finally, the night in the hospital and the IV ended up costing 1.1 million VND (or 50 bucks).
Cross-Cultural Exchange
Since I know you want to know (I keep getting asked): what are the weird cross-cultural things I didn't expect!
As I've noticed them, I've jotted a few down for you to ponder.
1. Arm Hair- Vietnamese men, women, and children are fascinated by my arm hair. While I'll admit I'm a fairly hirsute guy, it is way beyond that. People- at dinner, at coffee, on the street, at random- will come up and touch my arm hair. They rub it, pick it up, stare at it. They just look amazed- they don't looked impressed or horrified, just fascinated.
2. Putting food in my bowl- In Vietnam, it is my understanding that it is a friendly, loving thing to put food in my bowl for me. Typically, this is the pattern. My bowl is somewhat or mostly empty. People, anywhere around the table, will pick up my bowl and use their (used) chopsticks to put food in the bowl. They are saying, "You are hungry/might be hungry, let me help!" While I appreciate their loving help, it annoys me because it is their used chopsticks, and typically they choose something I wouldn't have chosen for myself (aka food I don't like such as tofu!). Or, they wait until the end of the meal when I'm full! This one does have links to America, as I've been told my whole life that my great-grandmother's famous quote was "Eat! What does full have to do with it?"
3. Staring and "Cao qua!" In Vietnam, I'm the tallest person. That is just a fact. I have not seen anyone within 5 inches of me since arriving in Lao Cai. No tourists, no teachers, no students. I'm just taller than they are. While I'm much taller than average (6'3") in America, I'm more like Lebron in Vietnam, as I'm like 10 inches taller than average here. I'm the tallest person most people have seen in a while. So, they stare. There are only 4 Westerners in Lao Cai city (me, Olivia, Pauline, and a 54 year old American woman named Debbie), period. Like, thats it. Of course they stare! It doesn't bother me. I just smile and engage them (in my limited fashion) in Vietnamese, which usually causes them to break into applause (no, seriously). As soon as they find out I speak (a very little) Vietnamese, they ask me (if a woman) if I have a girlfriend or (if a man) what I think of Vietnamese woman/will I marry one.
On that note, I did not realize how much Vietnamese people idealize Westerners as beautiful. No BS, I know I'm a fairly average looking dude. But, here in Vietnam, I'm crazy good looking. I was warned it would happen in Hanoi, but I didn't believe the people who told me (looking at you, Diane). In Lao Cai, virtually the first thing everyone tells me, after telling me how tall I am, is how good looking I am. Literally every single woman and most men too. Little girls, middle aged women, old grandmotherly ladies. Interestingly, teenage girls don't tell me that I'm good looking, but they blush furiously and refuse to speak to me. For a while I wondered if being handsome was just the extent of their English language compliments, but I frequently get it in Vietnamese too (dẹp trai). Whatever. I'll try not to enjoy it too much, haha
4. Car Sick. Weirdly, many, many Vietnamese people get horribly carsick when they travel by car or bus. Every time I've travelled by car, I've been asked if I get carsick (which I don't). In America, I feel like getting carsick is fairly uncommon. At least, I've only known one person who got carsick. Here in Vietnam, it appears to be very common. On my trip to Bac Ha and Si Ma Cai with 12 English, over a third of the class got sick (either vomited in the bus or immediately upon exiting). The word for it is xe say, which combines the word vehicle (xe) and the word drunk (say). Its pronounced "say say" except you say both "says" slightly differently. But, apparently, getting carsick is a very common thing in Vietnam!
Moving Forward
Overall, I'm doing OK. I wish I liked teaching more/was a better teacher (it'd make my life easier), but I figure that it will all come with time! I'm just trying to improve my Vietnamese every day (I think its pretty bad, but the director of the Fulbright program in Vietnam, Chị Nga, told me it wasn't bad when she visited last week!).
I want to travel more (but I will) and connect with Vietnamese people more (aka have more friends), but I'm confident that I will. I'm not really where I want to be right now, but I have confidence I can get there! (My having too many/too large expectations is probably no surprise to you).
I'm headed to Ha Long Bay in less than 48 hours so I hope to have some pretty pictures (dẹp qua) when I come back.
Onwards. Always Onwards.
Daniel
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| A grocery store |
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| Everyone (and their mom) has a motor bike here! |
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