Daniel in Vietnam: Mid-Year Conference

At approximately the mid point of the Fulbright Grant (about two weeks before the mathematical halfway point), all the Fulbrighters reassembled in Da Lat (a wonderful city in the central highlands) for a four day conference. Wait-I've skipped a step- let me back up.

Week 1 (December 7th-December 15th)

After breaking my elbow and moping for a week, I headed back to the States for a very special reason...a wedding! One of my best friends, Sky, got married to his fiance, and he asked me to be his best man. So, I got permission from my school and from the U.S. Embassy and headed back for a week (well, with 36 hours travelling on both ends, it officially took 9 days but I was only home for a week). It was a great week! I saw my family- immediate and extended. Then I headed to Charlottesville for a truly spectacular wedding. While I couldn't participate in all of the bachelor party festivities (hard to play trampoline basketball and dodgeball with a broken elbow), I could fortunately put on my tux! The wedding was really beautiful- it was awesome to see Sky (and Emily) so happy.

Then, after a whirlwind in which I never fully shook the jet-lag, it was time to go back. I was worried it would be hard to go back, but I felt like I still had more to do in Lao Cai- I'm not finished growing- so it wasn't that hard.

Week 2( December 16th-19th)

I arrived back in Vietnam (eventually, I had to spend a night in Tokyo after flight delays caused me to miss my connections) and flew to Da Lat. I flew with Josh and his girlfriend Anya (they said they recognized me by my running through the airport using only one arm!).

In Da Lat, all 14 ETAs assembled for the first time since August (Paul hasn't left Quy Nhon once since August) as well as 6 ETAs from Laos. We spent 2 days giving 45 minute presentations (yes, it was long).

This was a great chance to reflect on my experience so far. What have I accomplished? What do I want to do differently next semester?

I was worried I would feel inadequate compared to the other ETAs- they are all incredibly impressive people who are doing amazing things in their provinces- what the hell am I doing? (For example, one girl is teaching an extra class at a coffee shop that gets over 50 people per class; another is teaching the city officials on the side).

In my experience, I was following an absolutely amazing teacher, a man named David Grundy, and people expected me to be just as good. Well, of course I'm very different from a trained 55 year old British teacher and so people readjusting their expectations (What? He'd rather play basketball than drink?) has taken longer than expected.

At this point, I'm seen as more of a trophy or status symbol than anything else. Everything I do is considered "good" or if I eat at a restaurant or go some place, it gets plastered on facebook so everyone knows. My school brings me places, just to show that they have this tall foreign teacher. Of course, I get it- there are not many foreigners in my province and I'm not capable of meaningfully engaging with people. I can talk with them for about 20 minutes but then I run out of things I can say in Vietnamese. I'm not a trained teacher (only a native English speaker) so I can be of some (but limited) utility in that arena.

Fortunately, several other ETAs (many near to me in location) expressed similar feelings and I came to realize- this isn't a competition- I can't win or lose it. Instead, I spent the rest of the time trying to glean- what are other ETAs doing successfully- what can I apply to my situation?

Concretely: not much. There are distinct differences between the resources of other schools and mine (in level of the students and personnel) that make it hard or impossible to replicate the successful of the other ETAs. Instead I need to find ways I can be successful within the structures of my situation.

In terms of attitude: a ton! I took a concrete bit from each presentation ("keep a positive attitude" "advocate for youself" "appreciate the unique Vietnamese-ness of events, even if they are frustrating" "keep perspective on this. This is one year of your life." " There is always someone in a worse situation").

Lastly- the RELO (Regional Language Officer for Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam) had some good advice for us. "We don't need you to be amazing teachers," she said. "We need you to be public dipomats. Little p, little d. Help learn about Vietnam and teach about America, and try to make people who meet you have a positive experiences with Americans. Thats what we need you to do and why you are here."

That was helpful because it helped me realize I need to shift my focus away from teaching and more towards being friendly and gregarious (much easier to be friendly and engaged than to plan outstanding lessons every week).

Overall, meeting the Lao ETAs and seeing the Vietnamese ETAs really energized me and gave me a good pump up for the next semester! I was excited to go back to Lao Cai and teach second semester.

December 20-31st

I now have a new schedule.
Before, I taught 10 Math, 10 Literature, 10 Physics, 10 English, 11 English twice a week.
Now, I will teach 10/11 Math, 10/11 Literature, 10/11 Physics once a week each. (Also 10/11 English twice a week each) This way I see more students and make fewer lesson plans (this was my idea).

Further, this semester I am supposed to use the textbook about two thirds of lessons. Hopefully this will make lesson planning less stressful and I can focus on what I actually like- teaching.

I taught for two weeks (yes, on Christmas- no one really celebrates Christmas here- maybe <5% of people here are Christians). In those two weeks, I attended two weddings (and declined two more) and I attended a conference where I met the Lieutenant Governor of my province and the head of English Education in Vietnam (and talked to him about Fulbright).

NYE has been kind of a flop- I went to a party hosted by the Department of Education- but we had to end it early because my school has a 10:00 p.m. curfew (also Vietnam has a 12:00 curfew nationally).

Next up, I have a 10 day break because the best students will take the national exam (I'll write a post about that when they get their results back) and teachers must travel around the country to proctor it (teachers from the south will come to Lao Cai and LC teachers must go South). So, I'm headed to Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City for 9 days to relax in the warm sun (its 80 in HCMC and like 50 in Lao Cai- which is a lot colder when you realize no buildings have insulation or heating).