A Day in the Life

Some other Fulbrighters had the idea to write "Day in the Life" posts. Since I'm an unimaginative guy (and it seemed like a good idea) here is mine!

Also, my computer has broken again and in a new way- it no longer recognizes SD Cards/my camera. So, my next blog posts may be devoid of pictures for the last two months :/

A Day in the Life of a Lao Cai Fulbrighter

I wake up at 6:00 AM. Not because I need to (I could roll out of bed and teach at 7:00 if I needed to, but because I don't want to feel rushed in the morning). I check the social media updates, texts from family and friends, e-mails (usually from U.S. based people), and check that day's NBA games (I look to see if the Golden State Warriors are playing later). I go into my open air shower, checking for roaches (occasional), big hairy spiders (once), and snakes (apocryphal, but did happen to a guy two years ago in my exact room). Now, its nice and warm- in January, my open-air shower was freezing and miserable.

I dress for work and review my lessons for the day. Usually, I teach on 2-3 lessons per day (45 minutes each) but each lesson is unique and so I review what I will cover, any materials I'll need, and note any potential sticking places or successful jokes from previous lessons. I walk over to school, which is about 100 feet away. I nod cheerfully to sleepy teenagers, who greet me with a yawn-y "Chao Thay a." I head to the teachers lounge, where I chat with the male English teacher (Mr. Chinh) about how many miles he ran that morning (usually 10+, which I don't know if I believe) and have two male teachers grab my arm hair and play with it, and have two or three female teachers tell me how handsome I am today. I escape and find a female English teacher (Hoa) and discuss 10 English, who I will teach today and who are her primary responsibility. She has just selected the top 6 students for competitions later this year, and we gossip a little about the students relative strengths and weaknesses (my favorite students, the top speakers, tend to have lower marks on grammar and have mostly not been selected).

The drum sounds and I head to my first class, 10 Literature. They are a class of 35 (all girls) with a lower level of English. I try to slow things down for them, with lots of gestures and simple tasks, but it is a frustrating endeavor to even get them to talk to their partner in English for a minute or two.

Fortunately, class ends early today (the drum lady is frustratingly inconsistent) and I refill my water bottle before 10 Math. 10 Math is the best class in the school-to a person, they are fun, funny, motivated, obedient, and high-energy. They put 100% into everything, even if they don't understand and make class a pleasure to teach. The drum sounds again and I head to my final period.

Unlike my non-major classes (Math, Physics, and Literature), where I mostly follow the book, with some fun lessons thrown in, with 10 and 11 English, I'm encouraged to do whatever the heck I want. Right now I'm in the middle of a unit on American Teenagers. Last class, we made "Tweets" and throw snowballs around the room. Today, we will split up into boy and girl groups and pass notes on what is desirable in a boyfriend/girlfriend (an activity I stole from my 10th grade sociology teacher, Mr. Larkin).

Class goes well and I'm energized. I leave- done for the day!- at 9:45. I return to my room, change, get a bowl of rice and vegetables and turn on a pirated cast of an NBA games. A west coast game, it ends around 11:30. I saunter out and shoot the breeze with students during their 30 minute lunch, then return to my room for a nap. I nap, watch movies, nap, read, and nap some more. If I'm lucky, I skype a college friend who is still up at midnight or later in the States. At 4:30, school lets out.

Some days, I do "advanced tutoring" with the gifted students. Today, I play basketball. There is a crew of about 15 guys in Lao Cai city who play at my school. Usually, 10-12 show up and we play rotating teams of 4 until it gets dark at 6:30. While only one guy speaks any English at all, communication is not a problem-I know the words for points, team, basket, foul, travel, and check up. Pointing and hand signals accomplish the rest. I can call out screens (chai or phai) and usually end up on the winning team, due to my 30 centimeter height advantage over most people (note: in the States I'm a mediocre basketball player; its just in Vietnam that I can get so many rebounds).

After basketball, we walk down to the street to drink Fanta, beer, and smoke (note: I only do the first). Du (the English speaker) will sometimes translate for me, but mostly I sit in silence and enjoy the companionship of fellow basketball players, listening to them chat in Vietnamese. At 7, I take my Kindle to a restaurant and eat- usually more rice and some chicken or beef. After dinner, I return to my room, shower, surf the web, watch TV*, and prepare my lessons the next day. At 10 PM (or later, if I talk to Dani), I go to bed,

A note on TV. TV in Vietnam is insane; it doesn't make any sense. I get about 200 channels- mostly Vietnamese or Japanese/Korean with Vietsub. I have 10 English channels- 6 movie, 2 sports, 1 news and 1 cartoon. TV in Vietnam is censored, but that means that shows start at random times (7:08 pm, 9:24 pm, etc). Further, Vietnamese sports channels show esoteric sports (think: futsal, darts, curling, 7s rugby, etc) If it is a major sport, it is from 2010 or before. Often, its heavily edited (think watching a football game with no commercials, and seeing only one team's possessions).

Summary
My life in Vietnam is pretty simple: teaching, watching TV, playing basketball. I try to travel often: with friends, by myself, with classes from my school. I try to visit Lao Cai City (45 minutes away) often for dinners with Pauline and Olivia (my two friends). It does get boring; it does get monotonous. I do get lonely.

I'm trying to find the bright side on life here- this is the lowest level of responsibility I will have for a long time (no monthly payments on anything, only teaching 15-20 hours per week total).Life is simple and uncomplicated. My income/living expenses is the highest it will be for a long time (I make $1000 per month and need to spend about $150, not including travel). Coming from a very fast-paced college experience (and anticipating a similar experience in law school), I'm trying to see this year as a welcome break from the frenetic pace of my life. A chance to think about who I am, what I want, my strengths and my weaknesses. A chance to evaluate who my real friends are, and how I will maintain my relationships going forward (a year in Vietnam has proved an excellent filter for which college friends have made the grade to lifelong, I think).

Assuming my computer continues to work for the last 2 months, I'd like to do a final update on how I've changed and how I met my goals (sadly, I remain unswole). As quick preview: while this year has been really difficult, I'm glad I did it. I've gotten a lot out of this year, despite (perhaps because of) its challenges.

Onwards. Always Onwards.
Daniel