End of Teaching

Dong. Dong. Dong.

With three booms of the drum, my teaching career ended. I finished writing my final note to my final student and stepped out of 11 Math. It was HOT- but I was done!

I've been getting a lot of messaging asking how I was feeling. So- here it is.

I'm feeling incredibly sad and nostalgic- because I'm leaving CLC, Lao Cai, and Vietnam. This chapter of my life is closing.

I'm feeling incredibly happy- because I'm going home to see my friends and family that I haven't seen since December or even longer. I dream of challah and sushi and a decent hamburger. I'm going home to a land where I can understand most of whats said. Definitely excited for that.

I'm feeling excited- the more I learn about law school, the more fun it seems like it will be. Columbia has lots of cool opportunities and I can't wait to try them out. New York City seems like it will be super fun.

I'm feeling nervous- Columbia will definitely be my biggest academic challenge so far. I've never been to law school and I'll be working alongside people infinitely more talented, more experienced, and hard-working than me. How will I do? I feel nervous!

As you might imagine, having all these feelings inside is quite overwhelming! Transitions are hard! Only way to deal is to take it one day at a time (so thats what I'm trying to do!)

The last week of teaching was pretty emotional. I had no expectations of what the students might do. I knew they wouldn't want to work, so I planned a yearbook type activity. I gave each of them a sheet of paper and let them write one each other's papers (nice things- although I saw lots of sarcastic insults!). I offered to write letters to students, and I had a sheet in the corner where they could write letters to me! The students surprised me with their thoughtfulness. I got two cakes, a video, a box of notes, a scrapbook, tons of candy, and many, many, many hugs. The last week was definitely emotional.

I never thought I would be a High School teacher. I never trained for it. I remember thinking in high school that public speaking was so difficult and scary- how could teachers do it all the time? Now that I've spent one year as a public school teacher, I'll definitely never be scared of public speaking again! I also realized how much of public speaking is about the audience. I realized how much of teaching is about the students. I had to make lessons that the students would find interesting (which was tough because most of them were interested in Japanese and Korean culture, not Western culture). I'm not sure how I did, but I think I did ok. Definitely, there were lots of lessons that I'll learned moving forward. While teaching was incredibly stressful at the beginning, it got much easier and was actually fun by the end. I heard about how the 1st year of teaching was the worst- definitely true. But now that is done.

Onwards. Always Onwards.
Daniel

Dien Bien Phu and International Communist Labor Day

Due to International Communist Labor Day (which I've been told is either April 30th or May 1st)- I had a 4 day weekend (Friday-Monday). Flights to Can Tho (my preferred destination) were very expensive and then sold out. I decided to save money and just make one big southern trip (ideally is to Can Tho, Mui Ne and Quy Nhon/Cao Lanh) later in May. I only have one destination left in the North/Central and it is...Dien Bien Phu.

For those of you who, like me, had only heard of Dien Bien Phu from the "We Didn't Start the Fire" lyrics, Dien Bien Phu is the site of the last battle in the 1st Indochina War (in which the Vietminh lead by Ho Chi Minh defeated the French, ending in the Geneva Accords in 1954). After "Dien Bien Phu falls" the French withdrew from Indochina.

I'll admit, I knew little about the 1st Indochina War- I knew Dien Bien Phu was famous and (I'll confess) no one in the Vietnam ETA co-hort had made it as far west as Dien Bien, so I would be the only person to go out there.

Dien Bien is a small, somewhat poor mountainous province. There are only a couple flights per week-mostly filled with locals.

If you are going to visit Dien Bien Phu, I recommend reading up on the history before you go. Seeing Colonel de Castries bunker won't mean much to you if you don't know who Colonel de Castries is!

There are three main books on Dien Bien Phu (according to my research). The first is called Hell in a Very Small Place, by Bernard Fall. This is the classic book- the definitive opinion. Sadly, its not available on kindle. It inspired a longer, more immersive (but less based on first person interviews) book called The Last Valley by Martin Windrow. At over 700 pages, its reviews recommend it only for people who are French military history buffs (which I am not).

I bought (and read): Dien Bien Phu: The Epic Battle America Forgot by Howard Simpson. At only 300 pages and with little military jargon (like "CP" or "DZ" or stuff like that) it is much more accessible. It outlines an arrogant and cocky French military- backed up against the wall incredulously. They are losing and the French government is trying to pull them out. America won't support them without British help (and the Brits won't help). They are pushed farther and farther back by a former history teacher turned General named Vo Nguyen Giap- leaving them less and less space to  get aid packages (Dien Bien Phu is under siege and so can only receive aid by air,but as they lose drop zones, more and more of the supplies fall into Vietminh hands. Hilariously, Colonel de Castries is promoted to General, but the package with his general stars falls into the Vietminh hands).

Anyway- on the first day, I got a hotel (in a scary twist, due to the holiday, the first four hotels I tried were booked, but found a motel (nha nghi) just off the main drag (named after the Vietminh General). I went to Colonel de Castries' (the commanding officer) former bunker, then a rather large history museum with an hour long English language film (much to my surprise. In fact, all the 4 tourists I encountered were French). After lunch, I went to a cemetery and climbed A1 Hill.

Dien Bien Phu had 8 "strong points" or defensive positions around it. They were named A-I (no F) and all given female French names (Annemarie, Beatrice, Claudette...Isabelle). Supposedly, they were named after de Castries 8 mistress....Anyway, A1 hill was part of the "Annemarie" strong point. There were lots of tanks and howitzers and military equipment- most of it in disrepair.

The next day, I visited D1 hill (named after Dominique) and just wandered around the town for a bit. I saw the famous bridge (Muong Thanh) and some interesting restaurants. For example, we've been told all year that Vietnam imports its dog meat from Laos. I saw a sign for a restaurant that its dog meat is from Lang Son province (far to the east, and home of Karen). So...maybe not?

I was somewhat underwhelmed- Dien Bien is a big town in a valley- I wanted to see where the battle had taken place- but it was more of a siege, and the numbers involved are huge. Its not like a Civil War battle where you can imagine it taking place. General Vo was firing 120mm Howitzers from a mile or more away. Hard to get a sense of a battle like that- especially 60 years later.

To those of you considering a visit to Dien Bien Phu: I recommend only going for 24 hours and with a book on the history of Dien Bien Phu (major players and events and stuff).

Sadly-I've been trying to post pictures but the blogsite won't let me. I'll try again later, but for now look for them on my facebook!

Onwards. Always Onwards.
Daniel