Teacher! Teacher!

Friday, 20 November, was a very special day in Vietnam – National Teacher’s Day. This is a big holiday here. Apparently teachers are so highly esteemed that a special day is set aside to honor them.

P and I were showered with flowers, gifts and well-wishes for our health and prosperity. One of my classes greeted me with the lights off and as I walked into class they turned on the lights for me to see this poem. Click to read.

Two of my classes apparently committed to memory that I once said I like cactus plants. While I don't remember saying this, I must have since I received the two sweet plants shown below.

As if flowers and plants weren't enough, the class that P and I co-teach invited us over for dinner! This is the class that is studying to take The TOEFL test which will allow them admittance to an English-speaking university. Apparently ten of the seventeen students live together in a very large home. Many of their parents work at the same company in their hometown of Vung Tau, which is not too far from Ho Chi Minh City. Many of these kids have known each other since kindergarten and have been together for at least 16 years. Now they are studying English together, will go to college in America together and will return to VN to work at the same company for at least 10 years.

So they decided to invite us for a VN meal. It was delicious!

Everyone sits on the floor around the food and eats from very small bowls.

They prepared a rich pork broth with various spices then offered platters of pork, fish, beef, mushrooms, and many different kinds of veggies - all artfully arranged - to plunge into the hot broth until it is cooked to our preference.

Then we ladle everything into our bowls over very thin noodles, along with some broth. It all gets washed down with ice cold Bia (beer) Hanoi.

The Vietnamese love to sing, so after dinner we sang just about every song we could remember. They were a bit disappointed P and I did not know many Broadway tunes!! I think we made a strong comeback with a few Beatle songs - they especially liked Hey Jude - everyone joined in.

One of the students, Trang (pronounced Chang), brought out her guitar and sang this song.

Trang sings! from Peter Kuhlman on Vimeo.

Since the girls cooked dinner, the boys cleaned up. Within minutes, the place was clean.

It was a great treat to be invited to dinner, to experience a true VN meal, and to spend this kind of time with some of our students. It was a testament to how much they value their teachers and we felt very honored.

Afterwards, we all took a walk around the neighborhood - P's post about that follows.

O.

Midnight at the Mausoleum.

Actually it was 9:00, but that isn't nearly as catchy. We were walking by the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (which isn't far from our house) with our students after they had made us dinner just as the nightly flag-lowering ceremony took place. Martial music was blaring from the loudspeakers and there were strict rules about where you could and couldn't stand.





P.

The B-52 Lake.

In one of the lakes hidden in the maze of alleys to the east and north of out house, we heard that there was a historical marker and the remains of a crashed B-52. O. saw it briefly from the back of a motorbike, but we couldn't find it again. Finally a fellow teacher said she lived nearby and was able to provide directions. Here it is.

P.

Raising the Roof.

We don't get it. This started as a much nicer house, old, but not horrible. Now there's this. Our landlord looked at it and shook his head. "What are they doing? This is not a house." Oh, well. at least the noise and dust will abate somewhat.

P.

The Latest Construction News.

Looks like the roof's about to go on the house next door.

As a kid I always loved cement mixers--the sound, the smell, everything.
So this is my favorite piece of VN tech so far. The self-propelled, drivable cement mixer.

P.

The Insidious Pleasant Goat.

I'm not one to become obsessed with cute little cartoon characters, but he haunts my thoughts as Sir Nayland Smith was haunted by the gaunt, ghostly visage of Dr. Fu Manchu.

I see him everywhere: from the backpacks of innocent children, from the pencil boxes and notebooks of my students, from slippers and sandals and untold other unexpected places, he leers his fatuous grin, empty, yet filled with hideous meaning.


Pleasant Goat. The very words send a spasm of dread through the core of my being. For this face is the rock on which 80+ years of American animation supremacy will be ground to dust. All that we know and love will be borne away forever on the cold wind that rises in the east. Mickey, Donald, Daffy, Heckle, Jeckle, Spongebob, and Bugs at one with Gomorrah.

Tom and Jerry are still venerated by my older students, but among the younger children their sun has set. These poor tykes know only Pleasant Goat as they will know and, God help us, love the hordes of poorly drawn, cynically concocted Chinese cartoon characters that even now are pouring from the animation sweatshops of the conquering dragon.

One day, mark my words, we will look back on this moment and see that we had won their hearts and minds and then, in a rather messy metaphor, let them slip through our fingers.

And the Goat abides.

P.

Redecoration Day.

Now that we have added plants and pictures, our house (icebox) looks a little more homey.

O's desk.

My desk.
Note the space-conserving executive chair with ergonomic Spongebob® cushion.
(Click and magnify for detail.)

P.

The Big Chill (Hanoi Version).

Luggage weight restrictions being rather, well, restrictive, we didn't bring much in the way of warm clothes on our Vietnamese adventure. We figured, "Well, low 60s daytime isn't that bad. Nor is mid 50s in the evening. A light jacket and a couple long-sleeved tops ought to do us. And if it gets too cold, we can always buy something cheap there."

Ha.

What we didn't know, well what we didn't know could fill a book, but here are the major weaknesses in our reasoning: 1) The wind chill factor of the cold winter winds out of China makes the perceived temperature a lot colder. 2) Riding on a motorbike substantially increases said wind chill factor. 3) Vietnamese houses (and classrooms) may be air-conditioned, but they are not heated. At all. 4) They are made of brick and concrete and are very drafty. Great in summer. Icebox-like in winter. In fact it's often colder inside the house than it is outside. 5) Finding warm clothes in sizes we can wear is next to impossible here. 6) When you find them, they are not cheap.

So. Teeth chattering, we searched Hanoi for: warm clothes that would fit us, warm slippers (no more icy cement floors), sweaters, a thick comforter for the bed, and space heaters. It took most of the week and cost us more than we expected, but we finally found just about everything we needed.

And so it's been in the high 70s to low 80s every day since.

But at least now we're prepared.

P.

One Wedding and a Funeral.

Today busy Doi Can was snarled for a while by an elaborate funeral procession. In front was a small tourist van with large windows through which the coffin was visible, bedecked with lighted candles. The back doors of the van were open, and it was trailed by a long file of people with white headbands and gauzy white garments over their clothes. The throng was followed by five or six vans and cars filled with additional mourners. All the vehicles had large floral medallions made up of red and yellow flowers attached to their front grills. The lead van was moving at a slow walking pace, so that the line of mourners could keep up. This of course slowed traffic on this busy street to a crawl. The cars and trucks behind the cortege were stuck and could only creep along with the procession. The intrepid motorbike drivers were under no such constraint, and a constant stream of them were pulling around and diving through the procession, honking wildly as the whole crowd made its way down the street. This interplay gave the scene an odd vibe--stately and solemn, yet at the same time frenetic and celebratory.

Later, as we walked down our alley, a motorbike zipped by carrying a bride in full regalia, she hanging on to the bike and her tiara and veil with equal determination.

So life goes on in Hanoi.

P.

Still Still Under Construction.

Day in the life - O

I’ve been asked often what a typical day is like for me. Here it is, probably not too unlike your day.

I get up at 6am. I stretch and do a bit of yoga for half an hour, and then I wake up Peter at 6:30. He grumbles a bit but mostly, Peter has the sweet and annoying habit of waking up happy. Even after almost 30 years, I marvel at how consistently happy he is in the am. I, on the other hand, am generally not a morning person.

So P gets up and goes downstairs to make coffee while I paddled upstairs to check email and to check if anything of importance has happened in the world while I was sleeping.

I then shower and get ready for work while P brings me a cup of coffee. I leave the house at 8am for a Monday through Friday class from 8am-11:30am. This is my TOEFL class that I blogged about a few days ago. Three hours, five days a weeks: 15 hours of face time. I have 17 students who are depending on me (and two other teachers) to teach them the necessary skills to pass the TOEFL test so they can attend college in Oklahoma and return to VN to work at the largest petrol company in the country. Many of these students are not particularly interested in oil but they are very committed to fulfilling their parent’s wishes for secure employment. Almost without exception, these kids express their desire to have a secure job so they can take care of their parents and repay them for all their sacrifices.

I have all 17 students in the am and Peter and one other teacher each have half of the students in the afternoons from 2-4 on Monday and Wednesday. I mostly teach essay writing, sentence structure and vocabulary, P teaches speaking and the other teacher is responsible for listening and reading comprehension.

After my class, I come home, change clothes and meet Peter for lunch. I then have a couple hours before my evening classes. I spend that time, preparing lesson plans for my next classes, doing laundry, running errands, etc.

Monday, Wednesday and Fridays I have one Beginner English class of 17 students from 5:45pm – 7:15, a 15 minute break and then another Beginner English class of 6 people from 7:30pm – 9pm. I usually arrive at the school around 5:15 or so and Patrick, the owner, has a fresh cup of coffee ready for me. He and I chat for half an hour or so before my 5:45 class begins. As much as I enjoy a cup of coffee at this hour, I find that it is also keeping me up at night so I am going to have to ask Patrick to cease the coffee. Bummer.

I get home around 9:30 and I pretty much get ready for bed. I need my 8 hours so there is not much time for anything other that to greet P, cuddle for a few minutes, check in with each other while I get ready for bed and then lights out.

This is repeated five days a week other than Tuesday and Thursday when I have my second three hour TOEFL class from 5:15 – 8:30pm (15 minute break). Again, I get home around 9ish and it’s off to bed for me.

So Monday through Fridays are rather brisk for me. I have definitely bitten off more than I can chew with this schedule. Thirty face-time-teaching-hours are a bit much. This does not account for lesson planning time – I easily work 40 plus hours a week. While the schools have much material to draw on for lesson planning, ultimately it is up to the teachers to research material and to plan the lessons. Makes for a busy week.

So weekends are usually spent socializing with friends. In addition to pictures we've already posted of Patrick and Lan Anh ( owners of English Hanoi) and Donna and David ( the couple we went to Perfume Pagoda with), here are two other couples we hang out with on a regular basis.

We met Justin and Jyoti on the Ha Long Bay weekend. Once we realized that Justin is a huge punk rock fan, well, the friendship was cemented. Justin and Jyoti are both outgoing and welcoming. We'll be enjoying Thanksgiving dinner at their house - they have a much coveted oven.

Colin and Natalia smiled at us at a restaurant, we smiled back and said hello and within minutes they had invited us over that evening for drinks and to accompany them to dinner. A very sweet and fun couple.

One big change in my weekly activities is that I no longer take a motorbike everywhere. Can I just grumble about Hanoi traffic a bit? It is over-the-top insane!

It even seems more crowed and hectic than when we arrived a mere four months ago. The exhaust, from motorbikes, cars, trucks and buses that do not use unleaded gas nor are equipped with any kind of emission control, was finally causing an ugly cough as well as headaches. Sitting in traffic surrounded by a variety of vehicles, each emitting black exhaust is an experience I do not need to continue (not to mention how dirty and gritty I am by the time I reach my destination).

Vietnamese people are generally mild-mannered, respectful and kind…until they get behind a vehicle and then it is every man, woman and child for themselves. All roads and especially intersections are a free for all. Each vehicle trying to squeeze into the slightest opening in an effort to overtake the vehicle in front. I just got tired of all the near and not-so-near misses with other motorbikes, cars and even buses. Two vehicles will often continue headlong towards each other until the very last minute when one will suddenly swerve, or come to a screeching stop. A strange form of chicken? I don’t know – what I do know is that I have exchanged the motorbike for the relative safety of a taxi.

A Day In The Life - P.

O. lovingly wakes me at 6:30; no wonder I wake up happy. I put the water on to boil for coffee, and eat a banana and some yogurt while I wait. As the coffee infuses the water in our small French press, I check email and the web. Once the brew is sufficiently sturdy, I stir in a little sweetened condensed milk (no half-and-half available in VN), then take two cups upstairs and continue surfing. I sometimes have a call to the US for VietSoftware.

Once O. leaves, I shower and begin working on VietSoftware, redoing their website and collateral, replying to emails, etc.

When O. gets off for lunch, we walk out to the street and find something delicious and (usually) cheap. On Monday and Wednesday, I teach Speaking for TOEFL to half of O's PetroVietnam class from 2 -4. I usually do the lesson plan for that just before class, since they don't have a book I can take home. The rest of the week I use the afternoons to do lesson plans for my evening classes, to run errands, and do the shopping. I have my favorite street vendors now. The banana lady knows how many and what type bananas I like (though she always tries to sell me more and other fruit as well. The peanut lady knows that I'm good for six serving-sized bags of fresh roasted peanuts once a week. She always laughs at me a tells me through gestures that they will make me fat. From another vendor, I get limes, chiles, freshly-peeled garlic cloves, and other vegetables. And so on.

Once a week I usually also go to one of the bigger supermarkets for more Western stuff--cheese, smoked pork loin or bacon, eggs, tonic, crackers, canned tuna, pasta--staples.

Monday evening I just took on a beginning English course from 6:30 to 8 at Mayfair School. Tuesday and Thursday I teach general English at Apple Learning Centre from 6 to 7:30, Wednesday I teach general English and Friday Pronunciation, both at TopLearn and both from 6:15 to 7:45.

I generally get home at around 8, check email, and either read or watch a movie or TV program I've downloaded (I currently follow Dexter, Fringe, and The Office) until O. gets home. we snack and chat for a few minutes, then she heads to bed, and I head to the computer. 10:00 our time is 7:00 PST, 10 EST, so I can check for updates on my favorite web sites and make any Skype calls I need to for VSII. At 11 to 11:30 0r so I crawl in bed and read for 15-20 minutes before falling asleep.

Not a really exciting existance, except it's taking place in Hanoi.

On weekends we run errands, socialize, relax, sightsee, and generally try not to think about work.

Then Monday morning we're back at it.

P.

Christmas is coming!

As good Americans, we know that the Christmas season officially begins the week of Thanksgiving, though of course Real Americans start the week after Halloween. In Hanoi, the signs of the season are limited, but they are here. At Big C supermarket, dozens of Vietnamese were crowding around the cheesy Christmas display to have their pictures taken. And there are a plethora of gifts:

Hello Kitty Angel phone!

Hello Kitty shoe phone!

Freedom Fry phone!

Pleasant Goat inflatable party wands!

Best of all, Pleasant Goat slippers!!

God bless us, every one!

P.

Still Under Construction. (the Continuing Saga)

P.

A quick heads up

Vietnam has blocked Facebook.

So for my family and friends with whom I communicate via FB, no can do anymore. I'm not ignoring you - just can't access FB any longer. Just another hanoiance.

O.

100th Post!

When we posted our first post five and a half months ago, we had no idea where we'd be spending the next few months. That time now seems so long ago, a whole different life. We've made a new life here. A life not without challenges and frustrations, certainly, but one that feeds who we are in many ways. Looking to the future, we're still unsure where we'll live when we return to the States, unsure even when we'll return. We don't even know if we'll stay in Vietnam beyond June when our lease is up.

We love it here, and we hate it here. We miss our family and friends, and we are enjoying the adventure and the new friends we're making. We are fulfilling a dream we have both always had, but the fulfillment is bittersweet. The adjustment has been hard in many ways, and stressful. That stress came close at times to ending the adventure and our relationship, but now it has brought us to a deeper love and a deeper commitment to being on this journey together. Wherever it takes us.

Thanks for following our unfolding journey. We appreciate your comments and interest, they help us feel less distant, and we can use all the connection we can get.

P&O

The Eye of the Beholder.

A few posts ago, I was lamenting the dearth of Vietnamese or even Asian models on the billboards here. I'm now withdrawing my objections.


P.

I Knew He Was A Commie!

Hanoi Hussien Obama!

Communism, karaoke, and the Koran. I fear for my country.

P.

Working Without A Net, Part II.

Washing windows, Hanoi style.

P.

Still Under Construction. (But Not For Long.)

The jackhammers are still at last. Now there is just the incessant scrape of mortar on brick and the rumble of heavily-laden carts and bicycles through our alley. A great improvement, to be sure. Behold the work of a couple short weeks on the house next door.

P.

The Perfume Lingers.

Here are some images from our trip to the Perfume Pagoda that I really like, but didn't quite fit into the narrative.









P.