Journey to Peace Village

My biggest difficulty in Viet Nam is the language barrier. Together with the cultural differences, it makes me feel like I'm running around in a huge maze.

Here is an ongoing saga that illustrates this:

I have been teaching a few weeks at an outfit called American International College. It is Vietnamese managed. I was working at a center in Kim Ma, the diplomatic area of Ha Noi. They also had a Tuesday night opening at a brand new center.

When I asked the Vietnamese secretaries where it was, they didn't know the address. However, they gave a map with directions and the street on which the school was located. They also gave me their phone number.

I took the information back to the guesthouse and Thom, the receptionist, called and took down the address. So I went to the school and started teaching.

The week after Easter I received a call from the school that I was laid off from the Kim Ma school due to low enrollments. But, I would continue working at the new center.

Last week I brought my timesheets and other information to the school. I have to have the timesheets signed by the director of the center to get paid. Then, towards the end of class, there was a power failure and everything went pitch black.

I picked up my bag and we all managed to get out by using the light from our cell phones. Unfortunately, I had left the timesheet and directions plus address in the room during the commotion.

I didn't realize my oversight until the next day. I had no address and no phone number for the school. We called the other school and got a phone number. Then, checking the center, we took down an address.

It didn't match what I remembered. I thought maybe they misunderstood. Luckily, I had taken the bus part way home on several visits to the school. So, I had to take a motobike to the bus station and then try to retrace my route to the school. I boarded a bus I thought went to the school.

Because I read Vietnamese very poorly, I was on the wrong route. When I realized this, I had to disembark an extremely crowded bus. This took me a few stops.

I made my way back to the original bus stop and this time took another bus I was sure would go to the right location. This time I was fortunate and made it to the school.

At the school, I explained to the secretary that I had lost my timesheets (I tried to do this on the phone but it didn't work.) She told me I would have to talk to the person I dealt with on Tuesday nights. I took down the address so I could get back there this Tuesday.

So now I have to talk to the director about this tomorrow. The timesheets are the only way I can get paid (about $130). And since I am moving on to a better job, they may very well not be very cooperative about this. I will keep everyone informed about this ongoing trial!

Labels: education, Viet Nam, Viet Nam and the West

I can tell you why I love teaching. The reason is because of events like this:

Yesterday I went to volunteer at Lang Hoa Binh as I do every Tuesday. I brought along some alphabet puzzle games. After we all got a workout in our Vietnamese, I put the puzzles on the table, the students eagerly gathered round to work on putting them together, one in the shape of a turtle, the other in the shape of an elephant.

Two of the boys, both mentally and physically handicapped, were working on the elephant puzzle. They had quite a time with it, but were determined to get the letters in their correct places. Finally after trying many, many possible combinations and determined to do it on their own, they fit a key piece in and gave each other high fives! This was a big victory for them! Both have disabilities in their hands which effect their dexterity. Both have many things in life which they cannot do. But this was something they could do. Their joy was contagious, and I thought to myself this is why I became a teacher.

One of the familiar songs I hear most often is Stephen Foster's O Susanna. I hear it being played by street vendors and traditional Vietnamese musicians. And I always smile. This lively song has been heartily embraced by Viet Nam. What would Foster think, who died in obscurity in the Bowery well over a century ago? It must be the tune-- for the whimsical words make no sense! "It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry. The sun so hot, I froze to death, Susanna don't you cry!"
To find out more about Stephen Foster go to:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/foster/

Labels: culture and society, music, Viet Nam and the West

Last night I paid a visit to the Night Market, which is right off of Hoan Kiem Lake in "downtown" Ha Noi. This place is a shopper's paradise. I walked down streets closed to traffic, block after block. Tourists and local people alike could shop from everything from clothes to cellphones, books to bakery. Most items were reasonably priced, I bought a pair of dragonfly earrings from $2!
This is one of the interesting things about the Vietnamese economy. There are very few western style shopping malls (I've only found one in Ha Noi and one in Sai Gon, so far.) There are less "big box" stores. Most shopping is done in little stores which fill the streets. In the part of Ha Noi in which I am staying The Old Quarter, there are also streets which are devoted to a particular business. For example, one street I pass every day is lined on both sides by eye glass vendors. Another street has toys, another is filled with gold vases and objects to decorate the home. Viet Nam, still ostensibly communist, has a free wheeling entrepeneurial economy!
Here's a link to a picture courtesy a German visitor (sorry I'm having problems with my camera right now.)
http://www.geogr.uni-goettingen.de/kus/pics/vn14/vn2006_hn_aq_night_market_28cm.jpg

Labels: culture and society, economy, Viet Nam and the West

When I first arrived in Ha Noi three weeks ago, the coolness was a welcome relief from the steam ovens of Sai Gon and Thailand. However, as time has passed, I've noticed myself and everyone around me coughing and sneezing. It is chilly and damp all the time.
This is bad enough in Wisconsin, but the problem is that there is no central heating in homes in Viet Nam. Unless one is fabulously wealthy, it is just not affordable.
I didn't think this would be a problem until I started living here. What's 60 degrees, anyway? But since there is no heating and a lot of rain, everything is always damp and has a musty smell. My sheets are damp when I go to bed at night, and damp in the morning. My clothes are damp unless they have been freshly laundered. My room has the feeling of a basement because it's so damp. I'd like to burn some incense, but I'm afraid of burning the place down.
Ha Noi is located in a river delta, so perhaps this isn't surprising. It is nestled between mountains, which tends to trap the damp air during spring. So the same reasons that made it a very attractive place to settle down has also made it a soggy city.
You might think the Vietnamese are tougher, but they are hacking all the time, too.
So, welcome to Spring Achooooooooo!

Labels: climate, Viet Nam

I had my first creative inspiration since I've arrived. Wandering into a little cafe near the guesthouse I saw this beautiful painting.
It made me write this poem called Change
One more cup of water
That all it needs
And as you pour it something changes.
Yes, steam rises. You feel the colors, the yellows and reds hidden in the heat that winds arounds your hands, caresses every space between your fingers and settles inside the billows of your sleeve. It rides above your skin, part sensation part undiscovered rainbow.
For the first time you realize that this curling warmth, this sweet growing generation is more than the sweet kiss of flame or the wild tryst of calderon and water.
It's something in you.

My first weeks as an English teacher:

Scary
Surprising
Challenging
Fun

I work with both children and adults. The kid's classes are the most difficult. The kid's are high energy and don't always want to be there. To add to the challenge, the school I work for rotates me around to different classes due to a teacher shortage. I never know what group I'm working with until I get there! This is very stressful on me as a teacher and has forced me to "think on my toes." To varying degrees of success I'm able to engage their interest. So far they're favorite activity is passing around a Packer nerf ball I have and challenging them to words.
The adults are easier to work with and I have a steady group. But they are perfectionists! They want to learn how to pronounce words perfectly. They do pretty well although I'm having a lot of problems getting them to distinguish t-s sounds in words like "carpets." They invariably say "carpests."
Any suggestions in this regard would be joyfully welcomed!

Labels: education, Viet Nam, Viet Nam and the West

Last week I took a journey to Perfume Pagoda, one of the most famous Buddhist shrines in Northern Viet Nam.
It's located about two hours outside of Ha Noi by bus. When our group left the bus we piled onto a small rowboat for a half hour journey down the Nest River. Arriving at dockside is only the bigging of the trip to Perfume Pagoda.
At dockside there are many different shops, where you can buy offerings for the shrine and memorials for your loved ones. There are also many food shops. The most interesting were stalls where you can buy freshly baked breads shaped like crabs, fish and various other animals.
From there it is a climb up a mountain. And I mean climb! You start out making your way up a shallow incline on a path paved with loose stones worn smooth from the feet of many before you. This is a treacherous walk of several hundred yards.
After that, it's a series of endless, rough hewn steps cut into the mountain, interspersed with breaks of relatively level ground. The trek takes about an hour to an hour and a half. By the end I was drenched by sweat and huffing and puffing. Vietnamese people shook my hand congratulating me on my stamina.
But I was still not there. Next is a descent into a cave at the top of the mountain. The cave is accessible only by a series of wet steps, once again made of rough hewn rock cut into the mountain. There is a rope to hang onto, but sometimes it dips to low for a relatively "tall" Westerner like me to reach.
Finally I arrived. The grotto is beautiful, with an eerie light bouncing off the stalagtites and several Buddhist shrines blazing in golds and reds. It's called Perfume Pagoda because in the last century it was rife with incense burning. The incense is banned now, but many people leave offerings of food in hopes for achieving spiritual or temporal goals. As our guide, Cuong, explained, Perfume Pagoda is the place to go to request good luck in life, finding a suitable partner for marriage, success in a career, or any other need you have in life.
The whole process of strenous climbing and descent can't help but remind one of the hard work we need to put into life and the times we must "descend" to gain a new birth or go to the next stage of our lives.
For me, the most impressive sight was being in the grotto and then looking back out at the light streaming in. It was like walking into a rebirth. Which is what I hope for, a rebirth in career, a rebirth in creativity, a new song to fill my heart!
For more information on the pagoda:
http://www.vietscape.com/travel/chuahuong/

Labels: religion and culture, tourism, Viet Nam