Monday, July 16, 2007
Four Months and Counting
What can I say about my experience in Viet Nam after four months? Exasperating? Yes!
As my friend and co teacher John said, "Nothing's easy here." Between the language barrier and the lower standard of living, things we take for granted at home become a challenge that sometimes makes me feel like pulling my hair out. You can't expect anything to work like it does back home.
I put a Harry Potter DVD in the TV for my kids yesterday as a last day in class treat. It took a half hour and three of us to get it to work, me, the security guard and the administrative assistant, Mrs. Ting. Finally Mrs. Ting swapped out DVD players and got it working. The sound was fine, the picture was perfect. The only trouble was that the subtitles were for a totally different movie, some epic about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
I tried to get rid of the subtitles, but the menu instructions were in Vietnamese. So when the subtitles started to get a little too salty and the soldiers were talking like, well, soldiers, I had to cut short the movie. The class, which was teenagers got a big kick out of it, but I could be in big trouble. So what, I thought would be a cakewalk class turned into a frustrating, ninety minute ulcer starter.
What can I say about my experiences these past four months? Uplifting? Yes!
I go to Peace village every week and I'm greeted like a favorite aunt. The kids always surprise me. I've been working with an eight year old boy, Khanh, who has severe cerebral palsy. He always gives me a big hug. We play basketball with my Packers Nerf ball and I help him build with Lego's. It turns out that he's very good at math. He can add, subtract and multiply and even use a computer. He answered every problem I gave him correctly and legibly.
When I come home at night, sometimes uplifted, sometimes bemused and bedraggled, I often turn on Vietnam's TV 4. They show a lot of traditional Vietnamese opera. Listening to the poignant singing and hauntingly beautiful instruments makes me know I'm supposed to be here, despite the hardships and struggles. For there's something in the music that heals my soul.
Call it purpose.
As my friend and co teacher John said, "Nothing's easy here." Between the language barrier and the lower standard of living, things we take for granted at home become a challenge that sometimes makes me feel like pulling my hair out. You can't expect anything to work like it does back home.
I put a Harry Potter DVD in the TV for my kids yesterday as a last day in class treat. It took a half hour and three of us to get it to work, me, the security guard and the administrative assistant, Mrs. Ting. Finally Mrs. Ting swapped out DVD players and got it working. The sound was fine, the picture was perfect. The only trouble was that the subtitles were for a totally different movie, some epic about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
I tried to get rid of the subtitles, but the menu instructions were in Vietnamese. So when the subtitles started to get a little too salty and the soldiers were talking like, well, soldiers, I had to cut short the movie. The class, which was teenagers got a big kick out of it, but I could be in big trouble. So what, I thought would be a cakewalk class turned into a frustrating, ninety minute ulcer starter.
What can I say about my experiences these past four months? Uplifting? Yes!
I go to Peace village every week and I'm greeted like a favorite aunt. The kids always surprise me. I've been working with an eight year old boy, Khanh, who has severe cerebral palsy. He always gives me a big hug. We play basketball with my Packers Nerf ball and I help him build with Lego's. It turns out that he's very good at math. He can add, subtract and multiply and even use a computer. He answered every problem I gave him correctly and legibly.
When I come home at night, sometimes uplifted, sometimes bemused and bedraggled, I often turn on Vietnam's TV 4. They show a lot of traditional Vietnamese opera. Listening to the poignant singing and hauntingly beautiful instruments makes me know I'm supposed to be here, despite the hardships and struggles. For there's something in the music that heals my soul.
Call it purpose.
Labels: education, music, Viet Nam, Viet Nam and the West
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Paperwork nightmare
We had a big meeting yesterday of American citizens regarding getting work permits. Once a person has been working for a time in Viet Nam they need a work permit to continue. Unfortunately, the requirements have been changed recently and it's led to a very complicated mess.
To work in Viet Nam a foreigner needs a background criminal check in the country of origin and a notarized copy of any educational degrees or certificates the individual holds. This was something I didn't realize when I left the states, there was no mention made of it on the places I researched, including Apollo. I brought along a transcript from college and the results of a medical exam.
This was not acceptable once I was hired. It seems that the documents have to be notarized in the country of origin. I had this done with my criminal background check, however now they've added another step. The notary has to be notarized by the state government as being legit. My transcript didn't work either, they want a copy of the degree (which is God knows where in storage) and that needs to be notarized and then the notary needs to notarized by the state. It reminds me of one of those episodes of MASH where Radar explains the various forms that the Army requires.
The process is simpler for British citizens, they can take their documents to the British Embassy, which will stamp them as being authentic. In other words, the government will back the holder in their claim of authenticity. The US Embassy will not do this, they will only certify that the holder of the documents "says" they are authentic.
This I find most ironic, a fine point of grammar (but important, to be sure) may force me to leave here at the end of September, short of my goal of spending a year in Viet Nam.
To work in Viet Nam a foreigner needs a background criminal check in the country of origin and a notarized copy of any educational degrees or certificates the individual holds. This was something I didn't realize when I left the states, there was no mention made of it on the places I researched, including Apollo. I brought along a transcript from college and the results of a medical exam.
This was not acceptable once I was hired. It seems that the documents have to be notarized in the country of origin. I had this done with my criminal background check, however now they've added another step. The notary has to be notarized by the state government as being legit. My transcript didn't work either, they want a copy of the degree (which is God knows where in storage) and that needs to be notarized and then the notary needs to notarized by the state. It reminds me of one of those episodes of MASH where Radar explains the various forms that the Army requires.
The process is simpler for British citizens, they can take their documents to the British Embassy, which will stamp them as being authentic. In other words, the government will back the holder in their claim of authenticity. The US Embassy will not do this, they will only certify that the holder of the documents "says" they are authentic.
This I find most ironic, a fine point of grammar (but important, to be sure) may force me to leave here at the end of September, short of my goal of spending a year in Viet Nam.
Labels: legal system, Viet Nam, Viet Nam and the West
Monday, July 02, 2007
Visit to the Ha Noi Zoo
Today I ventured out with three of my fellow teachers for a visit to the Ha Noi Zoo.
It's not like a zoo back in the USA. It's more a combination of zoo and Chuck E Cheese. There are all kinds of kids rides and games and many vendors selling toys. The animals are almost an afterthought.
Many Asian zoos are dismal places where the animals are not in good condition. On this count, the zoo was better than some I've heard of; but still not that great. The condition of the animals varied from species to species. The monkeys were in great shape, healthy, fat, rambunctuous. The hippo was fat and sassy and my co teacher Gauda was able to get her to catch crackers. Other animals did not fare as well. The ostriches were bare on their backs, losing feathers, probably to malnutrition. The deer were very skinny. The tigers were a bit thin too, although the female recently had cubs that seemed to be very healthy. The mother had been rescued from an illegal animal market in Hue.
There are many types of birds at the zoo, mostly tropical species. There was a large bird with a very bony head, I don't know if this bird was just malnourished or if it was supposed to be like that. It's whole body looked prehistoric.
It had rained in Ha Noi and was a little cooler, but this didn't matter. By the end of two hours in the Vietnamese humidity, I was drenched with sweat. Still it was an interesting experience to get another insight into Vietnamese culture.
Labels: conservation and ecology, Viet Nam, wildlife
Sunday, July 01, 2007
The power of poetry
I had lost faith and then something dropped out of the sky into my locker and brought me back to my senses again.
One of my most problematic classes is filled with surly teenagers. The last place they want to be on a Sunday afternoon is cooped up studying English.
I approached a poetry teaching session with this group with absolute dread. How could I generate even a few words out of this sullen, silent group? I gave them a sheet of words to help. Actually, I gave them to my co-teacher, Lisa.
So, yesterday when I came to Apollo I opened up my locker and found a pile of magic. These sullen, moody kids had produced some terrific, creative, poetry. They wrote in the shapes of stars, boxes and suns and found ways to relate themselves to the stars, the moon and even Pluto. Their words defied gravity and my expectations.
We posted their work in the classroom today and they were very happy to see it go on the walls. Excited chatter filled the classroom as I struggled with the sticky putty and tacks to display their grammatically jagged dreams on the walls. Grammatically jagged, just like adolescence.
I was wrong to ever doubt Poetry.
Always write poetry,
write standing
sitting
lying
write poetry knee deep in flood,
limping through the village
or falling off a barstool
write after kissing
and before eating
during prayer
and on waking
write when you fear the future
regret the past
or cough up the present
write when you're thankful
when you're angry
especially when you're in despair
there is nothing better then this
to write from your heart
even when all else
fails
One of my most problematic classes is filled with surly teenagers. The last place they want to be on a Sunday afternoon is cooped up studying English.
I approached a poetry teaching session with this group with absolute dread. How could I generate even a few words out of this sullen, silent group? I gave them a sheet of words to help. Actually, I gave them to my co-teacher, Lisa.
So, yesterday when I came to Apollo I opened up my locker and found a pile of magic. These sullen, moody kids had produced some terrific, creative, poetry. They wrote in the shapes of stars, boxes and suns and found ways to relate themselves to the stars, the moon and even Pluto. Their words defied gravity and my expectations.
We posted their work in the classroom today and they were very happy to see it go on the walls. Excited chatter filled the classroom as I struggled with the sticky putty and tacks to display their grammatically jagged dreams on the walls. Grammatically jagged, just like adolescence.
I was wrong to ever doubt Poetry.
Always write poetry,
write standing
sitting
lying
write poetry knee deep in flood,
limping through the village
or falling off a barstool
write after kissing
and before eating
during prayer
and on waking
write when you fear the future
regret the past
or cough up the present
write when you're thankful
when you're angry
especially when you're in despair
there is nothing better then this
to write from your heart
even when all else
fails
Labels: education, poetry, Viet Nam
