Journey to Peace Village

Viet Nam recently enacted a helmet law. Like Thailand, all people riding motobikes in Viet Nam are required to wear helmets. This is part of a safety campaign to reduce the number of accidents and traffic deaths. Almost every day I go past a big electronic sign that keeps count of the number of accidents and deaths this year and last year. It reminds me of when I was a kid in the 60s and saw these types of totals on the front page of the newspaper. Most people seem to be complying with the law and on December 14, the day before the new rule went into effect,there were huge lines to buy helmets. Fortunately, my school provided me with a free helmet.

Labels: culture and society, legal system, Viet Nam and the West

I was thrilled to go to a wedding last week. My landlady's daughter, Ngoc, got married on Wednesday.

There are some familiar elements to the Vietnamese wedding, such as the wedding cake and a white gown; but many customs are quite different. For one thing,most people get married in Autumn or Winter. There are very few weddings in June or in summer. The wedding is usually paid for mostly by the groom's parents, because the bride comes to live with his family and takes care of his parents in their old age.

The wedding is not necessarily on a Saturday or Sunday. Great care is taken in selecting a "lucky day" as deemed astrologically and numerically. Certain dates such as the 24th and 28th are considered unlucky by default.

Two celebrations take place over two days. One is given by the bride's family and the second is given by the groom's family. Most of the pictures I'm posting are from the reception given by Ngoc and her family. On the second day, the groom comes to the bride's house and asks permission to marry her. Gifts are presented on trays
carried by happily married relatives. The couple then goes to the ancestral altar and asked for the blessings of the ancestors to the marriage. Then the groom and bride depart for their honeymoon after an enthusiastic reception by all.

Labels: culture and society, religion and culture, Viet Nam

I haven't posted for a long time and my apologies for this! I've been frightfully busy and one of the reasons is this bunch! For the past three months I've been teaching four "Kindy" classes on weekends. Kindy classes are for our youngest students, kids anywhere from three to six years old. These classes are a lot of fun, but they are very energy draining and challenging. The kids are "little sponges" they can absorb all kinds of lanuage. But you have to keep things fast paced and yet repetitive enough so they learn the words. It's hard to keep the kids focused all the time and I have two teaching assistants to help me chase "em" down and keep them on task.

Generally the kids are pretty good and love projects such as coloring and drawing. Sometimes they are perfectionists and try to create something for the Louve when we're trying to learn words like "hand" or "apple" or "house." I enjoy especially singing songs with them and playing the Wheel of Fortune. All my students love earning money, even if it's only play money!

Labels: children, education, Viet Nam

Bowling night at Apollo was a great cultural crossroads! Our Vietnamese staff members came up of the idea of a gathering at the Hanoi Star Bowl, which is right near one of our campuses. I finished dead last, knocking over only 46 pins! But I still had a great time and enjoyed the atmosphere of a 50s style bowling alley meets Vietnamese culture. For example, a woman in Ao Dai greeted the bowlers and then orders were taken by waitresses on roller skates. Ms. Hong, our scheduler, gives a game try even though she is five months pregnant. I also snapped a picture of Tim, a teacher from Florida, sampling Vietnamese food with chopsticks between frames. The meeting of cultures is often unpredictable, and sometimes very fun!

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