Monsoon Season!

So, the university planned a nice tour for all the foreign teachers on Sunday to a nearby cave. We were supposed to leave at 6am, take the 3-4 hour bus ride to the cave, explore, have lunch, and return around 8pm. Then, somebody from the international relations office called to cancel Saturday night, saying that a storm was coming. They were right - it started raining Sunday night and hasn't stopped since then.

As I write, all the classes at the university have been canceled and my power is out indefinitely. Actually, the power goes out quite frequently, so I'm starting to get used to it. No air conditioning and no lights are not so bad, but once the power runs out on my computer, I will have nothing to do, except go to sleep. Everything is on my computer - books, articles, facebook . . .

It's not all bad news, though - A news crew was supposed to come film me and my class today, so I'm glad to delay that for a little while, at least. They picked me because they want some who, "looks foreign." I guess the Vietnamese are not so impressed by the Korean, Taiwanese, or Japanese teachers . . .

Tour of Hue

One of my students is in a free tour guide club, so she arranged for her and some of her friends to pick me up and give me a tour of some sites around Hue. Sunday afternoon she showed up with her friends to give me a lift on the motorcycle, and off we went.

My tour guides standing in front of the bridge

The famous bridge we came to see . . .

After riding away from the city and past tons of rice fields for about 15-20 minutes, the first stop was a bridge - I would have never known it was famous, but apparently it was donated to the town by a rich woman. Lots of people were sleeping on the bridge, and we took some nice pictures. They also had an agricultural "museum," which turned out to be a little room with some traditional Vietnamese tools. I learned about cultivating and preparing rice and fishing from an old woman who walked around and demonstrated all the tools. On the way out of the village, an old lady peeling fruit stopped us and wanted to know if I'd like to try the fruit. It was very sour, but crunchy and refreshing - not my favorite, but good nonetheless. The old lady was surprised that I ate it all - apparently it's not very popular with foreigners (or Vietnamese either - one of the tour guides wouldn't eat any at all).

Old Lady Selling Fruit - She's in her 80's and has tons of children and grandchildren

Next stop, a really famous pagoda in the city. We saw monks during their afternoon prayers and took lots of pictures of the temple and the pagoda. There was also a turtle - my guides explained that rubbing its head would bring you good luck on your next examination, so of course I took their picture with it. I don't have any tests coming up, but I also rubbed the head for good luck - it certainly can't hurt! One of the tour guides said I wasn't what she thought of for a "typical" American - I'm too skinny and reserved. I'm not sure how I feel about that . . .

rubbing the turtle for good luck

famous pagoda

After the pagoda, we stopped for dinner at a vegetarian restaurant. We shared a big serving of vegetarian hot pot - a soup with lots of noodles, tofu, and veggies. Refueled, we were off to the night market, which was full of different souvenirs and trinkets (it was rather touristy . . .) I didn't buy anything, but did enjoy looking at all the bracelets, t-shirts, pictures, shoes, purses, etc. on sale.

Tired, we said goodnight, and my student escorted me back home. I was glad to get a chance to see a bit of the city and be shown around by locals.

More About Teaching in Hue

Things I Often Say to My Students in Vietnam:

1) Please talk - say something!
2) Speak louder please.
3) That’s okay – you don’t all have to stand up when I enter the room.
4) Did I pronounce your name right?
5) How do you say your name?
6) Can you repeat your name?
7) Please don’t copy on your writing homework.
8) Look at the board. Don’t look at your books yet.
9) Work together on this activity.
10) What did you say?

This is my fourth week at Hue University College of Foreign Languages and all my classes have started – I’m teaching Speaking, Writing, and Pronunciation for undergraduates, and a seminar series on academic research and writing for MA students. In general, the undergraduate students are good – they certainly pay attention and listen better than most of my students in the U.S. I’m amazed at how well they do on grammar and vocabulary exercises from the book, but they don’t really like to speak or answer questions in class. Also, when they do speak, they tend to answer quietly in few words, so I’m always having to make them repeat their answers. The MA students, on the other hand, are excellent – all teachers, they will do any group or partner discussion, pay attention in class, answer VOLUNTARILY, take notes, and even take pictures of PPT slides they like!

Thoughts on Vietnam:

I suppose I’m in a list mood today, so here’s two more:

Things You Would Complain About in the US that you just Accept in Vietnam
1) The Power Going Out (Again)
2) Cooking on a Portable Stove in the Bathroom
3) No Air conditioning (anywhere!)
4) Large Cockroaches in the Bathroom
5) Ants Finding your Food
6) Always Having to Put Your Bag in a Locker
7) Shared Refrigerator in an Office that Closes Randomly (especially during lunch or dinner time)
8) No Dishwasher, Microwave, Dryer, or Oven

My Typical Breakfast - Sandwich, Mango, and Tea

Things You Would Rave About in the US that are Normal Here
1) Parking Costs 3-5 cents
2) Tropical Fruit! (jackfruit, mango, guava, Rambutan, etc.)
3) A Breakfast Sandwich Costs around 30 cents
4) No Makeup! Really, nobody wears it.
5) You can wear the same thing 3, 4, even 5 days in a row – nobody cares!
6) It’s okay to wear jeans to work, and not just on Fridays.
7) Free Tour Guides!
8) Random Kids Coming Up to Say Hi to You

Autumn Festival:

Last week was the end of the Autumn Festival. Kids dress up in dragon costumes, play on drums and metal instruments, and dance around in front of stores to get some extra money. Some of the dances were amazing – especially one I saw where a kid climbed up a 20-foot pole in a dragon costume. Another tradition are moon cakes – either white or brown, these rice cakes are filled with a sugary mixture of nuts and fruit. They’re usually given to friends or family at this time of year, but I bought two for myself because I wanted to try both kinds. I later found out that you also usually split them into four or more pieces to share with others since they’re so large – I just ate the whole thing myself!

Starting My New Job

Hue College of Foreign Languages

I've been living in Hue and teaching at Hue University College of Foreign Languages for about two weeks now. So far, only two of my classes (Writing for Third Year Students) have started, but they're going well. My classes usually have 35-40 students, mostly women, and even though there's a text book and some basic class requirements, I am basically free to do any activities I want in class. It's nice to have that kind of flexibility again . . .

"Building C"

Everybody at the college has been very friendly, but it's a little hard to adjust to different concepts of time - Students come in to class quite late, and none of the teachers follow the time on the class schedule. Offices close and open at random times of the day, and you're never sure if the person you need to talk to will be there or not. Also, I don't get to see the other English teachers that much since everybody has different schedules, and I'm the only American here, so I'm feeling a little isolated too.

Next week, I start teaching my other six classes (4 speaking classes and 2 pronunciation classes) as well as a series of seminars for MA students. I'm also thinking about starting up an English Conversation Club at the college, so I should be pretty busy.

Hospital:

So far, I've been to the hospital in Vietnam for two reasons - to get vaccinations and to get a health check for my work permit. The vaccinations were incredibly cheap - about $9 for each rabies shot and $3.50 for the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine. The doctor, however, seemed quite suspicious of my desire to get inoculated, and I had to bring a letter from the college, a witness from the college, and sign a paper. Still, considering that the Japanese Encephalitis shot would have cost $355 in the US, putting up with a suspicious doctor isn't so bad.

Even though I brought a health check from the US, the work permit requires tons and tons of tests, so I had to just start over here. I had a blood test, TB test, eye test, ENT consultation, mental health check, chest x-ray, dental visit, and so on. This is even after someone from the college bargained with the hospital to skip some of the requirements and reduce the fee (which meant I didn't have to see the gynecologist, thank goodness!). I have to go back on Sunday to get the TB test checked and then go back sometime next week to get the final paper signed. Do we make foreigners go through all this just to work in the US too?

my desk

Living Arrangements: 


So I'm back to living in a dorm, which isn't so bad, considering that it's free, has air conditioning (which is not common in Vietnam), and is right across the street from work. I manage to keep most of the bugs and lizards out of my bedroom, but there are these tiny, microscopic ants that can get through any crack. Have to make sure to hide anything edible and leave the garbage can in the bathroom so they'll go there. The bathroom doesn't have class, so it's open to the outside. This means that mosquitoes, lizards, ants, grasshoppers, and giant cockroaches can get in whenever they want. The lizards are actually pretty cute, except for the pervert ones that watch me take a shower, but the cockroaches are at least as big as the ones in Georgia and give me the creeps!

my bathroom - a western-style toilet, thank goodness!

The biggest problem with the dorm is the internet - it doesn't work well, and is always kicking me off. Last Saturday around 8am, the power randomly went out as well. The manager said they were repairing a power line and there would be no electricity until 5pm. Apparently, this type of thing happens quite frequently - the power also went out during the English department's freshman orientation on the same day.

my bed and other furniture

Arrival in Hue

beach on the way to hue

After finishing the two-day orientation in Hanoi, I had to take a plane to Danang because the airport in Hue is closed for renovations. Someone from my university was waiting for me at the airport, and luckily, he also had space for a Fulbright scholar named Jay who ended up on the same plane as me. We stopped at the beach on the way back to Hue for coconuts and pictures – nice, clear white sand and blue skies! When we arrived at Hue, they dropped me off at the “faculty guesthouse,” which turned out to actually be a dorm for international students (mostly Chinese). At first I felt isolated, since there’s nothing near the university and the closest supermarket is a 40 minute walk, but later I found out the university is not as far outside the city as I thought, and the girl at the dormitory reception desk has promised me they’ll be giving me an electric bicycle soon.

The next day, Jay came on his motorcycle to show me around the city and also brought me to his house for lunch with his host family. He kept giving me pointers for finding my way around all the streets and landmarks for directions. He also gave me a lot of tips for when I get my own motorcycle (if the electric bicycle isn’t sufficient . . .)

My Morning Run:

Although I saw plenty of people out running near the lake in Hanoi, it doesn’t seem to be a very popular activity here in Hue. I get a lot of stares, confused looks, honks, and shouts when I’m out running. Nor does it help that I don’t know where to go – this morning I took what I thought was a small road leading away from the city center and suddenly I was on a big highway! Yesterday, I wanted to see some of the surrounding area, so I was running on busy streets on purpose. Also, I get sweaty just walking around Vietnam, so even running at 6:30am, I come back drenched in sweat. Hopefully, once I get a better route, running will be more enjoyable and less dangerous. Maybe I can even start a running club at the university . . .


Although there are beautiful mountains everywhere, I found out that hiking is not at all popular here. Apparently a lot of the people who live in the mountain villages are unfriendly and there are no trails, so hiking is dangerous. However, there is a national park nearby where you can go hiking, so hopefully I’ll make it there sometime in the near future.

outdoor market

Shopping:


chickens in cages

I would love to buy groceries at an outdoor market like this, but my Vietnamese is almost non-existent and I don’t know anything about prices, so I can’t go there on my own. Also, I’m not sure what is sanitary and okay to eat, and judging by some of the smells I experienced there (especially near the fish section), it’s definitely not all okay to eat. There are all kinds of fruits, vegetables, meat, and packaged food at the market, and chickens are sold alive from crowded cages – there might be more vegetarians if chickens were sold like this in the states . . .

My alternative to the market is a place called “Big C.” I have been there every day since moving to Hue. There is no bargaining and all the prices are marked, but it’s a crowded place and I tend to get pushed around a lot. Big C has 4 floors packed with clothes, electronics, a food court, and all kinds of other groceries and household items. Despite the crowds, it’s definitely a less threatening place for foreigners than the outdoor market.

people carry things this way

Big C Supermarket

Today was a national holiday, but I start work tomorrow. I sure hope the students are nice . . .