Back in Hue

After returning from Hanoi, I have to make up a week’s worth of classes, as well as all the classes that were canceled because of the two storms. So, I’ve been pretty busy! So far, I’ve only made up 4 out of 12 classes. It’s depressing because I feel like as soon as I make up some of the classes, there will be another storm, and more classes will be canceled and need to be made up. Sigh.

Conversation Club

So, in case I wasn’t busy enough, I also volunteered to start a conversation club at the university. I posted flyers around the school, told my classes about the club, and suggested that students who were too late or ineligible to sign up for my metaphor class could join the club on Monday nights instead. Needless to say, I was rather bummed when only four students showed up for the first meeting. It was the night before a big storm, and the security guard didn’t even want to open the classroom for me. After about fifty minutes, the parking attendant came and asked one of the students to take his motorcycle and go home so he could leave as well. Obviously, we just called it a night.

This week, however, about 25-30 students showed up, and it went really well. We did a couple of icebreaker activities, and the students were talking a lot. I also asked the students to bring a snack or drink to share, which not everyone did, but we had enough to go around. Overall, it was a nice, casual, friendly environment for speaking, and a fairly successful night.

Let’s see how next week goes!  

Metaphor Class

Last week, I started a metaphor class as part of my PHD research. The Tuesday class got rained out, but the Wednesday class was able to start last week, and I was able to teach both classes this week. I’m relieved to have started because I was worried about the constant delays – first for my last-minute trip to Hanoi, and then for the storm last week.

During the first class, I had to give the students participant information sheets and have them sign consent forms to participate in the research. Then, we took a pre-test to get the baseline for the class. I felt a little like I was crushing their spirits asking them to sign forms and take a test on the first day. Ten fewer students came back to the Wednesday class this week, so maybe it was a bit discouraging for them . . . For the students that came, though, the class went pretty well.

At any rate, this semester’s class is more of a pilot, so it doesn’t really matter. Still, I’m happy to have the class started and underway. Again, let’s just see how next week goes . . .

fried mung bean rice cakes - I helped make these!

Rice Cakes

On Sunday, one of my students invited me over to her rented room to make rice cakes. Originally, she wanted me to visit her hometown, but the weather wasn’t good (do you notice a theme here?), so we stayed in Hue instead. The rice cakes were made with cassava flour, which she bought at the market. You roll the flour into a little ball, flatten it out into a small pancake shape, fill it with mung beans, and seal it shut. Mine were always too big, but they were still quite tasty. My student fried half of them and steamed the other half with some spices and green onions – I preferred the steamed rice cakes. They were nice and chewy!

steamed mung bean rice cakes - nice and chewy!

After eating, the student and her friend taught me a Vietnamese card game. I’d seen old women playing the game at the market, and younger people playing in cafes, so I asked them to teach me. It was a pretty simple game, but I guess it’s exciting if you play for money. I taught them how to play “BS” and “Egyptian Rat Screw.” Definitely a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Cooking

So, I’m still doing a lot of cooking, but it’s definitely more of a challenge here. I cook on a portable stove in the bathroom, and I have a very limited supply of kitchen equipment. No toaster, no oven, no microwave, no blender – just the stove. I also am limited by ingredients – sometimes, I have no real idea what I bought and what I’m cooking. For example, random herbs, or green, leafy stuff, or some kind of red bean. I’m also still eating all vegetarian food – it hasn’t been too hard, but I might be missing out on some stuff. At any rate, I feel like random herbs, green leafy stuff, and some kind of red bean is a pretty good combination!