Action
Research Colloquia
For the last
two months, I’ve been working with two other English Language Fellows in Hanoi
and Danang, two people from the general consulate in Ho Chi Minh, and staff at my
university to put together two Action Research Colloquia for teachers in
Vietnam. Last week, we actually held the two action research colloquia – a
full-day colloquium in Danang on Thursday and a half-day colloquium here in Hue
on Saturday.
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| My Coworker, Presenting at the Colloquium |
They were a
lot of work to put together, but both colloquia went really well and we had
excellent attendance. I never really thought about all the things that go in to
organizing an event like that – budgeting, submitting official proposals,
negotiating with different people, screening presentation proposals, etc.
Sometimes it was a little overwhelming, but it was definitely a good experience
for me to get practice organizing and planning a professional conference. I
also presented about some research on peer-editing in writing – I only did the
research two weeks before the conference, so it was a tight schedule!
Anyways, we
got a lot of good feedback from the participants, and I think my coworker in
Hanoi is already planning another one for next year. It was a nice event to cap
off my work here in Vietnam.
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| Khai Dinh Tomb |
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| Khai Dinh Tomb |
Tombs in Hue
After the
second colloquium, my coworker Jill and I decided to do some more sight-seeing
in Hue. A lot of my students participate in a tour guide club here called “Hue
Enter.” The students give free tour guides for foreign tourists. It’s a chance
for them to practice their English and get experience working as a tour guide.
I went on a tour with Hue Enter when I first came to Vietnam and really liked
it, so I arranged for Jill and I to go on a tour with two student guides.
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| Student Tour Guide Explaining a Statue to Jill |
The only
thing left on my list of things to see in Hue was the tombs. Since Hue was the
capital of some royal dynasties in Vietnam, it is full of royal tombs. With the
students, we just visited two of the most famous: Khai Dinh Tomb and Tu Duc
Tomb.
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| French Inspired Decorations |
The students
picked us up on motorcycles, and off we went. First was Khai Dinh Tomb. Emperor
Khai Dinh had close ties to France and died in the 20th century, so
his tomb had a lot of French influence. A display in the tomb showed all kinds
of French furniture, clocks, dishes, etc. that he used during his lifetime, and
the decorations and paintings inside also reflected his French influence, with
a mix of Vietnamese and French style architecture. According to our tour
guides, Khai Dinh raised taxes to build his tomb, making him an unpopular
leader. Even though his tomb is smaller than others in Hue, it took 11 years to
build because nobody wanted to work hard building it. Our guides also showed us
the common features of every tomb – a stele with the emperor’s biography,
statues of soldiers, horses, and elephants, and two obelisks on either side of
the entrance.
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| Gate at Tu Duc Tomb |
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| In Front of the Lake at Tu Duc Tomb |
Next we saw
Tu Duc Tomb. This one was built around 50 years before Khai Dinh tomb in the 19th
century, but it seemed a lot older and more traditional. It was also a lot
bigger – the emperor used it as a kind of summer home, so it included a palace
and several other buildings along with the tomb. I thought it was a bit creepy
to go on vacation to your future burial tomb, but my tour guides seemed to
think it was pretty normal. Despite having over a hundred wives and concubines,
the emperor never had any children. So, he had to write his own epitaph for his
tomb, which was considered a bad omen. In addition, while pictures show Emperor
Khai Dinh being buried at his tomb, Tu Duc’s body is not in his tomb, and
nobody knows where it is. The two hundred laborers who buried the king in a
secret location were immediately beheaded afterwards, so nobody knows where the
body really is. Creepy, right? Tu Duc tomb also had the stautes, stele, and
obelisks, so it was interesting to compare with the more modern Khai Dinh tomb.
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| Learning to Make Incense |
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| Old Woman Making a Conical Hat |
After the
tombs, we stopped by a store that makes incense and conical hats, and they let
Jill and I try our hand at making the incense. The store smelled incredible!
Afterwards, we visited a famous vegetarian restaurant near the tombs. I’d only
been there once before with some students because it’s too far from the city
for my bicycle. The restaurant is decorated really nicely, and the food is good
too. Overall, it was an excellent day of sight-seeing with good company, and a
great way to finish a busy week of conferences!
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| Lunch with MA Students |
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| Decorations at the Restaurant |
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