A Week in Pictures

Vietnamese Cuisine
We are adventurous and like to try different foods. Sometimes we like it...and other times it does not fulfill our expectations

First day of teaching, first braving the storm and some culture thrown in the mix

We like to go to the roof...can you see why?

We decided to wait for the storm to come to us. The most amazing view from all around!

The Bien Hoa girls came down for the weekend. We got caught in a huge downpour in another district making for a wet cab ride home. Carolyn and Brittany were our heroes when they braved the storm again to get us dinner!

And the teaching begins

Before our demo!

Thursday I had my demo lesson. Before the lesson there was some confusion with the pages I was supposed to teach but I decided to plan a lesson for the more recent pages. Having heard that this may happen I should have not been caught off guard when I got to school only to find the pages I prepped for had already been taught. However, having heard this happens, I should have also been prepared for multiple pages. Yet I wasn’t and so in the 15 minutes I had before class, I whipped up the best lesson I could. I had never created an entire lesson in the short of time but I felt confident, I mean, I had made up fillers on the spot, why couldn’t I do that now?
From my outlook, I really don’t think the lesson went all that badly but I was humbled when the observer told me everything I could have done better. I was even more humbled when she scored me “satisfactory” and said that “maybe we can do another demo”. “No slack, really?” Those were the thoughts going through my head then and even a bit now but I am trying to look at this from a positive stand point. One fact is that I can only go up from here. And also, I really know He is trying to teach me a lesson. After observing some of the classes, I really couldn’t see how I could do worse. How horrible to think such a thing but I did.
Yes, it stinks to think I may have someone observe me again and yes it is not fun to get such reviews but I need to stay positive. If I let one lesson get me down, how am I ever going to show these people that my sustenance does not come from the praise of man? I share this with you first because it still stings to repeat it to everyone who asks (so you can just read it here) and so you can all hold me accountable. I want everything to show His love and if it’s through accepting criticism with a smile, then bring it on…..or maybe I shouldn’t say that since it’s been said “be careful what you wish for”. Whatever He has planned for me, I can only hope to accept it and reflect Him throughout.

Carolyn's a great roommate and took me to the roof to cheer me up before my second lesson. It was so pretty up there!

It worked!

Last night was not originally scheduled but because of my scores the first time, I had to teach again and I was getting nervous at the fact that I was being observed again, making dinner an unpleasant event (sorry Carolyn). When I arrived at school, my administrator, Robert, told me that he had talked with all of the heads of the department and with someone from ESI and they decided that because of my situation they would let me sign the contract….Now, I really did not think it was coming down to that, but either way that is a relief. However, my nerves jumped again when I asked about the folder for the night’s class. He seemed to have no clue I was even teaching! Luckily, the schedule had my name down and I had not prepared in vain! So anyway, I went to class, set up the board and watched the clock. Five minutes past the starting time and no students made me worry again. The class I was teaching was in it’s first night, so I was assuming there were no students (sign of relief yet of frustration for another lesson gone to waste). As I started out the door I was met by a woman who I thought was a student. I told her my situation so she ran to check it out. Lo and behold the room number TYPED on my form was wrong. Instead of classroom 105, I was supposed to be in 205. Oh my goodness, could I have felt anymore frazzled. Either way, I entered into a room of 8 teenagers (I mean like 19 year old teenagers) and my heart started racing even more (the older students intimidate me!). As a result the beginning of my lesson was a little rough, even though I was just introducing myself, but by the end I was a proud teacher. In the two hours that passed, my excitement to teach these students escalated, proving to me that I cannot get down about rough beginnings, things get better as you move forward.

We are friends

Yesterday, when I was taking the trash out, Carolyn and I had the opportunity of meeting our neighbors. We met a couple from Dallas who are in town for a few days visiting their uncle. They gave us their phone number and told us we should call them if we wanted to go out to lunch some time. They were very sweet so we were excited about the offer. As we were talking to them we met their cousin who lives to the left of us. She got so excited at the fact that we spoke English because she had studied it in the university and really wanted more practice. She said we were allowed to stop by whenever we liked. She said she gets bored because she is pregnant and does not want to go out.
Tonight we were supposed to get connected to the internet but we were not able to. When we went down to the office, we found we could not communicate our situation and decided to go ask our neighbor for help. What started as asking a question, turned out to be an invitation to dinner. We stayed for 3 hours talking with her and learning about her life, while eating the most amazing dinner! She is one the most genuine women I have ever met and I am so thrilled we have 9 months to get to know her.
Everyone has said that Vietnamese people are very servant hearted and each day proves that more and more. Our neighbor served us the best she had and was eager to invite us over for more meals. She explained that they make a lot of food anyway, so whenever we are home we are welcome to come over. Wow! I must say that invitation sounds appetizing and it would be nice to have home cooked Vietnamese meals but I am even more excited to build a relationship with her. I hope that somewhere in these next few months, Carolyn and I will be able to show her His love that is in us.

Venturing Out

Summary of the past few days

The other day Carolyn and I turned left out of our complex only to discover a completely new world. We came upon a street that was way busier than ours and there were sidewalks! However, despite the busy street, we did get up the nerve to cross it once...it was very nerve wracking for sure. I also got a helmet for our upcoming motorbike ventures, which is pink with panda bears! Yeah the only helmets to fit my head are the childrens‘! On this same day was our first venture into Vietnamese market. We picked up a few pieces of fruit, one of which I am not a fan of but the second has quickly become our favorite fruit here…Dragon Fruit!

This isn't the one I bought but Carolyn really wanted me to get it.

It doesn't look busy now but it was. Plus it's just a lot wider than our street.

We randomly found this market and. So many beautiful colors.

Sunday was a new day as well! An hour taxi drive into District 1 brought us to the International Church! We met many new people there and even met a girl, Janell, who took us out to Thai food. We traveled into District 2 where we stayed for a few hours, shopping in an actual mall. It was nice to see English written everywhere but it also made us long for our district, which no one in District 1 or 2 has even heard about! That is how immersed we are in the Vietnamese culture.

Back home on our street.

We are learning to love this drink Nouc Mia or sugar cane

Monday was the third day we went to the coffee shop, Trung Nguyen. I mention this because all three days we have been lead to the same table. We have become regulars! After our coffee and some time at the apartment, we ventured out for some lunch and stumbled upon the most amazing food we have had yet! Not only was the food delicious but we also met two women who were so helpful in our study of the language. They were so eager to help and were very patient with us. Carolyn had her first experience with local curiosity as well. One of the women was fascinated by her soft, white skin and held her arm for a good while. We also ventured out into the rain to pick up our curriculum books from school! (Pics of the poncho will hopefully be taken soon!) Please lift us up in the fact that we will be observed this coming Thursday!

As you can see, we are still loving our experience here but we know that day will come where we will become overwhelmed by the language barrier or when we will long for the familiarities of home. I know I keep asking and saying this but your thoughts for us mean so much. They are what’s going to get us through. Thank you all. I miss you!

Pictures!

The end of training. We gave awards to our students and had a party. My parents and cousin came to my graduation!

Hanging out at the airport...it's 1:15 am and we are tired!

The women below are our administrators (Phoung and Chau). Our apartment was new and came fully furnished with new things...like a TV, kitchen table and mattresses! We also bought masks because we have found our new favorite mode of transportation is motorbikes! Hence Carolyn's fancy new helmet she is sporting!

P.S. New blog below as well!

Day Three and still loving it!

So we finally got home yesterday! And we did so by riding motorbikes! I thought it was going to be the scariest moment of my life but instead i had to have been one of the greatest adventures. I think next time I will even be brave enough to take a picture while riding on one!
When we got home however, we opened the door and saw our table was missing. hmmm. Later on however, we found that our land lady had borrowed it from a friend and actually bought us a new one. But no one explained that to us so we spent 20 mins trying to talk with the delivery guy and figure out who had ordered it. Luckily our boss came in with land lady and it was paid for. What an ordeal but it was definitely something to laugh at.
Also yesterday, we observed our first class. It definitely made me nervous but excited at the same time. The students are precious and so interested in the new foreign teachers. According to our school, we are the first female American teachers they have had at the branch.

Day 3
Today we discovered we have internet! We will be getting a chord soon (hopefully). Once we had had our online time, we decided to go out to eat and grab coffee. Carolyn was brave at the stand and got fish (literally the whole fish) while I stayed safe and got an omelet. We are wondering how the people here stay so thin because including that we go rice and soup. Farther down the block we found coffee. One of the most interesting things we have observed about this culture is the way they manage time. In America, people will rush you out of a restaurant as soon as they see you are finished. Here we have to ask for the bill. Anyway, after breakfast and coffee Carolyn and I went to Metro (Vietnam's Costco) and got needed supplies! After Metro it was on back to our house for a breif moment and back to the same location (except right across the street) to our school for more observations. Now it's time for sleep!

So far we have me wonderful people. It is still hard to communicate with the national English teachers but they have been very generous in their desire to help us with anything we need. Justin and Thomas are two younger guys who work at the school and have been very helpful. Aside from our school we have made some friends in the stores near by. Ong (we don't really know the spelling) is the woman Carolyn bought her helmet from. We went back o see her again tonight. She is very sweet. We hope to learn more Vietnamese from her or from an employee from our school who said he would teach us Vietnamese if we help him with his English.

I hope all is well back home. I miss you all.

We are here!

Day 1
We arrived in Vietnam at10 in the morning after about 24 hours of travel. Everything at the airport (customs, money exchange etc.) went smoothly and our administrators were even there to pick us up! The only unfrotunate thing was that we were rushed getting out and were not able to say good-bye to our team. It is good that we will get to see them in November! Anyway, after getting picked up we were taken out to eat at such an amazing restraunt! There was an endless amount fo food and even though Carolyn and I had already eaten a lot that day, the remaining food was split between us until it was gone. (Pictures of the food to come.) After we went back to our AMAZING apartment, we lounged around and unpacked a bit. Around dinner time we ventured out of our place and into the crazy streets of Vietnam. Even though we were looking for an internet cafe and did not find one we felt successful. We learned how to cross the busy streets. Trust me, they are unlike any street we have ever crossed in America. We also ordered coffee and somehow got a plate of food that was delicious. We even ordered breakfast for the morning which was also great. Yesterday=success!

Day 2
Today we had an interview with our administration. We were picked up by two people from work and driven to the headquarters were we waited for "5 mins" (which could mean any amount of time) and had our individual interviews. After meeting everyone in the office we were to take a taxi home but apparently, our address is in multiple signs everywhere which resulted in us getting lost. Because our taxi driver was adimate about one buildign being our location, Carolyn and I got out and walked around the city only to find a coffee shop with unbelievable coffee and free internet! So despite our situation, we are quite happy. Later tonight we will begin our observations at our school and hopeefully get some household items.

Who knows what tomorrow may hold. Hope all is well in America! P.S. Because this internet cafe was unexpected I did not have my laptop meaning no pictures. They will be up soon!

Heading off to the airport tonight!

So today is the day. The month has flown by and throughout we have been mentally, physically and emotionally challenged. Yet we know that we will be challenged even more once we get to Vietnam but talking with our group, it seems the attitude is the same: we are ready to dive in and face the challenges ahead because we know He is with us.
So as you go about your day today I ask that you lift us up once again in safety, health and unity. Thanks again for all of your support.
Next time I write I will be on the other side of the world!

We have reached the end of TEFL training!

Hey everyone! I am only five days from departure and the anxious feeling is more present than ever. Don’t get me wrong, I am excited but knowing the day is quickly approaching definitely gets my nerves going.
Encouraging news however is that the school has found housing for Carolyn and me! We supposedly will be living in a two bedroom apartment with a shared living space right in the heart of the city! It is supposed to be close to entertainment and to our school…only a mile or two away. This means we wont have to take motorbikes or taxis everywhere but it also means that we will have to face the craziness of crossing the street! According to our training we may be reducing our motorbike burns but increasing the likelihood of making the people of motorbikes very mad with our inability to cross the streets properly, along with the increase in chance we could be hit (just kidding mom).
Because we leave shortly, I ask you to lift our team up. To survive this coming year we need to be unified as one team. I also ask that you lift up our safety and health as we will be adjusting to a new time zone and new culture. Before leaving, the program would also like all teachers to meet a certain goal in support raising, if you would like to help here is how you can do so . Know that by supporting me, you are helping just as much as I am. Some people are sent and others go. He will use and recognize both.

Oh How the Days Fly

Hey all! Or should I say Xin Chao! It is Saturday, August 8! I cannot believe our time here has gone by so quickly. Even though we are enjoying our last bits of America, we are all getting anxious to get there. We have had more free time this week which is really nice. To fill our time we have created an Office-like show about our cafeteria. (The movie is soon to come).
We have also begun learning Vietnamese. We are definitely going to have an interesting time communicating over there when the word “ba” has multiple meanings. (and that is just one example) Aside from the obvious communication barrier, there is a second…apparently, the Vietnamese are not direct people. If the say “Oh yes yes, I know,” it means “they understand you but they may not do anything about the problem.”



This weekend was a nice break from sessions. Saturday we went on a tour around the ESI building and got root beer floats! Then we decided to go thrift store shopping and ended up walking for 45 minutes down random streets. However, the reward was very satisfying once we go there.


Today we went on a hike to a waterfall where some of us went swimming in the pool below. The ride home was a little cramped for the five that were in the back but it didn’t take us to long getting home. The night ended with Mexican food with our group…and a few additions and a game of Quelf which is always a game of surprises!
In short, we are enjoying our time but are all getting ready to go. Lifting us up is always needed. Some specific areas would be safety, homesickness and support raising. If you would like to help let me know but honestly, lifting up our team is the most important way to help me out. Thanks!