The Last Week and a Half...A Mixiture of Fun and Frustrations

Hello friends and family. Please take a moment to celebrate with me a one month anniversary of my arrival in Vietnam. Yup, a month has come and gone and in that month I have discovered a new culture, made new friends and learned to teach in ways I have never taught before. Carolyn and I have settled in well with only a few minor inconveniences such a power outages, a leaky AC and friendly, fast moving…ants. I still have not gotten used to them climbing into bed with me at night but I am sure a few months down the road I will no longer notice them.

This month has also tested me in my position as a CA. At the beginning of the year I think I was a little naïve as to what problems may occur but they have begun. It has been challenging but I know He will be with me in this position and it will be His guidance and wisdom that will help in the following decisions.

Despite the frustrations, He has been faithful and begun to open up opportunities to get to know my students. Thursday and Friday night classes were canceled because our school was being fumigated as a precaution against the A1 N1 virus. When my class got the news I asked my students what the were going to do. Some said they were going to sleep and others said they still wanted to hang out! “Teacher, what about a field trip?” I liked this idea so we agreed that anyone who would like to, could join together for coffee and the opportunity to speak English. So the other night, Carolyn and I headed over to school where we met two of my students and their friend. We went to a place right down the street to a Milk Tea café where we actually had our first experience of sitting on the floor around a table. Even though Carolyn and I were skeptical to hang out with three male students, I felt like they really were there to practice their English and I came away excited about future opportunities to hang out with all of my students! In a classroom environment, it is not appropriate to discuss Him at all. However, in a setting outside of the classroom, there is more freedom for students to ask questions and for me to share more about who He is to me. I come to you asking for this to be lifted up. I want to be the best teacher I can be and that is why I am here but I am also here to show them who He is and I want to make the most of that opportunity.

These children are in my morning classes on Saturday. I teach all ages, from 9-21, throughout the week .

Other news…the weekend when I was fulfilling my CA position I was up in Da Nang. I definitely had my frustrations that weekend but I also got to do some site seeing. A group of us went to Ba Na, the mountain with the longest gondola ride in the world! I can’t even describe to you how beautiful it was! I also got a motorbike ride up Monkey Mountain! It was a good thing the weekend had some fun mixed into it!

At Ba Na!

Up Monkey Mountain where we saw bagodas and on the beach on the way back down. Lance was asked if he wanted to help pull the net in.

We are still enjoying fellowship but feel it is difficult to get to know people there. I am sure however, that it will change over time. We are so fortunate to have met Janell and are excited to get to know her even more. This weekend was her birthday, so after church we went to celebrate. We ate at a delicious café where we got tomato and pumpkin soups and ham sandwiches! Carolyn and I decided to stay in District 1 for the day and ended up visiting a studio of a local painter, learning some history about a former president and eating a Wayne’s Texas BBQ where I got Mexican food! We felt it was a fun way to spend our one month here!

We had a very stormy day. Many streets were flooded!

Hanging in District 1. We bought a bath mat for Janell's birthday.

Teaching...since that's why I am over here!

So I have been pretty down about teaching as I have shared. I have felt frustrated not only with myself but with my students. This morning I talked to my parents and we talked about everything that was going on, changing my perspective on the classes tonight. I went in so much more confident than I ever had before!

I am back now from 3 hours of teaching and I can not even express to you my delight as I write this blog. I felt like I was finally successful in my teaching! I tried to make it more fun and they actually got more involved. I even made a fool of myself by dancing in front of them…but they liked it! I saw that they opened up more when I began to open up myself.

I wish I had more to say about my students and my teaching but all I can leave you with is my new found excitement towards my students! I have 6 more classes between tomorrow and Saturday but I feel more prepared now and I know I am ready for the rest of this year! I cannot wait to share my experiences with you.

One side note: The school has never had an American woman teach at this school before so I think it excites many people to have Carolyn and I there. They boys can get a little flirty as a result. I was asking the students to ask their peers, what things do they have in common. One boy asked, not to the class but me, “Do you like to walk in the park with your honey?” It gave us all a good laugh.

Overall, my students are talkative, and sometimes they do not like to listen to the rules (or to me) but comments like these show me that they are at least comfortable in my class and with me. I see this as a great building block for more discussions in the classroom.

Night Markets and Birthdays

This weekend began on Saturday night when Carolyn and I went to a night market right across the street from our school. It was very crowded but exciting! There were hundreds of booths and all types of foods…none of which we knew. But we tried the food and made some purchases and had a great time. We even observed a woman singing a song while she pulled a bucket up and down on a rope (not too sure what she was dong). But despite all the new sights we were seeing that night…I think our presence was a sight to see for Ho Chi Minh.

They smelled good but they were not what we were expecting

By now, people know where we live. We here the name of our apartment building in conversations between the people and one boy even knew what floor we lived on and proved that when we got into the elevator and he pressed our floor for us. Despite their knowledge of us, the Vietnamese people still have a fascination towards us. At the night market Carolyn and I discussed the idea of getting our own booth and having people pay to watch us eat the food they bring us….since, for some reason, they like to watch us.

Thought these were going to be sweet and the first bite was but then they got sour

Sunday morning we attended International fellowship. After the service we asked our friend Janell what her plans were for the day. She said that she was hanging out with the birthday girl (Carolyn). So we decided to go to the mall and eat some food…since everyone could get the kind of food they wanted. We met Alleta there along with two other friends from fellowship. We had a delicious meal followed with chocolate cake that the girls had bought for Carolyn. The rest of the day was spent in Ben Thanh Market and walking the streets of the Backpackers District. We didn’t make too many purchases but I made one that I will cherish forever. It reminds me of a movie we watched in training that made me fall in love with Vietnam! (picture to come late)

Taking a bite of the chocolate birthday cake! Notice the birthday symbol on the back.

Alleta and Janell

Sunday ended with a movie and an amazing seafood dinner! Monday arrived and SURPRISE…the Bien Hoa girls came down for Carolyn’s birthday! We spent the day with them walking the streets from across the bridge. We got back too late for them to catch the bus so they stayed the night. We ended our day of constant walking with a viewing of Corky Romano!

Motorbikes blocking the entrance and exit of the movie theater...how do we get out?

Isn't it beautiful?...it was tasty too!

The girls bought Moon Cake for Caroyn's birthday in the shape of a pig with four suckling piglets!

Now into another busy week of lesson planning and teaching!

Things you can lift up: I have been sick with a cold for the past week now. I think it’s at the tale end but I now have a nasty cough that hurts my throat. My attitude. I love it here and I am so excited but I can get so frustrated with teaching and with other stuff going on that I am not showing His love the best that I can. Also, my support raising has been pretty stagnant. If you want to support me in any way, lifting up is the best way but you can also donate at teachoverseas.org, click on the “donate now” button and write in my account number which is 209133.

Shadow Puppets on the Wall

August 19: It all began with a bill slipped under our door the second day of coming to Vietnam. Multiple days Carolyn and I thought we should take it to get interpreted but we always seemed to forget.

September 1: I woke up and Skyped with my parents. All was well in our apartment then. Later that afternoon we received an announcement. We could not interpret it then but we understood once we tried to ring our doorbell and it did not ring. At first we thought…oh it’s just another power outage. It should be back on by 3 o’clock but that did not happen. When returned from teaching there was still no power. Carolyn broke out her trusty headlights and we sat in the kitchen writing Haikus, eating Oreoes and milk and making shadow puppets on the wall. We also had a fun time interpreting the papers that were slid under the door. Not that it was much of a secret anymore, but they both said our power would be turned off. Now it’s not what you may think. We are very responsible girls and would have paid the power bill, had it been ours. The bill was dated the 16^th….we weren’t even here yet!

September 2: Still no power. And to make things better…it was a holiday, assuring us we would go at least one more day without it. We decided to get out of the house and explore a market we were told about. While walking along we began seeing broken pottery in the trash. Because it was so beautiful, Carolyn and I thought it would be fun to collect pieces and eventually make an art project out of them. The rest of the day, we talked and tried to interpret conversations, ate an expensive restaurant, waited for staff members to come by and sort out the problem, went to yogurt when they did not show up and returned again to darkness. On this night we decided to go old school and play a few games of MASH.

September 3: 8 o’clock in the morning two guys came by from school and told us they would call the office and get things sorted out and that we should have power that day. We decided not to sit around and wait so we went to our coffee place and to school to use the internet. Just a side note…due to multiple mornings of going to the same coffee place, we no longer have to order. The woman knows what we want and starts making it when she sees us coming! They are the cutest couple and we are excited to get to know them more. Anyway, the day progressed like any other day. However, this day we were hopeful that when we returned we would have power but we did not. Luckily, we had charged our computers at school and we had enough power to watch a couple episodes of The Office. The night ended with me getting ready for bed and finding a gigantic cockroach on my window. Carolyn (being the awesome roommate she is) helped me shoo it out the window. I spent that night with the windows shut and no AC but at least I was cockroach free!

September 4: I am writing this and sending it to you from our apartment! We came back from school today with a bathroom light on and the doorbell ringing!