The amazing Ai lien! (added February 18th, 2010)
For months Ai lien has listened to me talk of a book titled, Truyen Kieu (the tale of Kieu), which is Vietnam's most classic and defining piece of literature. It can be easily bought in either Vietnamese or French in most major bookstores, but the English versions have long since sold out and not been re-printed.
While in Hanoi I asked for it in some of the best bookshops only to receive shaking heads. I have visited off the beaten path bookshops in Ho Chi Minh City and been warmly welcomed by excited bookshop owners happy to see a foreigner take an interest in the story. But after weeks of those owners also searching for the book, nothing had resulted.
As my December holiday came to a close and my graduate school classes were on the verge of beginning once again, I put the idea of reading the book on hold. I figured I could just order it off Amazon.com once we were in the U.S. if the urge was that strong.
Then, Ai lien presented me with a wrapped package on Valentine's Day. I opened it to find inside a box, a worn and well-read copy of Truyen Kieu in English translation. What I and every bookshop owner I encountered could not find, my wife was able to procur.
Have you ever seen "The Shawshank Redemption"? If not, you really must, but in the movie the narrator's character (Morgan Freeman) Red describes himself saying, "There's a con like me in every prison in America, I guess. I'm the guy who can get it for you. Cigarettes, a bag of reefer if you're partial, a bottle of brandy to celebrate your kid's high school graduation. Damn near anything, within reason. Yes sir, I'm a regular Sears & Roebuck."
A short while later, Andy (Tim Robbins) approaches Red and says, "I understand you're a man who knows how to get things." Red replies, "I'm known to locate certain things from time to time. They seem to fall into my hands. Maybe it's 'cause I'm Irish."
Well, Ai lien is certainly not Irish, but of anyone in Saigon, if you need it, she can get it. She is far more than a regular Sears & Roebuck.
And this is not just for me. All of her Vietnamese friends contact her for anything they might need. It's even rubbed off on me a bit, and just before the Lunar New Year when one of my teachers was finding it impossible to acquire a bus ticket to the beach city of Nha Trang (all bus tickets sell early) I visited a contact in the industry and that night called the teacher to tell him he had a ticket for the low price of 160,000 vnd (slightly less than $10usd). That's great considering most tickets were going for as much as twice that amount.
But back to Ai lien... it turns out she contacted bookshops all up and down Vietnam for me, and contacted every friend and contact she had. When everything came up empty, she visited a Vietnamese bookshop in Ho Chi Minh City which from time to time will purchase other items to help a customer who is in need of cash (sort of like a pawn shop). Luckily for Ai lien (and me), one customer had sold the shop a copy of Truyen Kieu translated into English.
Ai lien kept this secret from me (good thing I didn't order it from Amazon!) and gave it to me on Valentine's Day. I couldn't even believe my eyes. I was so surprised that at first I thought it must surely have been a joke.
But it was real, and definitely no joke. It was just another example of the amazing work and abilities of Ai lien.
Meal Ticket (added February 8th, 2010)
Hello. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is 'Meal Ticket', and I will give you anything you might need or want, as I have so much and clearly don't need it.
For the last two nights Ai lien hasn't slept well or felt well, but she hasn't known why. She's been clenching her teeth while she sleeps. Her stomach has caused her pain and felt uneasy every time she eats, and she's been suffering minor headaches. All of this for no apparent reason.
Then came the news today.
Ai lien's brother called her as we were going to dinner and told her he wanted to talk with her that night, but didn't tell her why. After dinner, she took an extra meal of rice and chicken and went to visit her brother at his home.
She went by motorbike taxi and I followed on foot, tackling the immense traffic of the Lunar New Year night flower market. By the time I arrived at her home, she looked quite sad and told me her brother had received some very sad news today.
I feared the worst, and asked, "What was it?"
She said, "It's from my brother" and my mind immediately raced to her half-brother who has been battling cancerous tumors for nearly two years and does not seem to have much more of a fight in him.
Then she told me that it was from her brother in Ho Chi Minh City.
He had a pretty good year in 2009. At the end of 2008 he was accepted into R.M.I.T.'s (an Australian University) program of study on a full need-based scholarship and he spent 2009 working through a year of English study that was included in the package. Now it is 2010 and he is nearing successful completion of the program. All this time his long-time boss has maintained his full pay, despite his only working part-time in order to accomodate his studies.
Full pay is 1.5 million Vietnam Dong (or about $90 U.S. Dollars) and an additional 200,000 vnd for phone and 500,000 vnd for housing (a grand total of 2,200,000 vnd).
And this is where the bad news comes in...
Her brother was told today by his boss that because he was only working part-time, they are going to have to decrease his pay, and pay him only 700,000 vnd per month, which is not enough to cover his rent, let alone other living expenses.
At the moment, we can only speculate as to why they suddenly changed their mind (and they are entitled to do so). We hope it is due to recent down economic years...
But the reality is that on September 9th, my wife married me, a foreigner, and on the basis of my skin color and passport, local people here view me, the foreigner, as a meal ticket.
This is understandable when you consider the gap in wages between our two worlds, but just as there is a gap in wages, there is a gap in prices. I can expect to pay more than double a local person on housing/rent and just about anything I would buy in a market. I recently visited a shop looking for a gift for my brother and was quoted a price of 480,000 vnd for the item. I returned today with Ai lien and lo' and behold she knows the shopkeeper from long ago and suddenly we purchased that item and several other gifts for less than the originally quoted price.
Health care in Vietnam is cheap, but like with most things, you get what you pay for, and I would never feel comfortable being treated in those conditions. Thus, $100 of my monthly salary goes immediately to paying health insurance.
I'm still able to live a nice and comfortable life, but I'm not filling my bathtub with excess Vietnam Dong. I don't eat the 20,000 - 40,000 vnd meals which can be purchased from small vendors on the sidewalk. If I tested my stomach with such foods I'd likely end up spending more time on the toilet than in the classroom. Last year Ai lien suffered long-lasting stomach pains, and the cause was likely such food, and her stomach is supposed to be accustomed to it! Instead, we eat in cafes and restaurants, where our combined bill runs between 120,000 - 200,000 vnd.
I shouldn't have to pay double the rate to take a motorbike taxi. I shouldn't have to argue with a taxi driver to receive full change back after a ride. My students don't tip me after I "give them the learning of their lives!" (to quote a teacher in my school). I do my job and get paid the rate, so why should I tip a taxi driver for doing his job. They certainly don't do anything special, as customer service is still a lost concept.
I realize my life is good, especially compared to many of those around me, but I'm a bit tired of being exploited daily based solely on the color of my skin. For a communist nation, I feel the people here are far more capitalistic than even the people in the U.S.A.
Last year, Ai lien's brother's boss vowed to help him through his studies because Ai lien and Bon had been so good to them. Now they have evidently changed their mind, and that's their right. But I certainly hope it wasn't because of September 9th, when I became Ai lien's husband.
Strange noises (added January 28th, 2010)
As we lay in bed ready to sleep on Tuesday night, Ai lien and I found ourselves under attack by a series of loud gurgling noises. Was there a massive plumbing problem? Was there something strange outside? Did the rainy season decide to make a surprise guest appearance during this time of great heat?
No. No. And no.
To our surprise, the noises were bursting forth from my own stomach. It turns out that my stomach was confused and simply did not know what to do with itself. You see, earlier that week I discovered that our new home is only a block away from a stadium and track which are free for the public to use. FREE! In this capitalist-minded Communist nation the word free is generally unheard of. Even the use of a wet wipe napkin during lunch costs the diner 2,000 Vietnam Dong (a little less than 10 cents).
On Tuesday afternoon, I decided to make use of my newfound discovery and walked to the stadium. After finding my way inside, I took some time to stretch, and felts months of inactivity pull at my muscles in fear of what I was about to undertake.
As I finished stretching, the Vietnamese school children began clearing off the track, a sign that their Physical Education class had ended. I began this monumental event by walking, easing the fear building up in my muscles. When I reached the far side straight away, I began jogging and built my way into longer strides.
As I approached the far bend in the track I became aware of an imminent danger lurking just off the track. Vietnamese armed with bows were firing arrows in a path parallel to the very track on which I was running.
Without showing fear, but as quickly as possible, I made my way as far from the path of those arrows as possible, keeping my eyes on the target every time I heard the bow string released.
Luckily, my attention returned to the track in time to notice the lanes of the track running directly underneath the wall of a building that must have either refused to relocate when the track was built, or had been obnoxiously built there since.
Not wanting to overwhelm my muscles after so many months, I walked around the track four more times, running about a third of the way each lap, concentrating on running with long strides.
After finishing, I stretched, and walked home, feeling good about my accomplishment and looking forward to walking and running my way through my last two months in Vietnam.
Bringing things into focus (added January 10th, 2010)
One downside to moving away from Vietnam is leaving behind Ai lien's incredible network of friends. In November, we decided to follow-through on our plan to move out of our apartment and into a guest house until the time came for us to leave Vietnam. I mentioned to Ai lien that we would need to look for a new place to live. She made a phone call and by the end of the day we had found our new home, visited it, and reached an agreement with the owner.
She seems to know everyone as we walk through the city center, and everyone knows her. I would go so far as to say that her street level connections are unmatched.
While trekking in Sapa in December, I had the misfortunate experience of knocking my camera lens into a rock. For anyone who knows me, the loss of my camera is tremendous, but the loss of it in such a place of amazing natural beauty compounded the effect times ten.
However, it was only a camera, and life goes on.
On the plus side, I meddled around with it and discovered that the camera worked fine with my other lens, so it was only the normal sized lens which had a problem.
When we returned to Ho Chi Minh City, Ai lien took my camera and lens to her friend who owns a camera selling and repair shop. Her friend took the camera and by the next morning had returned it, good as new, for the low low price of 200,000 Vietnam Dong, about $12 (just to cover time spent). Had I been anyone else the cost would have been over 1 million Vietnam Dong, or more than $60!!
Ai lien's connection helped bring focus back to my camera, but also added focus for me to all that she will be leaving behind, after living here for the last 14 years. In my last 14 years I have lived in three different countries, three different states, and in more than a dozen different addresses.
Hopefully our move will signal the beginning of a new era for us, one in which we will both establish and enjoy a life of stability together.
The Greatest Race! (added January 6th, 2010)
In anticipation of the upcoming Tet Lunar New Year holiday (on February 14th), I found an interesting story about the story of how the 12 animals were chosen for the Chinese Zodiac. There are many variations on this story but this is a version that seems to be popular and is at the basis of most of the other versions.
There are several legends about how the animals were chosen for the Chinese zodiac. This is one of them. The Jade Emperor is the name of the Emperor of Heaven.
Long ago, in China, the Jade Emperor decided there should be a way of measuring time. On his birthday he told the animals that there was to be a swimming race. The first twelve animals across the fast flowing river would be the winners and they would each have a year of the zodiac named after them.
All the animals lined up along the river bank. The rat and the cat, who were good friends, were worried because they were poor swimmers. Being clever they asked the strong ox if he would carry them across the river.
'Of course' said the kind ox. 'Just climb on my back and I will take you across.'
The rat and the cat quickly jumped up and were very excited when the ox soon took the lead in the race. They had almost reached the other bank when the rat pushed the cat into the river leaving him to struggle in the water. Then just before the ox was about to win the race the rat leapt on his head and on to the bank to finish first.
'Well done,' said the Jade Emperor to the proud rat. 'The first year of the zodiac will be named after you.'
The poor ox had been tricked into second place and the second year of the zodiac was named after him.
Shortly after the exhausted tiger clawed his way to the river bank to claim third place. Swimming across the river had been an enormous struggle for him against the strong currents. The Emperor was so delighted with his efforts that he named the third year after him.
Next to arrive was the rabbit, who hadn't swum across at all. He hopped across on some stepping stones and then found a floating log which carried him to the shore.
'I shall be very happy to call the fourth year after you,' the surprised Jade Emperor explained.
Just then a kind dragon swooped down to take fifth place.
'Why didn’t you win the race, as you can fly as well as swim?' the Jade Emperor asked.
'I was held up because some people and animals needed water to drink. I needed to make some rain,' the dragon explained. 'Then when I was nearly here I saw a poor little rabbit on a log in the water and I blew a puff of wind so that the log would float to the river bank.'
'Well that was very kind of you and now you are here you will have the fifth year of the zodiac named after you.'
The next thing the Jade Emperor heard was the sound of the horse’s hooves. Just as he was thinking the horse would be the next animal to arrive, a sneaky snake wriggled out from around one of the horse’s hooves. The horse was so surprised that he jumped backwards giving the snake a chance to take the sixth place in the race. The poor horse had to be satisfied with seventh place.
Not long afterwards a raft arrived carrying the goat, the monkey and the rooster. They explained to the Emperor how they had shared the raft that the rooster had found. The goat and monkey had cleared weeds and pushed the raft to the shore. The Emperor was very pleased that the animals had worked together. He said the goat would be the eighth zodiac animal, the monkey the ninth and the rooster the tenth.
The next animal to finish was the dog.
'Why are you so late when you are one of the best swimmers?' asked the Jade Emperor.
'The water in the river was so clean that I had to have a bath on the way,' explained the dog.
His reward was to have the eleventh year named after him.
Now there was one place left in the zodiac and the Emperor wondered when the last winner would come. He had nearly given up when he heard a grunt from the boar.
'You took a long time to cross the river,' said the Emperor to the boar.
'I was hungry and stopped to eat,' explained the boar. 'After the meal I felt so tired that I fell asleep.'
'You have still done well,' said the Jade Emperor. 'The last year of the zodiac will be named after you.'
As for the cat who had been pushed into the water by the rat, he finally crawled out of the water but was too late to have a year named after him. He felt very cross with the rat and since then cats have never been friends with rats.
From that day to this the Chinese Zodiac has followed this cycle of years named after these twelve animals.
Ai lien's Mother's visit (added October 4th, 2009)
Ai lien's mother came to HCMC to spend some time with her sister and children.
Unfortunately, Ai lien's brother was extremely busy with his school and Ai lien was busy with her own studies, so their mother spent the whole time staying at their aunt's outside of the city.
Finally, on the day before her departure, her mother returned to the city and spent the last day and a half staying at Ai lien's brother's home. The night before her departure she came to our home and when I returned home from work at 8pm the three of us spent a nice evening together communicating and testing the boundaries of my very limited Vietnamese.
Ai lien finished preparing dinner while I sat in the main room with her mother talking with my very broken Vietnamese and her nonexistent English. At one point I pulled out a children's story book in Vietnamese and started to read it for her, showing off my ability to read yet not understand most of what was on the pages.
She was quite impressed though and wanted me to read it over and over again, happy to hear her foreign son-in-law making the effort to learn her language.
Tired of re-reading the same book I instead opened up a dvd of a Vietnamese travel show that visited my hometown, St. Louis, and Ai lien and I showed her the place we hope to soon call 'home'.
She left around 10:30pm to get some sleep, but the night was a far more productive effort on my part in communicating with her mother and I was happy to see that my earlier efforts to learn Vietnamese were in some ways, productive and that the time I invested was not ill-spent.
I have four months until the Tet Vietnamese New Year holiday and I hope that a renewed effort towards Vietnamese fluency will all me to communicate even more easily with Ai lien's mother and family and friends by the time we go there for the holiday.
A feel good story (added August 28th, 2009)
Living in a foreign country can be a bit trying at times, and generally I stay true to whom I am, but I wish Ai lien would be able to see me interact with other people more in my daily life. One of the staff members at my school told me yesterday that she believes everyone will attend my wedding because I am so good and kind with them. She said the Vietnamese staff believe I'm very open minded and that I have a good heart.
I told this to Ai lien and she just smiled. Just last night though, an event occurred that made Ai lien proud. We hailed a taxi home after a delicious Indian curry dinner. When our taxi was making a turn, an idiot and his friend on a motorbike tried to squeeze past the taxi only to realize there was not enough room. The taxi and motorbike scraped and Ai lien and I sat in the back as the two drivers argued it out, all while a crowd of people with nothing better to do gathered around.
The taxi driver tried to show how the motorbike was fine, but the driver insisted on the taxi driver giving him 100,000 VND. In the end, the taxi driver forked over 50,000 VND.
I felt bad for the guy. Ai lien said the motorbike driver was a local gangster and the taxi driver really had little choice. When we arrived home, we paid him our fare, but I gave him an additional 50,000 to help him cover his loss. He was shocked, but extremely happy by my show of kindness, and even more importantly, so was Ai lien.
Published in a major weekly magazine! (added August 13th, 2009)
I was recently asked by my school to write an article for a major weekly magazine published for women here. I submitted my first copy and the editor of the magazine was so impressed and so interested in what more I had to say that she asked me to add even more information and details, with some specific information about how Ai lien has helped me with living in Vietnam. I have not been given the exact publishing date yet, but I believe it should be fairly soon. I'm excited to see what they do with it in Vietnamese... though I hope it translates well. Please enjoy the story below!
I first visited Vietnam on December 24th, 2006. Though my flight arrived at 11:30pm, the city was alive and boiling with excitement for the Christmas holiday. I was working in Korea at the time, and had chosen to make Vietnam my holiday destination in order to retrace my father’s footsteps and search out the places he had been so many years ago, serving as an engineer and helping Vietnam to develop its roads and bridges.
After visiting the Mekong, Cu Chi, Dalat, and Ho Chi Minh City I had fallen in love with this amazing country and made some wonderful friends along the way. Little did I know at that time just how in love I had fallen.
One of those friends I made, Ai lien, quickly became my best friend and after 13 months of building a strong long-distance relationship highlighted by my four return trips to Vietnam, I completed my contract in Korea and finally moved to Ho Chi Minh City last September.
A foreigner’s life in Vietnam has its ups and downs. Some days it is frustrating to spend so much time haggling over prices and I doubt I will ever fully understand the logic behind driving in this massive city; however, life here is also incredibly wonderful.
The United States of America is often called “the land of opportunity” by people from around the world who move there seeking a better life, but as a country on the rise, Vietnam has truly become this American’s ‘land of opportunity.’
I’m fortunate enough to be working for Apollo Education & Training, where the students are some of the best I have ever taught, and the professional relationships I have formed with both my Vietnamese and foreign colleagues have been extremely rewarding. I’ve also been given numerous chances to test my professional abilities and expand my resume in ways I previously never dreamed.
I have also been blessed to discover the joys of true love. After I arrived in Vietnam last September, my relationship with Ai lien blossomed and I am proud to say that in July I became her husband.
With so much opportunity, life here is mostly satisfying, but any move to a new country presents a variety of learning curves.
Whenever I need help or when I’m not exactly sure where to find what I need, Ai lien always has the answer.
From the first day I met her until now, she has done nothing but help to make my life wonderful. Prior to my arrival, she found and arranged housing for me. A few weeks after my arrival, her brother helped me to purchase a motorbike, which is why so many Vietnamese drivers give me funny stares, the foreigner on the Phu Yen motorbike. Of course I could have done all of this on my own while living here, but the process would have likely been slow and tedious.
Ai lien has been amazing, but the Vietnamese people are so helpful and so friendly that even if I was on my own here, I would rarely be on my own.
I love Vietnam, but I love it even more once I’m outside of Ho Chi Minh City. When the hectic life in this city begins to get the best of me, one of my favorite things is to escape via the Reunification Express and ride the overnight train north to Tuy Hoa, near my wife’s hometown. Life in Tuy Hoa slows to a more reasonable pace and it’s enjoyable to experience Vietnam in its’ truest sense. There we can admire the beautiful Vietnamese coastline, savor delicious and cheap foods from our favorite restaurant, and interact with Vietnamese who haven’t seen a foreigner since the end of the war.
Some of my fondest memories in Vietnam involve sharing in the traditional Tet (Chinese New Year) holidays with Ai lien and her family. Her mother, brothers, uncles, aunts, and cousins all welcomed me as part of the family. As the first ‘visitor’ to their home on the New Year holiday, my visit took on even greater importance, and began with several moments of silence bowing and praying before the family alter.
In honor of the special occasion, we rented a van and our first stop was the local cemetary, where we paid respects to Ai lien’s late father. From there, we went to the local Pagoda to share greetings and best wishes on the special occasion. The next 48 hours was a whirlwind trip through the countryside visiting as many family and friends as was possible. At every house we ate and drank and at times played a variety of card games to test our (New Year’s) luck. It was exhausting but wonderful at the same time. There is something very refreshing about the optimism and hope pouring out of every Vietnamese person during the New Year holiday.
I personally believe one of the most important things a foreigner living abroad can do is to learn the language of their host country.
Mastering the Vietnamese language is no easy task though. I was surprised to learn of the expensive prices for the courses available here but I was determined to find a course that would enable me to talk directly with Ai lien’s mother. While shopping around for a reasonable Vietnamese langague course, I was quite lucky to have one of my Apollo students offer to teach me Vietnamese for free. The Vietnamese language is not impossible, but it is challenging, and the Vietnamese tones are my number one obstacle. In English, we use our tones to express our emotions, while Vietnamese use tones to express meaning. Despite the one-on-one lessons, it still often feels as if the only person who understands my Vietnamese is my wife!
I’m far from fluent, but at least I’m now able to communicate on a very basic level with Ai lien’s mother and family members. Thankfully, her cousins and brother have all studied English at university and though they live in Da Nang, we are able to chat throughout the year via internet messenger. Each year I set my goal to be able to communicate more with her family through Vietnamese by the next new year. With more than five months to study, I hope I can impress them next year.
It’s important to me too, that my students know I have made an effort to learn their language, especially since I am here to encourage and help them learn English. More time and practice will certainly improve my Vietnamese and will definitely help to make daily life easier for me.
Even though life could be easier, it is still not difficult for a foreigner living in Vietnam. The foreigner population is large enough that several area supermarkets carry most of our ‘comforts from home’, and and if we can’t find something then Vietnam is certainly the place to have it specially made.
It’s also not uncommon for an American, Korean, Japanese, British or other foreigner to spend thirty or more minutes commuting one way to work each day. Here those same people can quickly scoot to work on their own motorbikes, spending more time with family and friends and less time behind the wheel of their car.
Tropical weather, close proximity to beautiful beaches, and fresh fruit juices certainly all sound like many a man’s heaven. For others, the cheap beer and street stall pho make life wonderful. My wife, a safe home, and a stable job are the only things I need to ensure happiness. I was blessed to discover such happiness here in Vietnam, and life has certainly been rewarding.
While Ho Chi Minh City strives to achieve its goal of becoming a more modern city in the near future, life for foreigners is sure to become less difficult and more rewarding. From my first visit at the end of 2006 until the present, I’ve witnessed much growth and many advancements both in Ho Chi Minh City and across southern Vietnam. If so much can be done in such a short period of time, I’m excited to see what the future holds for the optimistic people of Vietnam.
The Power of Love
As Vietnam grows and develops, so too will my love and marriage with Ai lien.
Of course, she is the most important element that feeds my happiness. It’s not always easy to marry with someone who comes from such a different culture. Cultural differences constantly threaten to disrupt the harmony of the relationship, but mutual respect and true appreciation for each other can help us overcome anything.
My wife recently purchased her first motorbike, only to drive it for three days before realizing that the streets of Ho Chi Minh were too overwhelming for her. I’ve had my motorbike for nearly a year now, but I’ve still not adjusted completely to the frantic and unpredictable pace of the city’s streets. As a teacher with strong convictions about what is right and what is wrong, it is difficult for me to accept so many motorbike drivers turning into me without yielding and coming at me down the wrong side of the road.
At first, I would instinctively want to honk my horn in anger. Through my wife’s good reasoning and encouragement I realized that such reactions would not help me to feel any happier. She won’t be bothered to allow the actions of others to remove the smile from her face. While sitting behind me on my bike, she merely squeezes me tightly around the waist and says, “Don’t let them change you.”
The changing face of Ho Chi Minh City will certainly affect the local people, and money will likely take on an even greater importance in this, the commerical capital of the South. Thankfully, Ai lien’s sixteen years of living in the big city have not erased her small town family values. Despite all of the craziness around her, she has always remained true to herself.
One of the greatest things about my wife is that she sees me for who I am. At times I become frustrated by my lack of understanding for the way things are done here , and at those times I can become admittedly ‘not nice’. Even at those times, my wife remembers and sees the good in me, and with a simple look of disappointment is able to re-awaken the ‘good’ me.
Then there are those moments when I can see in her eyes and through her smile that I mean the world to her. Those moments when I surprise her with a visit and flowers, or when she watches as I do something kind for someone in need. I could get lost gazing into those eyes.
She is my peace in a city of loud horns and speeding motorbikes. She is the person who motivates me to strive to be a better man.
The DoS Course (added August 2nd, 2009)
One thing my job at Apollo has give me is opportunity. While I'm still completing my Certificate for teaching Young Learners, I just began an online certificate course for a Director of Studies certificate (which will end in mid October). I've spent the past 8 months serving in a position as Academic Manager.
When this course finishes, I will then have a piece of paper which will help to support the amazing experience of working in school management. I hope that one day the experience and certificate will give me a leg up on other candidates should I ever decide to move into school administration in the U.S.( after earning my Master's), but did I shoot myself in the foot?
In addition to these courses (thankfully the Young Learner one will end in two weeks), I have been chosen to team-teach a special course in August geared at helping Vietnamese educators so that they can better train future workers in the hospitality industry.
If all of that weren't enough, I will be getting married in about four weeks time, in the heart of my DoS course, and my family will be visiting for two weeks at that time.
Surprisingly, I don't think it should be much of a problem though. I only need to ensure that I access the online forum for 30 minutes to an hour a few times a week. With all hotels featuring the Internet, I won't have a problem with access.
My greatest problem might be focus, but I kept up with two graduate courses while enjoying the traditional Vietnamese Tet holiday in Ai lien's hometown last year, so I expect this will be something similar.
If I were in the U.S. I'd cross my fingers that all goes well, but I'm in Vietnam and that gesture is a no-no (since it resembles a woman's special part). I guess I'll have to find out what gesture is acceptable here and practice it every day. I'm going to need it!!
Black bugs and the beauty of darkness (added July 29th, 2009)
The recent streak of daily rainstorms has brought nightly hordes of little black flying bugs that are attracted to the lights inside. Within thirty minutes of turning on my living room light the surrounding ceiling turns into a white sea full of black speckles. The strange thing of these bugs is that while they live in the light, they actually die in the dark.
The other night, I made the great mistake of falling asleep on the couch with the kitchen light on. When I woke up at some time during the night I stumbled across the room to switch off the light and then wandered through my apartment and fell into my bed. When I woke the next morning I was aghast in horror as the entire kitchen, counters and floor, were covered in small dead bodies of the bugs that surely were clinging to the ceiling at the time I flicked that switch during the night.
It took me nearly thirty minutes that morning, but I eventually swept up all of the bodies and ceremoniously poured them into the waste basket.
Since that morning, my nights have been dominated by darkness. As the sun goes down, so do my light switches. I give those little black menaces no reason to find my home. Often the only light in my home is the glow from my lap top.
And it is for the reason is living in darkness, that I became suddenly aware of an odd beauty. Last night, as I stood in the center of my apartment, my gaze became fixed on the vision sprawled out on the opposite side of my large picture window. Standing high up on the ninth floor of one of the tallest buildings in the immediate area, glowing lights lit up the skyline across the horizon. As the hours passed, lights across the city gradually extinguished and my darkness became more complete. As the lights faded, an eerie silence blanketed the city, broken only by the occasional motorbike passing by on the street below.
Ho Chi Minh City is far from being added to the ranks of the world's most beautiful cities, but in this late hour of the night, as lights and silence co-mingled, for perhaps one of the first times, I truly enjoyed this city.
Mother Nature and the strange day (added July 22nd, 2009)
It's mid-July and this is supposed to be the heart of the rainy season. June is supposed to be one of the rainiest months; however, I could have counted the number of days it rained on one hand. As we flipped the calendar into July Mother Nature seemed to wake up from her nap and as of recent, it has rained most afternoons.
The rains lately have been starting around 11:00am and lasting for a few hours into the afternoon. Today's storms were no different, however, as the storm crossed over, it brought with it a cloud cover unlike any I had ever seen.
Sitting at my desk in the teacher's office at the back of my school, the small windows in our office suddenly lost all light. It was nighttime in the middle of the day, and the rains beat down on the pavement outside.
Within a few minutes the clouds had moved along though the rain still fell.
Or, so I thought...
...only tonight did I happen to click on http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/22/solar.eclipse/index.html and read a story about Asia being thrust into darkness due to a solar eclipse.
Had I known beforehand about the eclipse I would have tried to make a concerted effort to witness it, though that effort would have been thwarted by Mother Nature and her rain clouds. With such heavy rain drenching Ho Chi Minh City I doubt that most people here even realize they 'witnessed' the historic longest eclipse of the century.
A new friend (added July 15th, 2009)
Yesterday, I met a really nice Vietnamese-American named Minh who is from Kirkwood, Missouri!! That's a short bike ride from my parents' house. It was especially great because he was able to tell me all about the Vietnamese population in St. Louis, and helped me feel alot better about the prospect of moving there with Ai lien.
He was visiting Apollo to find a school for his nephew, who is a shy little boy of seven years.
Ai lien and I are looking forward to going to dinner sometime with Minh and his sister, and talking more about Vietnamese life in both Vietnam and St. Louis.
A day at the zoo (added July 14th, 2009)
My family will be visiting in less than two month's time, and the pressure is on for me to find all of the best things that Ho Chi Minh City (and Vietnam) has to offer. This task actually isn't so hard, because I've been here for white a while and visited many times before, so I've already done and seen most of the highlights anyway.
One of the places that I have not visited however, is the Zoo and Botanical Gardens (combined park). At least, I have not visited them when the sun was out. During my first trip to HCMC, the zoo was hosting a special event at night for which they had music and large inflatable world monuments (such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Taj Mahal) blown up and lit up from the inside.
During the daytime it is a nice escape from the crowds and noise of HCMC, but it pales in comparison to the standards of an American zoo. I'm also not exactly sure which section is considered to be the 'Botanical Gardens', but one area had few animals so I'm guessing that would be the gardens.
A highlight of my day (in a bit of a sadistic way) was watching as a rabbit roamed around a cage enjoying the fresh green plants, until it suddenly realized that large thing piled up in the corner was a Burmese Python. There were four pythons in the cage; two of them appeared to have eaten recently and couldn't have cared less about the rabbit, but two of them were swimming quite actively in the water. One of these snatched the rabbit, hugged it to death, and then took about ten minutes to get the entire rabbit into its mouth. It's an experience I had never seen live.
We're learning, learning, learning! (added June 20th, 2009)
Khalid, the owner of Apollo Education & Training, my current employer, was inspired through his work with schools in Vietnam to create a song, which was recently recorded and posted on You Tube. The video is very cheesy, but has some of my colleagues and students in it. Also, the girl singing the song is a famous Vietnamese singer.
Please click below to watch the video on YouTube.
APOLLO'S, "THE LEARNING SONG"
