"The real voyage of discovery consists not of seeking new lands, but seeing with new eyes."

Breakfast meeting and we are off to another day at NBK.  It was nice to have the directions and map to NBK.  The cab driver did not get lost today.  Thus, no arguments when we got there.

The morning was two periods of 3rd through 1st graders.  Great fun but we all agree that 4 volunteers in a classroom is too many.  Before lunch, we spent about 30 minutes talking to two student teachers.  They were very interesting.  They are worried about finding a job after they graduate from college.  So what is different here than in the U.S.?  They also told us that population growth in the country is the main issue of concern.

Lunch, a break and then one more class of first-graders - then back to the hotel.

Dinner was at the Huyen Huong Restaurant - spring rolls, fried rose and pho. Altogether a pleasant evening.

- Bob

"Yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream."

After a long detour by our lost taxi driver, we arrived at NBK school late.  We participated in the last 20 minutes of what appeared to be a math class, and were relieved for a couple of hours from teaching.  Thu spent 40 minutes teaching us some basic Vietnamese phrases, such as "xin chao" (hello) and "tam biet" (good bye).  We participated in an English class, working with students on learning parts of the body, through watching videos on YouTube and playing "Simon says."

Tuesdays are a half-day, so we were treated to lunch at NBK school and released.  We attended a pleasant water puppet show, then convened for dinner at the Avalon Grill.  Before the evening concluded, we booked a weekend cruise to see Halong Bay.

-- David

First Day of Teaching

We all got up early and had breakfast on the top floor.  Nice meal.  Enjoyed looking at all the rooftops.  Was cloudy and misty.  About 7:30 a.m. we had a short meeting.  James Heiss read his report and his quote.

Next:  A long 45-minute crazy taxi ride to school....an out-of-mind experience - the bikes, the cars, the motorbikes, the people....and all the sights.

At the school, there was a simple welcome reception with the headmaster.  Had tea and got flowers.  Floors were slippery - all marble.  It's a very large, 7-story school.  This was International Women's Day.  We had two school assemblies in the large school outdoor courtyard.  Hundreds of kids on little plastic stools.  Two programs - lower elementary and middle school.... Saw dancing, heard poems and singing. Program was too long.... Next to the teacher's lounge where we had a short planning meeting.

We visited several classrooms - lots of moving around and the afternoon is sort of a whirl now.  Twenty-eight to 30 kids in small rooms.  Colorful - 2 to 3 teachers in each room in grades 1, 2, 3.

It's busy here.  Students are peppy, spirited and happy.  Students studying English -  I thought the lessons were too hard, in my opinion.

We all took part and shared experiences.  David played "Hangman" with the kids.  David also directed a game regarding "countable" and "non-countable" nouns.

Had a nice lunch with our new staff.  Had coffee across the street.  David James Heiss finally after some coordination and help, got his much-needed new pants. 

School ended at 4 p.m.....way too late from my point of view.  Got taxi.... ride home took almost 45 minutes (to hotel).  Back in hotel- we rested. 

- Jack

Last Day

Mixed emotions always accompany the final day of any extended experience.  Was it what we expected? Did we need our host’s expectations?  What can we take away from all this and what is best forgotten? In any case, our last day began with a rare brightness from the sun shining through clear skies, an uplifting omen perhaps.

The teams set out for either the Foreign Trade University or NBK school this morning wondering about such things while looking forward to the next leg of their journeys whether they are on to further touring or jut heading home.

Joe, Mary and Sim  began the morning with their usual classroom assignments but prepared for an interesting afternoon judging an English contest for the primary grade students.  Pam was expected to participate as a judge but previous commitments at the University precluded her attendcance.

Following morning classes, we met Mr. Quy and Sophia, the new Chinese language teacher, for coffee across the street from the school, then waited in the teacher’s lounge for the contest to begin. Soon Mr. Quy appeared and led us to the auditorium at the rear of the main building.  There the 300 or so primary school students were assembled.  An audio system amplified noise and music.  Soon, the NBK team plus Sophia were anointed judges and seated on one side of the room while Mr. Qua and his wife, Mr. Quy and others sat at a table across the room from us.  The contest began with students making individual presentations in English.  That was followed by a talent contest involving skits, poetry, recitals, etc.  Your team rose to the occasion assessing the performances with critical but merciful, even generous, eyes and ears.  The winners were chosen and rewarded.  We were thanked and honored for our services and sent on our way with expressions of gratitude which were sincerely reciprocated. We returned to the hotel by taxi anticipating dinner and music with the full team, together one last time.

- Sam

American Thanksgiving in Vietnam

Following breakfast at the hotel, team NBK,  minus Mary, who had caught a cold,  left for school accompanied by Pam.  The exciting forty-minute taxi ride brought us to the gates of NBK where Joe marched off to face the elementary school denizens and Sim took on the high schoolers.  Pam, meanwhile, conducted a fruitless search for Mr. Quy after which she found an exotic café for our lunch.  The exotic aspect involved the removal of shoes to enter, sitting on the floor and waiting for order-out servings of pho which, we discovered, could not be eaten with chopsticks from ground level.  WE were then permitted to go back outdoors and dine at a sidewalk table.  Our – or at least my – curiosity about pho satisfied and having been granted the afternoon off by NBK. We returned to the hotel.

Joe went to see about Mary, while I, assisted by Pam and a young man employed at the hotel, purchased a new cell phone at a nearby store.  The remainder of the afternoon was spent getting the wifi modem in my room fixed, arranging for laundry service and taking a walk around the lake.  I heard later, make that overheard, that during the day, Ingrid had visited ‘Uncle Ho’s’ mausoleum and home and that Ali went to the ‘Women’s Museum’.  The event of the day was the team’s Thanksgiving Dinner provided by the hotel and served up with great pride and a certain amount of pomp by the chef.  The team members to a person were grateful and appreciative of both the food and consideration that went into providing this recognition of a favorite holiday.   From all reports, everyone enjoyed a good night’s sleep.

- Sam

Monday was our first day of class.  Five of us went to FTU and arrived early, before our hosts were available to greet us.  We connected after about 15 minutes and were lead to our assignments.  I was scheduled to have the day off, but wanted to get the lay of the land, so joined Margaret for the first session with about 30 freshmen.  Our teacher indicated the subject was advertising and, after our introductions, we went through an assignment of different advertising methods which was interactive and allowed almost all students to participate.  The teacher was helpful in focusing us and the students and we were able to engage the class for the entire period.  The students were quite attentive. 

We rejoined our  colleagues, Ingrid, Ali & Roger for a nice Vietnamese lunch in the  teacher’s lounge and got tips from Ali & Roger on teaching techniques.  Margaret started the second period with one of those techniques encouraging student questions on our personal photos.  Margaret, Ingrid & I reviewed with the students their short opinion essay assignment, allowing direct feedback to each student.  The exercise revealed smart kids able to express themselves well in written English, with minor grammatical issues.  Their verbal skills were not as strong, but we had a decent conversation on opinion issues which related to their next assignment.  The day was viewed as a successful start by all five of us and we look forward to the next two weeks.  The group convened at 6:15pm feedback session and we went out to dinner after that.

- Bud

Volunteer Team Arrives on Reunification Day

Our final spring team of Global Volunteers will begin their service program on Saturday, April 30th, Reunification Day in Vietnam. This day often serves as a time of celebration and/or reflection for Vietnamese worldwide, as they remember this date in 1975.

We wish our volunteers a wonderful volunteer experience and we know they will make the most of experiencing this historical and cultural moment first-hand.

If you might consider joining Global Volunteers in Vietnam later this year, please don't hesitate to contact us today!

Remaining 2011 Service Program Dates:
September 24 - October 8
November 19 - December 3