Fun Indeed

We get up and eat. Wait in lobby for mini-bus to the Oriental Sails boat in Halong Bay. Left about 8:15 a.m. While waiting, tried to use the PC in the lobby.  On the bus ride, we saw rice growing, water buffalo, freeways, lakes, village and more villages.

Had a quick rest stop at tourist "trap" -  W.C. place, gift shop and coffee/tea place.  Cool and cloudy.  Reached Halong Bay City boat ramp.  Great group on bus - three Asian Aussies, a Dutch couple, us, and a couple from Hong Kong and Australia.  One guy from Australia was working for an NGO in Thailand for seven-plus years.

We boarded a small junk that held 8 to 10 people.  Had a great lunch - sailed slowly.  Went to the karst caves - got on a tender and went to shore. Many junks and people and sampans.  Had a hike/walk up many stairs into the caverns or caves.  Went through about three chambers.  It's a UNESCO park. Overall a great place to visit, see and experience. 

Back to the junk - sailed slowly - moored.  Ate dinner at 7 p.m.  Great, wonderful, tasty meal  About 7 to 9 courses.  Wonderful presentation.  Carved fruit-vegetable flower designs in a vase to eat.  Later a wonderful lighted carved  pineapple.  Wonderful meal. After meal, we the group did karaoke.  Very spirited.  Very peppy.  Fun.  Just plain funny!  About 11 p.m., the end of the day for the majority.

PS:  We all got to paddle in a canoe or kayak.  Special experience.  Unique and wet  but fun indeed!

- Jack

"You cannot change the way people think. But your actions will change the way people think about you."

Breakfast at the top of the hotel - 8th floor.  Crazy dash drive to school. It took 45 minutes. Once at school we got started in the classroom.  Students are active, sweet, eager to learn, cute and peppy.  We all did various parts of the lesson - some oral, some drill, some modeling.  Students did worksheets on body parts and matching.  We did some correcting.  10 is the perfect score.  Good use of education is the TV YouTube concepts via song and pictures and diagrams. ..."under, about, next to... colors, hair, lips, ears...etc"

English teachers rotate into classes to teach English.  Classrooms are small and tight.  No rugs for students to sit on.  About 11:15, we had lunch across the courtyard in the first-floor eating area.  It was cooler today.

Lunch was typical - rice, veggies, etc.  We had free time. Several went across the street to walk and have coffee - Vietnamese coffee - small cup, drip.  Several checked emails upstairs next to the teacher room. 

About 3:15 we all went to the large, noisy, basic assembly hall for the English-speaking contest and assembly.  Small plastic chairs were set up. After some fixing and fussing and logistics, the program started.  Had a very loud PA system.  The H.S. principal  talked and several others.  Two students did the emceeing.  Then the contest started.  Ten students, grades 7- 12, spoke.  Topic was England or the United Kingdom.  We had a scoring sheet. Students used  PowerPoint.  Group was noisy in the hall. After each student speaker, the judges judged and turned in rating sheets.  Some students sang songs between some of the speakers.  After the contest was over, the results were added.  Finally all students came to the stage and we all presented the prizes - runner-ups, 1, 2 & 3rd.  About 4 p.m. the program ended. 

About 7 p.m. we walked several blocks to Tamarind Cafe.  Excellent place.  Veggie international food.  Real international group of college students and Hong Kong high-school international students nearby.  After dinner, all GVs went back to the hotel to rest, prepare, ponder, relax and sleep.  Amen!

-  Jack

"A stitch in time saves a dime."

Weather cools a bit as we greet this new day. It's the usual crazy, insane commute to NBK - totally indescribable mayhem of cars, motor scooters, bikes, plus all the sidewalk merchant distractions.  We are assigned to Miss Vananh's classes today - talking about body parts, numbers (1-10) and the concepts of "in," "under" and "over" etc.  Plus the children created cards to celebrate International Women's Day which is today.  I was treated like a queen receiving roses from several classes.

After lunch we headed to the Vietnamese Museum of Ethnology - with Thu, our friendly NBK colleague.  It is a fascinating place - wonderful artifacts representing the talents and lifestyles of Vietnamese minority people - of which there are 90 groups!  I especially enjoyed walking through the very interesting "homes" and community buildings of various peoples on the museum grounds - bamboo floors, towering ceilings!

Also there was an amazing "long" junk boat - more than 100 feet long.  It was used in several junk races, then retired to the museum.  After enjoying coffee in the museum cafe with Robin from the U.K. - pleasant fellow - we headed back to school.

A fancy teacher's program and Women's Day celebration followed.  We were introduced to the teachers formally. I gave a few remarks and so did David. Great fun!  A huge potluck ensued with interesting dishes.  Then back to the hotel.  Later in the evening, Jack, Bob & I stopped at the Pub next door to the hotel for conversation and pizza!  Fun!  Goodnight!            

- Barb       

"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