Teaching Part 1

So I know I have been putting this off for a while, sorry about that I just wanted to settle into my routine to give you a better picture of what teaching English here is all about.

The first thing to know is that these are not schools so much as they are “English learning centers” basically places to come when you are not n school or at work to learn English. I have had all different age groups in my classes, from about 6 to about 36. Because people come to these places when they have free time our hours are mainly evenings and weekends.

I started off teaching at a school that was not so good. There were a number of reasons for this but George basically said it would be better if I screwed up a bad schools than at a good one. This way I could also be temporarily employed immediately. I literally started teaching 3 days after I got here and could have started the day I arrived.

The school was bad because in addition to being horribly managed, the teachers at this school, besides me, were Romanians pretending to be French Canadians. So these people, who can’t really speak English were teaching English. The result is that the kids and adults are going to have a horrible Romanian accent that no one can understand.

My employment there ended, when I found out that I had never really been employed there and that I was not going to be payed. What happened was this; George agreed, before I came, that I would observe another teacher for free then be paid for the classes I taught alone. However because the Romanian cannot speak English, he thought I would be doing everything for free… um, no.

About this time there was a wedding for one of our little gang about to take place and a number of teachers needed substitutes for the evening. So I subbed two classes at a school called UNESCO. UNESCO used to be owned by the UN and used as a base for the UNESCO organization in Vietnam. However it is now a private school and the owners just kept the name and the UNESCO people either didn’t care or thought it would be too much trouble to sue them over it. At any rate the two classes went well and I was hired as a sub. This was also around Christmas and one of the teachers was on vacation to Thailand and Cambodia until Tet so I became his sub for the time being.

Classes are a lot of fun because, while we use the book, we also try to get them to say things about their lives based on the theme of the chapter, for example if the chapter is about vacations, then we talk about vacations they have had or want to take. We also try and play a game of some variety every class and then I will ask them questions about things in the game.

I also just got put on a corporate class that originally belonged to the guy I am subbing for. Corporate classes are a little more important because a corporation, in this case Petra Vietnam the largest oil company in the country, is paying a lot of money for it’s employees to go there. While most of these classes are businesspeople, the one I am assigned to is full of 18 year olds about to go to the University of Oklahoma to study various sciences related to oil. After completing their studies, which will also be paid for by Petra Vietnam, they must work for that company for 15 years… yeah it sucks but at least they will have a job. So I am preparing them for their transition to the US (none of them have ever been). Last week I taught them the importance of American football and gave them the bad news about their new school’s performance in the national championship. I also taught them the importance of knowing about country music, rodeo and beer pong (they are going to college in Oklahoma after all). I am hoping to trade the teacher who is assigned to this another class so I can continue to help them get ready for college life.

I really like UNESCO; it is close, I am friends with the other teachers, the students don’t expect me to know Vietnamese, they pay well ($18 an hour, it was only $8 at the school that didn’t pay me) and the Director of Studies, who is one of our gang, thinks I am awesome so I will probably get my own classes after Tet.

Look forward to more posts about my teaching adventures!

1st pictures

Christmas part 2 OR Vietnam VO DICH!

When I was 15 and 16 one of my favorite movies was “The Mummy.” It wasn’t one of my favorites because of the quality of the film making or acting, so much as it fueled my sense of adventure. It made me dream of getting into loads of trouble in third world countries and then having to get myself out using my wits. Well the last week and a half has quenched some of that thirst for adventure. First there was a falling out between me, George and the proprietor of the first school I taught at, due to his unwillingness to pay me. Then I got hired at a new school that either has, or had something to do with the UN. Then there was the Christmas dinner I had with 2 Aussies, a Brit, a creepy American and a whole lot of Vietnamese. Then there was Christmas eve during which I had to move out of my hotel for one night and into a different hotel that had a balcony with it’s own Buddhist shrine. Also on Christmas eve Vietnam beat Thailand in football (soccer) for the first time since 1998 and Hanoi went crazy. Then there was Christmas and our adventure to 3 Buddhist temples. Then there was last night.

Last night Vietnam tied Thailand which secured them the football championship of Southeast Asia which I believe they had not won since before the Vietnam war.

It is this event that I want to concentrate this post on…. I mean I could go on and on about how cultured I got looking at Buddhist stuff but that is the type of post you will get from every “Tie Ballow” or dirty backpacker (their version of the fudgie) that comes through Vietnam, and I am a pirate and I want this blog to be different so my entry is going to be about football.

Now I don’t really care about football or “soccer.” Growing up in America it was never on TV, my Dad didn’t really like it, and Michigan did not have a team to get excited about. You don’t see the Big House getting filled for soccer do you? Anyway even though I don’t care about soccer I can appreciate the situation. So after they won on Christmas Eve it was made clear to us that there would be another game to decide the championship of southeast Asia on Sunday, and if Vietnam tied or won, they won the title.

George and I decided to get prepared for the festivities, and on Sunday afternoon we decked out our bikes in big Vietnamese flags (they were being sold on the street for under two dollars, with bamboo pole), George even got a real police siren put on his bike. These people are as loyal to if not loyaler (if that is even a word) to their national team then alumni are to U of M. Plus there are about 100 times as many fans. Now, for all of you Michigan fans, think about what Ann Arbor would be like if we beat Ohio State to win our first national championship in 50 years AND beat them for the first time in 10 years. OK got that scene in your head? Now times that by 100.

The craziest Michigan game I have ever been to was State in 2004, which was also Halloween weekend. I have never seen Ann Arbor so out of control. Hanoi, in this one night, made Ann Arbor that weekend look like Elk Rapids at 3:00am on a Tuesday in the winter. That might actually be an understatement.

Hanoi has 8 million people, roughly the same as Manhattan, and last night at least two thirds of them were out in the streets waving the flag and screaming VIETNAM VO DICH! Which means “Vietnam Kicks Ass!”

George and I spent the game driving around with our flags. I, being the fan that I am, commented that the lack of screams was a bad sign, this was augmented by a passing motorbike that informed us that Vietnam was losing 1-0. George however, was having a blast. I have never seen him so excited, even when we were little kids, and he doesn’t even care about sports. I think part of his excitement came from the attention we were getting… I mean we were obviously Americans (I had my Michigan hat on) and we were decked out with the communist flag of Vietnam. It was quite the sight.

At dinner we ate at this neat little street cafe with a very cute waitress we have named “Me Sow Baw Girl” after my favorite dish at the restaurant. There were these little street urchin kids hanging around the cafe that I made continuously check the score… Unfortunately they always arrived with bad news.

We started driving again and right as we approached the main square of the town, with a KFC and numerous bars, a cheer went up. Vietnam had scored and tied the game. George immediately started on with his siren, and I with my horn “HONK HONK, HONKHONKHONK”, and we continued to drive through Hanoi, mainly around Hoen Kiem lake.

Soon after this the game ended, and holy crap did things get crazy fast… we were hit with a literal wall of traffic… red traffic. The road we were on was about the width of US-31 or South Airport in TC or Washtenaw in Ann Arbor. Now picture that road completely packed, not with cars, but motorbikes that are maybe 1/5 the size of a car. And on EVERY SINGLE motorbike there is a red Vietnamese flag.

My first thought was “This was St Petersburg in 1917”. Seriously the scene was a socialist’s dream come true; people of all classes and colors dancing and waving red flags. The best part though is that the main square has a KFC. So here are all these communist flags waving in front of what is huge symbol of capitalism. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen… being the political nerd I am.

Anyway some highlights of the aftermath include, Someone falling off their motorbike right in front of me, probably due to intoxication (I was fine), someone lighting off fireworks IN THE STREET right in front of me. Both George and I getting our picture taken by numerous Vietnamese who thought it was awesome two Americans were joining in. Calling Dad in the middle of the craziness like I used to do a Michigan games in the big house. Me taking George’s 10 year old street urchin friend around on my motorbike while he waved a flag and screamed “Vietnam Vo Dich” again “Vietnam kicks ass” And me buying a big flag for “Me Sow Baw Girl” (we’ll see where that goes) .

But it wasn’t all good news; one of our friend’s got her purse stolen (I am convinced that the only reason I was not robbed was because I came as such a surprise), and there were numerous accidents. One of my students told me that she saw a very serious high speed accident between motorbikes. There were also 95 deaths in Hanoi last night… though I wouldn’t feel too sorry for them, they were mainly drunks going too fast on their motorbikes.

Seriously, crazy few days.

The Smell… and the bathroom

A long time ago my Grandpa was telling me about the time he spent in India and Burma during the second world war. Suddenly he said “you never want to go over there.” I at first thought he meant “to war” but then he continued “the smell is so bad I can’t even describe it.” Several years later I went to Europe and visited Italy and France and kind of got an idea of what he was talking about. I often bring up the story of how a tour guide was showing us a “fashionable shopping district” of Rome and it smelled like a porta-john at the cherry festival.

All that being said the smell here is not that bad at all. Despite the fact that their sewer system is kinda like Europe’s in the dark ages they have somehow found a way to keep things smelling alright. Hanoi, with the exceptions of Paris and Florence, actually smells better than most towns I visited in Italy and France.

Granted the toilets aren’t much better, then again this did used to be a French colony so I guess we can blame those cheese eating surrender monkeys for that. I will post pictures soon but anyone who has spent time in Europe knows what I am talking about when I say “squatter” which is the kind of toilet the beer corner has. Another restaurant has what can best be described as a closet with water on the floor. George claims this is the worst toilet in Vietnam. My bathroom looks pretty normal except that the shower doesn’t have a curtain.

The hotel actually smells quite pleasant, when my toilet isn’t having problems, as the owners keep candles and incense lit in the Buddhist shrine on the top floor. The bathrooms in the schools I have been teaching in are not that different from what we are used to back home. In fact I would rather use the bathrooms there than the one in Angell Hall, some of you know why that is.

So like I said, the smell; not so bad at all.

Christmas Part 1

Christmas in Vietnam is kinda like St Patrick’s day in the US no one really knows what it is about but it is an excuse to celebrate. As I mentioned in my communist post, there are Christmas decorations up but the meaning seems to have been lost in translation because the communist hammer and sickle seems to be a regular part of the decorations. What is especially funny is the Christmas techno music that is played in stores and clubs. Young Vietnamese are especially fond of techno music and some eastern European band thought it would be cool to do a techno remix of “Silent Night” and since most people here don’t know enough English to know what is being said, they dance to it… seriously.

While there are some Catholics here, left over from French Colonial days, most people are Buddhist or Don’t have a religion, So almost no one is celebrating in a religious sense.

Christmas is also a little like Valentines day in the US in that you are expected to get your loved one something, but that is it. Because I hate Valentines day in America I especially hate Christmas here. It is also weird because for the first time ever I will be able to comfortably wear shorts outside on Christmas. Maybe this is what it is like to grow up in California or Arizona, it just seems like all this crap is out of place. I honestly have trouble realizing that half a world away, back in Traverse City, the scenery looks like an old timey Christmas card.

Most of the expats here have no interest in the holiday other than as an excuse to get drunk. Today when we arrived at beer corner, there was some Irish dude with a Santa hat on and George refused to sit by him. Most schools give the day off but it is more for the teachers than anything else. I think that there is wedding, or fake wedding or something planned for Christmas that I will be attending. I am also going to try and get in contact with everyone back home as you all will have time off. So Merry Christmas I suppose.

PS My internet is still very shaky so pics will have to wait for now.

Eating and Drinking

Before I left one of my friends from U of M who has done much traveling around the world advised me to bring a pound of diarrhea medicine to Vietnam. George also told me I would probably have a problem with the transition. But surprisingly I have not had any problems yet. In the two months before I left America, I ate fast food probably 80% of the time. Now that stuff gave me problems, but not the Vietnamese street cuisine. Most of my meals cost a little more than a dollar for a serving that in the US would be $6 if you were lucky. They serve a lot of pork here and actually prepare it better than in America. Most dishes also include a vegetable and rice or noodles. Fruit is widely available, usually from young men and women who carry around the fruit in traditional Vietnamese baskets. There are also donut and pastry sellers who sell there goods for about $0.10. One thing I was worried about before I came were heads. I had heard horror stories about heads being on everything, however the only time I experienced that was the first night I was here at a higher end restaurant with shrimp.

The only way to describe drinks here is very cheap and very good. Well except for no name Bia Hoi or fresh beer, which in addition to going bad after only 6 hours of opening the keg, is about the same in strength and taste, as natty light. The good news is that it cost less than a quarter.

During the day Coffee and tea are the drinks of choice. You can get both hot or cold and the traditional Vietnamese versions of both are very strong especially when compared to their American counterparts. The coffee is very thick and is served with an equally thick milk. The tea is a green tea but with a stronger taste and more caffeine than American green tea. Again these are about a quarter a piece.

There are numerous pops and energy drinks here… for some reason the Vietnamese are very fond of Orange soda and almost every restaurant and bar serves it, Red Bull is also everywhere but the cans look different. There is also this strawberry pop called sting that I actually like, which is surprising because I usually hate artificial strawberry. Speaking of strawberries, they are just coming into season here. Though the ones I have had do not compare with Elk Rapids strawberries, the latter winning out.

I am going to get more adventurous soon and try dog and mountain goat. Some of my students could not believe that we do not eat dog in the states. Look for a post about that experience soon.

Driving part 1

So this should be my first real interesting post. Traffic here is insane… I am planing a post on the other blog comparing it to anarchy. Anyway I will try and paint a picture of what it is like for you…

EVERYONE rides motorbikes, primarily what we would refer to as scooters, little moped looking things. George and a few others have motorcycles, though much smaller than what we are used to in the states. There are a few cars but because import taxes are so high and the roads so narrow few people have them.

The second day here George rented me a scooter and had someone else ride it out to a remote area for me to practice. For the record I have never ridden a motorbike of any kind, thanks a lot Dad and Charlie, so no one knew how I would do. But as it turns out I am actually pretty good at it!

So George soon had me going on busier and busier roads , which brings me to my next point, traffic laws and how they don’t exist. Basically there are no laws, once you get over that things are pretty easy to figure out, but for some people that is a hard thing to accept. Since I usually ignore all of the laws in America it was not very hard for me to accept.

For example there are no stop signs basically you just look and see if people are coming if not you go if there are you lay on your horn and go anyway. They don’t want to get into an accident so they will find a way to go around you. you don’t so you stop if it is necessary. If you want to change lanes you slowly move over while laying on your horn….  actually laying on your horn is what you do pretty much all the time. There are one way streets here but you can go the wrong way down them if you need to and are on a motorbike. In fact during rush hour it is sometimes easier.

Driving in the Detroit and Chicago area has made me a very aggressive driver and it is absolutely necessary here. But honestly there are crazier people in America than there are here, in fact I have yet to see a major accident, even where there are stop lights. I have actually heard the lights have caused more accidents than they have stopped simply because people have gotten used to living without them.

Hopefully this doesn’t screw me up too much when I get back to the states!

On that note I have only fallen once and it was entirely my fault. for those of you who know about motorbikes, I locked up the front break when I was accelerating to get going and I just sort of skidded down. I just got some scrapes and bruises and rode the bike home, which was fine.

I am sure this is just the beginning of my driving adventures so stay tuned!

Buying stuff

Buying stuff here is great because everything is so cheap… this will be covered much more in detail in the other blog. But seriously, my hotel room is $10 a day and in a very cool and safe area of town. My meals usually average a $1.50 and my bar tab has never been more than $0.75. Even changing money is fun because you do so on the Black Market.

One of my favorite things here is the DVD store. This is because everything in the store is pirated. For example the new James Bond movie is already out on DVD and only cost $1. It is a perfectly pirated copy from the awards people.  There is no reason to go to the theater because everything comes out on DVD two weeks before it comes to the theaters.

Everyday we hang out at an open air bar/cafe that is one of four that make up “Beer Corner” the bill is rarely more than a dollar. They sell Bia Hoi, basically freshly made no name beer for less than a quarter. They also sell coffee and tea for the same price.

The trip over

My trip here was quite uneventful, despite being over 30 hours beginning to end. I went from Grand Rapids to Detroit to San Francisco to Taiwan, a 14 hour flight that was actually much more enjoyable than the Detroit to San Francisco one. then from Taiwan to Hanoi.

I was afraid that two things would happen when I arrived in Hanoi 1. that i would be hassled at customs, and 2. that my luggage would not be there. neither of these things happened. In fact I have had more problems entering the British Virgin Islands then I had in Hanoi.

George was waiting for me when I arrived and sent my luggage to the hotel by taxi and drove me on his motorcycle. This was to get me used to going places by bike as that will be my primary form of transportation. The luggage arrived just fine and my Vietnam adventure had begun.

Introduction

After starting my first blog I realized that many of my family and friends have no interest in politics and/or economics so I decided to start this “Adventure Blog” for those individuals. I will post links to the other blog on here that I think are of interest to everyone. As I am sure you all know by now I am in Vietnam, visiting my friend George and teaching English. I will try and chronicle as many of my stories as possible here. Since I cannot update every day I will talk about things in themes, My teaching, Social Life, driving etc. This will also be the blog where I post my pictures.

my other blog can be found here