Lazy Sunday...

We have been beyond lazy today. It is hot, ridiculously hot, possibly hotter than it was yesterday, and I have not been too eager to head outside.

Last night we went out with Ms. Yen and Mr. Quy. It wasn't quite what we expected, but it ended up being a good time. Ms. Yen is a lot of fun, and I really like spending time with her. I think she had a good time with us. Oh, we met a Ghanaian soccer player last night, too. He plays for the team here in Vinh City, and he has a bit of a crush on me, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. Mr. Quy was teasing me about that this morning.... I guess this is my brush with celebrity while I'm here in Vietnam. The guy is pretty famous here in Vinh.

Yesterday we went shoe shopping and to the market nearby. We are usually teaching in the evenings and were quite surprised to see that the city comes alive at around 5:30. There were people walking in the square, the markets are bustling, and everyone is out. I bought a pommelo at the market, and it's sitting on my desk, waiting for me to eat it. The best thing is that it was a quarter of the price that I pay for it back home. :) Don't worry, Maggie, I'll think of you as I eat it. Andrea and I also bought a soccer ball so we can take the boys to the park and play (or set up a game in the school lobby). So far, Thanh's nephew has had a ball with it in the hotel lobby. He's quite a handful, and a real cutie. He has been wandering in and out of our rooms looking for things to play with, and so far, he likes the ball most.

We're getting to be regulars on the motorbike front, and it's actually not as nervewracking when you're on the bike as when you're walking and watching them dodge in and out of traffic. They're quite practical here, I think. The wide sidewalks are a perfect parking lot for bikes, and they stir up a nice breeze in the humid Vietnamese summers. I would love to get one back home and use my car only in the winter or on rainy days. How sweet would I look on a Vespa? ;) Not to mention the gas I'd be saving.... How much IS gas these days, anyway?

Well, we've got a karaoke appointment at five, and it's just about time, so I'll be off. I'll have to share my stories of Ho Chi Minh's homeland tomorrow. I'm sure you're all dying to know. ;)

Soccer is the universal language

Well, it's the end of our first week at ASEM School. We've made it through unscathed, though we did meet with some rough patches. I was going to blog yesterday, but I got distracted by an impromptu game of soccer.

But I guess I should start at the beginning. Yesterday morning, Eleisa and I went with one of the teachers to do aerobics. We were out of the house by five, and put in a little over an hour at the gym. We rolled up to the gym in workout gear: bermudas, t-shirt, tank, sports bra, sneakers and find ourselves in a roomfull of skinny little Vietnamese women in bathing suits. A few women were in leotards a la Jane Fonda circa 1986. They were doing step aerobics on little wooden steps and then we moved into some regular aerobics. Then Nhuong took us through the routine one more time so that we could learn the moves. It was fun and I worked up a good sweat. I do miss my usual workouts, so I hope to go more regularly. Oh! I took a xe om to the gym - a motorbike taxi, and we rode three to a bike on the way back with Nhuong's aunt. She told us we could get workout clothes like hers at the market: bikini top and a little swim skirt. We told her we'd keep it in mind. ;)

After that, we had breakfast at the hotel, all four of us together: Eleisa, Andrea, Thanh, and me, and then we came to the school to check our email, minus Thanh.

The three little boys who live here at the school were here hanging on us and being generally adorable, so we invented a game of soccer with a bottle cap. They ran off and searched out a small ball, and we turned into a full scale game in the school lobby (it was nap time, so we were the only ones here). We kicked the ball around until it broke in half, and then we kicked the half-ball around for a while until the oldest boy, San, came back triumphantly with a Christmas ornament he'd found somewhere. We tucked the ornament into the broken ball and played teams: Andrea and San vs. his two younger brothers and me. They won by one goal. It was a lot of fun, and I got the feeling that those boys hadn't had so much fun in a long time. They don't generally have a lot to time to act like kids because they are always fetching things and generally helping out around the school. But my gosh, they are beautiful kids, and they have so captured our hearts. We brought them jelly candies yesterday and a couple bags of nuoc mia to drink. They are so adorable.

We each taught two classes last night. I have a listening and conversation class which is a ton of fun. There are only five students, and one of them is Korean, so they are forced to speak in English. They are in level one, but they really want to learn, so teaching them is a pleasure. We did a lot of speaking yesterday which was good for all of us. There is one girl in the class. Her name is Anh, and she's adorable. She's also twenty-five, so we've been able to talk a bit. I hope we can hang out some time after class. I really do enjoy spending time with the whole group.

My other class was a General English class of twenty students, 11 guys, 9 girls, most between the ages of 13 and 15. Fifteen year old boys are fifteen year old boys everywhere. LOL... I had to give my talk about hitting: "You can. Hit (mime punching). Outside (point to door). In here (point to floor). No more (signal no with hands). Yes?" "Yes." There was no more hitting after that.

After class, my teammates and I went for karaoke. One blissful session of all-English karaoke where we made fools of ourselves and laughed until midnight. We got ripped off, but it was still a good time. Tonight we're going out with Ms. Yen and tomorrow, we're visiting Ho Chi Minh's homeland. I'm excited about both events.

Oh, and this morning, we were reading Psalm 62:1-2 about waiting in silence for God. How appropriate, I think, for this. He's been faithful when I've been worried about teaching certain classes, about keeping me safe on a motorbike, about giving us time on plastic stools with our students. And I am glad for that. While we are here, we are waiting silently for Him. This is a beautiful country, a place unlike any I've ever visited. Muggy, hot, dusty, and slightly schizophrenic. But there is beauty. So much beauty in people's smiles, in their resilience, in the broken sidewalks and plastic tables laden with rice and beef and pho'.... I miss home food: beans and cheese and bread, but I'm glad to experience all this love and loveliness. I can't wait to show pictures and share more stories.

Oh! Finally, the team from Hanoi is coming next weekend. They'll be teaching here at ASEM with us, and staying at the hotel with us. So keep that in mind, because it might be a rough transition for them.

Successful communication and face pats.

We've had a couple of laid back days here in Vinh. Yesterday, after my Vietnamese lesson (Toi ten la Frances. Toi hai lam tuoi...), I checked my email briefly and then I walked back to the hotel by myself.
The road to the school is lined with Bia Hoi shops (beer shops) and pool halls, which means lots of stares as we walk. Yesterday, however, I was walking and one of the women who works at one of the pool halls waved me over, then dragged me into a chair and started in with a barrage of Vietnamese. So I answered that I didn't understand (in Vietnamese no less!) and she laughed and continued talking. One of her friends came over and there was a whole lot of patting of my face, and me answering their questions with "I don't understand". I finally told them my name, and they laughed and patted my face somemore, while I sat bewildered between the two little Vietnamese women. Finally I said goodbye and walked off to the hotel.
Thanh made lunch for us yesterday - good stuff. So we ate well and then cleaned up, doing dishes while squatting on two bricks by the faucet on the patio. Let me tell you, doing dishes sucks, but it especially sucks when you don't have a sink. After that, Eleisa and I went off to the supermarket. We went downstairs and asked the women who work at the hotel to call us a taxi. This took a lot of English, responses in Vietnamese, and then eventually writing down "Taxi. Maximark." on a sheet of paper. That they understood. In a matter of minutes, there was a taxi out there and Tum told him where to take us. We did our shopping (bread, cheese, noodles, and spaghetti sauce - we're a li'l homesick), and then summoned another cab. We showed the driver the keys to our hotel rooms and he understood that we wanted to go there.
Successful communication is always a cause for celebration here.
After the groceries were put away, Eleisa and I went to buy shoes. The guy at the shoestore was a super cutie, but on the short side. He found shoes in my size - the man is a genius, he just looked at my feet and came out with size 36, which is exactly right. I bought a pair of cute black sandals which I needed because my black flip flops fell apart after the torrential rain in Hanoi the night we took the train to Vinh. Anyway, the shoes cost me 120,000 dong - don't be put off by all those zeros, that's about $10. I was really proud of myself because I was able to understand the guy when he said my size. (I have so mastered my Vietnamese numbers.)
We had two team teaching sessions last night, from 5:45 to 9:30 pm, which is tiring, but we also had three fifteen minute breaks in between all that. Oh, and I got my first motorbike ride on the back of Tum's motorbike (she works at the hotel). Afterwards, we were wiped, so we sat out at the nuoc mia stand out front and enjoyed some sugar cane juice while we chatted with the lady who owns the shop and her son.
I can't even tell you how happy it makes me to be able to sit with people and make conversation when we can only speak bits of eachother's languages. There's an art to that, a beauty in communication, in the repetition, the hand signals, the laughter as we make mistakes.... Language is a powerful thing.
Today we went to Vinh market and bought fabric for some ao dai (ow zai - zai rhymes with "guy"). I got this great green fabric with flowers down the front. We then went to the tailor so that we could be measured, and in two weeks I will have some traditional Vietnamese clothing. Ha, ha. :) The crazy thing is that it will only cost $20 to have it custom made for me. That is just unreal.

I've made friends with the little boy whose grandfather is in charge of building maintenence. He's fifteen but looks like he's about eleven. He saw me crying at the computer one day when I was crazy homesick, and since then, he's been all smiles with me. It breaks my heart because the other kids don't really talk to him, because he's poorer. He doesn't speak much English, but I'm seriously in love with this kid. He takes care of a couple of younger boys and sometimes sneaks into the office and plays ping pong online. Yesterday he gave me a piece of dried sweet potato because I asked him what he was eating.

Oh! And today we had lunch with Andrea's student, Thuy and Tum and her ex. It was fun, all of us trying out our new languages, Thanh doing a lot of interpreting. And the food was delicious, so that was a plus.

Anyway, I'm going to be teaching soon, so I'm off.

The importance of taxis, teaching, and fishheads

Yesterday we thought it'd be a great idea to go clothes shopping at about 1:00pm. We walked across Vinh City, got a little lost, and were drenched in sweat - when I say drenched I am NOT exagerating - by the time we got to Intimex. Thank God that Intimex has AC! We walked in thinking we'd made it to the promised land and did some shopping as we dried off. I realized for the umpteenth time that I am NOT built like a Vietnamese woman. The shirts fit funny, the pants came up too high on my waist, in short, I will rely on custom made clothing while I am here. My own clothes are too big on me after only two weeks. It's all that sweating and walking and the healthy Vietnamese food. I did come away with a silk coin purse for 6000 Dong - $1=16100 Dong, you do the math. It's crazy cheap. We also found a place where we can get ao dai made (traditional Vietnamese clothing), so we're excited about that.

I observed a class that I will soon be teaching. They are in their early to mid twenties, like me, and it's a small listening and conversation class. One of the students is from Korea, and he's here teaching Tae Kwan Do, but that language barrier forces the students to speak to each other in English because it's their only common language. It was fun because at break, the only girl in the class turned to me and immediately started peppering me with questions: "How old are you? Where are you from? What do you think of Vietnam? Do you speak Vietnamese?" She taught me a little Vietnamese, including how to tell the xe om driver that I want to go to the supermarket. Things that would've been good to know earlier... LOL

The guy from Korea asked me where I was born (because I'm not so "all-American"), so I explained, though I'm not sure if he understood. I will have to bring a map to class next time.

After class, we went to dinner with one of Andrea's students. She is about fourteen years old and adorable. We ate at a little restaurant with low steel tables and blue plastic chairs. There was entirely too much seafood on the table, and I am seefooded out. Especially because the fish I picked up from the cummunal dish had its little mouth open and was totally staring at me. I was not in the mood for fishheads. All I really wanted was a bowlful of rice and rau muong (water spinach). After dinner, Thuy took us to her house, where we met her cousins, her baby brother, her mom, and her grandmother. Her mom is a shopkeeper, so I think I'll be frequenting her shop instead of going all the way out to the supermarket for things like tissues and pens. (The shop is just down the street from our place.) Thuy gave us a tour of her room, and showed us her cd collection (Fergie, Avril Lavigne, Justin Timberlake....) and her photo album. She told us all about Ho Chi Minh's family and showed us her English homework, which she said was quite boring.

After we left her house, we stopped at an icecream shop and got Kem (Kem is ice cream, and that's an important Vietnamese word to learn). After that we headed home where Eleisa saved our lives by making the AC work.

Today we had our first Vietnamese lesson. We went over the alphabet and dipthongs - there are entirely too many to keep track of - and about 8 different ways to say "you". And I thought Spanish was complicated with tú, vos, usted, vosotros, and ustedes! I will never complain about that again! LOL

Alright, that's it for now. I'll be back tomorrow...

Vinh, the beach, and how I learned to like seafood

Well, we made it to Vinh. The train ride took about nine hours. I'm sure most of you have heard about my Nicaraguan ferry ride - you know, the one across Lake Nicaragua, when there were only three women on board and we woke up to a circle of men peering at us curiously, when it was palpably hot and humid... Yeah, multiply that by about fifty, throw in a lot of beer, a heavy dose of sweat and general BO and an Asian squatty potty sans TP, and you've got a good approximation of what the train ride was like. But you know, everything is an experience. I remember testing out my tentative Vietnamese asking where the vay sinh (restroom), and then opening that door, considering holding it for another five hours, and then taking a deep breath and going for it. If I wanted this to be home, I would've stayed home, right?

Yesterday we spent the day at Cua Lo beach - about twenty kilometers from Vinh. Lovely warm water - though a bit cloudy, gentle waves, nice breeze, fine sand... What can I say? I love the beach. I am however, the darkest girl in Vietnam. LOL Everyone is trying to cover up and stay nice and white, while I am loving the sweet golden tan I'm picking up. They all think I'm Indian, as in from India, because of my eyes and my "bright brown skin", which is fine because I think Indian women are knockouts. But let's just say that I am an anomaly here in Vietnam.

Anyway, the food is amazing here. I've had a few things I'm not too fond of, eggplant seeds and eel, but other than that, I've been eating it all. Calamari, shrimp which I get to dissect myself (did you know that shrimp have heads?), crab, clams, frog legs (taste just like chicken wings and I am not kidding)... I actually really like the calamari, clams, and frog legs, who knew? They do seafood RIGHT here. Yesterday at the beach, I sat in front of a whole plate of seafood and it did NOT smell like fish. Talk about fresh. And delicious.

Ah, and we also went to Karaoke. The famous Asian karaoke craze... It's quite different. You get a room for you and your friends, a big screen tv, food and drinks, and a couple of microphones. Before long, you are doing your version of Aretha Franklin's "Respect" with the other Americans and realizing that you don't actually know the words. There was also a whole lot of singing in Vietnamese, while I tried to read along and connect sounds with letters.

Vietnamese lessons begin on Wednesday and God knows I need them. :)

Eleisa and I walked a couple miles to the local grocery store yesterday during the siesta - now we know why people stay in. We were able to stop at a post office and ask for directions. I also bought mangosteen from a street vendor (seriously, best fruit ever). A mangosteen looks like an eggplant met a persimmon but it tastes like... I don't know, heaven, perhaps? Oh, and my new favorite drink (wonderfully nutritious, no doubt) is sugar cane juice. They basically press the sugar cane and mix it with lemon and I don't know what else. It's the perfect pick me up after afternoon classes.

We finish observations tomorrow, and then the team teaching begins. I did a little teaching today with a starter level class. We talked about the seasons and the weather before their regular teacher took over for the listening activities. Lots of fun. Cute kids. :)

Anyway, that's all for now.

Frances Joy is in Ha Noi

(I love that that rhymes)

I'm currently in Vietnam for five weeks, teaching English with Teach Overseas. We just got in yesterday, and here's the copy of the email I sent out. I will hopefully be posting some pictures later...

Xin Chau!

Well, we're in Vietnam. We're here in Hanoi, just got in yesterday, and luckily, no real sign of jetlag. So far, it's been amazing. We've had some wonderful food: pumpkin, ginger chicken, beef, rice, water spinach (my new favorite)... I'm one happy girl here. We stayed at a hotel last night here in Hanoi, and late tonight, we are going to take a train down to Vinh (pronounced Ving here in the North). We've been hanging out with Sandy Harrison, who's been here in Vietnam for seven years working with ELIC. She's been a great resource for us to get oriented. We went to the old quarter of Hanoi last night and crossed the street several times. Now let me back up and explain Hanoi traffic: it is a fluid mess of motorcycles, mopeds, cars, buses, bikes, and trucks. Traffic flows in all directions, and left hand turns make your heart leap into your throat. Everyone leans on the horn to let you know that they're coming through, and you're just expected to flow around them. It is seriously the most intimidating thing in the world. To cross the street, you're just supposed to make eye contact with the drivers and walk slowly across the street while the motorbikes flow around you. They kept whizzing behind me, but it was this moment of exuberant victory when I crossed that first street by myself, because it was my biggest fear. Today, we crossed streets left and right, and all was well. We tried to go Ho Chi MInh's Mausoleum today, but it was closed when we got there, so I'll have to come back to Hanoi for that. We also missed the museum, it was closing just in time for the siesta when we got there. However, we did get some more good food, and bought fresh coconut and sugar cane juice the former tasted like Puerto RIco, and the latter was absolutely delicious, this rush of cool sweetness in a plastic bag... The fruit here is amazing. We've only been here a day and a half and already I've had dragonfruit - pink and spiky outside, white with black seeds inside - it tastes kind of like kiwi, only sweeter, and really refreshing in the Vietnamese heat. I've also had lychee and rambutan (like lychee only spiky outside), and mangosteen - the most delicious thing ever... Last night I bought a donut from a street vendor; she was so sweet and it only cost me about 2000 dong, which is roughly fifteen cents. It was filled with a sweet bean paste, which sounds gross, but is actually delicious.

When people see us on the streets, they say Hello, then laugh and run away, which is really cute. I guess we do the same with our limited Vietnamese - people are really excited to here us using their language. It feels good so far. Anyway, we'll be getting to Vinh and meeting our school administrators today and tomorrow. I'm excited about that, but also nervous. It's an eight hour train ride down there, so you guys can keep that in mind. We hope that all goes well when we meet our administrators and see the school. I don't know much about the teaching situation yet, so keep that in mind also. I'm excited for what's coming, but also nervous.

Well, I guess that's it for now.

Mmm... Obama

So besides the fact that I have a serious crush on Barack Obama (the sexiness, people!), this speech is pretty brilliant.
Who else can't wait for 2008?!