Just Photos From First Week of 2008 VTF Training

Yes, it's that hot.

2/3 of the new teams.

Hoan Kiem Lake intersection.

Hit the Ground Running

With the usual slight bump, the plane hit the runway and we're back in Hanoi. Jet lag? What jet lag? Who has time for jet lag?

11 PM Wednesday: We drag the last suitcase into the house, take a look around, unpack a little, hit the showers, then the pillow.

Thursday AM: Unpacking.

Thursday afternoon: Nancy and Sandy go to Elysse; David answers email and reworks the all-country training schedule for the Vietnam Teaching Fellowship (VTF). People have been waiting for the schedule since the weekend.

Thursday, 9:18 PM: Bed.

Friday, 8:30 AM: Meet with the ELI country director to go over the schedule for the VTF training that will begin Saturday.

Friday, 11:15 AM: Lunch with the Camp Vietnam teachers who are at our school this summer.

Friday, 2 PM: Visit the school to observe Camp Vietnam in action.

Friday, 6 PM: Dinner. Food Shop 45!

Saturday, 8 AM: Meeting with other trainers at their hotel.

Saturday, 9:30 AM: Leave for the airport to welcome the 2007-2008 VTF teachers.

Saturday, 2:30 PM: Lead VTF on a walking tour around the hotel so they can get their bearings.

Saturday, 6 PM: Take VTF somewhere nearby for dinner. Anything but KFC!

Sunday, 9 AM: First training session begins. Full days for the next five weeks.

Although our heads are still spinning from being in the USA, we're off to a busy start!

Summer Holiday's Over

This was a very strange, short summer break. Six weeks is a long vacation, but it can seem short when you're never anyplace for more than two weeks, like we were this year.

But, we did get to spend two weeks in Florida with one daughter, two in Virginia with the other and our granddaughter,

and two in New York with family. That's the "glass half full" view. The other side is that we weren't in NY nearly long enough to see many of our friends there.

Now it's time to get back to work and I'm looking forward to it. VTF 2008 is made up of two teams and we're looking forward to meeting them in eight short days when they step off the plane in Hanoi. Our team will be back at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam; the other will be enjoying the cool weather at Dalat University. Their training starts a week from Saturday! Can't wait!

Blog Reading

There are a couple of people from our last VTF team who blog and I have some friends elsewhere who occasionally post to blogs. Problem is, I never remembered to check them regularly.

Then I found Google Reader, which checks their updates and puts them all in one place. Very cool. Now I can stay up to date.

But I also had to remember to check Google Reader regularly to see if they had posted anything new.

Then I found Google Reader Watcher, which is an add-on to my Firefox browser (which I switched to mostly because of the Adblock Plus add-on that blocks banner ads and lets my slow internet work a little more quickly). This little add-on puts a small icon on the lower corner of my browser that tells me whether my Google Reader has any unread postings waiting for me.

Very cool! Now I can stay up to date with everyone. Maybe even ScribeFire will help me keep my postings up to date. We'll see.

You may already know all this, but I've been behind the curve on this blogging stuff.

Games Wanted

We're looking for some word games that we can bring back to use with our students = things like Catch Phrase, Scattergories, Taboo, Boggle, Mad Gab...

I've also got a friend who would like a couple English-language science books so he can up his vocabulary in that area. I think that a couple of used NYS Regents exam review books might work.

If you have a game or book that you don't use anymore that's in good shape, or you'd like to donate a new one, let me know and I'll give you info on where to send it.