New Relationships & New Schedules

Tonight I met with a young man and his friend who want me to help them with their English. The guy's dad is the guard who works near our house. A while back he asked if I'd be willing to tutor them and we were finally able to meet tonight. The plan is to begin this weekend and trade one hour of English for one hour of Vietnamese. Maybe this is the start of some new friendships.

Until this afternoon, my boss at the Diplomatic Academy thought I was still in the US. I've been doing some work for the department via email over the summer so it's not that I've been hiding out these last ten days - the subject just never came up. But the new textbook for the juniors needs a few finishing touches before it goes to the printer, so tomorrow I'll head over to the campus to see if I can help with that. The fall teaching schedules are ready too.

It's been nice to be back early enough this year to get some things in place before training ends.

Teamwork

A few months ago I came across an online news article about a young woman from the midwest who will spend a year teaching on the outskirts of Hanoi as part of the Fulbright program. Her blog is frighteningly titled, "Things That Could Kill Me in Vietnam".

Last night she posted that she'd arrived in VN. She got through immigration with the "scary visa people in military uniforms" and got her bags, but apparently she was on her own when it came to getting to her school. She somehow ended up paying $120 for what should have been a $20 taxi ride. She arrived at the hotel with no one to tell her that it's normal for the hotel to hold your passport when you check in. All this happened in the wee hours of the morning after the long flight from the US.

I'm glad she's still writing about it from here and hasn't turned around and headed back to the airport. And I hope she makes good friends quickly and starts to feel more at home in her neighborhood.

But reading her story got me thinking about how much I appreciate ELI's team approach to teaching. While Nancy and I can negotiate VN pretty well these days, the experience we had 8 years ago of having friends, old and new, on the other side of the "scary visa people" sure made life a lot easier and more enjoyable.

Now we get to be the people on the other side. It's been fun doing for others what others have done for us.

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!