First Class of the Fall Semester

A couple people clapped when I walked into the room, which I took as a good sign. Most of the thirty-five students in this morning's reading class are from the 33B class I taught last fall. Two are from 33G, the minority class I taught last year, and a couple others are from 33I, who had me for writing a couple years ago. I told them I wasn't sure whether they would be happy or sad to see me back. (Assuring them they will have less homework this time probably helped a little.) We got started with an article from the Japan Times and got further with it than I expected.

During the first class of the day, I observed a new ELI teacher who is practice teaching at the DAV as part of her training. She's an elementary teacher from Tennessee and did a great job transferring her skills to EFL. She and her husband leave Sunday to teach in Pakse, Laos. In fact, most of the new teachers this year (7 of 11) are headed to Laos. Only three will stay in Vietnam. We could use more - the DAV, where I teach, is down from five ELI teachers two years ago to three.

On the home front, I just got back from taking Nancy to the doctor. She's been having flu-like symptoms since Friday and we wanted to rule out H1N1. It's been ruled out. This early reminder that her immune system is not what it used to be turned out to be a bacterial infection. They gave her antibiotics and she should be back to normal soon.

Unpacking

I'm a step ahead of my nephew - he's moving into a new house in SC, while I only have to move back into our home in Hanoi. We arrived late Sunday night (VN time) on the 9th and have pretty much finished unpacking what we brought. Now we just need to remember where we stored the things we left! It's been a nice homecoming, with neighbors, friends and colleagues all happy to see us back. My Vietnamese is rusty, but could be worse (I need to slow down and pay more attention to my pronunciation).

Since Monday, I've been to two meetings at the school, received the schedule for one of my classes, transcribed two audio texts for a colleague, turned down a request to help with an exam for interpreters, met our new teammates, and done a load of laundry. I still need to buy some garlic and fish sauce so we can cook at home. It's hot, but nice to be back.

Teaching-wise, it looks like I'll have three classes with the English department and two with the interpreter training section. Things are changing a lot at the school this year, so there are still a lot of things up in the air. The tutoring at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seems to have faded away during the spring, so I don't think I'll be doing that any more. My classes start Monday and it looks like they may need me to be a mentor teacher for the new teachers' practicum, but I won't know that till the end of the week.

I'd try finishing this post off more stylishly, but it's 3:30 PM and jet lag's starting to kick in.

On the Road Again

My last road trip of the year ended yesterday when I returned to Orlando from Rochester, NY. It was nice to see old friends, update them on life in Vietnam, and thank some of the people who make it financially possible for us to be there.

Nancy couldn't come with me because she had a couple days of radiation left, but now that's over and her cancer treatment is finished! Her follow-up will consist of daily medicine and routine checkups for the next few years, but her prognosis is good and we're very grateful for that!

Our next big trip is to Vietnam. We leave early this Saturday (8 August) and arrive on Sunday. After sorting out out the time zones, it works out to a 32-hour trip (if there are no complications) from the time we leave Hannah's house in Orlando till we reach ours in Hanoi. We've heard all summer that it's been HOT there, but it will nice to be "home."

The Next Step

Yesterday I booked our tickets to return to Hanoi on August 8. For $2100, we received two one-way tickets and a mixed bag of emotions. You would think that lots of goodbyes would be offset by lots of hellos, but it's always a tough transition. Side by side with the excitement of seeing old friends, returning to work, and getting back in time for the fall semester (just like so many of us have prayed), is the realization that we've been spoiled by so much time with friends and family in this country. It will be hard to say, "See you next time."

And then, there's the 32-hour trip itself, the nagging thought that something might go wrong to complicate things or delay us again, and the knowledge that we'll have a lot of readjusting to do after being away for six months. But, all in all, we're very glad to have a date set to return to what we've been called to.

Nancy will finish her radiation therapy around July 23. We'll have a couple of weeks to rest up, pack up, and hang out with the kids and grandkids before arriving in Hanoi a couple weeks before our first official responsibilities. That will give us time to get over jet lag and meet new teammates. I might even be able to get my teaching schedule early! It will be good to be back.

Radiation Therapy Begins

Florida Hospital Altamonte

Well, we've made it. On June 6, we arrived in Orlando just in time for movie night at Hannah & Phillip's house with the New Wave group. Three days later we had one of the best doctor visits we've had since January. Not only did the conversation not begin with bad news or a complication, Nancy was able to be scheduled for "mapping" on the next day and her six weeks of radiation therapy is scheduled to begin on Thursday, June 11.

Our target date for starting radiation was June 15, so this puts us a few days ahead. That, and the fact that Nancy will have six weeks of treatment rather than six and a half or seven, means she will have two and a half weeks of rest after the treatment before we start traveling back to Vietnam.

Many people have been praying that we will be able to be back in Hanoi in time for the fall semester. It looks like that's going to be possible now!