Drifting via motorbike down an alleyway lined with homes and small shops easily overlooked by the eye in the third district of Ho Chi Minh City, the sound of blaring horns is cut short as we round the corner to the two-floored structure housing the locally run non-governmental organization known as Du An Tuong Lai, as known as Project Future.
Leaving our sandals at the foyer where a shoe rack stands next to glass enclosures containing various dated books and a picture of the great leader atop, two project managers, Anh Hai and Anh Nhat, greet us and welcome us upstairs into a small classroom with crumbling walls and quite too many desks to discuss my requested internship placement and its hours. After the formal introductions and proper handshakes, we exchange the necessary information and mark our calendars. Before departing, I ask if it would be alright if I were to have the students embark on any side projects outside of class; however, the perception becomes construed to mean that I would be interested in taking the students on a weekend fieldtrip. My broader intent for the proposed side project, which does not actually materialize over the course of my internship, is to have the students participate in an art-media project of self-expression through each student’s individual creativity.
Down the same alleyway a week later though in the evening this time, I feel both a sense of excitement and anxiety as it has been almost seven months since I have taught English to the youth in this country. As suggested by Anh Nhat, I have arrived thirty minutes prior to the start of the evening class instead of adhering to the doctrine of flexible time common among the people here. In the back office, I am introduced to one of the teachers whom I will be working with—Co Tam, a woman in her early thirties with a persistent smile on her face. She shows me the day’s lesson plans in the textbook known as Let’s Go to which I am allowed to add to where I deem it necessary.
As the students fill into the classroom, which is better spaced out than the other in which I had the interview a week prior, each pupil greets me with the phrase “hello teacher, how are you?”. Co Tam introduces me to the class consisting of students ranging from ages fifteen to twenty-one, turns her tape recorder on, and seats herself down in a desk. Meanwhile, I stand at the front of the whiteboard in a state of anxious nervousness as I had not expected to be teaching the class solely by myself on the first day. The subject matter, which I am to teach, deals with telephone conversations and general occupations. Getting ahead of myself, I write a telephone conversation between a doctor and patient on the whiteboard—only to realize that my handwriting is much too small and the terminology which I have employed is much too complex. Eventually I am able to relax a bit, and the first class goes fairly well after the many recitations of terms.
At the next session a week later, both the older and younger groups of students are tested on their language speaking capabilities. In an office on the second floor, students enter in pairs and Co Tam asks me to read the questions aloud for them to hear—not the best of testing strategies as they have not yet grown accustomed to my English speaking habits. After an hour and a half of this, my tongue is exhausted from speaking the same phrases over and over again. From what I have come to understand, the students here come from disadvantaged families on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale. Many of the older students seem to be migrants from the rural countryside whom have come to the city to look for income earning opportunities in order to help their families back home. More likely than not, these students attend language class at night while working low-skill and service industry jobs during the day.
The next week my twice-a-week schedule begins and I am reassigned to teach the younger students, a rowdy bunch, with a local volunteer in her second year of university. The teaching environment with these students is more rigid than with the other group, and the only break from the inflexibility of the book, which focuses more on vocabulary than an actual understanding of grammar and sentence structure, comes at the end of the class when there is time left over for an impromptu game. Looking back now, I realize that I should have taken more time to develop written and verbal assignments outside of the book for these younger students to understand the basic grammatical structures of the English language.
In the week that follows, I am reassigned to teach the older group of students once again. During these sessions, I am able to teach the students topics of their own choosing—love, hate, and relationships; economics. With the first topic comes a broader range of flexibility, as I am able to teach the students useful terminology in the expression of feelings and emotions. The teaching of economic terminology, however, becomes constrained when Co Tam suggests that I focus more on terms associated with the lower-end service and restaurant industry.
All in all, the internship placement at Du An Tuong Lai was well worthwhile and the experience of teaching and learning to understand the hardships and mindsets of the local youth will stay with me as I continue to develop plans to aid the impoverished and poorly educated peoples of this country in the near future. At times I have come to question the usefulness of teaching English abroad; in part I understand its usefulness as a business language in the global marketplace, but it is foreseeable that English may soon become an unofficial second language which may drastically alter the Vietnamese culture and language, if it has not already.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
life through words
I have returned to Sài Gòn after a week in the north--specifically, Hà Nội and Yên Bái. For the past few weeks, or months rather, I have been writing my thoughts down on paper and furthering them through conversation. There is much to say, but little time to do so as my summer days are usually kept busy--thus, what I shall do in the meantime is to keep track of daily happenings and ideas and elaborate on them upon my return to the states. As such, I welcome my readers to look forward to retroactive postings.
My focus for this update will not exactly the places I've been, but some conversations with the people I've met and seen again. A third person sort-of-view will be used to change things up a bit.
On a rumbling train with the night-time smell of country-side drifting through the grated windows, a conversation begins between two friends after a failed game of chess as the lighting was cut short. The topic of discussion starts with comparisons between the societal systems of the United States and Việt Nam; soon passengers with the mindset of resolution through violent action rather than discussion throw watermelon seeds at the two. The conversation is cut to whispers after the realization that rocks were not flying in through the windows in order to appease these vengeful minds. Considering retaliation against these unfortunate bunch, one friend persuades the other to ignore the actions of the poorly educated.
Diving further into the darkness of night, the conversation shifts to its trigger--the lack of education and opportunity in Yên Bái. The friend explains to the other that the small city suffers from those whom steal in order to maintain heroin habits, the lack of sex education and early marriages as a result, poor levels of tourism in a city without an industry or specialized trade, and police whom fear the citizenry's violent behavior. Soon, the friend explains her dislike of peoples such as the ones sitting in the seats across the isle whom have begun a conversation from eavesdropping on the activity of others--criticizing northerners whom have picked up southern dialect.
The next night in Yên Bái, the friend's mother's friend speaks a monologue of her hardships in life. She explains that her son was handicapped requiring surgery and without a father which left early on. With her meager earnings, she ate little and was eventually able to pay for the surgery her son required. Afterward, her son could move all but his left hand, and eventually graduated from high school. However, matters grew grim as her son's dreams of attending university in order to later become a librarian in the small town were soon crushed after he failed his college entrance exams. Nowadays, the woman refers to herself as retired and earns less than 200,000 VNĐ over the course of two months. Her son, whom is now twenty-four, will soon enter a two-year vocational school, and currently sells lottery tickets during the day--he brings home 1,000VNĐ to 5,000 VNĐ a day.
Days later at a dimly lit restaurant in the Old Quarter of Hà Nội, two individuals sit waiting for their meals to arrive after a brief tour of the city via motorbike. With the lingering smell of traffic from Bàch Khoa, the conversation continues with a discussion of future plans and reminiscing about the days and people whom have all but left this country. The moments drift by, and all too soon the two say goodbye as they embrace in front of a hotel on Mã Mây.
In the days that follow, two old friends sit at a café called Puku on 60 Hàng Trống. Still no luck in relationships since the previous meeting, the old friend speaks of obtaining his master's degree in information technology while the other discusses his plans to develop a for-profit non-governmental organization. Soon the conversation shifts to the education system of Việt Nam, wherein the old friend states that while the number of enrolled university students has increased, the textbooks are the same as they were fifteen years prior. Likewise, there has been no increase in the number of university professors as the enrolled student population grows.
On the final afternoon in Hà Nội, two friends meet to catch up on each other's happening. The friend has just returned from Thailand, and speaks extensively of her new Irish boyfriend whom is two years her junior; other topics include continuing work with the study program this month, and her recent ear surgery. She seems happier with her life, and hints that without the aid of her boyfriend, whom is back in Ireland to finish a degree in theater acting, she would have not had the opportunity to see the world outside of Việt Nam.
My focus for this update will not exactly the places I've been, but some conversations with the people I've met and seen again. A third person sort-of-view will be used to change things up a bit.
On a rumbling train with the night-time smell of country-side drifting through the grated windows, a conversation begins between two friends after a failed game of chess as the lighting was cut short. The topic of discussion starts with comparisons between the societal systems of the United States and Việt Nam; soon passengers with the mindset of resolution through violent action rather than discussion throw watermelon seeds at the two. The conversation is cut to whispers after the realization that rocks were not flying in through the windows in order to appease these vengeful minds. Considering retaliation against these unfortunate bunch, one friend persuades the other to ignore the actions of the poorly educated.
Diving further into the darkness of night, the conversation shifts to its trigger--the lack of education and opportunity in Yên Bái. The friend explains to the other that the small city suffers from those whom steal in order to maintain heroin habits, the lack of sex education and early marriages as a result, poor levels of tourism in a city without an industry or specialized trade, and police whom fear the citizenry's violent behavior. Soon, the friend explains her dislike of peoples such as the ones sitting in the seats across the isle whom have begun a conversation from eavesdropping on the activity of others--criticizing northerners whom have picked up southern dialect.
The next night in Yên Bái, the friend's mother's friend speaks a monologue of her hardships in life. She explains that her son was handicapped requiring surgery and without a father which left early on. With her meager earnings, she ate little and was eventually able to pay for the surgery her son required. Afterward, her son could move all but his left hand, and eventually graduated from high school. However, matters grew grim as her son's dreams of attending university in order to later become a librarian in the small town were soon crushed after he failed his college entrance exams. Nowadays, the woman refers to herself as retired and earns less than 200,000 VNĐ over the course of two months. Her son, whom is now twenty-four, will soon enter a two-year vocational school, and currently sells lottery tickets during the day--he brings home 1,000VNĐ to 5,000 VNĐ a day.
Days later at a dimly lit restaurant in the Old Quarter of Hà Nội, two individuals sit waiting for their meals to arrive after a brief tour of the city via motorbike. With the lingering smell of traffic from Bàch Khoa, the conversation continues with a discussion of future plans and reminiscing about the days and people whom have all but left this country. The moments drift by, and all too soon the two say goodbye as they embrace in front of a hotel on Mã Mây.
In the days that follow, two old friends sit at a café called Puku on 60 Hàng Trống. Still no luck in relationships since the previous meeting, the old friend speaks of obtaining his master's degree in information technology while the other discusses his plans to develop a for-profit non-governmental organization. Soon the conversation shifts to the education system of Việt Nam, wherein the old friend states that while the number of enrolled university students has increased, the textbooks are the same as they were fifteen years prior. Likewise, there has been no increase in the number of university professors as the enrolled student population grows.
On the final afternoon in Hà Nội, two friends meet to catch up on each other's happening. The friend has just returned from Thailand, and speaks extensively of her new Irish boyfriend whom is two years her junior; other topics include continuing work with the study program this month, and her recent ear surgery. She seems happier with her life, and hints that without the aid of her boyfriend, whom is back in Ireland to finish a degree in theater acting, she would have not had the opportunity to see the world outside of Việt Nam.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
southern soul
I will make an attempt to expand upon in detail on what I've been doing here in Sai Gon. Until then, here is a list of daily happenings up until recently.
16 jul 07
morning class with co Binh
pho for lunch, che for dessert
if instrument, then lessons available
editing pictures and hello dad
no internship today, a soccer match
hideaway cafe with dad
dinner at nha hang; fans cheer the soccer match
yoko with tien, trinh, and trey
lush with vu, tofu, phuong, ha, and the two finnish
do an chai
17 jul 07
hu tiu my tho for lunch
a decent nap
discussing corrections with hai
daughter from danang
nice karaoke
lush with phuong, tien, loc, chris, ben, nga, nga's siblings, michael, ...
dim sum at the mi hoang thanh place
18 jul 07
a drowsy morning
chris's house
lunch with dad at son ha
teaching little kids
loafing around, i'm sleepy
helping dad carry luggage down at 3am
19 jul 07
morning midterm
dan nguyet/kim
hu tiu nam vang
benh vien tu do, agent orange
meeting thay hung--smile group and ngo info
go2 with tien, the brits, tam, hanh
20 jul 07
chilling at chris's
finding meds by motorbike; sidetrip to tous les jours
hello minh
dinner with the dc folk
lush with nga and her two sisters, phuong, chris, loc, tien, julie
hello juliet
shit, volcano's closed already
go2 with minh, phuong, phuong kiet, vu, loc, tien, juliet
the dancing child at 2am
fuck ignorant foreigners; let's burn down go2
21 jul 07
lunch with tien at nirvana
talking with tam
exhibition at gallery quynh - phuong, phu nam, juliet, tien
bringing com tam to chris's
ben djs at vasco's - matt, loc, tuan, phuong, julie, trinh, tu, tien, chris
mi sui cao and diem tam
wait, let me get my camera
22 jul 07
sunday lunch at ong ba loi's
coffee with chu bi, chu bao, anh duc
dinner in the lobby
jax n' art
walking the city streets
nhap, uot, and the other homeless
23 jul 07
waiting two hours for the aids researcher
interviewing local students about education
du an tuong lai
24 jul 07
visiting chua ky quang 2 with anh duc, tam, hai, hanh
abc bakery
late night visit to ho con rua
25 jul 07
hideaway with khanh and viet
taking khanh and viet to du an tuong lai
pho xao
goodbye trey party: german beer with cousins, john, phuong, his friend, tien, matt, thanh, dave, trey
ben dj's at le pub
late-night eats at cho ben thanh
26 jul 07
thuoc la cho lon and pho 24
banh khot for lunch at co ba vung tau
visiting 300 le van sy
playing bida on the second floor
rush back to the guesthouse in traffic
the ride to can tho
sketchy massages
the search for xoi
27 jul 07
early breakfast and departure
hoa an research center and field lecture
lunch
dai hoc can tho
the house at vinh long
cai luong - a disappointing end
poetry slam
psychiatrist game
28 jul 07
mekong river tour
quick bicycling mo cay
fallen chain, black hands
soccer game and frisbee with the kids
dinner
night market
karaoke into the night
29 jul 07
truong trinh chay bo vi tre em ngheo
liquids and snacks
shower smells like sewage
ben tre dau phong
dinner at son ha
matching rain ponchos
saying goodbye to their mom
chris's house
lush with viet, phuong, tien
allez boo
goodbye cousins
30 jul 07
calling in sick to cook com thit nuong and cha gio
31 jul 07
coffee and survey translation at tous les jours
presenting preliminary findings
sinh vien vn nau an
shisha with dave, matt, tien, thanh, phuong
volcano with matt, tien, thanh
hello lam and friend
walking back from volcano and banh bao
1 aug 07
donations of rice and money: smile group, chua ky quang 2, lang sos
lunch at nirvana
saigon square and buying snacks at citimart
stomach ache and a nap
teaching at du an tuong lai: love, hate, and relationships
2 aug 07
guest lecture on ethnic minorities
3 aug 07
bao tang hcm, nha ben rong - falling ill
afternoon nap
phuong cooks dinner
bida at galaxy with trinh and matt
oh glorious sleep
4 aug 07
a day of diarrhea and television
com tam over the bridge for dinner with phuong
hanging around chris's
hello ben's friends
latenight mi at cho tan dinh
laundry room chess with tien
5 aug 07
greetings trinh, tuan, and hanh
buying a bottle of johnnie walker red
lunch at hai's
a walk around the neighborhood
visiting cemeteries
hai fixes his new phone
buying red candles and some starcraft
streetside dinner in the rain: lau bao tu bo tieu xanh, com chien, mi xao, bia
goodbyes, back to the guesthouse
a game of laughs with tien
6 aug 07
skipping morning class in favor of rest
v3 cafe for lunch with matt, dave, and philip
field trip with co binh and tam to 4 temples
the cantin and asking the meaning of pictures
du an tuong lai: teaching kinh te
kfc for dinner and pool at paloma
sheridan's
late-night cari at phuong's
7 aug 07
morning field trip: sanitation and water treatment talks in district 1; phu my hung housing
shopping for food at the co-op on NDC, more at Diamond
the long walk and shitty fried rice
a break and cooking commences
sinh vien my nau an: pasta, garlic bread, mashed potatoes, etc.
chess with thanh
karaoke at nice with phuong, samson, tien, ben, ben's friends
rooftop star watching
8 aug 07
last night's dinner for breakfast
formulating NGO ideas
chris returns from america
16 jul 07
morning class with co Binh
pho for lunch, che for dessert
if instrument, then lessons available
editing pictures and hello dad
no internship today, a soccer match
hideaway cafe with dad
dinner at nha hang; fans cheer the soccer match
yoko with tien, trinh, and trey
lush with vu, tofu, phuong, ha, and the two finnish
do an chai
17 jul 07
hu tiu my tho for lunch
a decent nap
discussing corrections with hai
daughter from danang
nice karaoke
lush with phuong, tien, loc, chris, ben, nga, nga's siblings, michael, ...
dim sum at the mi hoang thanh place
18 jul 07
a drowsy morning
chris's house
lunch with dad at son ha
teaching little kids
loafing around, i'm sleepy
helping dad carry luggage down at 3am
19 jul 07
morning midterm
dan nguyet/kim
hu tiu nam vang
benh vien tu do, agent orange
meeting thay hung--smile group and ngo info
go2 with tien, the brits, tam, hanh
20 jul 07
chilling at chris's
finding meds by motorbike; sidetrip to tous les jours
hello minh
dinner with the dc folk
lush with nga and her two sisters, phuong, chris, loc, tien, julie
hello juliet
shit, volcano's closed already
go2 with minh, phuong, phuong kiet, vu, loc, tien, juliet
the dancing child at 2am
fuck ignorant foreigners; let's burn down go2
21 jul 07
lunch with tien at nirvana
talking with tam
exhibition at gallery quynh - phuong, phu nam, juliet, tien
bringing com tam to chris's
ben djs at vasco's - matt, loc, tuan, phuong, julie, trinh, tu, tien, chris
mi sui cao and diem tam
wait, let me get my camera
22 jul 07
sunday lunch at ong ba loi's
coffee with chu bi, chu bao, anh duc
dinner in the lobby
jax n' art
walking the city streets
nhap, uot, and the other homeless
23 jul 07
waiting two hours for the aids researcher
interviewing local students about education
du an tuong lai
24 jul 07
visiting chua ky quang 2 with anh duc, tam, hai, hanh
abc bakery
late night visit to ho con rua
25 jul 07
hideaway with khanh and viet
taking khanh and viet to du an tuong lai
pho xao
goodbye trey party: german beer with cousins, john, phuong, his friend, tien, matt, thanh, dave, trey
ben dj's at le pub
late-night eats at cho ben thanh
26 jul 07
thuoc la cho lon and pho 24
banh khot for lunch at co ba vung tau
visiting 300 le van sy
playing bida on the second floor
rush back to the guesthouse in traffic
the ride to can tho
sketchy massages
the search for xoi
27 jul 07
early breakfast and departure
hoa an research center and field lecture
lunch
dai hoc can tho
the house at vinh long
cai luong - a disappointing end
poetry slam
psychiatrist game
28 jul 07
mekong river tour
quick bicycling mo cay
fallen chain, black hands
soccer game and frisbee with the kids
dinner
night market
karaoke into the night
29 jul 07
truong trinh chay bo vi tre em ngheo
liquids and snacks
shower smells like sewage
ben tre dau phong
dinner at son ha
matching rain ponchos
saying goodbye to their mom
chris's house
lush with viet, phuong, tien
allez boo
goodbye cousins
30 jul 07
calling in sick to cook com thit nuong and cha gio
31 jul 07
coffee and survey translation at tous les jours
presenting preliminary findings
sinh vien vn nau an
shisha with dave, matt, tien, thanh, phuong
volcano with matt, tien, thanh
hello lam and friend
walking back from volcano and banh bao
1 aug 07
donations of rice and money: smile group, chua ky quang 2, lang sos
lunch at nirvana
saigon square and buying snacks at citimart
stomach ache and a nap
teaching at du an tuong lai: love, hate, and relationships
2 aug 07
guest lecture on ethnic minorities
3 aug 07
bao tang hcm, nha ben rong - falling ill
afternoon nap
phuong cooks dinner
bida at galaxy with trinh and matt
oh glorious sleep
4 aug 07
a day of diarrhea and television
com tam over the bridge for dinner with phuong
hanging around chris's
hello ben's friends
latenight mi at cho tan dinh
laundry room chess with tien
5 aug 07
greetings trinh, tuan, and hanh
buying a bottle of johnnie walker red
lunch at hai's
a walk around the neighborhood
visiting cemeteries
hai fixes his new phone
buying red candles and some starcraft
streetside dinner in the rain: lau bao tu bo tieu xanh, com chien, mi xao, bia
goodbyes, back to the guesthouse
a game of laughs with tien
6 aug 07
skipping morning class in favor of rest
v3 cafe for lunch with matt, dave, and philip
field trip with co binh and tam to 4 temples
the cantin and asking the meaning of pictures
du an tuong lai: teaching kinh te
kfc for dinner and pool at paloma
sheridan's
late-night cari at phuong's
7 aug 07
morning field trip: sanitation and water treatment talks in district 1; phu my hung housing
shopping for food at the co-op on NDC, more at Diamond
the long walk and shitty fried rice
a break and cooking commences
sinh vien my nau an: pasta, garlic bread, mashed potatoes, etc.
chess with thanh
karaoke at nice with phuong, samson, tien, ben, ben's friends
rooftop star watching
8 aug 07
last night's dinner for breakfast
formulating NGO ideas
chris returns from america
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