Recording Studio!!

MONDAY, 11th April

This morning Eathen, Amie, Sarah and I went with Ann to a local recording studio to record some dialogues for VATC to use for listening tests when new students come to the school. I got to be the narrator, and the mother... It was fun, and Ann was pleased that we got it done in one session, not 2 as planned.  For our trouble we'll each get a $5 bonus...yeaa! 

This is the street the studio is in. That's Amie, Eathen, Sarah and Ann walking back from where they parked their bikes. Across the road is an amusement park with children's rides, and the skate rink.

Sarah, Amie and Ann

Amie, Ann and me  (Eathen is out of the shot)

This lovely guy is the studio manager.

It is a gorgeous day today ... hot even! I really needed a hat and sunglasses walking home.  As I walked past the street market I bought 2 kgs of lovely tomatoes for $1 and 2 peeled pineapples for $1... tasty and fresh.

When I got home workmen had been here installing the air conditioner in my room. Dave sat in here to keep an eye on things (bless him!). They should be back this arvo to finish the job, then I'll be all set for summer as long as there is power...  One of the Vietnamese teachers mentioned that we should have a generator here, because blackouts begin in late May!  can't wait.  I expect it'll be a case of "Just suck it up, sunshine!"

Mortified

SUNDAY  19th April

Feeling a bit ordinary with a sore throat and a cough that kept me awake half the night... but to get to the embarassing bit...

Yesterday I toddled into school in the arvo with my lesson plan all set to go, in time to get my photocopying done. Then I decided to grab some dinner at the school canteen... even took a photo of it!

So there I was, happily eating my Bánh đa cua, when one of my students, Dragon, came down the stairs (from the classrooms). He said hello, then asked me if I was their teacher tonight  (we alternate with Vietnamese English teachers) and I cheerily said yes, I'll see you later. Shortly after, two more students, Sapphire and Shinee also came downstairs and waved hello. I was surprised that so many of them were here so early when it suddenly dawned on me that the class was at 5:30, not 7:30!!  Totally mortified, I hastily paid for my half eaten dinner and rushed off nearly half and hour late!... not that the kids minded a bit... I remember how cool it was if a teacher was ever late when I was at school, but I was horrified.

This morning I taught my first class at the other language school. It was a small adult class and we discussed Environmental Issues... pretty meaty topic for elementary level, so they had to learn a heap of new vocabulary along the way. And as usual, the best part of the lesson was the game at the end where they raced against the other team to regurgitate that vocabulary... very competitive and lots of fun. And the pay is way better than our usual rate, so I hope to pick up regular work there.

This arvo I have a children's class at 3pm at VATC, then an easy, early night! My voice is coming back. so I'm praying tonight will be sleeping all the way with no coughing!

Wrong class, but explored the neighbourhood

SATURDAY 9^th April

The last few days have been pretty much business as usual, apart from the fact that it’s finally warming up. But with the low cloud cover, no blue sky, and it’s very humid. I’m afraid the weather here is just something I’ll have to endure...

Last night was my first ‘VIP’ class.  They are a group of business people who are older than most of our students and include the vice-director. They were very friendly, one lady – Celine – gave me a gift that she had brought back from her recent trip to Cambodia!

It’s a key chain that folds out to become nail clippers, and there’s even a bottle opener under the carved bit (Angkor Wat). That was a pleasant surprise. Our lesson was all about cultural differences between Vietnam and Australia when it comes to leisure activities. They were very keen to communicate with me how it is in their country, so the lesson flowed along very well.

I’ve had a bit of a sore throat the last couple of days, and by the second class last night, I had very little voice left, so my second class of 17 talkative young adults was a bit of a struggle.... I usually have no trouble making myself heard....

Then this morning I headed off to ATA to teach my first class there at 8am. I arrived bright and early (very early for me these days) at 7:30 just as the office staff were arriving. They were obviously surprised to see me, but don’t speak English, so I sat and waited while they fussed about and eventually got Mai on the phone. Turns out she made a mistake on my roster, which clearly says Saturday 9^th. My class is tomorrow morning at 8.

So I walked home by a different route that Dave showed me the other night, down some back streets and past Nam Phat Church.  It was all closed up (well it was only 8am after all), but I took a couple of photos:

Like all the churches here, it’s a Catholic Church. This one was built in 1932. I’m pretty sure this is the Church the ladies at Texas BBQ were talking about... where they offer free English lessons, and do a lot of work assisting the poor, especially those infected with HIV who are shunned by Vietnamese society.

Because of the humidity here most buildings look drab and decaying, covered with mould

This is the grotto

As I got close to home, one of the hawkers was peddling by, so I stopped her and bought some of her produce  -  Crisp rice bread, which has very little flavour but would work well with a tasty dip, and puffed rice balls, which have a slightly honey taste and are crunchy, but a bit sticky. Pretty ordinary, really! They cost me $2 all up... I think she saw me coming...

So it was a (false) early start today, then again tomorrow for the real thing, and then again on Monday morning because Ann wants us (the Aussies, not the Pommie with the broad Nottinghamshire accent) to record some dialogues for the Language school at 9am.  I’ll look forward to a bit of a lie-in on Tuesday which apparently is a public holiday – the King’s birthday. Now that’s odd... this is a communist country... what king? I’ll have to find out...

Quoc Su Embroidery Factory

TUESDAY 5^th April

I got up at 6:45 (very early for me these days) an walked to Sunflower International Village to meet the Wednesday girls. Seven of us went to Hanoi in a nice minibus. The conversation flowed freely and the two and a half hour trip didn't feel that long. We stopped at Hanoi Tower and had a cuppa...

This is Marita from Sweden, me, and Dorothy from Belgium...

And this is Maria from Denmark, and Alwyn from England

We went up to Jaspers Restaurant (very nice, very busy) which is owned by an Aussie guy named Jacko. L to R is Ann from Belgium, Maria, Dorothy, Tina from Sweden, me, Alwyn and Marita. We had a very enjoyable lunch and I forgot to photograph mine till I was half way through it... sorry Katie!

This was Malaysian Roti with curry, lentil and raita dips... delish!

This is halfway through my Vietnamese seafood, noodle stirfry. When it came time for the bill to be paid Tina and Alwyn paid for my lunch! How lovely of them, I got quite misty...

Then it was back into our minibus for a 40 minute ride to this Embroidery factory. Mr  Su is a renowned silk embroiderer of international acclaim. If he was Japanese he’d be classed as a living treasure

We spent quite a bit of time in the showroom as the girls chose wedding gifts and ordered special tablecloths etc. I bought a pretty little pocket tissue holder and an old fashioned embroidered draw string bag. Then we had a look in the ‘factory’  where all the hard work is done...

This is Mr Su doing a scene he has obviously replicated many, many times (that crumpled picture is the original photo)... but it is worth taking a closer look at his work... it looks so real, even the reflection in the water... (that’s his glasses resting on the left side of the embroidery).

 Some work in pairs

They do this for hours ...

 Alwyn clowning around in the courtyard... check out the bonsais!

It was a bit quieter on the 2 1/2 hour drive home... most of us dozing or reading magazines. We got back at 6:30pm. I’m the only one home, my housemates are all teaching. I’m looking forward to an early night... Dorothy mentioned that next week they might go to a ceramic village not far out of Hai Phong. I do hope I can join in that outing, too!

"After Sorrow"

SUNDAY 3^rd April

This morning I finished reading “After Sorrow - an American Among the Vietnamese”   by Lady Borton.  It’s the memoir of a lady who spent a lot of time living among the Vietnamese people both during and after the ‘American War’, recording their stories, sharing their way of life. It left me with a new respect for them... I had never realised how brutal the French oppression had been and how bitter the struggle for self determination that then continued into the American War. And how ugly and inhumane were the weapons unleashed on the Vietnamese people. But still they survived victorious and today do not even hold a grudge! Throughout the book, there are quotes from Vietnamese poetry that are very beautiful. For example:

The wheel of the law turns. 
After the rain, good weather....... 
What could be more natural?  
 After sorrow comes joy.

                     From ‘The Weather Clears” A Prison Diary Ho hi Minh (1890-1969)

           Straw roofs hide in the village smoke. 
A solitary boat stops for a moment. 
Groups of children from the hamlet
Search for crabs along the river.

                     From ‘At the Hoang River Landing’ by Thai Thuan  (1437

The stream slips by, as calm as smooth paper.
A single star guides the sampan; the moon trails behind.
While the oar creaks, the sculler ponders a maze of dreams 
That might free the rivers and mountains of an ancient land. 
As the sampan draws homeward, dawn lights the sky,
Tingeing the horizon with the flush of a new day. 

                     Ho Chi Minh  (1890-1969)

I’ll just have to keep a lookout for a book of Vietnamese poetry spanning the centuries to bring home.

Today Mr Hi the director from ATC and Mai, the head, took the 5 of us to lunch at the restaurant in H Tower, so they could get to know us and explain how they see this moon-lighting working... we are to email our rosters to Mai when we get them on Sunday afternoon, and she’ll work out her roster around them.  When I got my teaching roster this week, I’ve been given 18 hours. (the others got 12-14...) and mine includes a new class, teaching the Level 5 VIP class which includes our Director.  I will share the class with Ann (the manager), and Dave. So that will be a stretch... Either way I won’t be expecting much work from ATC this week. Maybe next week.

Since I had roast pork for lunch, and then I bought some yummy deep fried something-or-others from the ladies on the footpath on the corner of our street, I won’t be going out for dinner tonight... I bought a dragon-fruit, mangoes, an orange and a huge apple (from NZ!) at the street market on the way home, so it’ll be a bowl of fruit salad for me... I bought some fabulous passionfruit from Big C yesterday, so it’ll be a feast!

The local Supermarket

FRIDAY 1^st April

It's lovely when you get to share a joke isn't it? When communication is usually so difficult, it seems the littlest joke that's understood is so appreciated... like last night, I asked my students to name a famous old person, and one of them said 'You, teacher!" (We often laugh about my age.) 

We went to ATC language school this morning... Dave introduced all of us to them and Mai is keen to work around our rosters at VATC to teach her classes. It will be mostly conversation with adults, rather than formal teaching. She will provide the topic, and it will be up to us to use whatever resources we like to promote discussion... internet, videos, music... so that will be a challenge. The pay is good - $18US p.h. compared to $12 at VATC, and we'll be paid each week. Dave says there might not be much work, since it will be spread among all of us, but any extra will be a blessing. The facilities there are much better than at VATC... Overhead projector for power point of videos, internet at the teacher's desk, CD players that work!...  The director invited us all to have lunch with them at a Hot Pot restaurant on Sunday. And this time, since he invited us, he'll be paying...

SATURDAY 2^nd April

I went to Big C Supermarket this morning to get some stuff and they had skinned crocodiles hanging in the meat section! So of course I whipped out my camera ...

This is the seafood section... there are also tubs with live fish etc swimming around.

And this is looking across the takeaway food / deli section. The plates have a large variety of meals, all set to just heat up in a wok and eat.

After I took this photo of the fresh fruit and veg section, a man came up and told me to stop taking photos... oops! So that's all you get... except when I got home  I took this photo

This is how the free range eggs are packaged ... can’t resist the marketing!

Eventually the 'music' stopped

THURSDAY 31^st March

The drums, and music began again with gusto at 5:30am!!! Yup, it was very loud, very raucous... and it continued, interspersed with speeches, until the Brass Band arrived after lunch.  They were all decked out in white, and there were at least 20 of them. When they started to play I ducked downstairs and shot a shot video.

The floral tributes have started to overflow up the laneway.

The Procession umbrellas were ready to go

At about 3pm I heard the Brass Band marching off down the street... apparently that’s when the procession with the coffin headed out. The mournful dirge they were playing was quite moving.

On the way to work, I ran into Dave, who was returning from the wedding. He was pretty ambivalent about it... being the only westerner, everyone wanted to have their photo taken with him, dance with him, and drink shots with him. When I got to work, Linh was saying that the bride cried a lot... by custom, she leaves her family and becomes part of the groom’s family – serving and waiting on the in-laws. She comes from a small rural community, so I guess life will be very different for her in the big city.

After work Eathen, Amie, Sarah and I  had dinner at a new restaurant, down a side road on the way home – Trong Thanh. The houses near-by are very up-market, and it is obviously aimed at the wealthier clientele. The food was pricey, and I only had 72,000D left (pay day today...) so I had Russian Salad (a kind of potato salad) and coke. They had a wall of fish tanks with the sea-food from the menu on display – turtles, huge lobsters, fish, eels, prawns and shellfish I didn’t recognise. You can point to your selection for dinner and know it’s fresh!

It was so nice to wake up this morning to birdsong and the odd hawker instead of funeral clamour!  I have 2 classes tonight to prepare for, but it no longer takes me over 2 hours for each class... I’m down to about 60-90 minutes... so I’ll read / watch TV / do my washing / talk to Katie this morning.

I got my pants back from the tailor, and she has done nothing other than add a back pocket to the front of the black pair. I’m really not sure it’s worth the bother of taking them back again... it’s certainly not worth having Sun as my intermediary, she’s not managing to get results!  I wore the grey ones to work last night and they are very uncomfortable. The only good thing is that my tops are loose and long so they cover up the awful mess around the waistband... but the low crutch and the legs too short?... not much I can cover up there!   Ah, Vietnam!