Birdy Flies Away

Sad Face
(Birdy teaching)

The Three Little Pigs
(as retouched by Luke)

Bad news! For me, anyway. Birdy is leaving Vietnam this week! I’m sad to lose my partner, but it’s for the best. Life here has been incredibly stressful lately, and it’s been harder and harder to stay focused. With Birdy in school, the kind of distractions that we’ve had can really get in the way. We talked about it for a long time, and decided it was the best thing to do. We’re really invested in this project, but we have our own future and our families to think of. I think that’s the hardest part of teaching- having life issues and events interfere with what we do in the classroom. All those things that make life fun and exciting and stressful and overwhelming leak into our work and make us less effective. I imagine it gets easier with time.

At the Beach Again!

Anyhow, we’ve been keeping busy. Our lives are totally wrapped up in the school right now. With the shift in weather, we’ve been having a hard time getting back out there to do stuff. Tuy Hoa is a very small town. It’s bigger than most small towns I’ve ever seen, but it’s kind of like the “Boring, Oregon” of Vietnam. Not much here, not much to see, even less to do. Getting away is hard, as well, as the nearest town of any measure is a 4 hour drive across mountains and freeways that aren’t for a little motorbike like ours. To get anywhere we’d have to take a bumpy train ride, fly, or hire a driver. Traveling sounds even more tiring than going to work right now. So we’re hiding at home, watching movies and eating noodles.

We’ve tried to take some videos of what a drive through town looks like, so I’m going to get one of those up here and let it do the talking for me this week. When I’m driving is when I most feel like I’m actually in a different part of the world, on a little adventure rather than just working. See for yourselves.

This video was taken by taping a camera to my helmet, so the angle is a bit high, 

but you essentially see what I see when I drive!

I recommend muting the video- the sound is fuzzy.

Also, it's bouncy, so if you get dizzy easily you've been warned.

Luke Pretends He Knows Everything

Just A Day At The Office

     There wasn’t an application process when we joined this project. It was more along the lines of us coming to fill a dire need, and being happy to do so. But if there had been an application process, I’m pretty sure my cover letter would have gone something like this: “Hi, I’m Luke, and I would really like to take on more work than I could ever possibly accomplish in the span of a year. Also, I’d like to do it in a language I can’t speak, with people who can’t understand me!” I would turn out to be the candidate of their dreams!

It Never Gets Old

     Our school is currently divided into two parts- the high school and the primary/middle school. Our project is the Primary/Middle school start-up. The board of directors has a vision of expanding to include a lot more, but we’re trying to get them to slow down. Our team is already stretched thin. We need more English-speakers to come teach and we need more qualified (licensed/experienced) teachers to help guide and support our fantastic volunteer staff).

The School Library Is Always Locked
(hours are listed)

     I think the real stretching occurred when we were asked/told to take over English classes for the high school. There are about 40 high school classes. There are six of us, already working in the six primary and middle school classes, each of which has about 10 English classes a week (including ESL, English art, English PE, and English math). That request/command was a bit much, and we worked it out so that our team covers one class a week for each of the tenth and twelfth grade classes, and one class a month for eleventh grade (high school is considered to be tenth grade and up).

Our Meager School Library
(we've worked hard to get
what we have)

      I mention all of this, because the high school is a bit of a nightmare. It looks and sounds like an inner city school without the motivational music/dance/art teacher that changes students lives. Rather, when teachers get angry- and they often do because there’s no discipline process or program- they hit students. Literally. With hands, sticks, rulers, whatever they’ve got. Yay!

My Mom Sits In On A High School
English Class

     The high school is a private school that promises students will pass state tests needed to graduate and apply to college. It was founded for that purpose, and it does a pretty decent job of following through. Their methods, however, are dreadful. Students are tracked into a class based on performance and behavior. Each class is a cohort. They stay in one room and take all subjects together. They are labeled according to grade and cohort. For example, “11 S2” is 11^th grade, 2^nd cohort. The higher your cohort number, the worse your class is. This is measurable. Our teachers dread the classes numbered higher than S5. I think they go as high as S12. The worse your class is, the more students there are in it. The poorest performing and poorest behaved classes have over 40 students packed into a small room, day after day, with teachers who show up after the bell, lecture for the entire period, and then run as soon as class is over.

The High School English Room
(before it got spruced up)

     Going over there to teach English means diving into their world. Fortunately we secured a room for our English classes, so students come over to meet our teachers in a designated space. Unfortunately, all the work we've done in the primary/middle school doesn't translate to the high school. It’s dreadful. All I can say is that I’m glad I’m too busy to take on any of those classes!

A Cute, Abandoned Puppy
(was being cared for by an acquaintance
who works at the resort outside of town)

Birdy and Luke Show You the Sights

Childcare

It's been quite a busy week. There are many new developments at school to share, but I figured it was time to dig into the old photo albums and give you some more visuals of what life here looks like day-to-day.

Mobile Clothing Store
(they pack it up each night and return the next day)

Snacks On The Beach
(dried squid and all the toppin's!)

Da Lat Waterfall

Our City From Above
(suburbia, believe it or not)

Local TV Films Our Grand Opening
(we're getting used to being on TV)

1st Grade Girls Perform a Darling Dance At Grand Opening
(it involved a lot of swaying and waving of pom-poms)

High School Class
(40 students packed in, wall-to-wall)

Their Birthday Cakes Here Are Ridiculous
(and about 60% is topping...
there's a tiny amount of cake beneath)

School Lawn

Driving To Work
(herds of cows invade our lawn every week...
the guard has to chase them out onto the street)

A Door
(we can do this, too, now)

Ancient Monument
(restored after the French colonizers decided
to blow it half to hell... with cannons)

Tuy Hoa

The Beach Here Now Reminds Us A Lot Of Oregon

Beautiful Sky At Dusk

The Stormy Beach And Debris

Sand Crab

The Most Interesting Thing I Can Say
About These Plants, Is That The Rats
Live In Them

Our Romantic Dinner In Our Rooms
(we try our best...)

Luke Runs the Place

We Go Barefoot In The Classroom- ALWAYS!

     Last weekend somebody walked into our house and stole Birdy's electric bike. They've been sizing up our house for a while, and had even walked in while we were eating lunch one day, making up some excuse about visiting the neighbor. The day before they struck, our neighbor spotted one of them outside our house, peering in through the fence. The guy looked up at our neighbor and then put his finger to his mouth in a 'shhh' fashion, and mimed tip-toeing. How ballsy is that?

Happy Feet

Well, they came in while we were upstairs watching a movie, grabbed the bike, and took off with it. The key wasn't in it, so he was peddling it down the street when my mom drove by- and realized that was our bike. She turned about, screamed at him, and ran him off the road. The thief jumped off the bike and hopped onto his accomplice's motorcycle, and off they went. We retrieved the bike and are on high alert now, but it feels really awkward being worried about somebody traipsing into your house in the middle of the day. The doors here aren't locked normally, either. They're big store-front type grates (on all the houses) and only lock with padlocks. The padlocks rust with the rain and, well, it's a recipe for some serious annoyance.

Bob And His Sweet Coat

During one of my English classes this week, I realized how much English my students were beginning to retain. We sit on little cushions on the floor during class. One of the boys- I'll call him Bob- stood up to come over and ask me if he could use the bathroom. A girl- I'll call her Sally- stood up at the same time, bumped him, and caused him to fall onto another student. She asked for the W.C. and then went off, leaving a very confounded little guy behind her. Bob stood up, screwed up his face, and with very active gesturing declared, "Sally, hit, hurt, me, I sit down on Jane! Bad! I down on Jane! Sorry, sorry!"

My Chair

It was adorable, surprising, and hilarious. We cleared up this issue as well as we could, learned the word 'bump' and went on with the class. A bit later we got up to do an activity and danced around the room, like you do. When we went to sit back down, Bob was very upset because somebody had taken his spot. He stomped over to me, the whole class watching in anticipation, and proclaimed, "I sit no! He sit my! I over there. He over there! No! No, no!" This time I couldn't take it and cracked up. We moved people to their original seats (which are cushions on the floor, if you recall) and the world was set right. You need to see a picture of him in his uniform and cold-weather coat to truly appreciate the scene. It looks like it was made out of the fabric on my chair.

Karaoke Room (with bathroom!)

Luke Sings "The ABCs"

Vietnam is obsessed with karaoke. It seems to be the bonafide national pastime. Every cafe, hotel, or corner has a karaoke machine or visiting DJ. There are more karaoke bars than there are restaurants. They even have mobile karaoke vender-dudes. They wander around and sing and try to get people to pay to sing a song. And they all sing HORRIBLY. And all the songs are love songs. And they always blast the music as loud as possible. Ugh. A couple months ago, we visited the karaoke house on the corner, and rented a room to hang out for an hour and sing in honor of a volunteer that stayed with us this summer. They had a bizarre selection of English songs, featuring several weird versions of children's music.
It wasn't enjoyable. No wonder the volunteer left.

Karaoke Ceiling (dear heavens...)

Birdy Enjoys Being Sick

Birdy Flaunts Her Stuff (two times a day!)

     A couple of weeks ago, Birdy got bored and decided to get sick again. I'm not sure why that seemed like a good idea, but she's willful. Her jaw got sore, her stomach churned, and the lymph nodes in her armpits swelled to the size of tennis balls. We sent her off to the doctor for another ultrasound and blood test. The results were inconclusive, so the doctor did what the medical profession in Vietnam always does: he prescribed a boat-load of antibiotics. He told her to take them for three days and then come back if she didn't feel better.

Birdy Has Fun With Her Camera

    Well, she felt better. Unfortunately, the real directive behind the flawed translation had been, "Take these for three days. Then, if you're doing better, come back for more." Where could we have gone wrong with that one? She fell sick again Sunday night and woke up Monday with Serena William's moneymakers under her right armpit again. After another visit to the doctor she's back on antibiotics and complaining about wanting to feel better. How selfish.

Godfrey

Amelia

     In other news, we were expecting a severe storm this weekend. Instead of the 100 MPH winds and torrential rains we were anticipating, we got a thick rain, some mild flooding, and strong winds. It only lasted an afternoon instead of the predicted weekend-long event. When the wind started to pick up and the rain began to fall, we headed upstairs to try and move our parrots inside. Their aviary might be nice and spacious, but it isn't conducive to moving with the big plant we put inside for them to use as a perch. As we tried to remove the plant, Godfrey seized the moment and escaped. My last view of him was through the cage bars, me inside the cage, him outside. We worry for him, but being wild I expect he'll be alright. Slaty-headed parrots live in groups, so we're hoping to find Amelia a new partner soon.

From Left To Right:
Sam, Elise, Shirtless Luke, Armando, Maddy, Lawrence, Birdy

The First Grade Teachers
Surprise Elise With A Cake

     My mom celebrated her birthday last month, much to her half-century-old chagrin. Thankfully, both Sam and Armando were present. Armando spent the better part of a month here before returning to Oregon to finalize his studies in Engineering. Sam left a couple days before him, returning to Oregon to continue school and be swag. His words, not mine. It was sad to have them go. A week from now, our house will be down to just four residents (and a lonely parrot).

     We've been doing a lot of reading since we got here. In anticipation of the lack of entertainment resources, I bought a Nook and Birdy loaded her Kindle with books. Neither of us have gotten sufficiently desperate to read the free classics, but I sense we're getting rather close. We went through an intensive movie phase, enjoying all the DVDs we brought with us, but that slowed down when our DVD drive quit on us. Now we're pretty much limited to Hulu and other streaming options. With the internet being so wishy-washy, that's not always a wonderful option.

     Overall we seem to be a bit more emotionally and mentally stable than we were a week/two weeks ago. Things at school are getting interesting, and I'm finding I don't always have time for my mid-day nap anymore. Oh, the injustice of it all.

The High School Signals The End Of Class
By Beating This Large Drum