Haiphong, Monday, September 21

Wow, I haven't even been here a week and already I've taught 5 classes. So far, I have two favorites. One: What we call the "pre-starters" (5-6 year olds). They are adorable and so much fun. The other is suprising because at first I was terrified to teach it. The school was recently contacted to teach a very special class: Navy Officers who are about to go abroad. It's 7 hours a day for one week. This class is VERY important to the school because if it goes well, the Navy will continue to send students. So NATURALLY, have your least experienced teacher teach it....? I am teaching the first FULL day then the mornings for the rest of the week (4 hours). Thus far, however, it's been really fun. Since I know quite a bit about Germany and its culture, I've been able to teach that as well as English and I love it. The men are eager to learn and very respectful.

As for my adjustment here, it's been very smooth, except for the fact that I constantly feel like an Amazon woman. The mornings are boiling hot and by the time I reach the school, I feel as though I've swum there instead. I had my first two horrifying Vietnamese specialties: mealworms fried in spicy peanut sauce and a hard boiled fertilized egg. One of these horrified me far more than the other. Can you guess? If you said fertilized egg, then you are correct sir! But Tan said it was a Vietnamese delicacy and offered me a bite. First of all, it tasted horrible. But you could also see the veins and feel the wing feathers in your mouth. But hey, I tried it. Who's to say I'm not adventurous? As for the mealworms, they were actually quite tasty!

Although  can't understand a thing people are saying to me, I've surmised one thing about eating in this culture. Women can't stand to see you doing it alone! It makes them very sad. So this has led to some very awkward situation in which a gesture has led me to eating lunch with the owner of the restaurants whole family. I mutely sit, fumbling with my chopsticks until one of them fetches me a spoon with a pitying smile (I am, however, determined to learn!!!!) They jabber on in Vietnamese while I smile and nod but they always seem genuinely happy to have a foreigner at their table.

My apartment is slowly morphing into a home but I honestly spend little time there. I'm getting into the swing of being a teacher, getting more creative with my lesson plans. But I honestly can't wait until the third foreign teacher gets here and I have more time. I've found out about a fascinating woman through the school that I really want to volunteer for when I've learned some Vietnamese. She was a soldier in the Vietnam War and has since brought 28 children into her home, all who were affected by dioxin poisoning. I'd love to go out there and give the kids some lessons or do crafts with them or just play a little football. They live in horrible conditions and many were born deformed because of their parent's dioxin poisoning. I would love to brighten their world in any way possible. Of course, I would also love to learn of the woman's experience in the war if my Vietnamese was better and she was willing (Now I wish I'd brought a tape recorder...)

Time for lesson planning!