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| Sign outside the door |
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| Famous authors photos with a quote |
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| Close up :) |
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| Mr. Knapp and his desk |
Monday, August 29, 2011
Mike's classroom!
Monday, August 22, 2011
A walk to school
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| This is our building from below! We live on the 10th floor |
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| There is a gas station right on the corner of our street. Every single person on a scooter drives down the sidewalk for half a block to a driveway instead of getting back on the road at the gas station. Also, every single day we see people cut across traffic to start driving the wrong way down the street so that they can drive up on to the sidewalk to get to the gas station (instead of going further up and doing a U turn and not going into oncoming traffic) |
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| A view of the street we walk down to get to work. You can see across the street most people park their scooters right on the sidewalk. It makes walking difficult :P |
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| The ridiculously massive propaganda poster inside of the police station down the street. |
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| I caught a gecko! He stayed with me for the whole walk home one day! Mike thinks he was playing dead, but I knew he wanted to be my pet. I set him free though, sigh |
Friday, August 19, 2011
Dueling Cultures
Just as I was starting to think that maybe I was beginning to chip away at understanding Vietnamese culture, I get thrown for a loop and school starts. And we’re teaching an almost exclusively Korean population. I thought it’d be hard enough to understand the intricacies of one culture, but now I’m faced with a daunting task - tying to reconcile with these two totally different cultures simultaneously…
For instance, I’m beginning to learn very fast that Koreans and Vietnamese have different learning styles and expectations from their teachers. Not only that, but the Vietnamese are vastly outnumbered in our school, making them feel like outsiders in their own country. And don’t even mention our Iranian student - she is a fish out of water through and through - nobody (aside from her parents) speaks her native language, whether it be in or out of school.
But so far, I’ve found my students to be pretty fun. The smaller classes can be a little… intense sometimes. Especially my tenth grade class, which is totally packed to the gills with one student. Yep, ONE STUDENT. By the end of class, he is ready to go find a corner to crawl into! Poor guy. Overall my first week has been a positive one - I’m already starting to feel like a teacher, although I know that I have so much more to learn. The week has left Sara and I totally drained and in dire need of a respite, that we plan to find tomorrow in the form of the Daewoo Hotel’s grand lunch buffet spread…
Until next time,
Mike
For instance, I’m beginning to learn very fast that Koreans and Vietnamese have different learning styles and expectations from their teachers. Not only that, but the Vietnamese are vastly outnumbered in our school, making them feel like outsiders in their own country. And don’t even mention our Iranian student - she is a fish out of water through and through - nobody (aside from her parents) speaks her native language, whether it be in or out of school.
But so far, I’ve found my students to be pretty fun. The smaller classes can be a little… intense sometimes. Especially my tenth grade class, which is totally packed to the gills with one student. Yep, ONE STUDENT. By the end of class, he is ready to go find a corner to crawl into! Poor guy. Overall my first week has been a positive one - I’m already starting to feel like a teacher, although I know that I have so much more to learn. The week has left Sara and I totally drained and in dire need of a respite, that we plan to find tomorrow in the form of the Daewoo Hotel’s grand lunch buffet spread…
Until next time,
Mike
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
My classroom before the start of the first day!
I will write about how the first day went, but for now here are a few photos of my classroom :D
I will write more soon, but for now just be assured that Mike and I made it sucessfully through the first day of school! Now for the second....
Sara
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| Sorry its a bit blurry, but here is my sign on my door |
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| I only have two students right now! But each desk is all set up with their bell ringer |
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| The daily schedule, which we are not totally following yet because we dont have books/textbooks/materials/uniforms/etc yet |
Sara
Monday, August 15, 2011
The first day
Well, it is finally upon us. Tomorrow is the first day of school.
I am super nervous, and still have a lot of preparing to do tonight but I am still very excited! I have, unfortunately, dropped from having three students to having only two. Its going to be very interesting! I met both Joon and Kim on Saturday, they are both very excited and surprisingly proficient in English (they are both Korean).
My room looks pretty nice if I do say so myself, it is MUCH more decorated than any other elementary room, I am a little surprised. I will make sure to take some photos tomorrow before the day starts at 8:30
I think the first few weeks are going to be a total shit show honestly, so that is why I am not completely freaked right now. Some rooms dont have furniture yet. There is no playground. We dont have books. No bookshelves. No textbooks. No uniforms yet. Still missing a lot of materials. so I don't feel that worried, everyone is in the same boat as me!
I will let you know how it goes tomorrow, WISH US LUCK!
Sara
I am super nervous, and still have a lot of preparing to do tonight but I am still very excited! I have, unfortunately, dropped from having three students to having only two. Its going to be very interesting! I met both Joon and Kim on Saturday, they are both very excited and surprisingly proficient in English (they are both Korean).
My room looks pretty nice if I do say so myself, it is MUCH more decorated than any other elementary room, I am a little surprised. I will make sure to take some photos tomorrow before the day starts at 8:30
I think the first few weeks are going to be a total shit show honestly, so that is why I am not completely freaked right now. Some rooms dont have furniture yet. There is no playground. We dont have books. No bookshelves. No textbooks. No uniforms yet. Still missing a lot of materials. so I don't feel that worried, everyone is in the same boat as me!
I will let you know how it goes tomorrow, WISH US LUCK!
Sara
Friday, August 12, 2011
test
It seems that we can no longer access our blog from our home computer, that stinks! Still can get on from the school, and hopefully we will get our wireless set up tonight and that might change things up a bit. talk to you soon!!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
It's the Little Things...
Here’s a few peculiar things, in no particular order, that I’ve noticed so far about Vietnam…
1.) The mayonnaise tastes different here. In the US its vinegary and eggy and luscious (yes, luscious), whereas here, it’s sweeter, denser, and not nearly as pleasant. I’m dying for some good tuna salad or deviled eggs, but even Hellman’s uses a different recipe here, it seems.
2.) The Vietnamese don’t trust you enough to carry bags into stores. In some cases, they will ‘allow’ you to walk in with your purse or handbag sheathed in an impenetrable, high-tech, anti-theft device (a plastic baggie). In most cases, however, they make you stow it away in a locker before entering the store! It gets pretty annoying after a while.
3.) Cloth is expensive here. I can get a big bag of shrimp for five dollars, but a decent bathroom towel is almost twice that! The cheap ones crumble to bits (like most cheap items here) as if they were produced by the Oceania Victory Corp. (blatant 1984 reference).
4.) People here drive like absolute maniacs. The rule for crossing a street is as follows: pedestrians yield to cars, weave between (aka dodge) motorbikes, and trump bicycles. Don’t even think about riding slowly in front of a taxi - the driver will honk incessantly at you until you either move out of the way, or he becomes impatient and swerves into oncoming traffic to get around you. This is no exaggeration.
5.) Sunday is apparently ‘stuff-burning day’. All around the city, for miles in every directions, large bonfires emit thick, noxious fumes into the air. I found this out the hard way, when I hung some damp clothing outside, only to come back a few hours later to find it smelly and crispy from the dense haze which had enveloped the city.
6.) Meat is hard to come by. We’ve cooked meat in our apartment only once in the time we’ve been here, and it was chicken (bleh). Beef is outrageously expensive and mediocre, and pork is hard to find. There is an open air market down the road from us that has a few prime cuts of beef out in the open , under the sweltering sun, absorbing all of the delicious car fumes… Mmmm. I was horrified to see liver and tripe out in the heat, considering the fact that they spoil incredibly fast under such hot, wet conditions… the Vietnamese must have iron stomachs, because there was no way we were touching that stuff, even if we were paid to.
6a.) On that same train of thought, veggies are not expensive. In fact, they are plentiful and cheap. Avocados, an expensive delicacy in the US, are common and inexpensive. Cucumbers cost basically nothing. Bean sprouts, green beans, daikon, cauliflower, and broccoli can all be had for a mere pittance. I’ve eaten more veggies in the past week and a half than the previous month and a half before coming here. I'm not complaining, but man, my T-bone hankering level is at a solid 7.5 out of 10 right about now and steadily rising...
More to come soon...
Until next time,
Mike
1.) The mayonnaise tastes different here. In the US its vinegary and eggy and luscious (yes, luscious), whereas here, it’s sweeter, denser, and not nearly as pleasant. I’m dying for some good tuna salad or deviled eggs, but even Hellman’s uses a different recipe here, it seems.
2.) The Vietnamese don’t trust you enough to carry bags into stores. In some cases, they will ‘allow’ you to walk in with your purse or handbag sheathed in an impenetrable, high-tech, anti-theft device (a plastic baggie). In most cases, however, they make you stow it away in a locker before entering the store! It gets pretty annoying after a while.
3.) Cloth is expensive here. I can get a big bag of shrimp for five dollars, but a decent bathroom towel is almost twice that! The cheap ones crumble to bits (like most cheap items here) as if they were produced by the Oceania Victory Corp. (blatant 1984 reference).
4.) People here drive like absolute maniacs. The rule for crossing a street is as follows: pedestrians yield to cars, weave between (aka dodge) motorbikes, and trump bicycles. Don’t even think about riding slowly in front of a taxi - the driver will honk incessantly at you until you either move out of the way, or he becomes impatient and swerves into oncoming traffic to get around you. This is no exaggeration.
5.) Sunday is apparently ‘stuff-burning day’. All around the city, for miles in every directions, large bonfires emit thick, noxious fumes into the air. I found this out the hard way, when I hung some damp clothing outside, only to come back a few hours later to find it smelly and crispy from the dense haze which had enveloped the city.
6.) Meat is hard to come by. We’ve cooked meat in our apartment only once in the time we’ve been here, and it was chicken (bleh). Beef is outrageously expensive and mediocre, and pork is hard to find. There is an open air market down the road from us that has a few prime cuts of beef out in the open , under the sweltering sun, absorbing all of the delicious car fumes… Mmmm. I was horrified to see liver and tripe out in the heat, considering the fact that they spoil incredibly fast under such hot, wet conditions… the Vietnamese must have iron stomachs, because there was no way we were touching that stuff, even if we were paid to.
6a.) On that same train of thought, veggies are not expensive. In fact, they are plentiful and cheap. Avocados, an expensive delicacy in the US, are common and inexpensive. Cucumbers cost basically nothing. Bean sprouts, green beans, daikon, cauliflower, and broccoli can all be had for a mere pittance. I’ve eaten more veggies in the past week and a half than the previous month and a half before coming here. I'm not complaining, but man, my T-bone hankering level is at a solid 7.5 out of 10 right about now and steadily rising...
More to come soon...
Until next time,
Mike
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
A little on life in Vietnam
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| Dragon fruits are so beautiful, but they actually taste like really mild kiwi |
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| Look up! There are often a ton of bird cages hanging from buildings or trees |
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| Its not uncommon to see someone carrying fruit this way (not so much in our neighborhood, but you see this often in the old quarter) We bought fried dough from a woman with these once - it had a yummy glaze, and the inside was filled with sweet rice (?) I am guessing. I liked it :) |
Monday, August 8, 2011
Sara's Classroom -- SO FAR!
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| Getting things all set up! |
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| The view of the classroom from my desk area |
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| One of the first things that I set up. Right on my desk is my photo of my little friend Will :) |
Saturday, August 6, 2011
The Science of Sleep
I drive a hard bargain. I don’t like overpaying for anything, and if the price is too high, I’m more than willing to walk away. But there is one thing I’ll pay for - a good night’s sleep. The Vietnamese have no objections to sleeping on mattresses that make concrete blocks look like plush goose-down. We, however, do. Aside from the persistent smog of car fumes, humid weather, and lack of cheese, my biggest beef with this place is the beds, and today, our aching backs drove us to the brink…
We ventured forth into the Old Quarter with a caravan of teachers, all with the same sole motive - a soft, foam top piece for our mattresses. We arrived at what can only be logically called Mattress Street - left and right, the whole street was lines with stores selling mattresses, box springs, and top foam. We went from store to store, in search of the softest, most luscious foam we could find, to no avail. Even their ‘mem’ (soft) foam was still pretty firm.
We were about to give up hope until David, one of the teachers, spotted this:
Soft, spongy, amazing foam - we were saved! We hurriedly called the saleslady over to ask about procurement, to which she promptly laughed in our faces. Her son came over to translate - “This foam is not for sleeping! It’s for - for - for (as he struggled for the word) FOR INSULATION! Yes, sound-proofing!”
But, being the boorish Americans we are, we just had to insist on spreading it out on the floor and giving it a whirl. I won’t get into details, but let’s just say that it was love at first lay! We took turns laying on it, all the while the whole store stood laughing at the dumb Americans. After bargaining the price down 100,000 per sheet (we were buying five!), we loaded up a taxi and headed home, our sore backs resting easily.
Until next time,
Mike
We ventured forth into the Old Quarter with a caravan of teachers, all with the same sole motive - a soft, foam top piece for our mattresses. We arrived at what can only be logically called Mattress Street - left and right, the whole street was lines with stores selling mattresses, box springs, and top foam. We went from store to store, in search of the softest, most luscious foam we could find, to no avail. Even their ‘mem’ (soft) foam was still pretty firm.
We were about to give up hope until David, one of the teachers, spotted this:
Soft, spongy, amazing foam - we were saved! We hurriedly called the saleslady over to ask about procurement, to which she promptly laughed in our faces. Her son came over to translate - “This foam is not for sleeping! It’s for - for - for (as he struggled for the word) FOR INSULATION! Yes, sound-proofing!”
But, being the boorish Americans we are, we just had to insist on spreading it out on the floor and giving it a whirl. I won’t get into details, but let’s just say that it was love at first lay! We took turns laying on it, all the while the whole store stood laughing at the dumb Americans. After bargaining the price down 100,000 per sheet (we were buying five!), we loaded up a taxi and headed home, our sore backs resting easily.
Until next time,
Mike
Friday, August 5, 2011
We have a working camera!
We went to Big C yesterday (which Mike will post about later... its a whole story in itself) but we found a camera memory card and were able to take a lot of great photos today! I will start us off with some photos of our apartment :)
We will make sure to post more soon, but now you have an idea of what our apartment looks like and a view of the city!
All the best,
Sara
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| The computer room (between the spare and main bedroom) |
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| Dining table, right next to the door and in the same general area as a the living room |
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| Spare bedroom |
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| Our main bathroom |
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| Main bedroom |
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| The back part of the kitchen and the door to the small balcony. Its very nice, but there is no oven |
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| Mike making a lime sauce for our cucumber, avacado, shrimp salad |
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| The view from the small kitchen balcony. Our shopping center is in the high rise in the distance on the left side. Its about 30 min walk or 5 by taxi |
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| Our living room! Note our lovely new orange plant and the lovely pillows (one has fantastic embroidery) |
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| Bought this old man after we saw the Hanoi water puppet show |
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| The view from our large balcony! There are only 2 other high rises in our area so we can see the whole city from here. You can also see the very large West Lake, and the main street that we live on (Lac long quan) which brings us towards the center of the city |
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| I think it is so interesting the way that there are high rises and then... fields. I am not sure what they are growing yet. The shorter of the two buildings is where we work (about a 5 minute walk) |
All the best,
Sara
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Vietnamese Water Puppets
This happened a few nights ago, but we have been quite busy and I typed it out in my last post along with Sen and lost is somehow. We were lucky enough to be taken under the wings of two teachers who worked in the summer school here, and know their way around the city fairly well.
They brought us to the old quarter of the city, and it was much busier than our area but also a little bit nicer. We bargained for a few different things, and went to eat at the Kangaroo cafe for dinner (Burgers! I had missed them!). The owner is extremely into signs for everything, photos all over the wall, and very overly concerned with reminding/proving this is the one and only Kangaroo cafe ("Beware of imposters! They will steal your money like they stole our name!")
We then went to the Hanoi water puppet theater. There are only two water puppet theaters that exist, and both are in Vietnam. It was only 60000 vnd for a second class seat (3$). The video we posted has a few things that we did not get to see. It was fascinating the way that the puppets bobbed and swayed and moved through the water. I am not totally sure how they were controlled, from some kind of underwater mechanism. I think we might try and go again at some point, mostly because we were totally and utterly exhausted from a busy day around the city!
Hope to hear from you soon!
Sara
They brought us to the old quarter of the city, and it was much busier than our area but also a little bit nicer. We bargained for a few different things, and went to eat at the Kangaroo cafe for dinner (Burgers! I had missed them!). The owner is extremely into signs for everything, photos all over the wall, and very overly concerned with reminding/proving this is the one and only Kangaroo cafe ("Beware of imposters! They will steal your money like they stole our name!")
We then went to the Hanoi water puppet theater. There are only two water puppet theaters that exist, and both are in Vietnam. It was only 60000 vnd for a second class seat (3$). The video we posted has a few things that we did not get to see. It was fascinating the way that the puppets bobbed and swayed and moved through the water. I am not totally sure how they were controlled, from some kind of underwater mechanism. I think we might try and go again at some point, mostly because we were totally and utterly exhausted from a busy day around the city!
Hope to hear from you soon!
Sara
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sen
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The Art of Bargaining
I received my crash-course in Vietnamese Economics 101 today. We finally worked up the nerve to hail a taxi (we had to go to the US Consulate to have some documents notarized), and found that, while most drivers are honest, some are just there to make your life miserable. Take, for instance, the man who drove us back from the grocery store to our apartment today. Our fare came out to 38,000 VND (just under two dollars). I hand the guy a 100,000 VND bill, and he hands me back 10,000 and shoots me a sly grin. I stare back at him and say “NO!” He pulls out his little wad of money, and unfurls another 20,000. Again, I stare him down and say “NO!”. Out comes the wad again, and another 20,000 makes it into my hands. By then, I was so disgruntled that I got out and let him keep the remainder.
But that was just the beginning. Later on, we headed on down to an indoor flea market. It was vast and sprawling, with dozens, if not hundreds of booths, but at most there were eight or nine distinct sets of wares - they all seemed to compete with each other selling the same exact items. We came across a set of 20 chopsticks. They were wooden and engraved, quite lovely, and we decided to get them for our kitchen. I ask the lady for the price and she holds out a calculator with 80,000 on it. I grab it from her, and type in 50,000. She starts yelling at me like I’ve just spit in her eye or something. So I start walking away, but she calls me back and types in 75,000. I start to walk away again and she types in 60,000. By now I’m smelling blood in the water, and so I make my move - I grab the calculator and punch in 55,000 - sold. It’s only a difference of one-and-a-half dollars, but that’s besides the point. The thrill is in the give-and-take.
We ventured out into the touristy part of the city to find some other goodies, and found the salespeople unflinching… however the Vietnamese have a knack for lining up three or four different shops, selling the same goods, only feet away from each other. So we were able to compare prices and find some pretty good deals that way (we saved 10,000 VND on a wall decoration just by walking down the street and asking the next person), We still have so much to learn, but feel as if we are getting our feet wet pretty fast (literally, just ask Sara about the guy who threw himself to the ground and tried to glue Sara’s loose sole back onto her sandal… we had to pry the guy off!).
Until next time,
Mike
Monday, August 1, 2011
Our address
Since our building is so new, it doesn't really have a recognized address yet.. so if you want to send us a letter, postcard, or care package the address of our work is:
Sara Leatherbarrow or Michael Knapp c/o John Huh
Vietnam American International School, floor 10
VEAM Building, Lot D, Section D1, Phu Thuong
Alley 689 Lac Long Quan, Tay Ho District
Ha Noi, Vietnam 100000
Sara Leatherbarrow or Michael Knapp c/o John Huh
Vietnam American International School, floor 10
VEAM Building, Lot D, Section D1, Phu Thuong
Alley 689 Lac Long Quan, Tay Ho District
Ha Noi, Vietnam 100000
We made it!
Hello everyone!
We are here! We had a little bit of a mix up when we arrived at the airport on Saturday.. Mike and I got off of the plane, waited in line for for a bit to get our "visa on arrival"s to go through, and grabbed our bags. We stood outside of the baggage claim and looks all around for our new Principal (Mr. Vik) but he was nowhere to be found. At about 11:15 we decided it was time to call my home in Philly to get his phone number, and when we got through to him we found out that there was a mix up with our itinerary and he thought we were to arrive that night at 9:40pm (instead of 9:40am)
After a little while Mr. Vik arrived and took us to our apartment. The drive from the airport took about half an hour, but it was a fascinating one! I was torn between frantically worrying about if we were going to hit someone or be hit, watching the countryside, and talking with our new boss. The drivers here are insane. There is no other way to say it. It is a very regular occurrence to see people driving the wrong direction down streets, on the sidewalks, there are no stop signs or lights, so intersections are a mad free for all.
But anyways, Mr. Vik took us to our apartment building, which is wonderful. We are on the 10th floor - we are on a corner so the view is fabulous. There are no other highrises around here (we are still in the city but on the outskirts) so we can see the entire city. We have a bedroom with a private bathroom and two windows, a second bedroom, a office room, a kitchen, a living/dining room, and two balconies. It is a fabulous apartment, and we will post photos soon (I realized upon arrival we got here with a camera but no memory card, doh). We should, but do not yet, have a TV, microwave, and the internet (We are currently borrowing our neighbors wireless)
I think our next post will be a little bit about what life here is like, because it is quite different :)
All the best!
Sara
We are here! We had a little bit of a mix up when we arrived at the airport on Saturday.. Mike and I got off of the plane, waited in line for for a bit to get our "visa on arrival"s to go through, and grabbed our bags. We stood outside of the baggage claim and looks all around for our new Principal (Mr. Vik) but he was nowhere to be found. At about 11:15 we decided it was time to call my home in Philly to get his phone number, and when we got through to him we found out that there was a mix up with our itinerary and he thought we were to arrive that night at 9:40pm (instead of 9:40am)
After a little while Mr. Vik arrived and took us to our apartment. The drive from the airport took about half an hour, but it was a fascinating one! I was torn between frantically worrying about if we were going to hit someone or be hit, watching the countryside, and talking with our new boss. The drivers here are insane. There is no other way to say it. It is a very regular occurrence to see people driving the wrong direction down streets, on the sidewalks, there are no stop signs or lights, so intersections are a mad free for all.
But anyways, Mr. Vik took us to our apartment building, which is wonderful. We are on the 10th floor - we are on a corner so the view is fabulous. There are no other highrises around here (we are still in the city but on the outskirts) so we can see the entire city. We have a bedroom with a private bathroom and two windows, a second bedroom, a office room, a kitchen, a living/dining room, and two balconies. It is a fabulous apartment, and we will post photos soon (I realized upon arrival we got here with a camera but no memory card, doh). We should, but do not yet, have a TV, microwave, and the internet (We are currently borrowing our neighbors wireless)
I think our next post will be a little bit about what life here is like, because it is quite different :)
All the best!
Sara
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