Day 13- Teaching 101

Almost 2 weeks away from home in strange places and it seems more like 2 months.. My theory is that the days have been so jam packed that they seem 2 maybe 3 times longer than they would normally. I think back to my time in japan and it seems like forever ago. There are a few things that I miss from back home, there aren’t many times that I find myself wishing for something that I’m used to but occasionally I do. I think the biggest thing believe it or not has been American breakfasts. Go ahead and laugh, I do. It sounds absurd to say but its true, I miss eggs and hash browns and a tall glass of orange juice. Here they have orange juice but its more like orange flavored water and its definitely not the same. The best parallel I can make is if someone who loves chocolate milk to crack open a yoohoo. Its just not chocolate milk. Here the breakfasts consist of a large loaf of bread, butter which looks more like the color of mustard, and vegemite (must be the aussies). There is also usually some fruit to go along like today was dragon fruit which looks like its straight out of the movie Avatar. But since I know I cant have the bread, ive been sticking to peanut butter on whatever fruit is there and a big bottle of water. I’m hungry 20 minutes later…

It makes for a long mid morning before the lunch break but today was an exception. The whole group of us went down to District 8 to visit one of the schools that VPV sends volunteers to. I didn’t really know what to expect but my thought was that we would sit and observe a class and just familiarize ourselves with the Vietnamese education system. As soon as we walked in the door we were swarmed by a group of 15 to 20 little Vietnamese boys. It didn’t take long before they were crawling all over me and seeing how many I could carry, or touching the girls hair and challenging all of us to thumb wrestling contests. They were the most outgoing people I’ve met yet on this trip. I half expected them to be reserved and unsure of us Westerners and our foreign dress, look and behavior…but they weren’t at all. They taught us today, not the other way around. We ended up playing a bunch of games with the kids for in total about 2 hours and it was pretty eye opening. They were all boys and roughly 7 or 8 all the way up to 15, with varying levels of English but surprisingly all could carry a broken conversation with us. I had a nice long talk with Hoang who was 10 and he asked me why I was so big, I told him because I ate little boys like him and he just laughed and said that wasn’t allowed. Towards the end of the session we all got laminated bookmarks as a gift from the kids. Each one had a picture on it that was drawn by one of them and coincidentally I got one drawn by Hoang. He was actually a much better artist than I am and I asked him and he said he loves to draw. All of the kids sleep in the same room that we were sitting in. It couldn’t be more than 30 feet by 10 feet. I haven’t really understood under what circumstances they came to the school, or as they call it- Peace Home- but I’m looking forward to spending a lot of time with these little guys.

It was hard to get much more exciting than the morning… after lunch we had a lesson on how teaching/schools work in Vietnam. It was a pretty basic lesson on how best to go about instructing a class and the jist of it was tons of repetition. Using very basic ideas and beating them to death with different vocabulary and different pictures to really drive home the point. We will each be paired with a different volunteer everyday and put in different classrooms as well with the idea being that the more exposure that each of the kids can get to different instructors the better.

Tomorrow morning we leave early for the Mekong Delta where Andrew, Matt and I will be staying for the next couple of days. The bus ride is only 3 hours and we have a boat tour, floating village, and some pretty awesome habitat to see so we are all excited. There will be lots of pictures im sure, which have been lacking the past couple of days. I wont have access to a computer however, so see you all in two days time…

Day 12- Ho Chi Minh City: The “State of South Vietnam”

Today was ‘heavy’ as Matt put it. Lots of walking, touring and exploring. Some of us also woke up a bit ‘dusty’ from the night before, but with all there was to do, once we stepped out the door we pretty much didn’t notice it. A group of the local staff took the 19 of us + 4 or 5 of the orphanage volunteers out and about to acquaint us with the city. We were a giant herd of foreigners roaming the streets.. not inconspicuous at all. Our first stop was the War Memorial Museum which was extremely interesting and somewhat sad. The museum held a very strong anti-American sentiment which is understandable, and it was pretty intense. There were several exhibits that really made you cringe.. the war prison exhibit and the agent orange exhibit had some graphic photos and some really horrible stories to them.. And being one of only two Americans in a group of about 30 it was tough to own what our culture did to the Vietnamese culture during that time period, regardless of the motives or rationale. I know none of the staff or other volunteers thought anything about Sarah (who is from Baltimore and just graduated from the University of Maryland and is headed back for their med school program) or I but it was still an interesting feeling. And I did get a few questions from people about the war and all I could do was answer them the best I could.

After the War Memorial Museum went to the post office and the Royal Palace which is where the King of South Vietnam lived until 1976. The palace was huge and lavish in its own kind of outdated way. Then we went to a couple of markets which the boys essentially sat and had a pineapple smoothie and ate strange fruits (stay away from the derrien, it tastes just like it smells) while the girls shopped for fake handbags and failed miserably at bartering.

Now we are back at home base and winding down for the night. Tomorrow we’re heading to the schools to observe some of the classrooms, and this weekend a group of us are going to explore the Mekong Delta. I’ve gotten to know almost all of the other volunteers on some level and its pretty cool to hear their back stories. Some have traveled a lot, some not at all. Each story is unique and it makes you realize how big the world is. Im already starting to dislike the Aussie accent though… foreseeable challenge number 4…

Day 11- Orienting

I made it… finally got to my destination and my home for the next 4 months. Ho Chi Minh City. I arrived on an early morning flight and was picked up by a girl named Qui who works for Volunteers for Peace Vietnam and we caught a cab back to “Peace House 3”- home. There are two other dormitories nearby, one is the housing for the full time staff and the other has volunteers who will be working at orphanages. Peace house 3 is for the volunteers teaching English, and there are 19 of us total- 4 guys and 15 girls. I share a room with the other 3 guys: Matt, Andrew, and Kevin. Matt, 22, is from New Zealand. In short he’s an avid rugby fan, really easy to talk to, and a pretty cool guy. He was traveling around Thailand and Vietnam for 4 weeks with his girlfriend prior to this and he’ll be here for the same month as me so I figure we’ll probably get to know each other pretty well. Andrew, 23, is from Toronto and he’s a pretty classic Canadian… loves hockey, says eh all the time, and is pretty laid back. He’ll only be here for a week before he’s on to his next stop, Siem Reap. Lastly, is Kevin from Ireland. He has been living here and volunteering for the last 4 months and so he’s well versed in the to do around here and so far he’s been our guide. He will be here for another 2 months but I’m definitely looking forward to his company for the next month, he’s loud and not shy whatsoever. He also loves Manchester United… he and I will get along just fine. I really lucked out rooming with 3 huge sports fans. Sports are just an easy way to connect with someone who comes from a different background than you…

When I first arrived at peace house 3 I was just in time for orientation. I threw my bags in the corner and started learning Vietnamese. For the next 2 hours we sat in small groups and got a sink or swim lesson on the language. I learned numbers, words, phrases…all good things for functioning in the classroom. Most of which are going to take more practice to memorize but my favorite has to be “em be da tam chua?” which loosely translates to “have they taken a shower yet?”- no idea when im going to need to whip that one out. We had lunch after our lesson and then we were given the rest of the afternoon to settle in. Its definitely cramped quarters here. The four of us are in a broom cupboard on the top floor. I always manage to break a sweat by the time I reach the top step of the 5^th floor. As a sidenote, I’ve managed to rank the top 3 challenges I can foresee: 1) The heat. It’s a balmy 93 degrees and we have a couple fans to combat the heat but that’s about it. 2) Lack of food. My diet isn’t ideal for the circumstances and I’ve had to follow it pretty liberally so far. I can’t read the food labels and I can’t always tell what things are made of. 3) Sleep. Our bunk beds are plywood with a blanket wrapped around them, so not the most comfortable BUT I’ll take it over the tile airport floor. It could be much worse though, and to be honest I’m kind of enjoying it.

As the sun started setting on the Vietnamese skyline a big group of us went down to the local super market for supplies. We managed to survive our first major street crossing and it was something to be proud of. The traffic here is much different than Thailand. There aren’t any streetlights or stoplights except for in district 1 which we haven’t visited yet. A woven web of motorbikes are the best way to describe it. I don’t know how it operates yet but its something the locals have mastered. When you cross you basically have to make sure no cars are coming and casually stroll out. Like you’ll read in most travel books, the motorbikes are just really good at missing you. They predict where you are going to go and just casually swerve by. So the smoother you can walk the better, which is hard because it goes against every intuition in your body because the speeding locomotives are headed straight for you. One technique is to just look straight ahead and walk, easier said than done…

Once we reached the supermarket which was more like a corner store, we got some of the essentials. For me it was the highest caloric food I could get my hands on. I splurged on some peanut butter which was a whopping 3 dollars.. The Vietnamese currency is the dong and trades at around 20,000 dong to the dollar. Right now I have well over a million dong in my pocket which is funny. This might be the perfect chance for me to play monopoly with real money… The prices here are insanely cheap and sometimes I feel bad, like “really? You only want 50 cents for this box of corn flakes?” but that’s just the way it is here. I spent 276,900 dong at the store for a couple bags of supplies, which is roughly only 14 dollars.

When we got back to the peace house it was a mad rush for the showers before dinner where we all sat down and ate spaghetti and watched a movie on tv. A bunch of us stayed up and had a few drinks before it was off to sleep and prepare for the next day. Today we have a city tour planned first thing and who knows what the future holds. I wont start actually teaching until Monday so the next few days are dedicated to getting to know the landscape and the challenges ahead of us… oh yeah I almost forgot, I’m here to teach English….

Day 10- Bangkok --> Ho Chi Minh City

Hey guys,

On to the next city... with today being a travel day there isnt much going on. Had a really early flight this morning and it made the most sense for me to sleep at the airport so I added that to my list of adventures. I managed to throw a video together of some of the Bangkok moments, I hope you all enjoy it. Disclaimer: Mom you may not like the motorbike parts and for that I apologize. I made it out unscathed and I'm probably never going to trust a 120 pound thai man with my life ever again, you can take it to the bank. Anyway, there will be plenty to write about in the coming days but for now its orientation, meeting the other volunteers, and trying to figure out this heat..

Bangkok from David Daly on Vimeo.

Day 7- West Bangkok

Saw a few saffron-robed monks today around the Grand Palace...

How much more can I see in this city? It seems like I’ve been everywhere but I know I’ve been absolutely nowhere at all. Im a day late because I was absolutely exhausted and all I could do was pass out… Yesterday I woke up early and used my legs, a train, and a boat to visit Western Bangkok, which is closely tied to the North and South running Chao Phraya River. My theory is that the city starts on the Eastern bank and sprawls Westward as it gets newer. The Western portion is much older and has a completely different feel to it. Part of that is because of the Great Flood which happened in the middle of 2011. I learned more about this later in the day when I visited the Bangkok Ark and Cultural Museum, but basically the Chao Phraya River began to overflow during the monsoon season due to the heavy rainfall. All of the provinces bordering the Chao Phraya experienced some sort of flooding and Bangkok got hit pretty hard. It wasn’t until just recently that the problem began to resolve. I have to say I’m impressed because there is hardly any signs of the catastrophe that pretty much just happened yesterday. There is significant wear and tear along the banks of the Chao Phraya, which I took a water taxi down…

One of the gates in Chinatown

There is a lot more history in this part of town. The Great Palace, Wat Arun, and Wat Phra Kaeo were on the list of things to do but I wasn’t allowed into the Great Palace because of my shorts so I had to improvise… So I decided the next best thing would be a visit to nearby Chinatown. The best way to describe Chinatown is it has a lot of life down there. It’s hard to imagine that people manage to survive in that environment day in and day out. Everyone pulling at you, everyone trying to get your attention, everyone trying to sell you something… its pretty crazy. It’s a whole different level from any of the Chinatowns back in the states. But amidst the chaos you have to respect the resolve of those people, many of them are doing what they know how to do.. and many of them are doing the only thing they can do.

One of the enlargements in the Bangkok Cultural and Art Museum. The photo
is of monks praying in the middle of the Great Flood..

Later on in the day I decided to take a trip to the Bangkok Art and Cultural Museum and just by coincidence the grand gallery was being used to showcase the relief efforts of the great flood. So I spent some time in the air conditioned museum visiting the various gallery’s before it was time to go out and fight Bangkok again. A few of the employees at the hostel mentioned they were going to the weekend market and I asked if I could tag along. I’m sure they were surprised and I’m sure they were wanting to observe how ridiculous an American was in that kind of atmosphere more than anything but they agreed. And what an atmosphere that was. Just like a Thai flee market, but that in itself is a something. Once done there we parted ways and I took a motorbike back to the hostel. Mom, I know this is not going to be your favorite part… but that was epic. Bangkok on a motorbike is what it’s all about. The streets are tamer than you typically hear- depending on who youre riding with. And my motorcycle dude was pretty daring.

Another day, another set of adventures to conquer. Talk to you all later tonight.