Ho Tay, Sunset

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last night, we had a huge, chaotic Thanksgiving dinner with all of School Year Abroad, and all of our host families.  My host family, along with many other families, had never even heard of Thanksgiving before. That made for quite an interesting night; I'm pretty sure my family is still confused as to what Thanksgiving really is.  It was still fun though! And I was happy to eat some pumpkin pie and apple crisp.

Take a look at some pictures!

My Economics/Environmental Science teacher, Chuck, and I spent all of  Wednesday night preparing deserts.  We made 8 pumpkin pies, two apple crisps, 2 mango cream pies, and over a hundred cookies.  Not surprisingly, we had a lot of leftovers (and we would have had more had I not dropped an entire pumpkin pie on the floor.. oops). 

Elliot and Savon (Chuck's daughter)

Maddy, Abby, Julia, and Nan

Abby and Annaleah

Julia and I

Andrew and I

Van Mieu

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Van Mieu, also called the Temple of Literature, is the first national university in Vietnam, built over a thousand years in the Ly dynasty. Ly Nhan Tong, the emperor at the time, established a merit system.  If scholars could pass the exam, they had the potential to become mandarins (court officials). Students who passed the exams had their names carved on the stone tablets that rest on the back of stone turtles (turtles are a symbol of longevity and strength).

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Chúc Mừng Ngày Nhà Giaò!

Happy Teacher's Day!

To show their appreciation for teachers across Viet Nam, students bring their teachers flowers and gifts.  My host mom is a school teacher, and so for the past few nights we have had a steady stream of visitors bringing her flowers and wishing her good health.

My mom also insisted that I am a teacher now too, since I teach my little cousins and sisters English. So on Saturday morning, before my cousins and their friends came over to for class, we got all dressed up in our ao dai (traditional Vietnamese dresses).  When the little students came, they brought with them bouquets of flowers for me that were so big they could barely carry them by themselves.

Nhi, my adorable cousin 

On Sunday, the celebration continued.  My sister and her friends (the older students) surprised me with more flowers and gifts.  I am so honored that they went to so much trouble to do all that for me! They even had sparkly confetti guns that they shot up into the air when I came in the room.  I was so flattered! Even though teaching them can be frustrating and tiring, it's so rewarding and such a unique experience.

 

Fun with Pipe Cleaners

To answer your questions... yes, she is most definitely screaming with delight because of her new glasses. And yes, he is crying tears of joy, so thankful for his new glasses. 

Cooking Adventures

A few weeks ago I decided to buy an oven for my family because I love to bake so much.

When I arrived home with the oversized toaster oven in my hands, my mom and little sister were a bit surprised.  The Vietnamese don't bake anything; most families don't even have an oven in their house.  Bread wasn't even introduced to Vietnam until the French conquered.  So when I walked in carrying the oversized toaster oven, they were pretty shocked. They had never baked anything in an oven before.

That first night, I decided to make my absolute favorite desert of all time: chocolate chip cookies.  They turned out surprisingly delicious, I thought, despite having to improvise with my ingredients.  I didn't have vanilla, baking soda, or chocolate chips.  I used M&Ms instead of chocolate chips, and I also had to use strange Swedish butter and duck eggs. My mom and sister seemed very confused by the cookies.  They thought they were really fun to make, but they didn't really know what to do with them.  My sister didn't even eat them because she doesn't like chocolate.  And my mom told me I should use much less sugar next time; they were way too sweet. I have to say.. I really miss eating chocolate chip cookies.

This past weekend, on Friday, I decided to bake cookies again. I got all the ingredients ready, and starting mixing everything up.  After baking one tray of cookies, my mom decided to add her own Vietnamese twist to the cookies: a nice, ripe mango.  We both laughed as she scraped the banana into the batter and mixed it up.   (I should say, just by the way, that we did not add the M&Ms to the batter because my mom and sister don't like chocolate. Instead I just added a few pieces into the cookies that I wanted to eat.)

So.. the cookies didn't actually turn out that bad as I though they would. They were a little bit strange; I don't think I'll ever do it again.  But it did give both both my mom and me a good laugh.

On Sunday, I decided to bake once again.  My mom had asked me to teach her how to bake cake, so I decided we should make basic vanilla cupcakes.  I left out a ton of the sugar so that it wasn't as sweet.  I have come to realize that it's not just my mom and sister that don't like sugar; the Vietnamese people in general really don't eat that many sweets or deserts. My family liked these vanilla cupcakes much more than the cookies.  My mom said that we should make them much more often and eat them for breakfast.  I agreed; they really just tasted like some sweet bread, and would go great with some tea or coffee.

I also decided to bake some chocolate chip cookies after I finished the cupcakes to bring to my classmates the next day at school.  I was really happy with how they turned out.  I think I have finally perfected the art of baking chocolate chip cookies with Vietnamese ingredients.

While I was baking the cookies, my great aunt was hanging around our apartment.  My mom offered her a cookie to try, and she took one bite and ran to the bathroom and started gagging.  I am being absolutely serious.  My absolutely wonderful, delicious, warm, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies made my great aunt want to puke! I was so offended.




Just kidding. It made me laugh pretty hard.  In that moment, I realized something.  Just like some of the Vietnamese food makes me want to barf (chicken feet, anyone?), some American food makes the Vietnamese want to barf too.  We have so much in common in our differences.

I am now a teacher

As the title of this blog post clearly states: I am now a teacher.

Every Sunday from 8:30 to 10 am, I teach my little sister Chau, and 6 of her friends English.  All kids in Vietnam are required to take English from the time they start school.  There is definitely a greater emphasis on school in Vietnam than in the US; kids seem to be studying all the time.  Chau has group tutoring on Monday nights and Saturday afternoons, and seems to be studying all the time.  Socializing isn't really a big part of the culture here for kids.  They have friends, but don't hang out with them every weekend like we do in America.  Instead, they spend more time studying.  All the kids want to study abroad when they are in college (usually in China or the US), but first they have to get through high school.  When the kids finish middle school, they have to take a difficult exam to get into high school. If the kids don't do well on the exam, the government forces the parents of the child to pay for the children to go to public school.  So basically, if you aren't smart, the government won't pay for your education.  Pretty harsh, right? When in high school, the kids also have to do military training a few times a year.  They learn how to march in line and point guns.  Often times, there are kids outside our school building wearing green shirts and hats marching in perfectly straight lines. It's so strange to me to see the kids, same age as me, practicing to be in the military.  After high school, all the kids have to take another exam, apparently much harder than the SAT, to get into university.  If you do not do well on this exam, you are basically doomed to live a hard life.  Those who don't pass the exam must spend 2 years in the military, and then they are free to carry on with the rest of their life. Hmm.. Communism.

Wow, I got off track quite a bit there. Back to Chau and her classmates.. what I was trying to say before I went off into all that other stuff is that Chau and her friends are very smart. They are very, very good at English for only being 12 and 13 years old.  They are also so much fun to teach! They are always teasing each other about having boyfriends and girlfriends.  Sometimes I join in on the fun.  All the kids laughed and Chau turned bright red when I asked her about her supposed boyfriend, Duc.

In addition to teaching Chau on Sundays, I am now teaching Be and Nghi, my two young cousins, English on Saturdays and Sundays.  They are quite a rowdy bunch.  There are about seven kids, between the ages of four and eight.  It's so much fun to teach them, but they wear me out.  It's also really hard to teach them, because they are so young.  So we spend our time learning how to say different fruits and animals.

This past week we learned how to say mango, banana, apple, grape, and pear.  I laughed so hard when the kids tried to pronounce the fruits. Here's a translation guide if you ever try to talk about fruits with small Vietnamese children.

"Maaaaan-gowww"= Mango
"Balama"=Banana
"Gwaaaaay"=Grape
"AHHHH-PULLL"=Apple
"Paaay"=Pear

We also learned some animals. Here's another translation guide:

"Seeee"=Sheep
"Dohhg"=Dog
"Caaaaoohhww"=Cow
"Cat"=Cat
"Piiiiihhh.."=Pig

Even though they wear me out, I have so much fun teaching them.

Last Sunday, one of Chau's classmate gave me a little card.  On the outside there was a heart, and it said "Only for Sarah".  Inside, it said:

You are beautiful!
You are smart!
You are a good teacher!


I gave her a big hug when she gave it to me.  She made my day! I thought that was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me.

Peace Village

As you may already know from previous posts, twice a week I volunteer alongside 3 other girls at Peace Village. Peace Village gives disabled children (many of whom are affected by Agent Orange) a place to go to school and to receive treatment. Most of the children only go to Peace Village during the school day, however some of the children live there if their families live far away or if they need special treatment.

Before I came to Vietnam, I knew that I was interested in volunteering with disabled children. I was aware that it could be very demanding and challenging work. However, I didn't realize how emotionally and physically draining it would be.

When Nan, Annaleah, Julia and I first walk through the guarded gates of Peace Village, the atmosphere is calm and pleasant. We wave to a few nurses and greet them by saying Chào Chị (hello, older sister). There's a small pond, and a few fish swim around in the murky green water. A small, rusty playground sits next to the pond. There aren't any children playing on it, however.

When we reach the door of the school building, we take all deep breath and step into the dimly lit hallway. Annleah and Julia make there way upstairs to a classroom full of children, while Nan and I stay downstairs with another group of kids. As Nan and I walk to our classroom, we pass 2 other classrooms full of kids. The hallway echoes with laughter, cries, and other noises from the kids. Before we enter our room, we take off our shoes, as is customary in Vietnam. As we walk into the room, a few nurses, who are sitting in the room, smile and nod. Some of the more talkative kids greet us with shouts and laughter. We say hello to them: Chào các em (hello little brothers and sisters)!

In our classroom, there are around 15 children, between the ages of 6 and 22. They are mentally disabled, and some of them are physically underdeveloped. Some of the children are very active and responsive, and love to play with Nan and I. We can communicate with them in basic Vietnamese, and they listen to us. Others are completely unresponsive, and do not seem to understand anything that Nan or I say. Even when we put a hand on their shoulder or try to hand them a toy, they do not respond in anyway. It's frustrating, as I want to be able to communicate with all of the kids. This is just one of the many challenges I face while at Peace Village.

Peace Village appears to be very understaffed. For the vast number of kids, there are very few nurses and teachers. And the nurses and teachers that do work at Peace Village don't seem to put much effort into the wellbeing of the children. Often, the nurse in my room simply sits and watches the kids, and does not attempt to engage with them at all. There are few toys for the kids to play with, so often, many of them end up sitting by themselves not doing anything at all. It's so obvious that these children need one-on-one attention to aid in their development. In the U.S., I think that all of these children would have personal aids. This neglect for these children might be a mix of cultural influence and lack of proper funding. I really don't know. Often times I feel like the children simply need to form relationships with other human beings. Sometimes, a child will want to hold my hand while he does something else, like draw a picture. Or while I am sitting on the floor, a child will sit back to back with me and lean on me while he plays with blocks. One boy, named Han, often takes my hand and makes me stroke his head. I remember one specific instance when I was sitting on the floor, and a boy named Binh was sitting in my lap, another boy was leaning against me, a girl was holding my hand, and I was stroking Han's head. When this happened, I couldn't help but think that the children were just starved for physical contact with another human being. They wanted to feel like someone was there for them.

For this reason, I feel extremely important and well-loved while I am at Peace Village. I have begun to form relationships with the children, and as I begin to understand their distinct personalities, it has become easier to figure out activities to do with them. However, in the past months I have also begun to notice other problems with Peace Village.

The health of the children seems to be poor. Many of them have terribly rotted teeth, and often they have runny noses and coughs. I was also horrified one day to find that the bathroom, in addition to needing a serious scrub down, did not have soap. In an environment where there are so many young children running around, this seems like quite a serious problem. I have talked to my friends about this, and we all agreed it would be a good idea to buy some cleaning supplies, tissues, and soap. However we were left with the question, would the children actually use the soap? It seems unlikely that even if we taught the children to use it and made them use it while we were there that they would continue using it when we left. And even if they did start using it all the time, Annaleah, Julia, and Nan are only going to be here for two more months, and I'll only be here for seven more months. So what would happen when we leave?

You can probably tell that I'm a bit overwhelmed by this situation. As much as I want to be Superman and save the day, it seems impossible.

Sometimes I just have to laugh at the mayhem and chaos at the Peace Village. Everyday is crazy; the children are sometimes wild and hard to control, and it's difficult to get them to focus on anything. Last week, Nan and I had a particularly insane day. First of all, a group of Australian tourists were visiting Peace Village. Although I think it's wonderful for people to want to come to Peace Village, it does make it harder for Nan and I, as the kids get very excited and energetic when there are visitors. At the beginning, it was simply loud and messy in the room. Kids were shouting and laughing, and there were toys all over the floor. The nurses looked they wanted those Australians out of there. But the real mayhem was yet to begin.

First, a boy decided to bite another girl on her ankle. This was no little nibble; he really chomped down on her ankle. I have absolutely no idea why he decided to bite her ankle. It seems to me it would have been much more convenient to bite her on the arm or hand. I guess he just though her ankle looked like a good place to take a bite.

So while she was on the floor wailing and crying, he sat in a chair and just laughed and laughed. This boy always likes to bully this girl; clearly he doesn't understand that it's not a good thing to do. While the nurse and Australians were trying to console the girl, I noticed that Binh, a young boy with whom I have become good friends with, was hiding behind a desk looking awfully suspicious. Binh! Ðang làm gì? (What are you doing?) I said. He looked up me with his big brown eyes and said nothing. He didn't look like he was in any danger of harming himself or anybody else, so I walked away.

A few minutes later, I came back to check on Binh and discovered he had decided his little hiding spot was an awesome place to go pee. Binh! He looked up at me grinning. While I stood dumbstruck by the vast amount of pee this little boy had produced, Binh decided it was time to go back to playing. Still wearing no pants, he went back to playing with the toys. Soon he realized that the other children didn't like that he wasn't wearing pants. He found a suitable toy to cover him up: a play ironing board.

The Troublemaker: Binh

While I was running around trying to find pants for Binh, the nurse was cleaning up his pee puddle, and Binh was playing pants-less, a girl, not realizing her own strength, shoved a very small boy. He went flying back and smacked his head on the ground really hard. He screamed; I thought I was going to see blood. I sighed with relief when I didn't. However that didn't stop him from crying and sobbing for the next 20 minutes. I couldn't blame him. I was tired of all that pandemonium just like he was. And then some random girl just comes and shoves him over for no apparent reason!? I would have started crying too if I was him.

I think it's pretty clear that I was worn out that day when I left Peace Village. I'm worn out everyday when I leave. But it's worth it. I love being a part of these children's lives. I think that I am really making a difference, and it feels incredible. Even though it can be so hectic and exhausting, I know that me being there is really important.

Binh wanted to play guitar too.

Yesterday, we had a wonderful day volunteering at Peace Village. Nan brought her guitar and I brought my ukulele and we played for the kids. They loved to listen to the music and clap their hands and sing along. We were so glad to find something that the kids enjoy doing.  I left Peace Village happy and smiling.  

Oh, Binh.  He just loved to be in the pictures.