In this post, I'd like to talk about a good example of the kinds of strange things that happen on a typical day here in Vietnam. As we're fond of doing here, there's not much more you can do than shrug your shoulders and say, "It's Asia."
All the classrooms got switched around today because the 6th and 7th floors were being used for some special function. Unfortunately, no one happened to mention this small detail to the teachers. As a result, I got to my first class five minutes late because I couldn't find it. That was a minor problem and not that surprising, but my second class couldn't even find another available classroom to relocate to! So I suggested we go to a cafe and have class there. (Aren't I a cool teacher?) So that's what we did.
Here's my class out front of the school talking about where we'd be going.
Most students took a bus but a few of us (myself included) went by motorbike. I asked the student who volunteered to drive me, "Are you a safe driver?" I wasn't surprised as he began laughing and then told me he didn't have his license, but that he'd been driving two years so not to worry.
Anyway, we all arrived safe and sound.
The place was called Wanted.
Surprisingly, the students actually got to learn some and practice their English (though I cut down class to about an hour instead of the typical 2 and a half hours. I'm not Superman. Once we left the campus, there was no chance of having a "normal" class.)
Can you imagine a class of 30 American students actually practicing pronunciation in a public place like this? I'll admit, the place wasn't exactly crowded. But still. As we always do, I had them listen to me saying words with the featured sounds we'd be practicing, like the "ee" sound as in "meet" and the "eh" sound as in "met". Then I'd model and repeat. Next I'd ask them to guess which one I was saying, (1 for "meet" and 2 for "met"). And finally, I'd say 1 and they'd say "meet", etc.
Again, can you imagine a bunch of American college students doing this in public?
I think there are a lot of ways to explain this difference, (eagerness to learn English, respect for teachers, strength in numbers...) but honestly--and at the risk of sounding like an Ugly American--I think it's just because Vietnamese people don't mind doing weird stuff in public. And I'll think you'll see... if I ever get around to posting about it, that you agree with me. Maybe that could even be the title of a new column on here, "Weird Stuff VNese People do in Public" I've already got three pretty weird things right off the top of my head. But you'll have to wait for the column to find out what they are.
Anyways, after class, we finally ordered some coffee, tea, ice cream and stuff like that.
Cameras came out...
This student wanted a picture with me.
And this one.
Girls love taking pictures.
... and one student broke out a guitar and we all sang for almost another hour.
The rockstar
It was a good time!
