Getting Started

I apologize for not writing any blogs recently but so far I have spent the majority of my time in idleness. Tet New Year is really a boring affair for non-Vietnamese. There is literally nothing to do but luckily I found a Will Smith collection DVD which has entertained me. The box indicates that Will Smith is “One of unique ability and odd brand black movie stars!” and that he is “The Whole People Superman”. I would have to agree.

I have just began teaching and it’s going pretty much as I expected. Dealing with kids is very tiring but I think I have the patience for it. I can’t really relate to the other teachers that are so sensitive to the kids being bored since I grew up with a majority of my teachers being mediocre and uninteresting (of course there were exceptions). All that mumbo jumbo about effective and engaging teaching is really an idealization. There are of course better methods than others but at the end of the day but judging the quality of teaching is subjective. Test scores say a little but that’s it; just a little yet that little can drastically affect someone’s life. That is the essential mediocrity of the system.  I believe that teachers should not completely cater to the students (except in the case of small children or children that are disabled). Once they hit teenage years than they deserve minimal leeway. The world only bends to those with a silver spoon or extraordinary talent. The majority of people have to work within the system and the system is not forgiving. Aside from all of that, I do like the students. They can be adorable at times.

I have finally found an NGO dealing with microfinance that has given me the opportunity to volunteer for them. This is a major accomplishment since I was giving up hope altogether. Vietnam’s microfinance market is not easy to get involved with but I’m glad I have a foothold. That was the whole reason why I came here.

I am warming up to Hanoi. I understand the bus system for the most part which has made my life a lot easier. I am not going to invest in a motorbike since I think it’s kind of a waste of money. I keep thinking about what that French girl told me on the train. That Hanoi is a poetic city. It’s hard for me to say if I can fully agree with it. Hanoi was at first quite abrasive for me. The weather has been terrible. I have seen the sun a few times this month and it rains almost every day. I will put more thought into this and respond later.

 My Vietnamese is slowly improving which has made my life much easier. I’ve been meeting with some Vietnamese people to do language exchanges and this has proved fruitful. Vietnamese is a complex language but I don’t know a language that isn’t hard to learn.

I’m feeling cautiously optimistic about the rest of my time here. I’m glad I finally have work to do. I hate not having any work to do. It really drains my sense of being.