Man, am I in a good place right now. The house that the VMG staff found for me is like living in a little piece of heaven. The neighbors are incredible. They keep an eye on me to be sure, but in a good way. I bought food from a guy who comes down our street with a cart, and my neighbors came out to make sure the price was fair and I got what I wanted. It was good food, by the way -- chicken, corn, sausage, and stuff I didn't recognize. The neighbors always point to show me I've left an upstairs light on, or that I forgot my motorcycle helmet (no brain). The people here seem to really care about you.
My house is so cool that I've been using the air conditioning for only a couple hours a day.
The staffers at VMG are just as cool. First, they found my house for me. But if I have trouble at work, like the copy machine jams or I need teaching materials, they do everything they can to help. Thien, Thu, Nguyen, Le Chinh, Nuhn (I'm sure I'm spelling the names wrong), accounting, Long Thanh and everyone in-between, do their best to make my experience here very positive. And they're very busy now because our school is expanding. So I thank these guys for putting up with the White Monkey, who makes lousy jokes, whines too much, and is a general pain in the ass.
The students here continue to shine.The younger students get it so fast with good pronunciation. The older students work hard. I understand how difficult it is to learn a language when you're older. I sympathize. The students can be a little chatty. As my wonderful mentor Laurie Dewey used to say to me: Welcome to teaching, Mr. Millman.
If I drank alcohol, I would have a toast to all of these guys. Instead, I'll have a nuoc mia.
Since I'm a slow learner, it has taken a little while for me to adjust to life here. Now I know it's been worth it.
The kids on bicycles are amazing here. They ride right in the middle of the wild traffic and don't flinch. When there's two kids on one bike, which is quite often, both kids will have their feet on the pedals so they work together and go faster. I rarely saw that in the U.S. (just about everyone was in a car). The motorbike is an easy adjustment for the young people here.
My school, VMG, is doing a Go Green campaign now. That's a great idea since litter and pollution are problems here. Well, they're problems everywhere. Teaching young people about these issues is one of the best ways to foster change. The students in my classes know they have to clean the room at the end of our lesson, and it's always "ladies first." I'm trying to do my small part to help foster positive change.
I miss my children and hope to have a couple of them come visit. Otherwise, all is well except my Vietnamese language skills and lack of brain.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Happy birthday Le Chinh
I promised one of the young VMG staffers (the beautiful Le Chinh) a cake, and when I bought it I asked the ABC Bakery "worker" to write her name on it. I gave the "worker" a piece of paper with Le Chinh's name on it. So the girl writes "Happy Birthday Le Chinh" on the little cake. That was so nice, except that it's not Chinh's birthday. I have no idea when Chinh's birthday is, but I don't have to get her anything now. And I have no idea how to say or write happy birthday in Vietnamese.
I have returned to teaching full-time and I'm very happy about that. The students are always cool here. Some are more serious than others, but there's not a stinker in the bunch. Of course they're serious ... they're paying. That's why I feel obligated to do my best to make sure they have a positive experience and learn English. Good times for all, especially me. I taught students from Laos the other day and it was thoroughly enjoyable. What a nice bunch. The locals are entertaining as well. And everyone in an IC7 class laughed and gave me curious looks when I when I tried to speak Vietnamese for a sentence or two. I gave that up after that one class. I have enough trouble with English. But I'm starting to recognize words when the Vietnamese are talking. They keep saying something about a white monkey. The tones are impossibly difficult and trying to emulate them is nothing short of futile for me. But I'm not giving up.
I am in the process of moving into a new apartment. It's nice and I love the location, location, location (a realtor once said that to me and my ex-wife). The drive to work is a little longer but a lot more reasonable in terms of traffic. The neighbors seem to be awesome. They smile and wave while keeping the staring to minimum. The only downside is that I'm near a cut-through street, and sometimes I get the feeling I'm being sized up for a future assault and robbery by the passers-by. It could be paranoia, but I've learned to keep my eyes open very wide, even though I don't see well. Luckily, I don't have much money, but hooligans don't know that. The Khanh Dang Hotel has been acceptable and I'll miss the employees there. They won't miss me because I've broken every glass object in the room.
I had yet another motorcycle bump the other day. A bike cut in front of me and didn't get out of the way fast enough. I sure as hell didn't slow down and waved as I continued on my way. Riding the bike and crossing traffic has become exhilarating for me. I almost look forward to making turns so I can cut someone off and scare the daylights out of oncoming traffic. I kind of get it now. If only speaking Vietnamese was this exhilarating.
I have returned to teaching full-time and I'm very happy about that. The students are always cool here. Some are more serious than others, but there's not a stinker in the bunch. Of course they're serious ... they're paying. That's why I feel obligated to do my best to make sure they have a positive experience and learn English. Good times for all, especially me. I taught students from Laos the other day and it was thoroughly enjoyable. What a nice bunch. The locals are entertaining as well. And everyone in an IC7 class laughed and gave me curious looks when I when I tried to speak Vietnamese for a sentence or two. I gave that up after that one class. I have enough trouble with English. But I'm starting to recognize words when the Vietnamese are talking. They keep saying something about a white monkey. The tones are impossibly difficult and trying to emulate them is nothing short of futile for me. But I'm not giving up.
I am in the process of moving into a new apartment. It's nice and I love the location, location, location (a realtor once said that to me and my ex-wife). The drive to work is a little longer but a lot more reasonable in terms of traffic. The neighbors seem to be awesome. They smile and wave while keeping the staring to minimum. The only downside is that I'm near a cut-through street, and sometimes I get the feeling I'm being sized up for a future assault and robbery by the passers-by. It could be paranoia, but I've learned to keep my eyes open very wide, even though I don't see well. Luckily, I don't have much money, but hooligans don't know that. The Khanh Dang Hotel has been acceptable and I'll miss the employees there. They won't miss me because I've broken every glass object in the room.
I had yet another motorcycle bump the other day. A bike cut in front of me and didn't get out of the way fast enough. I sure as hell didn't slow down and waved as I continued on my way. Riding the bike and crossing traffic has become exhilarating for me. I almost look forward to making turns so I can cut someone off and scare the daylights out of oncoming traffic. I kind of get it now. If only speaking Vietnamese was this exhilarating.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Massage misunderstanding
I had an awkward moment with the massage girl the other day. She was
slapping my head around (which is very soothing, believe it or not)
when I got a slight cramp in my back. I kind of shifted to my side a little and I believe
she thought I was rolling over to my stomach, and she started
emphatically saying NO NO NO!!! I've been to this place about 20 times and
they should know by now that I'm not there for anything other than a
head massage to try to stimulate some brain growth. I suspect she
thought I had other ideas by the way she reacted, but I shifted back into place and all was
well after that. The girls do some tapping on the sides of my head, and
put pressure on my temples ... that kind of stuff. It's truly wonderful
and they're very nice.
I looked at a fantastic apartment today, and I really hope I get it since I may stick around here. If not, I guess it wasn't meant to be, and you can call me Mr. Khanh Dang Hotel. The hotel is fine, but I miss cooking and having some space and privacy, and I live in one of the busier (if not busiest) spots in Bien Hoa. Whatever happens will happen for the best. If not, it'll just happen anyway.
I'm no genius. In fact, the existence of my brain has come into question. Maybe that's why I've had a heck of a time learning even a little bit of Vietnamese. Listening and memorizing words are going OK, but speaking is rough, rough, rough. No matter what I say, even if I repeat it right after it's said to me, I screw it up. At least that's what I'm told ... by the locals who AREN'T SHY about pointing out my mistakes. I keep them plenty busy by making plenty of mistakes. I guess the people don't want to encourage a speaker as poor as the White Monkey. But I won't stop trying since I've decided I like it here, I really like teaching here, and I really like the students here. I publicly apologize to all the locals for the times I've been frustrated when they've actually tried to help me. That is the American way. Well, it's my way, sometimes, which is why I'm apologizing.
Speaking of students (well, I was a few sentences ago), many students here have become my facebook friends, and they AREN'T SHY about pointing out the mistakes on my facebook posts. I actually like and appreciate this, since I used to be an editor and I don't want to screw up anything about the local community or the names of the people who live here. It's dumb and it looks bad for a teacher to not know what the hell he's talking about. Even a teacher with no brain. Accuracy is everything, especially when you're writing about and posting photos of someone else's home and family.
Valentine's Day is a fairly big deal here, and everyone's in a festive mood after Tet. Me? I couldn't care less, really, but it's fun for the students and it gives me a chance to explain the difference in English between liking someone and loving someone, or disliking someone and hating someone. The students seem fairly interested. I have only taught a little this week, but the classes have been great. One class seemed a little afraid of me, but really, the White Monkey is a gentle creature when you get to know him. Just don't listen to his Vietnamese.
I looked at a fantastic apartment today, and I really hope I get it since I may stick around here. If not, I guess it wasn't meant to be, and you can call me Mr. Khanh Dang Hotel. The hotel is fine, but I miss cooking and having some space and privacy, and I live in one of the busier (if not busiest) spots in Bien Hoa. Whatever happens will happen for the best. If not, it'll just happen anyway.
I'm no genius. In fact, the existence of my brain has come into question. Maybe that's why I've had a heck of a time learning even a little bit of Vietnamese. Listening and memorizing words are going OK, but speaking is rough, rough, rough. No matter what I say, even if I repeat it right after it's said to me, I screw it up. At least that's what I'm told ... by the locals who AREN'T SHY about pointing out my mistakes. I keep them plenty busy by making plenty of mistakes. I guess the people don't want to encourage a speaker as poor as the White Monkey. But I won't stop trying since I've decided I like it here, I really like teaching here, and I really like the students here. I publicly apologize to all the locals for the times I've been frustrated when they've actually tried to help me. That is the American way. Well, it's my way, sometimes, which is why I'm apologizing.
Speaking of students (well, I was a few sentences ago), many students here have become my facebook friends, and they AREN'T SHY about pointing out the mistakes on my facebook posts. I actually like and appreciate this, since I used to be an editor and I don't want to screw up anything about the local community or the names of the people who live here. It's dumb and it looks bad for a teacher to not know what the hell he's talking about. Even a teacher with no brain. Accuracy is everything, especially when you're writing about and posting photos of someone else's home and family.
Valentine's Day is a fairly big deal here, and everyone's in a festive mood after Tet. Me? I couldn't care less, really, but it's fun for the students and it gives me a chance to explain the difference in English between liking someone and loving someone, or disliking someone and hating someone. The students seem fairly interested. I have only taught a little this week, but the classes have been great. One class seemed a little afraid of me, but really, the White Monkey is a gentle creature when you get to know him. Just don't listen to his Vietnamese.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Say what? Can you repeat that?
My Vietnamese lessons from Donna YouTube have served me well, and annoyed a couple of local shop owners. I have a very basic understanding of the number system from 1 to 100, which is really all that you need in order to find out what something costs. I can ask "How much?" before I pay, and I can sort of understand what the person is charging me. That knowledge killed one sale today, and forced another lady to give me the items I really wanted before I would pay. Both proprietors seemed pissed off, which is fine by me. I was polite. Vietnamese has sharp tones, so I couldn't tell if they were yelling at me or simply correcting my pronunciation. I think they were yelling at me. Most folks are helpful when it comes to pronunciation, like coffee shop girl Hom, and hotel ladies Kimba and My Chi. A few folks seem to think that a White Monkey with knowledge is a dangerous animal. Hardly. I'm more than happy to repeat my Vietnamese until it's understood, or do without. Most times, I do without. And in fairness to the people I'm dealing with, they've got to listen to and try to understand my almost incomprehensible Vietnamese drivel that I read from a little notebook I carry. Oh well. Bien Hoa doesn't have a lot of westerners or English speakers.
Teenagers drink alcohol here. Or at least they look like teenagers. The males drink the watery beer and the girls drink Sting, an energy drink. They do the "Hai, Ba, Yo" (2-3-Yo) and chug thing, a tradition I can do without. Since I'm not drinking, it's not an issue for me other than being in the company of a lot of really drunk young people while I try to eat dinner. They seem really perplexed by my water drinking and refusal of alcohol, but that's life in the slow (and old) lane. I just point to my head when they offer to buy me a beer, which happens nearly every time I go out after 8 p.m. I've been going to bed early these days. It's killing me refusing free beer. I still don't know the names of all the foods, so I ended up with a meal of eels and tripe the other day. It was OK.
Co-teacher Joy suggested I take a motorbike ride and explore the city. So I went out and promptly got lost for nearly four hours on the other side of the Dong Nai River. And burned the hell out of my leg on the hot muffler. I was no more than 10-15 kilometers from my hotel, but when I asked the way to Bien Hoa, it was like I was speaking another language, like English. I finally found a nice coffee shop lady who pointed me in the right direction. When I got back to the hotel, my back tire was flat. I was lucky to make it. A guy fixed the flat the next day for about $1.50 USD, or 30,000 dong.
The city was really cleaned up for Tet, and most of the shops and stores are still closed. It's wonderful here, especially when you factor in the nice weather we've been having. Of course, many of the locals are "cold." I can't tell what's open or when. The supermarket shelves were pretty empty today, and then the supermarket closed before 2 p.m. While the city is pretty tidy, the canal that runs through town is pretty gnarly. Maybe that's where all the trash went. The canal smells, and it isn't pleasant. But that's always the case.
Classes start next week and I'm really happy about that. Trying to learn Vietnamese from Donna YouTube is excruciating, especially when you don't have a brain. And worst of all, the place where I get my head massage is closed this week.
Teenagers drink alcohol here. Or at least they look like teenagers. The males drink the watery beer and the girls drink Sting, an energy drink. They do the "Hai, Ba, Yo" (2-3-Yo) and chug thing, a tradition I can do without. Since I'm not drinking, it's not an issue for me other than being in the company of a lot of really drunk young people while I try to eat dinner. They seem really perplexed by my water drinking and refusal of alcohol, but that's life in the slow (and old) lane. I just point to my head when they offer to buy me a beer, which happens nearly every time I go out after 8 p.m. I've been going to bed early these days. It's killing me refusing free beer. I still don't know the names of all the foods, so I ended up with a meal of eels and tripe the other day. It was OK.
Co-teacher Joy suggested I take a motorbike ride and explore the city. So I went out and promptly got lost for nearly four hours on the other side of the Dong Nai River. And burned the hell out of my leg on the hot muffler. I was no more than 10-15 kilometers from my hotel, but when I asked the way to Bien Hoa, it was like I was speaking another language, like English. I finally found a nice coffee shop lady who pointed me in the right direction. When I got back to the hotel, my back tire was flat. I was lucky to make it. A guy fixed the flat the next day for about $1.50 USD, or 30,000 dong.
The city was really cleaned up for Tet, and most of the shops and stores are still closed. It's wonderful here, especially when you factor in the nice weather we've been having. Of course, many of the locals are "cold." I can't tell what's open or when. The supermarket shelves were pretty empty today, and then the supermarket closed before 2 p.m. While the city is pretty tidy, the canal that runs through town is pretty gnarly. Maybe that's where all the trash went. The canal smells, and it isn't pleasant. But that's always the case.
Classes start next week and I'm really happy about that. Trying to learn Vietnamese from Donna YouTube is excruciating, especially when you don't have a brain. And worst of all, the place where I get my head massage is closed this week.
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