"Chuc mung ngay sinh nhat Bin!" cried my brothers as I rolled out of bed after a rather good night's sleep (six hours!). Everyone was telling me "happy birthday Ben!" as I walked around the center today, filling me with joy and also a sense of responsibility to return the kindness that the children have given me up to this day. This is a day to remember. Celebrating with my new family has been heart warming and uplifting of the spirits of everyone in the center. Charity. Isn't it beautiful?
Despite it being my birthday, I knew I still had an obligation to do a job on the site, and that primarily was to focus on my lessons. And that I did.
Having got up at about seven, I went out to greet my brothers and then ate a hearty breakfast of noodle soup. My first class was for the under achieving students of the center, so I then went to my room to prepare for my lesson. I pulled out my workbook and jotted down notes from my books and then marched on over to the library.
It was a successful class, being that there were only two students this time, and that my lessons were coming across to them very clearly. We spent the whole day on pronunciation and vocabulary, an area that I am still stressing immensely during teaching, as the students usually do not get much proper practice with pronunciation other than films and music, as English teachers in Vietnam, as the students have told me, teach improper pronunciation of many words in English and therefore, it hurts their own pronunciation.
After finishing, I walked down the steps towards the commonroom and the library, staring off into the cloudy sky (it's been cloudy for the last couple days). I was expecting my uncle to roll by and pick me up to go shopping for A LOT of items for the party. As I lay on my bed reading, surrounded by some of my brothers coming over to chat with me about my birthday, my uncle popped into my room and waved me to go. Strapping on my helmet, I ran out and hopped onto his red motorbike, waving the children of the center goodbye 'till my return.
Shopping was quite the event. Our first stop was the Big C Supermarket in the middle of city of Hue. Wow this place was huge. It had more than four floors, filled with a arcade, food court, countless boutiques, stores of everything, a grocery store even, and more. It even allowed its users to take shopping carts up escalators (which I didn't realize until me and my uncle took ours up four floors). The air conditioned and cleaned atmosphere of this place reminded me of the big malls back in America. There were countless people here, teenagers to adults, hanging out and shopping. It was quite a site and quite the surprise. And so we spent about an hour and a half, buying treats, drinks, etc. from this store and also buying flowers and fruits from the street. About forty dollars or 800,000 VND later, we rode back into a quiet, sleeping center with a motorbike filled in all directions with items. I lugged all of the items into my room and sank into my bed for a quick half hour nap before preptime for my afternoon class.
This afternoon class also went well. All the students who were supposed to and able to to come came and we had an interesting lesson, focusing on pronunciation and vocabulary like the first class. Letting them out a little bit early to go and tend to some other business (like inviting everyone in the center), I packed up my stuff and placed it all into my room.
This is where this day got interesting. There was filming occurring on the site today by Micheal (Michel in French) and also a camera crew of the happenings of the center. I apparently was also going to be filmed, interviewed (unknowingly), and also my birthday was going to be filmed (yikes!). So there I was, running around the whole center, watching the children being filmed doing different events such as gardening, fishing, playing in the library, and such. I met with Elizabet, the french volunteer, and talked with her about the possibility of getting involved with the recruitment process of orphans via the use of hospitals, as Michel reminded me of the large count of children left parentless in the hospitals. She said she would think about and that answer was fine with me. After making rounds the center and playing with the students, Mrs. Hong told me to get changed into a more formal attire than a t-shirt and shorts. So I showered and came out in what I must say has been the hottest outfit I have wore here in Vietnam. I came out in a cotton polo, jeans, and shoes. I rushed back to the entrance to begin the filming process with me and all the children doing different actitivities at the center.
We went from fishing to playing in the library to my birthday party, all of us laughing and giggling along the way. Within the library, the camera crew asked to interview me about why this particular center and my feelings about it. At first I tried to do so in Vietnamese, but, since my Vietnamese is not that great (especially for an interview), I instead did it entirely in English (stinging my soul just a little bit). Then the party began!
I had about forty or so people all together show up for the party. Words cannot describe the feeling of it all, so I will work to upload all the photos of this event tomorrow morning to better explain the joy and happiness that rang through the night of the center - and up to the point where I am still writing this blog amidst staring at my melting birthday cake sculpture (entirely out of frosting).
Today has given me a memory that is unforgettable and the best birthday I have ever had in my life, amongst a new family that I now can call my own. Tomorrow? Well... there's a gigantic celebration for my birthday at my home village waiting for me in the afternoon. Time to rest up in preparation for my second birthday celebration of this week. It was a beautiful day...
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