At last I've been able to sleep well! Yesterday, I finally felt that I got firm grip on my schedule here at the center. Too sleepy and tired, I was unable to write an entry for the blog, so today I'm doing two entries. So this is how yesterday went!
I woke up at around 5:00 AM like the rest of my brothers. Having finally rested for a significant period of time, I felt refreshed and ready to take on the day. At this hour all the children in the center tended to their morning chores, cleaning and such. After stretching for about twenty minutes, one of my brother asked me if I wanted to hand wash my clothes. "Of course" I replied, "but where do I go?" He led me to a room underneath the older girls house where the children normally washed their clothes. He brought me detergent, a brush, and a giant tub to put all my clothes. Outside the house, I could see all the children sweeping the site and tending to the garden. Mrs. Hong and her little dog, named Min, tended to the pond, where the thousands of fish that the center took care of. The fish are fed daily about two times and the children are allowed to fish for them each day and take home their catches to their host mothers for food.
At the center, I am treated as a brother of the extended family in this center, though with quite a few privileges. Being an outsider, the children often poured me my water, set up things for me, let me eat some of the expensive items that they normally would not have, etc. I didn't want it to be this way, but their generosity is kindly accepted - though I eventually want to live just like them. I want to clean my clothes like they do. I want to eat and live as they do, as I came here to learn about and teach to them. Despite these privileges, I always try my best to contribute to the site. If there are chores that I can help with, I ask to help. However, the children constantly tell me, "No, I will do it for you, go and play." Their kindness towards me warms my heart immensely. They are so curious of what I think and since I can also communicate with them in Vietnamese, it much easier for them to see from my point of view. I am constantly fascinated by their stories and their way life, causing me to constantly ask about this and that, which with the idea of cultural exchange, is valuable. Back to the day!
That day, my scheduled classes for the children were one class in the morning from 8:00 to 10:00 for the high school students, and 2:00 to 4:00 for the primary school children. Note that the children go to school outside of the center and return home when they are done with school. Anyways, I went back to my room to plan out my lesson plan. Having read plenty of books and articles about English teaching in Vietnam prior to my visit here, I realize the difficulties that plagues the language teaching system in Vietnam. One of which is the lack of quality in the teaching and the lack of quality of the textbooks used in language teaching. For me to come here and say that I want to teach the children, ranging from ages five to twenty two, how to speak conversational English is an immense task, as I have to prepare material for all the five grades that I teach. Each day, I have to spend my time planning out the next day and making sure that my Vietnamese speaking skills are enough to teach that certain lesson. Nevertheless, this is a challenge I gladly accept, as I am learning more about the Vietnamese than ever - despite being Vietnamese myself.
My daily schedule goes like this: wake up at 5:00 AM, tend to early morning chores with the children, plan out/look over notes for class at 8:00, teach, 10:00 go back to my room to relax and work on other readings/assignments, 11 or 12 eat lunch with my brothers and host mother, 12 or 1 nap, 2:00 teach until 4, after 4 tend to other duties/free time to play with the children, 6 or 7 dinner, 7+ work on work for the next day (and blog!), repeat. I work at the center from Mondays to Fridays and on the weekends I have free days to go wherever I want. I liked this balance in my schedule and it leaves me a good sense of progress as well as relaxation.
After teaching my classes, I went out to play soccer with the younger children, who I hadn't quite gotten acquainted with as well as the older children. Their passion for soccer and play was overwhelming and they pull me to do activities with them. I noticed that animals from the outside, such as a small herd of oxen and a pair of dogs, walk into the center and rest. I also saw two cats fighting with each other near the older boys house. Being here has allowed me to really slow down my mind and take in every little detail. Of course, the only way I am going to remember it is if I write it down, and thus I shall happily continue this blog!
During the night, I gave my brothers my laptop and they watched movies for about three hours, while I practiced my drumming (brought here a drumming pad, sticks, and music) and read all my readings. Although my days may start to be getting shorter and shorter as I get used to living here, I know I am going to work hard to make things interesting. That said, I need to get some rest before the next class I have to teach, which is in fifty five minutes.
Thanks for following!
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