Christmas Elf

Things happen here that just make me laugh because they are so foreign to my experience. On our way home from the city center yesterday, we stopped at KFC for dinner. Some of the employees at the counter speak some English. Everyone is getting out their Christmas decorations this time of year (which still baffles my internal clock since the weather just began to feel like September), so the employees were all sporting Santa hats.

After getting our food, we went up to the second floor, sat down in a high-backed booth, and began eating. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a Santa-hatted, tan, smiling Vietnamese face literally popped up behind my head and was coupled with a simultaneous (accented ) “Hello!” His crossed arms were resting on the back of the high booth-bench and his chin was resting on top the crossed arms. (Please create a mental picture!) It was the employee who had taken our order. He proceeded to happily start chatting away and watching us eat our entire meal. Gratefully, I wasn’t directly facing him, so I didn’t have to compress my disbelieving-smile-that-this-was-actually-happening as much as Sarah did. He couldn’t understand much of what we said, but was eager to continue the conversation anyway. Example: At one point Sarah asked him if he celebrated Christmas. His answer was, “My birthday is October 7^th.” Conversation ranged from his age (20), to where he learned English, to what he was studying, to why I ordered the part of the chicken that I did (we think – we’re still not exactly sure what he was saying).

And then all of a sudden he wasn’t there. His exit was as abrupt as his entrance, suddenly dashing away.

When the REI board was here a few weeks ago, one of them mentioned that they loved Vietnam because of all its surprises. This experience definitely fell into that category. As we left the restaurant and let loose previously stifled peals of laughter, I felt like the experience was one that came from a movie. I wish I had a video or picture to share with you. But I guess I’ll have to leave it up to your imaginations. We enjoyed our Christmas Elf visit.

Thanksgiving x4

This week I celebrated my first major holiday away from home. And it did, indeed, make me homesick.  I missed the family traditions and the inner feeling of warmth and excitement that comes with this season. But our Thanksgiving here was not ignored. In fact, I celebrated the holiday four times.

Wednesday: We had a number of students over (about 27), and Sarah shared with them the history of the holiday and many of its traditions. Though we didn’t have a meal, the students were introduced to microwave popcorn. They didn’t believe Sarah when she told them this flat, brown paper bag was going to become popcorn when she put it in the microwave. They were mesmerized. Of course, the time couldn’t pass without requests for songs. Eventually, several of them ended up performing a children’s song here about a duck. The results were hilarious.

Thursday: Sarah and I taught until 5:30pm, and then headed to the grocery store. Our “Thanksgiving Dinner” consisted of cheeseburgers and fries from Lotteria (think McDonald’s) before we commenced shopping. Yes, it was anti-climactic and felt nothing like Thanksgiving.

Friday: We invited several of the other teachers living in the guest house, a couple other REI staff, and a couple Vietnamese friends to share the holiday with us. We made sure there were mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie, which turned out to be quite the task, running all over Hanoi to find foreign goods stores that carried the ingredients we needed and finding an oven to bake everything in (thanks Ginny!). Then we asked each guest to bring a cultural dish to share. 11 guests total, representing 6 countries (U.S., Philippines, Spain, India, Vietnam, and China). Talk about an international Thanksgiving! So much fun. An extra special treat was that the woman who cleans the guesthouse for us (who we had invited and who had initially declined) ended up joining us for a while. We were also grateful the kitchen transformed so beautifully and that our first pumpkin pie baking experience was a success!

The Group! Minus Sam, the only male represenative.

Our version of a turkey. And the pretty table!

Enjoying pumpkin pie for the first time.

Saturday: We were invited over to another REI staff’s home for a traditional American celebration of the holiday with other ex-pats living in the area. Turkey, potatoes, stuffing, and all the fixings. It was delicious. And much more relaxing than being the host.

Overall, it was an enjoyable holiday. I’m so grateful for the people that have been put in my life here, and for the time I got to spend with them this week celebrating. I also don’t need to eat anything for the next week.

Settling the Score

Just thought it should be known that Sunday night I did, indeed, kill the cockroach. It may or may not have involved a little bit of screaming, standing on a bed, lots of orange scented bug killing spray (which doesn't actually seem to work very well), a broom, and a cheerleader (i.e., Sarah). But the nasty bug is now dead. I'll consider myself very blessed if that's the only time this year I have to deal with these critters.

But it does really make me wonder - why were these things created? And moreover, called good? Same with mosquitos. Did they not used to bite? 6 inch long poisonous centipedes? I was reading the other day about foot-long centipedes that can hang from the ceiling of caves and eat bats. Maybe Tolkien's and Lewis's fantasy words aren't quite so far from reality as I once thought they were. These thoughts tie back to a theme I've been trying to begin to grasp for a while: What do goodness and beauty really look like? I know the Father is the epitomy of these things--or rather, defines them. But what do they look like in life? I think we "cuddle-ify" them in our imaginations far too frequently.

Cockroach - 1, Samantha - 0

Today I returned to my room and was walking past my bed when I saw a large blackish dot near the wall that half-registered in my brain as an insect. I did a double-take and found there was, indeed, a cockroach sitting there motionless. My first reaction was to put on closed-toe slippers, open the door, grab a broom, and mount my bed (all while staring at the insect, of course, to make sure it didn't move). My intention was to sweep it outside, making the first swipe while perched atop the bed in case anything should go amiss.

So I stood there. And I stood there. And I stood there some more, trying to make up my mind to actually execute the action plan. I’m sure if anyone glanced in through the open door they were thoroughly amused to see an American standing on her bed, broom in hands, staring at the floor. After literally at least 5 minutes (and several false starts), the critter decided it wasn’t going to wait for me to shoe it. It ran back behind my nightstand/bed. Ironically, despite knowing that it was still in my room, I felt better simply having it out of sight.

Pathetic? Yes. I’m well aware. Irrational? Again, well aware.

Last week I successfully chased an ugly critter about half the width and twice the length of a cockroach out of room with a broom. But today, defeat. Maybe next time I’ll settle the score. I think I need to invest in some bug-killing spray. I’m currently hoping cockroaches don’t climb walls/ceilings. If you know the answer and it’s a yes, don’t tell me. Ignorance is bliss in this particular situation.

Oh. And I now have two footprints on my previously clean bed sheets.

Dandelions

I’ve been trying to put a finger on the restlessness I’ve begun to feel in the past month. It’s not overwhelming. But sometimes something seems missing. A bit of loneliness. Though it took me a while to figure out the reason, the answer now seems obvious. I’m in transition. And with transition anywhere comes a season of re-developing relationships.

I miss the ease, comfort, and fun of friendships back home. I dislike this awkward period of beginning relationships, even though it certainly has its beautiful moments. And I am frustrated by the lack of closeness I feel in my new Vietnamese friendships. But I’m forgetting just how long it took to develop the close relationships I experienced back home. I’m comparing relationships that have been in place for no longer than 2 months to friendships I built over at least three years. Also, this stage is something I’d be experiencing no matter where in the world I was right now - saying goodbye to college friends and transitioning into the “real world,” including many new relationships.

Granted, the process is magnified by being in a different cultural context. Fewer common experiences make for more difficulty in truly understanding and relating. The relationships are equally precious, but seemingly slower in developing. Brian, the director of REI-VN, wisely pointed out that our friendships here could actually be growing three times as quickly as they did in the U.S., but the gap between our backgrounds (not to mention language!) is so great that the relationships still may not feel as close as ones we developed over an even shorter period of time back home. (Say, for example, 3 weeks? Shout-out to CO training folks!)

So how does all this relate to dandelions? Sarah and I were talking about this transitional stage, and she made a great analogy. Our friendships from home are like a dandelion. We grew up together for a period of time in the same stalk and flower. We experienced the awkward beginning stages as the green plant began poking up from the ground. Then those friendships blossomed. And as we grew, we impacted and shaped one another, truly affecting who we have become today.

But dandelions turn white. They die. And the seeds are blown apart, in every which direction. Perhaps to Colorado, Michigan, North Dakota, Texas, Kentucky…the Dominican Republic, Guinea Bissau, Japan, Thailand, Slovenia, Uganda, Turkey, Vietnam, Northern Minnesota...you get the idea.

It’s simultaneously a sad and a happy phenomenon (oh the paradox of life). And one that will repeat itself who knows how many times in each person’s life. The concept’s by no means new. But I liked the dandelion picture. And how viral dandelions can be. I wonder what we would find if we could pick one of today’s dandelionsand trace the story of its ancestral seeds all the way back to their origination? Food for thought.

Sombreros in Vietnam?

Sarah and I visited West Lake (an area of Hanoi named for, well, its lake) for the first time last weekend. As we walked along the lake's edge, we saw a number of men fishing. Some wore traditional Vietnamese hats, others wore motorbike helmets, but one man was proudly sporting a large, neon sombrero. We couldn’t help but laugh at this unique and unexpected mixing of cultures.

You Know You're Not in the U.S. When...

One of the lessons that has been stressed throughout my cross-cultural training is that when we experience differences, they often seem categorically wrong. It’s easy to make unwarranted, premature judgments on aspects of a new culture and situation simply based on this negative feeling. And many of these judgments eventually prove to be inaccurate, or at least not so cut-and-dry as you initially made them out to be.

So this post is a post of noticings. Differences I’ve observed since being here that poignantly remind me I’m no longer in the U.S. Some of them initially seem positive, some neutral, some negative…and some just hilarious. But for now I’m refraining from judgment (or at least attempting to), focusing on understanding the cultural reasoning behind them all, and enjoying the ride as much as possible. J

So. You know you’re not in the U.S. when…

• when you see commercials and billboards for skin-whitening lotion, rather than tanning lotion, and people carry umbrellas just as much (if not more) for the sun as the rain
• when bathrooms:
       1)      have doors with windows
       2)      have showers that consist of, well, a showerhead
       3)      have toilets with half & full-flush options
       4)      have butt-washers (I’m sure there’s a nicer name, I just don’t know it)

• when people giggle and take your picture as you’re eating your lunch at a restaurant...or just randomly walk up and ask to take a picture with you
• when no one says “excuse me” when you bump into someone because there are always so many people
• when lines don’t exist; if you’re not physically close enough to the person in front of you, someone else will jump in
• when Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, West Life, Britney Speakers, and Michael Jackson are the most popular artists among college students, and you hear Titanic played frequently in public locations (musical taste here is stuck in the 90’s)
• when traffic laws are suggestions
• when things just aren’t as reliable, steady, streamlined, and efficient as you’re used to – both relationally/professionally (communication, last-minute changes, follow-through), and with amenities like water, electricity, and internet
• when the appearance of something is often more important than the actual content (gifts, meetings, etc)
• when napping on a park bench with your leg slung over the back rest or sleeping on a parked motorbike beside a crowded road is perfectly normal
• when people think you have an Australian accent
• when bed mattresses are hard enough to double as both exercise mats and ironing boards
• when random people come up to you that you’ve never seen before and start talking to you because they want to practice their English
• when personal bubbles are much smaller...if they even exist
• when washing machines beep childrens' songs to alert you they've finished running the cycle
• when typical seating at streetfood shops consists of mini-tables and stools

 

Missing Fall



Central Park, Roseville MN

I was thinking the other day about how much I miss the Minnesota fall. And I realized this is the second autumn season I’ve missed in the past 3 years (thanks to Chile and Vietnam J).  I really do miss it. The colors of the flaming maples and yellow beeches. Stepping outside and filling your lungs with the nippy air that’s so fragrant and rich, but has just a bit of a pungent edge. Perfect sweater weather. Raking leaves and getting blisters on your hands (believe it or not, I really do enjoy that experience about once a year). Jogging down park paths, engulfed in a colorful canopy, and staring at leaves reflecting on both lakes and puddles. Hot apple cider. Autumn Spice lattes from Dunn Bros Coffee. I never feel like I can drink in enough of the beauty of Fall. I just don't have the senses with which to comprehend it all. It fills me with a sense of longing and sweetness. Part of that longing, I know, is for the season itself. Yet another part of it, I think, is also a bit of an ache for our true home and final destination. When beauty will become more palpable and our senses less dull.

Teaching Moments

Oohhhh teaching. It can be stressful. It can be tiring. But sometimes, it’s just downright hilarious.

1)      “I’m tall.” A couple of my male students said this in introductory speeches. They were maybe my height (5’4”). I had to physically check myself to keep from laughing.

2)      “Mieul YAHSson” and “Lady GhaGHA.” Translation? Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga. This led to a 5 minute pronunciation lesson on the letters “k” and “j” and “g,” as well as a quick mention of syllable stress. Hopefully it sticks and transfers to words other than the names of their favorite pop stars.

3)      “The beautiful, enthusiasm teachers.” Student response to the question, “What was the best thing about your first week of university?” Wonder if he woulda said the same thing if he knew I’m not the one actually assigning his grades. Hmm….

4)      Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Ever tried using Mary Poppins to teach syllables? We were reviewing comparative/superlative adjectives and the differences in formation based on the number of syllables in the word. The students had the look on their face of “Are you seriously making us review this?” So I hit them with the above. Can you decipher the number of syllables in the word? How ‘bout “hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliaphobia”? (Which, by the way, ironically means “the fear of long words.”)

That's it for installment one. More to come, I’m sure. J

Enjoying Attention

So neither Sarah nor I are people who particularly like to draw attention to ourselves. We’d rather blend in with the crowd and generally avoid situations that put us in the lime light.

That’s absolutely not an option here. Vietnamese are perfectly ok with staring, and apparently foreigners are the perfect thing to stare at. Sarah and I already feel stupid enough trying to get around the crowded streets, grocery stores, restaurants, and public transportation without knowing any of the language or culture, and to have people constantly staring as we’ve tried to figure things out has definitely grated on us. So the other day Sarah made the brilliant comment of, “Sam, let’s just try to enjoy the attention.” Haha. Bask in it. Glow in it. Soak it up. Play it up.

Will that always work for us?  Probably not. But at least the idea can give us a good laugh each time. J

Perfectionism Is Not an Option, aka B.Y.O.C.

(Bring Your Own Chalk)

Early on in our time in Vietnam one of our wonderful REI directors, Diana, gave us a wise warning. I’d mentioned my perfectionistic tendencies, and she replied with a laughing, but serious response: “In Vietnam, perfectionism is not an option.”

Pretty sure that’s one of the lessons I’m here to learn this year. And that learning process was definitely jumpstarted Monday.

At 7am Monday morning we taught our first class at the university.  We’d received the list of courses we’d be responsible for just a few days prior and had spent hours planning. Arriving early like good Americans, we’d found our classrooms and were in the hall 3 minutes before class started when another teacher came up to us and said, “I think you have the wrong book.”

Insert internal jaw drop. Half of me was in shock, “Is this SERIOUSLY happening?” And the other half of me almost wasn’t surprised, based on some of our prior experiences. We had 3 minutes to decide what on earth we were going to do with our students for the next 4 hours.

I walked into the classroom, mind racing with last minute lesson plan ideas...and also wondering how I was going to survive. As I greeted the room full of students, I walked to the chalkboard to write my name. No chalk. Panicking, I looked all along the board and desk. The result was a single, half-inch piece that I savored for the next 2 hours.  

Both Sarah and I made it through the morning. Our teacher instincts kicked in and we improvised. But I found it a frustrating, humbling, and somewhat unbelievable experience. The hours we’d put into planning and the 2 hours of sleep I’d gotten the night before were (seemingly) pointless. Yet it was a keen reminder that “Unless He builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless He watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early a go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” I have a strong feeling this is just the beginning of a lesson I’m going to continue being taught here in Vietnam (and have been trying to learn for a while). Not that we are not to work hard. But that the world doesn’t depend on me. The ultimate success of my endeavors can't be controlled by me, no matter how much time and work I put into them. And my worth doesn’t depend on their success. It’s not based on my performance or others’ opinions. It comes from a much deeper foundation than that, and only from that foundation can I truly love others well.

I do also have to admit that, after the fact, anyway, Monday’s fluke makes for a great story. The text book mix up was more or less a logistical oversight with no particular person at fault. And the expectation of having chalk to use with the chalk board was…well, an assumption I was making based on my western cultural background experiences. Oh the assumptions we make without even realizing!

The upside? At least next semester I’ll be aware of the BYOC rule for the first day of class.    

--- 

 

Pic 1: One of my classrooms.
Pic 2: View from window - campus temple & stadium.
Pic 3: Some much-needed coffee that afternoon!

New Home, Sweet Home - Photo Blog

As I was journalling a couple days ago, I wrote something about "these past few weeks," referring to my time in Vietnam. Then I paused and I realized I'd barely been here 5 days. Apparently my brain is still in a time warp. It's hard to believe it, but today marks the end of our first week. We've mostly settled in to the University and are continuing to discover more of the surrounding area. Enjoy this photo tour of our location!

This is the building (5th floor) where we'll be teaching. The photo was snapped from the entrance of the building we live in, so we're literally about 100 yards away from our classrooms. Awesome.

Sarah modelling one of our most important purchases here (umbrella) in front of the building we live in. My room is the farthest door on the right, first floor.

My room! More space than I've ever had to myself in my life! View as you enter the door and look left.

My desk!

Taste of home. :) Look closely and you might find a picture of or card from you!

Room view from the bathroom door.

We've also been learning how to walk again. And cross the street. Some of the best advice we've been given is "Never assume the ground is level" and "When crossing the street, just watch out for the big stuff (buses, cars) and the start walking; the motorbikes will miss you." Here's some "street level" pics from our explorations of the area surrounding the university.

Typical buildings/houses. Tall and narrow, with shops at street level.

Motor bike parking on the sidewalk - and this is a very UNcrowded place.

Intersection!

 

Place of refuge - we found a green park!

With a lake. About a 20 minute walk from campus.

Street market video! 

This is just a glimpse of what we've been experiencing here. For more pics (including cityscape from a 12th story window) and updates, visit my teammate Sarah's blog at www.onemorescribe.wordpress.com.

Today I Ate Frog

Skin and all. (Pic below.) And squid. And flowers. And moon cake. And date tea.

Our assignment today and for the next few days is to play as much as possible.

There are going to be inevitable stresses in the coming months. A week from tomorrow we begin teaching full time at the university as first-year teachers. At times we will certainly experience homesickness for the familiarity and comfort (not to mention ease of communication!) of the U.S. And we know basically nothing of the Vietnamese language for navigating in everyday life. Yes, these are bound to cause some stress.

So while we have this opportunity, we’re trying to fall in love with the people and place. To find joy and fun in it, while also being humble learners of the lifestyle and culture. Gratitude and rest are important for longevity in anything we do; we’re taking this time to cultivate that.

 

If you're wondering how the frog and squid bit all fall into that, today we had the wonderful opportunity of being chauferred around part of the city by some of our lovely coworkers. It was a ball. After visiting a museum and having our plans of seeing the old city-center disturbed by rain, we went to an awesome 5-story tea shop. A sit on the ground with low tables, draped fabric ceiling, soft music, beautiful paintings, etc kind of place. For dinner we experienced the "hot pot." Basically a broth with a number of different seasonings/veggies in it, that you then cook meat and other foods in. Think fondue. Yeah, that's where the frog and squid came in. If I could get over the texture and thought, they weren't bad. :) Oh, and did I mention we experienced our first motorbike rides, as well?

First 24 Hours

I woke up a little bit ago feeling ready to start the day. After lying in bed for a few minutes, I glanced at my watch and noticed it was only 12:45am, on this side of the world anyway, and I’d been asleep for just a few hours. Hmm. Jetlag.

Hopefully my body will start to adjust soon, but in the meantime, here’s a snapshot of our travels and the first 24 hours in Vietnam!

We departed from the Minneapolis airport early on Tuesday, Sept 6 and arrived in Vietnam near midnight on Sept 7^th. Our route took us Minneapolis – Chicago – South Korea – Vietnam.  Sarah and I have been enjoying each other’s companying, and, as one can expect after travelling together for 30 hours straight on little sleep, already have some pretty entertaining stories to reminder each other of in the coming months. One of my favorites so far:

Sarah, on airplane from Korea to Hanoi (after 24 hrs of travel): Sam, have you seen my pillow?

Me: Uhh…you mean the one sitting on your lap?

Sarah looks down, dazed. We both break out laughing.

She also has a Caribou radar. As we’re sitting in the airport in Korea, she grabs my arm and says, “Sam, is that a Caribou cup???” Love this girl – and yes, it was! So lo and behold we had Caribou in South Korea…yay Minnesota.

When we got into Vietnam, we spent the night at our director’s house, woke up early the next morning (again, jetlag), and began our adventures for the day.

First stop? Learn how to take a taxi.

2^nd stop: Get a cell phone.

3^rd  stop: Exchange money. In dom (Vietnamese currency) we’re millionaires!

4^th stop: Buy groceries.

5^th stop: Move into the university guest teacher housing and meet program director and a few staff.

So we’re being initiated into Vietnamese culture and life. We’ve already experienced the, shall we say, “fluid” traffic laws. The humidity here is incredible. (Remember back in MN the day with the highest humidity this summer? Yeah, that’s what it was here today, and that’s normal.) I found a gecko running along my bathroom wall. And sometime soon we’re going to have learn how to cross the street. A bit stretching? Yes (especially the gecko part), but also so exciting. I’m very grateful for the people that have been put around me here and look forward to seeing what the future holds. Oh, and one last note – for the first time in my life, I feel tall!

Hello and Welcome!

Hello and Welcome to my blog!

As I prepare to embark in less than a week on this venture to Vietnam, I am both excited and apprehensive. If you’d asked me a year ago what I’d be doing right now, teaching English at a university in Vietnam’s capital city Hanoi would certainly NOT have been my answer.  I doubt I could’ve even named the country’s capital. Yet here I am. And what a journey it’s been.

Through this process over the past year I’ve had to be continually reminded that “destination” is not actually the goal of life. Despite my never ending to-do lists, despite significant milestones of accomplishment such as college graduation and first job as a licensed educator, despite my drive for perfection, there comes a tickle in the back of my brain reminding me that effort does not equal success. Even the achievements that result from effort don’t equal success.

Rather, it’s the journey. It’s the process of life. It’s the daily obedience to the Father as he leads us a step at a time. It’s the resting and trusting in that obedience, through the joy, fun, adventures, hardship, and, yes, even pain.

As I sit here with my tea pondering these thoughts in the wee hours of the morning, I know my four-page to-do list awaits. I know the room my family is graciously allowing me to stay in is strewn with clothes, bags, and random items asking to be sorted, cleaned, and packed.

In fact, I awoke late this evening to a camera flash and realized I'd fallen asleep on the floor in the single corner of clear carpet space in the entire room - something my dad apparently found amusing and decided to document. (I don't blame him. ;) I’m tempted to be overwhelmed. But I’m going to try to savor these moments. To cherish the process and journey as a good gift from a perfect gift-giver.

And it is the stories of the journey that I hope to share in this blog, both big and small, pretty and ugly. I invite you to join me as I strive to make the journey the destination.