Another Move

My time in Hanoi flew by and it's hard to believe that I've now moved into my new home for the next 9 months in Cao Bang.  I definitely felt like I was starting to feel really comfortable in Hanoi just in time to leave.  And while Cao Bang has been amazing so far, all of my fellow ETAs (whom I've neglected to write about in prior posts--apologies for that) and I got really close over the last month and it was disappointing to say goodbye to everyone (I was also the last one to leave).

The last few days in Hanoi were really a highlight for me.  As soon as orientation ended, all of us ETAs headed out to a neighboring province where we had been invited to the wedding party of one of the wonderful women who works at the hotel at which we were staying.  Not only did we feel so privileged to be invited, but it was a really fun and culturally informative opportunity.  

For the second half of our last week in Hanoi, my good friend Frank and his girlfriend Talia were in town enjoying the last leg of their 10 week tour around the world!  I got to spend two great nights with Frank (unfortunately Talia was sick for the second) which provided a much-needed breath of fresh air after a month of just about everything being new and foreign. 

On Saturday, I went to the Hoa Lo prison, otherwise sarcastically known as the "Hanoi Hilton."  The prison was built under the French occupation and housed Vietnamese political prisoners/revolutionaries.  During the "American War," as the Vietnamese call it, the prison was home to American pilots who had been shot down--including, famously, John McCain.  Interestingly, the entire museum seemed to be a comparison between the vicious French treatment of Vietnamese prisoners and the warm and hospitable conditions under which the Vietnamese permitted the Americans to live.  I'll leave my observations to that, and I'm overall glad that I went, but it leaves much to be desired.  I admittedly don't know a lot about what went on at the prison, but I will say that the exhibits certainly fall short of a balanced depiction of historical facts.

I really wanted to try to use my last few days in Hanoi to see all of the tourist sites that I hadn't gotten a chance to see yet.  So, on Sunday morning, my friend Ophir and I set out to see the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum.  When we arrived, though, it seemed as though all of Vietnam was standing in line to pay their respects to their deceased leader.  This past Tuesday was Vietnam's National Day and we soon learned that many Vietnamese travel to Hanoi to visit the mausoleum each year on that weekend.  Ophir and I walked for at least 20 minutes and we never saw the end of the line as it wound out of the complex and down blocks of roadway.  I'll have to visit the mausoleum on another trip to the capital city.  

That night, though, Ophir and I did get to the famous water puppets show.  The water puppet show is a traditional Vietnamese art and is basically what it sounds like--people wading in the water behind a screen controlling puppets.  The puppet show was accompanied by traditional Vietnamese music and I would highly recommend catching a performance to any visitor to Hanoi.

Wednesday was the big travel day.  And by big, I mean really, really long.  My host here in Cao Bang Chi Tuyet (Chi is a pronoun for "older sister" and it's supposed to be used when addressing any woman who is older than you by 12 years or fewer--basically the equivalent of Ms.) travelled to Hanoi to pick me up and we left for the bus station at about 10:30am.  We got on the bus (which we almost missed because it left early) and set off for Cao Bang.  The bus ride was quite the experience.  I think I counted about 19 real seats and at one point I'm pretty sure that there were close to 30 people on the bus!  We were picking people up along the way, cramming them wherever they could fit.  Apparently, since it had been a holiday weekend, many people had travelled to Hanoi and needed to get back to their hometowns.  The ride was beautiful, but it took about 7.5 hours so I was really glad to get off the bus when we finally arrived in Cao Bang just after 6pm.  

I was wowed by all of my first impressions of Cao Bang.  First of all, the town itself is much bigger than I was expecting.  By no means is it big or would I describe it as a city, but I was expecting a lot less in terms of people, stores, restaurants, etc.  The town is also really beautiful as it is surrounded on all sides by mountains.  In addition, the room with which the school has provided me has far exceeded my expectations.  I'll have to post pictures another time, though, because there are some men working to install a door right now.  

Although the town is bigger than I thought, there's a very tight-knit community here.  However, I discovered this through a pretty embarrassing episode.  I went out to buy some water last night but the store had run out (I think).  I tried to communicate with the woman who ran the store and who, I think, was offering to sell me water that she had boiled herself, but it was a complete failure and I didn't end up buying anything.  This morning, though, all of the teachers knew that I had gone to buy water and was unsuccessful.

Another highlight of Cao Bang has been its people.  They have gone above and beyond to make sure that I feel welcomed here.  They have taken me out to lunches and dinner, invited me into their homes for dinner, and shown me around the town.  I spent all of Thursday afternoon with Chi Tuyet (who speaks very good English and has worked amazingly hard to make sure that I am comfortable and feel welcomed here) and another English teacher who showed me all of the grocery stores and markets where I could buy things (I even saw Heinz ketchup in one of the stores).  Then, yesterday was the official opening ceremonies to mark the beginning of the new school year.  School has been in session for about a month already, but for whatever reason, the opening ceremony was yesterday.  Anyway, the ceremony was really, really nice and very professionally executed.  Both students and teachers sang songs and performed dances in front of the rest of their classmates and teachers.  There were a lot of speeches made and it was overall a really joyous and exciting event.  

I have also been surprised at the level of English among the students.  Most adults here speak no English, but while I haven't interacted with all of the students whom I'll be teaching, I have met a handful who speak very, very good English.  That discovery was really exciting for me and I hope that I continued to be impressed by the students' speaking abilities.

One thing for which I thought I was prepared, but has still caught me off-guard is the celebrity treatment that I'm being given.  Not only did all of the students want to take pictures with me at the ceremony, but political officials and other important people from around town came to the celebration and to the lunch afterwards so that they could meet me and talk with me.  Also, I've noticed that when I walk around, everyone (even people unaffiliated with the school) stops their conversations and points me out to say hi.  It's actually really funny because they often speak to each other in Vietnamese as if to say "there's the English teacher from America," but little do they know that I know enough words in Vietnamese to understand when they're talking about me.   I'm so honored that everyone is excited to have me here, but I find myself having to walk a very fine and difficult line.  On the one hand, I feel very undeserving of the attention and it often makes me uncomfortable, but on the other hand, I don't feel like I can reject it for fear of embarrassing or offending anyone.  In addition, I am trying very hard not to let this kind of treatment get out of hand by politely refusing offers for things and treatment that would be totally unnecessary. 

That's all for now.  Tonight is the Mid-Autumn Festival which is a traditional festival for kids.  The festival is supposedly on the night on which the moon appears closest to the earth and is said to date back as many as 20,000 years.  I'll report back on the celebration in due time. 

All the best,

Jonathan 

American Pilot's uniform in Hoa Lo Prison

Water Puppet Show

The puppeteers after the show

The school decorated for the opening-day ceremonies

Students performing a dance at the ceremony

I must've taken hundreds of these photos with students

Chi Tuyet and I (she is wearing a traditional Vietnamese dress called an Ao Dai--pronounced ow zai)

One side of the schoolhouse from the courtyard

Another side of the school

Another side

Panoramic view of the school buildings/yard (sorry about the sun)