tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26775691139187627692024-02-19T07:18:04.712-08:00NANCY PHAM“As I grow to understand life less and less, I learn to love it more and more. - Jules Renard”Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-55937518227503410242011-07-30T19:07:00.000-07:002011-10-23T03:47:16.598-07:00UCHANU Year book page.It's been a while. Just trying to compile everything in one place and figured I'd post this up here. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidivr-1-mOvG7e22FN-wNCrt3cO6sIeMS-AUBWD1DI12tz0p4L265fpIbhvTfaw8DfsnVfs8PzivW0mT6H_jxcYzGjZuKwEFVj0MhBkO1t53I5dDlNQ28etZfAsoKLJeQB-tJdiYi5JFs/s1600/Yearbook1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidivr-1-mOvG7e22FN-wNCrt3cO6sIeMS-AUBWD1DI12tz0p4L265fpIbhvTfaw8DfsnVfs8PzivW0mT6H_jxcYzGjZuKwEFVj0MhBkO1t53I5dDlNQ28etZfAsoKLJeQB-tJdiYi5JFs/s400/Yearbook1.jpg" /></a></div>Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-47422716721631666522011-04-27T01:04:00.000-07:002011-10-23T03:47:24.835-07:00Dear Tim,I remember telling myself that I should make a conscious effort to continue blogging after UCHANU. I failed miserably at that. BUT, i've finally found something worth blogging about. <br />
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I found this in a book I was looking at for my research paper on Globalization and Vietnam Society. The book was Social Change in Southeast Asia and published in 1998. The letter was written on January 11th, 2007. I found it 4 years later, 2011. The letter is from a girl name “Nicole” to a guy named “Tim” and she was expressing her love and appreciation of him during their time spent together in Asia. I really hope he got this letter before leaving it in this book. It got me thinking about my own past experience in Vietnam. I remember crying so much at the last UCHANU dinner that all my makeup was smeared off and no matter what, the tears just wouldn't stop. It was so heartbreaking having to say good-bye to everyone, not knowing when we will see each other again, or if we'll keep in touch, and letting go of the memories. My biggest fear coming back to America was that I would forget my life in Vietnam, that I would all to easily re-emerge back into my surroundings in America as though I had never left. Reading this letter reminded me of how that can never be possible and that the experiences I've had, the people I've met have completely changed my life and myself whole utterly. I would tell everyone I've come across how much they made my experience so worth the trip. Not only Vietnam, but also the many people that I’ve come across who I’ve grown to love and appreciate and all the people that I’ve known I’ve grown attached to in my life but never really told them out loud how much I love and appreciate them and our friendship. Taking a break from my research paper, Here it is: <br />
<blockquote>January 11th, 2007<br />
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Dear Tim, <br />
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I can’t tell you enough how glad I am that you came to Asia for the holidays. My tears in Bangkok were preventing me from expressing myself fully. <br />
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It’s incredible when you spend every moment with a person for a month – and suddenly that person is gone – life as you’ve come to know it is altered. There are pieces of you all around me: traces of the baby power bomb you dropped in my bathroom, Pol Poc, Red Dust, and Yrahm Yreene, the beautiful tea set (which I cherish), your stomach rubbing oil, photographs, my backpack – which I still cannot bring myself to unpack because doing so I suppose would be an admittance that the trip is indeed over. <br />
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But, what I have the most of is – the things you taught me, and the countless moments that filled me up. I’ve been thinking about how crazy we are – to have done this trip. To spend our time getting to know each other in crowded hotel rooms, bumpy buses and very intense, high-pressure situations. It was at times hard for both of us, I know… and without the ability to step away, take a break, reflect – we had to trudge forward with our adventure. It was full-on, and there are times that I regret not communicating better, clamming up or being snappy, sometimes showing the opposite of what I wanted to. I wanted so badly to do right by you. Forty-eight hours later, sorting through it all, I miss you – you’ve become someone I care about immensely. And, as I did in Madison, I feel inspired that another crazy person exists in the world- willing to do the crazy thing – to just do it, press click, to go, to seize the moment. <br />
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I’m not sure if I told you enough that I appreciate you. There are many things about you that over the past few weeks I have come to love. In the rapid pace and exhaustions of travel these are things that you sometime fail to mention. I love how you lie on your stomach and pull all the covers over your head, how you pace the room aimlessly looking for something/nothing like a reflexive morning routine, how you apply hair gel. I love watching the way you talk to people, your kind and giving smile and ability to communicate through laughter and positive energy, the way you appreciate a good hard-boiled egg on a mountain top, how you appreciate lots of little things, how you awkwardly answered, “two years” then sheepishly turned to me and said, “that sound about right?”, how you are unendingly generous, how you put yourself in uncomfortable seats in order to make me more comfortable and then lied and said you liked it better in the uncomfortable seats, how your impulse was to protect me always, how you tell assholes to “be nice”, how you always ask, “got everything?”, how your whole self is positively elated by a motorbike and an open road (me too!), how you made me feel more beautiful in the past weeks than I have ever, ever felt in my whole life, the way you eat baguettes, your sleeping morning face, the way you look at me when we make love, the way your hand feels in mine – constant, calming, gentle, trustworthy – when there are no more words to say, and exhaustion has won over me. I love your love of knowledge and learning. I love your ambition. I love your tenderness. I love your sense of self. I love your intellect and your unbridled sense of adventure. I love rolling over in bed and putting my hand on your stomach. I love your strength. I love many things about you, this is just as start.<br />
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Whatever happens – know these things. Thank you for the most intense, beautiful, eye-opening, challenging trip of my life. <br />
<br />
I love you too. <br />
Nicole ~</blockquote><br />
I hope I can find you one day Tim and Nicole, and that you're somewhere married.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-71791501160007075362010-12-04T23:27:00.000-08:002011-10-23T03:47:34.820-07:00Service Learning - Self and IdentityIn volunteering at sao mai, there are a lot of children who come and go during the class to lessons and then there are some students who don't show up for weeks and when they do they feel out of place and don't like to go to school anymore. In my classroom, there are a couple of kids who I don't see for at least 2 weeks because they don't attend, and then they would show up the next week and feel very fussy and angry that they have to come. I asked the teachers where the children go or if there has to be a valid excuse for students not to attend class and they said that there isn't any such thing. She says that because the kids are special, that sometimes they just need a break and that how the school is runned, students don't really have grades to give out or demerits if misbehaved badly or missing classes. The parents pay for their kids to come and if there they don't come then that's up to the parents as well. In thinking of self and identity I wonder what the children will grow up to be like and how they will identify themselves. In sao mai, they practice how to develop simply life skills to take care of themselves and how to talk if they have the capacity to, but I think in a way, they try to establish a sense of self for the children as well. One of the lesson plans that the teachers do involves the student going up in front of the class and pointing their picture on a chalk board. They are asked to find their picture on the board, and then say their name and then asked for find that person in the classroom which means pointing to themselves. Other times, the are asked to find a picture of other classmates and their names and to go point to them in the classroom. I think this is to establish how to say their name and to recognize other people. In this way, I think Sao Mai does try to help the kids have a self identity. In thinking about self identity, is it really all that easy to just know your name and picture and say that you know yourself? definitely not. but at least with the kids, it is a step. But I think that the teachers should start incorporating things that the kids like to do, such as ask the kids "What does (insert name) like to eat?", What does (insert name) like to play" And then the kids can answer "I" like to do this and that. I think knowing yourself has to do with knowing what you like and don't like, and what you feel. Most of the kids do have favorite things to do. Like one kid loves to eat. and will eat anything and everything off the floor. So In terms of Sao Mai, they do try to practice and teach the children who they are, but only time will tell if the kids actually know who they are or not.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-42145473836081430772010-11-30T02:19:00.000-08:002011-04-30T23:12:46.390-07:00UCHANU: Integration back in US?How can I integrate the experiences of the semester into my life, and in what concrete ways can I remain connected to UCHANU and Vietnam?"<br />
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Words cannot explain my time in Vietnam and how much I have grown and changed here. In integrating the experience of this semester into my life, I'm not sure how I will even let go of this whole experience. In returning back home, I know in my heart that there will be a feeling wishing that I was back in Vietnam where I found friends, family, and a home here. This experience has changed my life in general and the most fearful thing that would happen to me is that in going back home, and returning to the daily routines before of going to school, meetings, and all that other stuff, that I will forget that I ever went to Vietnam. <br />
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I'm pretty good at going back to daily routines and picking up things again. Hence, I'm afraid that I would get so wrapped up in everything back in the States that I would forget all the memories that I have here. Therefore, my main goals is to keep the memories that i have made here stay with me forever. I want to remember all the time i spent here and the people that I have met. The biggest way to do this is through my pictures and facebook haha. but anyways... i think it has been an inevitable change of myself that I have come here. I have changed and become more comfortable finding myself here and knowing that I can survive anything if I can survive Vietnam.<br />
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I have never cried so much in my life in that one night of saying good-bye to UCHANU and Vietnam. Vietnam was the challenging/ frustrating, life changing moment of my life and my first real Heartbreak. I will never forget my fist love, Vietnam.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-13054030332970799332010-11-30T01:52:00.000-08:002010-12-04T20:34:47.405-08:00Service Learning: 12 Last Week - Thoughts and FeelingsAs this whole trip is coming to an end and our service learning here, everyday I get more and more depressed about saying good bye to Vietnam and everything in it. As this is our last week, we are trying to finish up our painting project and saying good bye to our teachers, kids, and staff at sao mai. Yesterday painting was one of the most productive days we've had, getting he majority of our work done and was pleasantly surprise with the outcome of it all. We were able to have a new out look on this painting expereince as i brought us closer to other people in Sao Mai. Working in the classroom's we had the most contact with only the kids and teacher. Working on the project, we met the Bao Ve and talked a lot more with other volunteers. Leaving Sao Mai, I have to admit, I'm not completely sad about it. There have been tough times going there and volunteering dealing with the culture differences of handling disabled children and with the teachers. However, it is not that fact that I am not sadden. I am not sadden because I know that there will be plenty of volunteers to come who will want to help out Sao Mai and I can understand that there with this amount of volunteer, Sao Mai will not be without help. Basically, Sao Mai will continue to fine and run when I am not there anymore. My teachers will probably not miss me that much as I felt that there was little I could do in the classroom to help besides just chasing the children and chatting it up with them. As for the kids, they are too small and young to even remember me, but they are the ones that I am going to miss the most. They are a rowdy little bunch, but they are kids and cute none the less. Hence, my thoughts and feelings of Sao Mai has now turned to saying good bye and thank you for letting me come here and learning about how this school and the society of disabled children.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-1890746105500489842010-11-23T01:05:00.000-08:002010-11-23T01:07:03.846-08:00Service Learning 11: InterestThinking about the word interest in terms of Sao Mai, I can only think about our project that we are in the middle of completing. This painting that we are trying to take on has led to many road blocks along the way from changing colors, to changing pictures, to changing even the purpose of this project. <br />
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Starting out, we wanted to paint the playground and give it new life and color so that when kids come in and play they have this feeling of enjoyment. It was suppose to be an artwork and our contribution to Sao Mai. However, we had to stop and rethink about what it is that we are actually doing. Time is getting close and everytime we go into volunteer now, our minds are on this project because we are scared that it won't get done in time, now we're scared that it won't even get accomplished at all. We came in with the vision that we would paint the area with children running, jumping rope, doing things that are active so that when children look at the picture, they become inspired. However, we are not artist, let alone great painters. We were gonna do blue and yellow on the pillars as background colors. The background color that we have chosen was suppose to be blue so that it would be bright and stand out. Instead, we ended up choosing this baby blue color that looks identically like white. and had to paint the entire playground that blue because if we were to utilize yellow, then it would not pop. so now the whole pillars are this blue and an already opened bucket of yellow paint that is going to waste. not what we wanted. Making due with our white blue sky, we decided to incorporate the name Sao Mai and do clouds and stars. We chose a really bright shiny color blue to outline the clouds with and do red stars. Painting the clouds there was a cute choice, but when we added the red stars, we realized we were painting the colors of the American flag. we were disgustd. I think i've already mentioned this part in my other blog. So here we are, still unsure of what to do because we don't know what is in the best interest of Sao Mai or for ourselves. We have turned this into a community project along the way with other volunteers at Sao Mai helping us paint. Except, i feel that they see this painting time as a way to escape the classroom instead of in the same way that we view this project. Therefore, their interest is different than ours. <br />
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Painting the playground we are now conflicted about who's interest we should paint the playground for? It should be in the interest of Sao Mai who has to utilize this space for years to come, so we should paint it how they would want it to look like. However, their visions are different from ours because our interest are also consumed with time, space, and money. We are concerned about getting it accomplished and looking good. In the interest of Sao mai, I guess we have to keep in mind that this project was for them in the first place and secondly for us. It was originally intended for Sao Mai's interest so that their playground would be better, and the second interest was for us to contribute and give back to Sao Mai. Keeping both these interests in mind, we are now at the dilemna of what exactly to do with this playground. We have little time left, and we must complete the painting in both interests before we leave Vietnam.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-32415562159567272212010-11-22T23:41:00.000-08:002010-11-23T00:49:49.010-08:00One HeartlandOver the past week, UCHANU has been able to come together and fund-raise to buy enough jackets to fit the small children of Nghe An and gather donations of clothings for the poor families there. Tabling, classroom talks, coffee selling, coffee shop fundraising, food selling, and High Roller Night were all successful in gathering enough donations for this trip. Honestly, UCHANU were not the biggest contributers but it were the people's support that we were able to gather that made this possible. One Heartland was just successful in bringing it all together. <br />
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Working in a group with One Heartland was honestly a very gratifying experience. However, it does take individual initiative in order to get a group working together. There has to be a leader within a group from what I've learned over the years. There has to be leaders and followers within a group. With in each group, there was a person in charge of getting things together, and without them, we probably couldn't get the materials that we needed in order to sell food and drinks, or collect clothes, etc. The boys too initiative and started selling coffee and that honestly was the bread winner of the group. We were able to generate a lot of revenue from selling coffee and food and without them, we couldnt have raised enough. However, it does take good followers in order to make the group efficient. Not one person can always be there to take charge and so the followers have to be good followers in order to keep the group going. In my opinion, sometimes the followers are the most important part of a group because without the followers, who will the leaders lead? Anyways, working with UCHANU there were fair shares of people who were willing to take initiative and come up with creative ways to fundraise and there were people willing to put in the time and effort in order to carry out those creative ideas. <br />
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I've worked in another group in HANU with my International Relations class and the group was for a research project. It was of a different scale and for class, but nonetheless it was a group. In a smaller group, there has to more communication and less dictatorship I believe. We all had to convene and do our parts before any body else was able to do their part and make sure we were all on the same page etc. So there was less of the whole follower and leader aspect. But more communication I believe went on. For One Heartland, the UC students were busy traveling while the HANU students were in Hanoi, so we lacked this communication for a while. We held 3 meetings, one for UC and one for HANU and then one together. Ideas were being reiterated so it took us a while for us to formulate who to carry out the fundraising. In bigger groups it's harder for people's voices to be heard or for everyone to jump along with the idea. But once, something is initiated then you can either hop on the bandwagon or not. In this case, the bandwagon was going in the right direction and we were able to achieve more than what we had expected. <br />
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In a group, you can do a lot, but it takes the initiative of each individual in order to be successful.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-63536913748845912252010-11-16T00:12:00.000-08:002010-11-23T00:49:49.010-08:001 month left.Almost every day now, I have that fear and sadness hit me about going home within a month. I use to remember before that my time in Vietnam wasn't that short and I have all the time to go and do a whole bunch of things. However, now with one month left, that is not the case anymore and within that month, there is so much for me to do. From finals to projects, to volunteering, to trying to spend time with family, there are few rare chances for me to go and explore Hanoi except during the night time. In the day, my days are so packed with things to do that it's crazy. i want to go out and explore, eat everything, and do something new each day now. The past few days coming back from the Southern Trip has been packed with all these things to do and it's scary. In a sense I am ready to leave Vietnam, because I am ready to go home and see my family and friends. But I'm not ready to start living my life how it was in America again. I can't even think about what it was like before I went to Vietnam. Each day I wake up with the feeling I have to do something, go somewhere, eat something new. I flip through the lonely planet desperately trying to find a guide to this new something. Sometimes it ends in success, others in failure. After all, it is a tour book made for tourist, sometimes you don't want to go to really tourist areas. However, i realized it will be the simple things that i miss the most. Waking up for a banh mi in the morning and eating sua chua nep cam, crossing the street, walking around Pho Co, hanging out at the same bars. Maybe I need to just soak in everything that I've been doing and will miss of Vietnam rather than trying to go and find new adventures. My life n vietnam has become one great adventure and maybe it's time to come back down to reality.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-38308698807595542652010-11-16T00:03:00.000-08:002010-11-23T00:51:27.451-08:00Service Learning Week 10 = IndividualTime is dwindling down and there is little time left for us to complete our project. The other day we bought new paint, blue and red, in order to paint clouds and stars around the column to represent the name "Sao Mai = Morning Star." We thought this idea would have been a great one except when we realized that the colors we choose were the color of the American flag... <br />
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Looking at it this way, we were almost disgusted with the idea to continue painting. Here we are, these American Vietnamese kids going into Sao Mai with all these thoughts in our head and preconceived ideas of how improve, better, and help the institute of Sao Mai by volunteering there. And now we're going to come in and paint your playground the color of the American flag?! We did not want the people of Sao Mai to think of us in this way or look at the playground and see some kind of message like that in it. It's crazy how much one individual has that kind of power and one idea or misunderstanding or over look can possibly result into something more. <br />
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So here we are, with half done blue clouds and one giant read star along random columns, not knowing what to do with the paint some more and not knowing how to fix it. Going back into the classroom to volunteer, it got me thinking about whether or not our project would have been better served if it was somehow related to the classroom now. Being outside of the classroom and coming back in, I see a different way the teachers and students behave now. In my classroom, the newest teacher has been given more responsibilities now, however the control that she has over the children is still lacking. It's like the children know she's a noOb and so they don't pay attention or respect her as much as the other teachers, or it could be the fact that she still doesn't know how to handle them alone. Anyways, when a single person enters the classroom, one individual, it disrupts the whole program of the class. If it's a volunteer like myself, the children would be more incline to play with the new comer instead of listening to the teachers. If a new teacher comes in, then the children are around someone they are not use to and so they have to adjust and become familiar with that new individual. One extra individual in the class can change the behaviors of the others.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-36771981838493280162010-11-09T04:35:00.000-08:002010-11-09T04:35:00.270-08:00Southern VietnamThe past 10 days I was lucky enough to travel throughout Southern Vietnam, going to Saigon, Can Tho, lang Vinh Hanh, Rach Gia, and Phu Quoc. The things that I have experienced there are hard to sum up because so many things has happened: <br />
1) Saigon; meeting my fraternity brothers and going to eat at Nha Hang Ngon, Cen Tech nighttime sky view, Lush club, backpacking district, eating Oc, shopping, more backpacking district, drinking beer on the street, and the famous Apocalypse Bar. Going to the Cu chi tunnels and going to District 5, known as the Chinatown and seeing all the temples there. <br />
2) Can Tho: riding through a Thang Long farms, staying at a Nha Nghi, eating Hu Tieu, karaoke, floating market, Long Xuan Market and food hopping all around. <br />
3) Homestay in a far away village near the Mekong Delta where the food was delicious with fish, veggies and rats, sleeping with the mosquitoes, going on a boat to catch fish, walking through the jungle and bird sanctuary where the green waters is a sight to behold, visiting a Mosque and the people of a Cham village, and the different temples.<br />
4) Driving to Rach Gia before reaching the Superdong where the waters and rough and the speed of it was intense that made a lot of people sea sick before reaching Phu Quoc.<br />
5) Being completely free and roaing around the entire island from the Southern point where the most beautiful beaches are to the northern tip seeing Cambodia, and visitng Chua Su Moun where the monks invited us to have tea and fruit with them and chatting it with them. <br />
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These past few days have been amazing and am so thankful that I was able to experience all of it. The only thing that would have made it any better is if I had the chance to share it with my parents. Thinking about it, and knowing that I only have one month left before going back to America, i feel extremely sad and confused. I'm confused about what to do with my time here, do I try to make a list and do everything on that? Should I just continue living my life here as it was and enjoying it as it is because I will never live like this again, or should I start somehow, someway to plan and scheme of coming back here in the near future after graduating? I guess, time is creeping up on me and it makes me confused on how I would like to spend this time here. I still have a lot of schooling to complete and things to do with family before going back, so I'm not sure where my priorities are. However, I do know that whatever I do now until I leave, I have to continue documenting and recording every single bit and pieces of it so that when I come back, my parents can share this experience with me.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-88029746221305516492010-11-08T21:33:00.000-08:002010-11-23T00:51:01.749-08:00Service Learning Week 9? I forget - SocietyRight now we are in the middle of our project for Sao Mai which is painting the out door playground of Sao Mai. In trying to paint the columns, we're faced with the dilemna of what exactly it is that we want to paint. We've had many ideas and swapped visions a lot. We finally came up with with one that incorporated the theme and name of Sao Mai within the playground. Sao Mai means morning star, so we had this idea that we would paint the columns full of clouds and shooting star to go with the theme, and to incorporate the children, have grass on the ground that would be made up of the children hands. We went up to the office to ask permission again if we could just use the children help in doing this and they said that it probably would turn out ugly because they had done the whole hand thing once before and it didn't look good. However, they liked the idea of the theme of Sao Mai being incorporated into the painting. One of the ladies who worked there walked us over to her computer where we found out she knew english and was the one doing all the translation, brochures, and presentation slides. She showed us a picture of a star that was being formed out of the hands of people where they would do like a peace sign and connect the together and that created a star. She told us the symbol behind this hand star was that society and Sao Mai want to work together and create this school, so it was a symbolic of the helping hands of society. This got me thinking about in terms of society, who helps who. I wonder who the presentation of So Mai is for because it's in English, so therefore, it probably for other people from foreign countries. Thus, it looks to the society of foreign countries for support, but just because it is from somewhere outside of Vietnam doesn't mean that the support from that society is any less. I think it terms of society, vietnam's society and foriegn countries' society work together to create on big society in order to help Sao Mai.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-73005098222436914872010-10-24T07:28:00.000-07:002010-10-24T07:29:28.986-07:00What does an Ao Dai really mean?Today I went to visit my aunt and we were talking about how I wanted to get an Ao Dai made in Vietnam and how much all of the costs are and such things. We were talking about how the modern Ao Dai of today with like the halter top Ao Dai or the the ones with no neck, or puffy sleves, or really long tails, how they don't look nearly as beautiful was the classic ones. yea, there're more modern but not necessarily any more stylish. Then, all of a suddent she dragged me upstairs to try on her very own ao dai and wanted to give me it instead of going to get one made for me. I thought that this gesture was really kind of her and it got me thinking about what an ao Dai really means to girls and Vietnam. I have worn plenty of Ao Dais in my lifetime, almost every year I had to get one made for me because of weddings and other celebrations. Wearing an Ao Dai to me was a symbol of traditionalism and classic Vietnamese beauty and that each Ao Dai that I have worn was connected with a special event and meaning. Like this Ao Dai I wore to my cousins wedding or this one was for my grandfather's funeral.. etc etc. I could never think to part with any one of them and because that they are tailored to fit your body , that each ao dai specially belongs and and was meant just for you. <br />
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now here I am with my grand aunt's Ao Dai and she is so dearly giving away to me, another ao dai to add to my collection and meaningful events in my life. I just couldn't believe that she would give me one of hers because I thought that there was so much more meaning in them. When I asked her if she was sure, she said yes, that she had no occasion to wear them anymore and that she knew right away that they would fit me. Therefore, this Ao Dai is probably the most special one in my closet since it was given to me by my aunt from Vietnam.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-25925465008259739722010-10-24T06:50:00.000-07:002010-10-25T07:08:45.214-07:00Service Learning: Week 8 - Toleration and AcceptanceWorking in Sao Mai, there has been many ups and downs. I think in my own ways that I have become more tolerant and accepted of this place. Starting out, I had this feeling that there would be some way to contribute more in the classrooms and with the children. However, coming there I realized that there was not much I could contribute to the school, or at least in the same way as I had hoped. Working there for over 2 months now, I have become more tolerant and accepted within Sao Mai and of Sao Mai. I have come to realize that a lot of the procedures and practices of the classroom, that I use to not like, such as yelling at the kids and hitting them, or the way they teach things here, that I have grown to accept and understand their practices and teachings. I have come to understand why the handle the kids the way that the do. When the teachers yell at them, it isn't to be mean or out of frustration and anger necessarily, but when raising their voices, it gets the children attention more and when they talk like that, the children listen. So now, when I walk into the classrooms, I no longer have this strange feeling as to why the teachers are treating the children this way or in this teaching method. Being there over the past 2 months I have observed and come to understand their teaching methods and have accepted them. Sao Mai is a very organized school with already so many things such as financial support since I saw one of the patrons coming into class the other day asking the teachers if they had met their "p3 level" or something like that. I asked the teachers who he was and they said that he was one of the patrons and the one that sort of started and gave Sao Mai it's curriculum. I realize that the practices of Sao Mai have been established for such a long time and that if there was something ultimately wrong about it, or that the teachings weren't helpful to the students, then the school and all of the other schools in the districts would probably be shut down already. Therefore, I think that I have come to accept that Sao Mai as an efficient school and that it has to be doing things right if the school has been going on for a while and has many family who wants to send their children there. <br />
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I have also accepted my part in Sao Mai as well. When I come to volunteer, I know that my presence helps in watching over the children and doing little errands for them such as setting up tables and cleaning up. It isn't a lot of hard work or some great contribution on my part, but it is helpful in the classroom. I now mostly enjoy coming to class just to see the children and teacher and watching their progress on a weekly basis. I like to see the children who when I first came to volunteer that they couldn't say anything and now they are sounding out sounds and some of them even words. It is nice to see the teachers and children and just talk and interact with them. In doing this, I have accepted Sao Mai and I think the teachers have accepted me.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-11749733056953695922010-10-18T20:35:00.000-07:002010-10-18T20:35:24.874-07:00I survived SAPA!!!1)Went on a nice train ride there and arrived in the freaking cold at the Lao Cai train station.<br />
2)Ate some bombass Com Ran and Thit and Chao Ga. <br />
3)Went to Dragon's Jaw and saw an amazing view of Sapa Town, experienced the fresh air and misty morning dew, took wonderful pictures and ate seaseme ice cream.<br />
4)Went shopping around the market and got suckered into buying a bracelet from a cute hmong girl.<br />
5)next day, went on a survival hike to Ban Ho and needed assistant from our little Hmong friends who were trekking through that mud like it was nothing while we had to nearly hold on with our dear lives to survive.<br />
6)Bombass food at the stay home once we survived all of the mountain trekking. <br />
7)Thank you Anh Thai for organizing our excursion and playing tour guide. I will gladly go work for our company if you ever open a tourist agency.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-46554926529924540102010-10-18T04:09:00.000-07:002010-10-18T04:11:39.376-07:00Service Learning Week 6?? or 7 - Exclusion and InclusionIn the classroom that I help out in Sao Mai, there are definitely many different levels which the children are all mentally at. My 3 and 4 years old are all different with different mental capabilities. They range from the children who can barely hold attention, or listen to any authority and can only sit quietly. There are some who have the energy of a 4 year old and know nothing but running around without listening to authority. There are some who can listen to the teachers and sit there quietly but cannot comprehend anything. Then there are some who seem perfectly normal 4 years old to me. These ones are the ones who are more progressive in the speech training. All of my children are at the age where most normal children start speaking, 3-4 years old, however, my kids take are not at that level and so special teachers come in and work with them. Therefore, those who are farther along in their speech training are looked at as "smarter." These "smarter" children are the ones who are included in activities and get special snacks. While the other ones who's progress are slower are excluded. There is one boy who has the capabilities to say words and repeats after the teachers after a few trials who is also probably the worst trouble maker in class. All he does is steal other kids toys and runs around and never sits in his seats, however, the teachers are more lenient on him I would say because of his speaking progress. Another child who cannot speak at all, but is obedient and never causes trouble gives the teacher headaches when he cannot repeat such words as water. therefore, there is a separation between the excluded and included children. The children who can speak are included more in activities and are the ones the teachers love the most while the ones who cannot speak are excluded and are treated less lovingly. This makes me think that although Sao Mai is an effective organization, that its goals and progress are based on their own personal satisfaction. Teachers become proud when their students do well in school, so when a student does not do well, it makes the teachers look bad as well. therefore, the ones in my classroom who can speak are included more because the teachers thinks that this is a good reflection on their work. The children who are excluded are the ones the teachers feel that they fail at being a student and cannot learn. However, in my opinion, a truly great teacher can take the worst student regardless of any circumstances and teach them well enough to become the best student. Therefore, the teachers in Sao Mai should not show favoritism and exclude the children who cannot talk but instead, include them and work with them even more than the other ones to make them all better.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-87962031637387998262010-10-12T09:47:00.000-07:002010-10-12T09:47:37.313-07:002 months left??My meeting with my teacher about the half-way mark sparked some discontent with me. What am I in Vietnam for? Why am I here? What do I want to achieve or experience? All along, i have thought about this studying abroad experience just as that. Study abroad. I came here to learn about this country, school, and its people live. I feel that in the little time that I have been here, i have done a lot of things that I never knew I could do or had the courage to. Crossing a crazy traffic street, eating food on the sidewalk while sitting in a chair that I can barely squeeze into, seeing my father's hometown and the relatives' faces who I have never thought I would get a chance to meet, seeing my parents in their natural habitat, drinking bia hoi on a tuesday after classes, riding around on the back of a motorbike, xe oming it with 3 people on a bike, eating sua chua nep cam maybe 2-3 times everyday and my favorite banh mi lady around the corner every morning for breakfast. All these things are experiences big and small which I will miss when I have to go home. While at the same time, I feel that I have so far achieve what I wanted coming to Vietnam for. Which is to learn, in and outside of the classroom, through books, people, and my own experiences. So with 2 months left of this program, I have nothing else that I want to achieve. Now, with this 2 months, in a sense, I am free. I am free to do whatever I want here while I still can because in a sense I have gotten all of my goals out of the way and now I can just relax and enjoy my time here. however, there is this panicky feeling within me every time I go out now saying " this might be the last time you..." and I hate that feeling. I feel so sad when that thought pops into my head and instead of enjoying the moment, I fear when that moment is over and afraid that i will never have the chance again to live in that moment. I think this being said, I will miss Vietnam when the time comes to leave, and I do not know how I will be able to say good-bye.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-37133710752616397482010-10-10T09:04:00.000-07:002010-10-10T09:04:58.722-07:00Service Learning Week 5: Organizational StructureWhen thinking about what organizational structure means, I think of the hierarchy within the institution. i.e., who's in charge, who has to report to who, what are the different ranks. In Sao Mai, I would definitely say there is a hierarchy within the organizational structure.Within in my first few weeks of working there, there has already been one teacher who was switch out of the class to teach another one, and 2 new teachers that have come in to take her place with one leaving. Now my classroom consists of 3 teachers, 2 old and 1 new. The new teacher seemed to be as misplaced as I was when I entered. What exactly are we suppose to do, what are we here for, what are we suppose to teach. Us two basically did the same thing in where we sat with the children for a long time and just telling them to be quiet while the other two teachers taught. Just yesterday, she had the classroom all to herself so she was held responsible for the children. However, when I asked her how did she feel about teaching at Sao Mai, such as if it is difficult, she said that it wasn't for her because she had yet to teach any of the kids educational stuff. She wasn't allowed to teach them how to read or identify words yet, but rather just fun things such as playing with toys and putting away blankets or pillows. Nothing too hard. Seeing how the new teacher has developed and the steps that they take in training the teacher shows that there is a hierarchy in the system. The teachers take a long time to learn and new comers are not so easily accepted because they can quit at any minute just like the previous teacher. Therefore, this just reaffirms my belief that Sao Mai is very organized in that every teacher has to go through training and that they are not trusted with handling the educational part of the school until the other older teachers feel necessary. I feel that if that is the case, the hierarchy has a lot to do with how the teachers organize their classroom. As before in my other posts. Teachers do not exactly get to choose what to teach their children, but what the school and program tells them to teach. this is why probably us volunteers are very limited in what we are able to help with, I.e. teaching the children. We are not within their higher hierarchy system where we are trained to teach the children and within the little time we have here, we probably will not be able to reach that level. therefore, we have to come up with a way to put ourselves within that organizational structure so that we are needed and a valued member.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-1827506971741601722010-10-04T09:04:00.000-07:002010-10-04T09:04:28.220-07:00Harvesting Rice! actually.........cooking for the people who Harvest Rice!This weekend we went to harvest rice. however, I was one of the cooks who was in the kitchen, so I missed out on the chance to harvest, but it was still fun being in the kitchen. I'ver never had to make a full meal for 50 people, so it was kind of cool, and I learned how to make nem :) It took a really long time to prepare and make everything, we wanted to finish early to go out to the rice fields too, but the kitchen was so small and there weren't a lot of places to cook, so we had to take turns and rotate. Then, when all the people were back from cutting rice, we still weren't done, so they had to wait and some of them were nice enough to help. However, after the meal, everyone just knocked out and it makes me wonder about when all the rice farmers come back how tired and hungry they all are. Even though they were hungry, everyone was even more tired, so we seemed to overcooked. It was nice to work in the kitchen though cause I do like to cook, but it wasn't really cooking, but preparing really was what we were doing. I just wish I was able to go out into the fields for just a litle, but and take some pictures, but I'm glad I was in the kitchen or else my eczema would probably go into overdrive.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-59052861781329299532010-10-03T20:23:00.000-07:002010-10-03T20:23:45.376-07:00Service Learning: Week 4 - Public, Private, and Physical SpaceIn Sao Mai, every room has about three teachers to attend to 10-12 children. While the teachers have control over their children, it seems to me that there is not so much control in the classroom. The teachers follow the bells and schedule that Sao Mai sets up for them. Their daily routine isn't something that the teachers seem to pick, but more of what the whole school does. When the bell rings, it means it's time for studying, eating, sleeping, etc. The teachers don't get to decide what to with the children per say and that in itself, I think is something that needs to change. Each children in the classroom is at a different level and unique. Sometimes, when it's time to study or play, the children who arent't capable of playing seem to be left out. The other day when it was time to learn and the teachers focus on one kid at a time, the other children always seem to be really bored, or think it's time to go crazy. While that one child doesn't have the full attention from that teacher. Or what they are teaching the children, seems to be unnecessary. One time, the teachers were teaching children how to stack cups and one of the boys was already passed that and thought stacking cups was a waste of his time, so he started crying and wandering around. However, Sao Mai does offer private lesson to the special kids who do seem to be making a progress such as in speach. During certain times, another teacher will come in and take one of the children away for speech therapy. This makes me think that in terms of public space, the classroom is a public space and the children and teacher all share that one space. The term in itself gives the impression that the public space is something that should be shared and equal. The children in that classroom should all be treated the same and do things together and the same. But privately, the children do get private treatment. They go have individual lessons where I assume that teaching is done one on one and is more focused. So in that private space, the child is able to progress more. This makes the me think that although Sao Mai is a very structured and organized school, the classroom being a "public space" in my eyes is not as effective as it could be. The individual classes seem to garner more success. Also, thinking about Sao Mai in itself is a private school, only special students and the ones that have parents who can afford it, send their children their for their special needs. However, the classrooms being a public space do not actually have much focus on their children and their learning. It is only with the private lessons that their needs are more addressed.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-68251065779148293532010-09-27T21:48:00.000-07:002010-09-27T21:48:11.994-07:00In Love with Central VietnamOne of the best things about this central trip was the chance to finally see my Vietnamese family. My grandparents in Vietnam have already passed away and I was never able to meet them, so going to their home and seeing the place where my dad grew up and all his sisters and brothers was really a touching moment for me. My parent's came back to Vietnam for the 49th day of my grandmother's passing which is a big deal, so they were only here for a funeral basically and my uncle and cousin came back for the same thing too. It was fortunate that I was going to the central at the same time. My dad's hometown is in Quy Nhon, but he lives in the country side where it takes 2 hours to get and 2 hours to get out of the city. I thought I wasn't going to get the chance to see my family or my dad's home because it was such a long way for me to get there and they don't own a car or anything. So my dad said that they would just come into the city and stay for a couple of hours and then leave, but my aunts really wanted to meet me so they told my dad to bring me back. They rented a car taxi to drive them into the city to pick me up and then we all went back to my dad's hometown. I come from a family of rice farmers. The whole area is belongs to the "Pham" family and everyone there has our last name. How we are related, I have no clue, but we somehow in someway. My aunt lives in a small house with just one room for sleeping where like 6 of them share it. They have a kitchen attached and then another room for the alter. They just built a bathroom and a place to shower about 2 days before I came there and it's outside, so it's not attached to the house. The land that surrounds the area is all rice fields and so it's green and lushes, and a beautiful scenery for me. Overall, it's really hot and the house is pretty small for everyone to live there. But it didn't matter to me really because it was just nice getting the chance to see my family. To see what they look like and to talk with them. It was just really nice and to be able to be there with my parents too. However, i know that live there is a lot harder and more painful, so it makes me sad that there's not much more for them that I can do. We've always sent money over from America, and I thought that it was to help them out, but it seems that even the money that we send isn't enough to live on so even though we send money and try to help, it's not enough. That makes me sad. Knowing that I get to live such a great life and come to Vietnam and enjoy all the landmarks and places that not even my family can go to or people here in Vietnam that I have met can visit just makes me realize how privileged I am here. Later, my cousin's husband drove me on this motorbike back to the city which is another 2 hours and he had to drive back with makes it a 4 hour ride on the motorbike and trust me, 2 hours is enough to make my ass hurt. Going back into Quy Nhon, I met up with my cousin who's from America and visiting also, and we just went to drink sinh to and chat and with her was a monk and his friend. So it was the 4 of us and a monk sitting on the sidewalk talking about life and giving me words of wisdom. <br />
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On that note, I definitly love the central a lot more. Quy Nhon, Da Nang, Hoi An, Kon tum, Hue, they're all places that I could see myself living in Vietnam. Coming into EAP Vietnam, I thought that the place where we were staying and going to school would be like those places. It was how i dream of Vietnam being. Hanoi is fun too, but it's the people that make it so. All the UCHANU kids and people we meet make the place lively, but the city itself... all the dust, people pushing, motorbikes, crowds, smell, streets, it's something that I can do without. In the central, it's just a lot more freer and calmer and a nice place I think. Especially Quy Nhon, which is probably my favorite place. Da Nang was ok, but Hoi An was even better because I got a suit tailor made for me there. I definitely want to go back and get more stuff tailored. Da Nang, was great in that I could see the giant Bodhisattva which was incredible and the temple there. Kon Tom, it was a lonnnng hike, but the village was nice and sleeping and staying in the stillhouse was an experience. Probably my second favorite place would be Hue. Renting a bike and riding it around Hue, into the countryside made me fall in love with Hue. Then, going on that full day tour to all the cultural parts and the temple was just a great experience. I definitely want to go back to the central.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-81378287118894466552010-09-17T06:06:00.000-07:002010-09-17T06:07:49.317-07:00Service Learning: Week 3 - EthicsWhen I think of the word ethics, I think of certain behaviors that society deems acceptable, and not necessarily an individual. The word morals on the other hand, are the principles and values that an individual holds. In Sao Mai, the behavior of the teachers seem to be ethically acceptable, however it seems different from my own morals. In Sao Mai, teachers are a lot mor strict and physically aggressive to the children. Teachers would hit the children who around 2-4 years old with not just their hands, but flag poles and chopsticks. When I say hit, I don’t really mean that the teachers beat the shit out of the children, but it does seem really painful, to me at least. When the teachers hit the kids, it is often because the kids aren’t doing something like sitting down right, paying attention, or just crying. However, these behavior of the kids seem standard to me, and not just because they are disabled or mentally ill that they act like this. My kids seem just like normal kids to me, if I hadn’t known that Sao Mai was a school for special children with disabilities, I wouldn’t have known that the kids were any different than the ones I see on the street. Therefore, I wonder the punishment of hitting these kids is because they are special children and need to be handled more forcefully, or if it is just how Vietnamese in general handle any kids. Ethnically, is it wrong for these teachers to punish the children in Vietnamese culture or is it because in America, physical punishment is frowned upon that I think it is ethnically wrong? Once I saw the teacher coming after the kids with a chopstick, I was like “oh damn, that’s an Asian parent for ya.” Also, when I handle the children, I tend to handle them more gently than the teachers do. I do not drag a kid across the room in order for him to sit down, but rather instead just coax him into the chair. It’s hard for me to be forceful with the children, but if I’m not, it seems to make the teachers upset when I coddle them. But it’s against my morals to hit children. I wonder if what I am doing is something that the teachers do not like because in a way it is coddling the children, yet at the same time, they are children who just want to run around, talk crazy, and be held. What really makes them different from other children that the teachers need to handle them more forcefully? I use to think that we have to handle children with special needs more lightly and others, yet here in Sao Mai, they handle them stricter. What is the better method? What is more ethically correct?Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-46661592935765727422010-09-14T23:07:00.000-07:002010-09-17T06:08:08.790-07:00UCHANU: Rich and the Poor??I asked my buddy about what it means to be rich and poor in Vietnam. He says that he can just tell by looking at a person if he or she is rich just by the way they look. Most of the time, rich people dress cleaner and have paler skin, ride a more expensive motorbike and not as skinny. With the development, asking if the gap between rich and poor will decrease, he says that once the development is over that the gap will be smaller. However, with the development now, farmers who use to have land, got taken over, so now they go to the city in order to find work. But since they had no other background beside farming, it's difficult for them to find any work so they are a lot poorer in the cities than on the farms to begin with.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-49765346356011795982010-09-12T09:03:00.000-07:002010-09-17T06:07:49.317-07:00Service Learning: Week 2 - RelationshipsThe second week at Sao Mai, things got a lot better. Firstly, one of the teachers who use to work in the classroom left to another class and she wasn't really welcoming to volunteers, so it made the environment a bit lighter now. Secondly, the new teachers were a lot more helpful and seemed excited to have a Vietnamese-American helper. Also, there was a new teaacher, who is my age and just started working there 4 days ago. Even though she was a new comer, I could hardly tell that she had just started working there. The other teachers treated her as an equal and not like some newbie. So it was nice having both of us there together. This shows that the relationship at sao mai is a close one I believe. There has to be a close knit relationship between the teachers at Sao Mai because there are 3 or 4 teachers to one classroom. The teachers have to cooperate with each other and understand each other in order to handle the kids. Sitting there, getting to know the teachers and them getting to know me, we talk about where we're from, growing up, the differences between America and Vietnam, and if we have boyfriends or not. Talking with them, was just like having girl talk haha. They were asking me if i would rather have a Vietnamese husband or an American one, and i said whichever one had more money. And then, that I would teach them English so they can go get a rich American husband while they help me with my Vietnamese. Being with the teachers, I feel the relationship with each other is pretty solid. <br />
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With the children, all the teachers know their names in the classroom and the names of the childrens who are not. Often, teachers would come in and out of the classroom just to say hi to the kids. The kids seem to grow with the teachers and the teachers all know the preferences and how the kids interact with each other.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-50581143601328674612010-09-07T07:40:00.000-07:002010-09-17T06:08:08.790-07:00Project Kiem An: Interviews 1 and 2 - Xe Om and Shoe Shine boy (man)we did our first set of interviews on Saturday. Our initial plan was to go to the back alley of Thanh Xuan and interview the nice xe om driver we had for survior hanoi. However he was not there. so we decided to eat lunch and hoped to invite other xe om drivers to eat with us and interview them, but they all wanted to come and said it wasn't right for just one of them to go, but we don't have enough money to pay for all of them so we had to go to pho co for our interviews thinking that the shoe shine boy and xe om will be easier to interview there. We went to pho co and saw a xe om driver there who was pretty friendly and open. He use to be a truck driver but something happened to him that changed his life and his license got tooken away from him for 3 years. After getting his liscense back, he tried to work for the truck driver company again, but it didn't work out so he became a xe om driver. basically, you can be a xe om driver if you wanted as long as you have motorbike. He makes really little to support his family but it's a way to get money. he will probably do the job until he feels like not doing it anymore. <br />
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The shoe shine boy was harder to find because they are constantly moving. instead of a shoe shine boy, we interviewed a shoe shine man. it was a pretty sad interview because he was really shy and was so concentrated on the shoes that he didn't want to talk much. he wouldn't even drink the tra da that we bought for him. He basically did the job since he was a small boy and never had any aspirations or future dreams, nor does have any now. It seemed so sad to interview someone like that and felt even more impersonal trying to make someone talk about their job and life like that.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2677569113918762769.post-60139091568590119642010-09-01T04:34:00.001-07:002010-09-01T04:34:50.428-07:00Service Learning: Week 1 - Language and Communication<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CKEPHAM%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CKEPHAM%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"></link> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Language and Communication: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Working at Sao Mai where there are often many “one-day” helpers, the communication around there seems to be lacking. When I was showed to my classroom, one of the teachers was talking in Vietnamese saying how she didn’t want a non-speaking Vietnamese person in the classroom and that they should go to another classroom. However, Chi Phuong said that I could understand and speak Vietnamese so I could work there. Going into the classroom, there were 3 teachers, each with their own set of children, but the classroom overall encompasses all the children and the teachers. They get into groups and teach them things such as how to brush their teeth, wash their hands, play with toys. The communication to the children is in Vietnamese of course and the children can understand. Sitting in the separate groups, sometimes the teachers will be talking to the children, directing them, while talking to the other teachers as well. They would often sing songs with the children while they look at each other and talking about the children’s progress. The teachers communicate effectively with each other and to the children. In cases of outsiders in the classroom, such as me, they have minimal conversations with them. They are usually told to help out by showing what they want to do instead of telling which seems to be normal since the school has a lot of non-Vietnamese speakers’ volunteers every now and then. However, during breaks and group changes, the teachers would gradually ask me questions about myself like where I’m from, my parents, school, etc. But most of the attention was on the kids. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The language that was used in the classroom besides Vietnamese was body language. Trying to get the children to do things, the teacher would perform them first with the students mimicking them afterwards. Often, the teachers would be talking to each other about something that would sound serious, but in a happy and care-free tone as they would talk to children. They would talk to each other in the same manner they would talk to the children as a way of letting the children have a happy and understanding environment. The body language they use is always in a positive way with winks, smiles, and hugs. There are is a lot of body contact and holding of the children than I expected because I thought they wouldn’t want to coddle the children, but it doesn’t really matter I think because they are still children who need to be coddle. Hopefully in the next few weeks, I can communicate with the teachers in the same manner that they communicate with each other and integrate myself into the classroom and not just some one-time volunteer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05581226606228999951noreply@blogger.com2