Teacher's Day!

Hey guys!

So before we get into what I've been doing in the past week, I thought it might be entertaining if you heard a bit about my biggest daily challenge--the language.

Language follies:

Vietnamese is a phonetic language with many different accents, and these accents all dramatically change the meaning of words. In addition, there are many more vowels that often look very similar to the untrained eye: a, ă, and â. e and ê. o, ơ and ô. u and ư.

This combination means that to a novice Vietnamese speaker, some words with wildly different meanings look remarkably similar, leading to some potentially hilarious misunderstandings. So, these are just a couple of the mistakes I've made, mistakes which any Vietnamese person would view as frankly incomprehensible.

sưa chua = yogurt
sửa chữa = repairs
"Wait, so that mechanic is selling motorcycles, bicycles and yogurt? What?"

phố = street
phở = noodle soup
"Why are all the streets named after noodle soup?"

Hopefully these mistakes wind down with more study. And if not, well, you can all get a good laugh at it!

So tuesday was Teacher's Day in Vietnam, which is a big deal over here. Students give presents to their teachers, and they go to pay their respect to former teachers as well. Needless to say I was looking forward to it. On Teacher's Day there was a lot of picture taking with a couple of my classes.

Picture with my second year students and Mr. Tuan's son

Again with the second years and Mr. Tuan

With my other class of 2nd years. Didn't get any pictures with the 3rd years and the 1st years...

I also got several very nice presents from my 2nd and 3rd class that were all very thoughtful, and some nice cards as well. I also received presents from a handful of individuals, and that was especially nice to get. 

I didn't get anything from either of my 1st year classes, so all of those kids are failing. That should teach them. 

So before Teacher's Day there were a bunch of different activities. There was a soccer tournament last weekend, and then a beauty pageant last week. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera for either event, but I did have a camera for the flower contest this week! 

The contestants came from all different departments, I think forty-something students competed, including four from the English department. All of them laid out their materials beforehand, they would have half an hour to make the best flower arrangement. 

Before the contest began.

Then the bell sounded and they were off! Half-an-hour to make the best flower arrangement possible.

The contest starts

One of my students starts

The flowers start to take shape

Setting up a small basket

At the end, a S-shaped flower arrangement symbolizing Vietnam

My personal favorite. A snail made out of flowers, the placard reads "Slow but steady"

Then each contestant came forward and introduced their flower arrangement

All the flowers together. All of the flowers, even those that didn't win anything, would be used for decorations for the Teacher's Day ceremony. I thought that was a nice touch. 

Three of my four students got participation awards!

That was the day before Teacher's Day. On Teacher's Day, I woke up and put on a nice shirt before heading to the lecture hall. We were treated to several really cool acts, both impressive singers and really good dancers. 

It should also be noted that on Teacher's Day I also solved a mini-mystery. The lecture hall is right next to my room, so I can always hear the music they play over the loudspeakers. For the last two weeks I have been hearing the same four songs over and over from the lecture hall at seemingly random times. I had no idea why these songs kept getting played or what was going on. Then the ceremony starts and I hear those four songs each used in performances. Ah, it all makes sense now!

After the ceremony it was time for lots of picture taking!

Mr. Luan gave me a very nice shirt

With Mr. Tung, Mr. Luan, Mr. Hung and Mr. Nguyen. And flowers

With Mr. Vu and flowers

With Mr. Luan and flowers

With Ms. Kim Long, Ms. Thien, Mr. Luan and Mr. Hung. And of course, flowers.

And after that it was time for a big party, with all the teachers, all the heads of the departments and other notables from Ben Tre province. 

The party

The exclusive table: From left, Mr. Cong, the Rector of the school, Mr. Hoang, myself and the Vice-Resident of Bến Tre Province so (the second-in-command in Bến Tre).

The party was quite a lot of fun, and then we headed over to Mr. Hoang's house for the continuation of the party. 

With Mr. Hoang's son

Eventually I ducked out of the party, had to head home and crash asleep. It was a ton of fun, thanks to all my students and co-teachers for making this a great first Teacher's Day for me!

Mr. Vu says Happy Teacher's Day!

This weekend going to be exploring around Bến Tre Province more, will be sending updates soon!

Peace,
Jefferson