Hey guys,
So this past week has been a lot of fun--even more fun than
usual--because I had visitors! Two people came by my area. Andrew, my teacher
from Hanoi, and Zach, coming all the way from the U.S.A.! Fun times abounded,
so read on!
The week kicked off on Tuesday as Andrew came to Ben Tre to
do a presentation. Andrew is an English Language Fellow through the U.S.
Embassy, based in Hanoi University of Pedagogy 2. He is the one who taught all
of us how to teach way back in Hanoi in August, and I haven’t seen
him since the Fulbright Gala.
Andrew and I were both going to the Phu Quoc Half-Marathon
along with nine other Fulbrighters. On his way to Phu Quoc Andrew stopped at
four schools—Tien Giang University (Lindsay), Ben Tre College (me), Bac Lieu
University (Quan) and Ca Mau Community College (Trevor). Andrew gave
presentations to both teachers and students at Tien Giang University and Ben
Tre College.
On Tuesday morning I went with the Ben Tre College car to
pick Andrew up from Tien Giang University. It was the first time I had seen him
in several months, so I was immediately happily catching up with him. We came
to Ben Tre College where a very official reception was being prepared.
Andrew meets Mr. Phuoc, Vice-Rector of Ben Tre College
Signing the guestbook
Andrew did two presentations, one for teachers and one for
students. The student presentation focused on playing games as a method of studying
English. Andrew taught and demonstrated several games for my students, all of
which I found very interesting.
The audience, still starting to fill in
Andrew mid-teaching
A rapt audience
There were fifty-sixty students at the presentation. Two
whole classes of second years, and part of one first year class as well.
Apparently even more students wanted to get in! I was really impressed with the
student turnout, and their participation in the games was great!
Some of my students help demonstrate one of the games
The whole lecture room
Andrew demonstrates a game using playing cards
The next presentation was on assessments. About fifteen teachers showed
up, mostly from the English Department, but with another couple from other
departments. Andrew gave another very good presentation and several teachers
enthusiastically participated.
Andrew with the teachers
Demonstrating proper assessments
With Mr. Duy, Vice-Dean of the Department of Social Sciences
With Mr. Luan, my boss
With all the teachers
They made a sign for Andrew! Andrew only told me he was free about a week before he came, so I was pretty impressed at the level of detail.
After the presentation we went to get lunch, then Andrew and I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out.
At lunch
The next day, on Wednesday, I finished up English Club and headed into Ho Chi Minh City. I had a special visitor from the states. The one, the only, Zach Denkensohn!
Zach is a friend of mine from UChicago. We were both in the same fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and he was also my study partner when we were both writing our theses. It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen Zach, almost a year. He is currently finishing off his gap year with a world trip, and I was one of his final stops.
I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at 9:30 pm, only a couple hours after Zach. The first night was very laid back. We just got some beers and food while we caught up with each other.
On Thursday we woke up early for tourist activities. In the morning we visited both the War Remnants Museum and Reunification Palace. It’s running on three times I’ve been to the War Remnants Museum and two times I’ve been to the Palace, but they both are still interesting places to visit.
Zach contemplates a Chinook at the War Remnants Museum
Zach looks presidential
Demonstrating the right amount of class necessary to drink Vietnamese coffee.
That afternoon we visited the markets and bought a whole
bunch of different souvenirs. We also swung by a really cool bookshop I like
with lots of propaganda posters and minimalist movie posters. Then we met up
with Jess for dinner.
That night was a lot of fun. We had a couple bottles of
wine, then went to the beer pong bar with Trinh. We dominated the tables,
including a huge run against some of the local Vietnamese competition. Then we
headed to another bar for more drinks and more fun. Zach, Jess and I all got
back to our hotel very very late (Trinh had ducked out at a more reasonable
hour). We weren’t getting much sleep that night, but hey, no problem.
This turned out to be a slight problem.
Zach and I had a 6:55 am flight. We woke up at 7:00 am. Oh
God.
Well, there wasn’t much to do now except rush out the door
and curse our far-too-quiet alarms. Zach and I piled into a cab, exhausted,
sleep-deprived, depressed and beaten down. I cursed myself for poor planning
the entire bumpy, noisy cab ride to the airport.
Thankfully, due to the grace of God/the kind lady at the
Vietnam airlines counter, Zach and I were able to get on another flight to Phu
Quoc. And we didn’t have to pay any extra charges! Honestly, I think the older
lady working for Vietnam airlines just felt extra sorry for Zach (I looked bad,
but Zach looked miserable). But whatever it was, it worked! And we were moved
back to Jess’s flight. Huge bullet dodged.
Then we were well on our way to sunny, gorgeous Phu Quoc! I
think I’ve already made it clear how much I love Phu Quoc here and here so I won’t belabor the point.
Short version—we spent the entire vacation in Phu Quoc on a
gorgeous beach in tropical weather. We ate breakfast at a restaurant/shack on
the beach where we overpaid for greasy delicious noodles and felt the sand at
our feet. Old women offered hour long massages on the beach for $5 an hour. Friendly
dogs wander the beach, looking for food and petting. We barely moved from our
stretch of sand for three days, and I don’t think anyone felt bad about
it.
We had a huge crew in Phu Quoc. There were the Fulbrighters
(me, Tyler, Quan, Anna, Claire, Lindsay, Jess, Kate, Amanda), Trevor’s friends
in Princeton in Asia (Stephen, Alex), Anna’s friends from Hue (Steven, Dave,
Jenelle, Jared), Jared’s friends in Volunteers in Asia (Laura, Maria), Claire’s
friends from Long Xuyen (Jennie, Anna, Christian), Andrew and Zach. And most of
us were staying in the same beachside resort. So we had twentyish foreigners
taking up one stretch of beach. Awesome.
We had all come to Phu Quoc for the Phu Quoc
Half-Marathon/10k. Anna was the one who originally hatched the idea, and a
whole bunch of us had gotten dragged into it. I really am not a long-distance
runner; all my previous athletic history has been with soccer and ultimate
frisbee. Running in a straight line is not my thing. However, I do succumb to
relentless peer pressure. So, with the right amount of
heckling/taunting/encouragement from others, I agreed to run.
At race HQ
Getting warmed up
Lindsay gets psyched
Anna, Dave, Andrew, Quan, Trevor, Stephen and Alex would all
be running the half-marathon. Tyler, Steven, Amanda and I would be running the
10k. I had been training a fair amount, running about twice a week. But with my
shaky knees, I was really only trying to avoid injury and finish the race.
Tyler and all of his sass
Fulbright runners!
Back row: Andrew, Trevor, me, Tyler, Quan
Front row: Anna, Amanda, Lindsay
Cheer section (not pictured): Jess and Kate
Fulbright and friends!
New additions: Dave (blue shirt) and Stephen (on the left) and Steven (rainbow shorts on the right)
The race started at 3:30 pm. We all charged out the gates,
ready to run!
But the thing about a 3:30 pm race start…that means it’s
still really hot. Officially 93 degrees Fahrenheit, it felt like 107 degrees
Fahrenheit due to the humidity. There was no tree cover.
Blazing hot sun overhead. The whole time. If I hadn’t worn a
hat I would probably have gotten heatstroke. After one kilometer it felt like
torture. Eventually I had the chills, and I seriously considered lying down and
dying at various points. Instead I just kept running.
The course itself was nice enough. We ran down the main road
of Phu Quoc, first on a paved road, then on a red dirt road. As we ran we
passed trees and future developments, luxury resorts and ramshackle huts.
Locals cheered us on as we ran by, with dozens of children yelling “Hello!” as
we passed. Several of them raised their hands for high-fives, giggling with
glee whenever a runner slapped their hand.
On the way back I occasionally ran by a pack of students on
their motorcycles, just getting out of school. The boys hollered and cheered as
their girlfriends sat on the back and giggled at us.
As I neared the finish line I began to kick into a higher
gear. Finish strong, you know. But the race organizers had different ideas. The
start had been at the front of Long Beach Hotel. But the finish line was
actually at the back of Long Beach Hotel, on the beach. That meant it was
another 500 meters back from where I thought it ended. Well, I was on my last
legs, but I figured I could run a 500m fairly fast. I was so close! So I kept
the pace up, willing my exhausted body (screaming at me to just walk,
goddamnit!) to greater and greater speed. As the signs counted down the
distance, I could feel myself gaining more and more strength.
And then I saw it. The last 50 meters. The final stretch of
the 10k. It was on the beach, a 50m sprint in the sand.
I have just run 9.95 kilometers in +100 degree heat. I am
pretty sure my entire body has shut down and my legs are running on autopilot.
Pain is a constant throughout my entire body. The thought of relaxation is an
abstract concept, on par with the categorical imperative and Plato’s cave. And
now you want me to run in sand?
Well played, race organizers. You bastards.
I sprinted the last 50m, hating everything, and collapsed
over the finish line.
Photo cred: Jess. Hating myself over the final stretch
Photo cred: Jess. Running across the finish line
Lindsay at the finish line!
My two goals for the race were to not injure myself and to
finish. I managed to do both! Which was awesome! Even better, I actually
managed to run fairly fast. I ran the 10k in 58:42, good for 10th
overall and 8th in my age group.
Others in our group did even better! Tyler won second place
for the 10k, and Alex won third place for the half-marathon! All of us
finished, and we all collapsed on the sand together. As much as I hated running
on the sand, the proximity to the ocean was pretty nice. We
ran/jogged/stumbled/fell into the ocean, some of us still wearing our jerseys. Nothing
feels better than a post-race swim in the ocean.
We then chilled for a while, availing ourselves of free
water, bananas and massages. Oh, and our finisher medals! I also ran into Kevin, a teammate of mine from
Manila Spirits, which was really cool. Then we headed back to our resort.
Post-race glow.
After an extensive stretching/showering session we headed to
dinner. We opted for a super fancy dinner at the nicest resort in town. Service
was slow, but food was delicious. After finishing dinner we had a couple drinks
before collapsing back at the resort.
Everyone at dinner
Wait, what is this? This isn't a burger...
IT'S A BAGEL BURGER!!!
Sunday morning Zach and I had a relaxing breakfast before
leaving at 12:00 for our 2:00 pm flight. I said my goodbyes to my friends. Some
of them I will see again in Hanoi, but for others I won’t see them until I get
back to the U.S.
Bros on the beach
After a short plane flight Zach and I parted ways. His
travels continue on to Hong Kong, whereas my road was back to Ben Tre. It was
definitely sad saying goodbye to him, but I had so much fun on our trip! I’ll
see him again soon, I’m sure.
Anyways, only a little time for me to process this, because
in a couple days my friend Ross comes! Crazy, huh? Don’t worry, I’ll keep you
posted! Stay tuned!
Oh, and I’m only in Ben Tre for two more weeks. WHAT?!?!?!
Freaking out,
Jefferson
P.S. Bonus picture no. 1
Can't handle this much bro
P.P.S. Bonus picture no. 2
I CANNOT HANDLE THIS MUCH CUTENESS. !POUBPBFWF@QF!@
just wondering if college kids in tien giang and ben tre could speak english fluently?
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