part. 2 — vietnam, you are a labyrinth of little wonders.
Our story continues in a city located three hours away from the capital. Where we spent the first two weeks partaking in cultural exchanges, observing teachers in their classrooms, and learning from students, the last two weeks of March consisted of lesson planning and teaching in not one, but two university campuses, cultural presentations, hosting English Club and movie/game/karaoke nights, and exploring the little quirks of our small town-turned-city.
If you have read my previous newsletters for Laos and for the first half of Vietnam, you would have noticed that they contained stories of meaningful friendships formed, exciting places discovered as well as many busy but fruitful days. However, if I were to be honest, the last two weeks spent here were challenging — and in more ways than one. Challenging in connecting with students. Challenging in not looking “foreign” compared to my teammates. Challenging in the seemingly aimless days with little to do outside of the campus. Challenging in finding common ground with my team. So yes, I have to admit that my time there was not all flowers and sunshine (there was literally no sun, except for maybe one or two days), but what I gained instead was so much more.
Our team communicated and worked with the university teachers, with each team leader acting as our point-person. We were put into pairs and some of us taught at least five classes while others taught six at most while alternating between two university campuses. While lesson planning wasn’t too difficult for my teammate and I, we would head into our classes not knowing the level of English of our students and if they were English majors or non-English majors. There would be days where our classes would have a lot of participation of 32 students or only eight students studying computer engineering and environment or somewhere in between. It varied and sometimes we would worry if our lesson would go well or not.
If not everyone, almost all university teachers and students that I’ve met thought I was Vietnamese — I was mistaken as Lao before but I think the difference in setting and people affected me more so than where I was previously. Whenever we introduced ourselves in the classroom or in English Club, I would jokingly add that I’m not Vietnamese but Chinese, in which others would make exclamations and then greet me with “Ni hao”, but I found that generally after our introductions and when we would have time to socialize, our conversations would stop at a certain point and wouldn’t go any further. I realized later on that me not looking “foreign” might have had an influence on students approaching me, which I had never experienced in Laos or even in the capital. It was definitely hard to put myself in their shoes and see from their perspective — that they held a certain belief as to what a foreigner from America looked like and accepting that I didn’t fit that description. There were also a lot of times when students would approach my teammates and ask for photos together whereas it rarely happened to me, but when it did, it would take me by surprise because my initial response would be, “Me?”. This was an interesting reflection to think about because the topic of “not looking foreign enough in Asia” was brought to my team’s attention during our training and orientation in Thailand (especially to those of Asian descent). I had never thought of this prior to P5.6. I caught small glimpses of it in Laos and in the capital, but it quickly escalated in this particular city because it was just so much more prominent and hard to ignore.
The city that our university campus was located in consists of nine wards and where our campus was, the area was populated by roughly 65,000 residents. I didn’t realize the change in environment and schedule would affect my team and I as much as it did. We had only ever been in big cities, so moving to a place where there was no M-Point / VinMart to purchase snacks, no Lotteria to eat deep fried chicken, or excessive bubble tea and coffee shops or stores within walking distance was a complete change. There was only a small village with food vendors, tiny homes and green pastures as well as an abandoned amusement park across the university. On the other hand, the teaching schedule for my teammate and I was more sporadic than others with four days of free time in a row. We had only taught twice during our first week and it was difficult establishing relationships with students before the free days hit us. It proved to be a struggle for me to make use of that time and to feel and be productive.
While it was difficult to realize that these challenges affected my attitude, my perception of students and teachers, and my presence overall, it was a relief to know that I wasn’t the only one. Even though the last two weeks in Vietnam were the most challenging for me, it was also the most fruitful, especially as a team. Coming from Laos to Vietnam, I can say that we grew not only individually but as a team collectively through navigating and dealing with conflicts and curveballs thrown along our way. It took us almost 2.5 months to come together. None of us would have realized what the other felt or how each person was processing their time here. I’d say that our time in Vietnam was a time of growth.
When the long-term teachers asked us what was one highlight at the end of our first week here, what came to my mind first was being able to see my team grow in more ways than one and seeing myself grow alongside my teammates. Our interactions with each other have become natural in the way we handle conflicts and curveballs thrown at us. We try to take everything in stride and hope for the best in the end, so to hear the long-term team say that they could see the effort we put in to make our team work well was really encouraging. My team’s not perfect, but we make it work.
There was a day where my team decided to head downtown. The local bus came but we couldn’t get on because it was full. In less than five minutes of it leaving, a mini bus stopped in front of us with a lady yelling at us to get on. Maybe it was because my team and I were used to hopping on and off tuk tuks, so we got in and took our seats. I pulled out Google Maps to gauge where we should get off and a man next to me took my phone and tried to figure out where we wanted to go. Then some of us sitting at the back noticed one of our teammates talking on the phone with someone, in which he then handed the phone to me. It turned out that someone on the bus called a friend who could speak some English to help us get to our destination. We ended up getting off near the train tracks and walked along the main street. We turned into a random alleyway and stumbled across what the students call the “centre” of the city. There was a bridge and pavilion and we headed to the other side where there were coffee shops. We went into one, ordered our long awaited coffee and smoothies that we were deprived of and played Durak for an hour or so. It felt refreshing not being confined in our common rooms. Right after coffee and smoothies, some of us even got bubble tea and ended our trip with a snack run to VinMart.
We took the local bus heading back to the campus and met a student from our university. She told us she came from Laos (specifically Luang Prabang, where we had our orientation), speaks four languages (Lao, Thai, Vietnamese, and English), and studies IT. She kindly helped us figure out bus payments and let us know which stop to get off of. We were also able to invite her to English Club before we went our separate ways. So many things worked out in our favour and it was amazing to see how our interactions with others would unravel during our time here.
And so, Vietnam, you are a labyrinth. A labyrinth that was hard to navigate but somewhere along the way, little and wonderful things were revealed to me in the midst of uncertainty and doubt.
Lifting Requests: Looking Forward
- For those that have let me into their lives: To keep in contact with the people that I have connected with and to continue to grow in my relationships with them — especially Thi.
- For those that are serving long-term: To continue to lead their lives living and teaching in Vietnam with strength, patience, joy and kindness. There are also future plans and opportunities for teachers to serve in previous cities that have closed their doors but are now opening up again.
- For those that are weak: To be renewed in health so that our teams may serve to the best of our abilities in where we are now. Many of us have gotten sick and have been hit with exhaustion.
- For both teams: To continue to grow individually and collectively. We are also splitting off to serve in different cities in China, similar to when we were in Laos.
Updates…
We are currently in Cambodia mainly for debrief, rest, and member care. We will be heading to China for orientation before both teams split off again to head to our respective cities to serve.
Apologies for sending out my newsletter two weeks after we’ve left Vietnam. Nonetheless, I hope this newsletter finds you well — please don’t hesitate to message me but just keep in mind the Communication Guidelines and language/words you use.
Tạm biệt!
