Adjusting

Thursday morning, I woke up to rain. I wasn't very happy about that because I forgot to bring an umbrella nor did I have extra socks to change into if my feet got wet. Fortunately the rain stopped before Sarah and I left for Bách Khoa (the school where I will be working).

When we reached school, we met with the other English teachers.  I met my school Supervisor, Kim Chi, and got the book and CDs I will be using to teach.  At this point I will be teaching 7 classes during the week, but Kim Chi said there might still be a change.  Hopefully they will switch the time of my 6:45 a.m. class...

We went to lunch with the English faculty.  We had a dish call Hot Pot.  It consists of a pot of broth over a flame and they bring out vegetables, noodles and meat that are added to the broth to cook.

I have enjoyed the Vietnamese way of eating. I have successfully used my chopsticks during every meal when they have been required. When eating with a group in Vietnam, everyone is given their own bowl and a variety of different dishes are brought out for everyone to share. Then each person can take what s/he likes and put it in their own bowl. To eat, one holds the bowl in one hand and uses chopsticks with the other. It is a very convenient way of eating because their is less chance of making a mess. One thing that surprised me was that if your bowl is empty, anyone at the table may put something into it. Coming from a mostly German tradition, this bothered me at first because I am accustomed to finishing what I have on my plate and not taking more food than I can eat so that it doesn't go to waste. I did finally catch on to the difference (after J.P. explained it) and I am trying to remember to leave a small bit of food in my bowl when I am full.

After lunch, J.P., Sarah and I visited the new Concordia International School that is opening in Hanoi. It is a big deal, and I will give more details about it in a later blog post.

After our tour, J.P. and I left to buy me a motorbike helmet and then we met Sarah at his house where we had dinner and then moved me into own room! It is super nice and I hope to post pictures soon.

Until then, Peace and Blessings. - Hanna