Day 2: An Essay

Yesterday and today I proctored the K55 midterm exam. There were three parts to this exam: listening, Reading and Writing.  For the writing part of the exam, the students were given two topics to choose between: Write a story about the biggest lie you have ever told and its consequences or Compare vacationing at the beach to vacationing in the mountain[s]. Proctoring is very boring so between glaring at students so they don’t talk to each other, I think I will also choose a topic to write on.

The topic I would like to write about is: the biggest lie I have ever told and its consequences.

Once upon a time I was a kindergartener. I was a very energetic and talkative kindergartener who liked to share my opinions on anything and everything as often as I could. Unfortunately, my teacher did not have the time to listen to all of my opinions and preferred that I stay quiet. I did not want to stay quiet, so we had a little bit of friction and since she had all of the authority, she won any time we had a difference about the appropriate time for me to voice all of my ideas. And I spent a lot of time in trouble.

Back in the day, when kindergarteners at Trinity were in trouble, they would have their names written on the board. Each day, your first infraction would result in your name on the board and you would get a check mark for each subsequent rule violation (a check mark usually resulted in missing recess time.)  If you got to three checkmarks…well let’s just say, you didn’t want to get to three.

During Kindergarten (and first and second and third grade) I was a master of reaching 2 check marks but never rarely ever pushing so far as to get third (though I never did get much recess time). However, for about 2-3 months during kindergarten, at the end of the day when my mother asked me if I got my name on the board that day, I would tell her no.

How my now overly sensitive conscious managed to hold up under that kind of a lie for so long, I am not really sure.  I guess it never occurred to me that perhaps my teacher might actually talk to my mother and clue her into what was going on. Lucky for me that never happened. I am sure my punishment would have been much worse if I hadn’t decided to come clean on my own.

Eventually I did figure out that continually lying to my mother was a bad idea. I decided to tell her during the middle of a large family function at my aunt and uncle’s house in the Kansas City area. (Perhaps I thought I would get a lighter punishment if I told her when other people were around.  She wouldn’t spank me in front of other people would she? (Not usually, but she is very patient woman, my mother.  She could wait until we got home.)) In any case, when I finally told her, I did not get a spanking. Instead I had to take a nap! In the middle of all the fun! My cousin Matt was younger than me, and he didn’t have to take a nap! Kindergartener Hanna was appalled. I would waaaay rather have a spanking and be done with it, Thank You. 23 year old Hanna thinks BEST PUNISHMENT EVER! I wish I could take a nap.

The End.

30 Day Challenge - Day One

I have been having troubles with my phone ever since I arrived in Vietnam. The first time I tried to buy a phone card, I spent 100.000 VND ($5) only to discover I had bought from the wrong company. My charger also broke (one of the prongs is still stuck in the outlet.  I should probably tell my landlord…), and I spent 2 days with an uncharged phone before finding a replacement. But my biggest problem has been plaguing me since shortly after I arrived in Vietnam and was not solved until today.

From what I can gather, it seems that most people use pay as you go phones here (similar to Panama), and my phone is no exception. My phone plan, however, was set so that my money would expire two weeks after I put more money on it. I was getting very frustrated with this because I did not enjoy spending 50.000 VND($2.50) on phone cards every fourteen days.

I asked other expats about this problem, but none of them had a solution for me. I asked some of my students only to be told that the only way to fix the problem was to buy a new SIM card, but that I would lose all the money I had on my account (plus I wasn’t sure if my contacts would transfer over to a new card and I didn’t want to lose all of those). I put off figuring out a permanent solution until today, the last day before my account would reach its deadline.

I was contemplating this problem today as I was proctoring my students’ midterm exam and finally had the good sense to pray (why it took me so long to figure that one out, I don’t know.). I asked God to please send me someone with the time and Vietnamese ability to help me get the problem fixed. Then I proceeded to continue worrying about it for the next hour.

When the exam was over, I returned to the teachers’ office to give the exam papers to the teacher in charge. While we were waiting for the exams from the other classes, she asked me what my plans for the rest of the day were. I told her I was done with classes for the day, but I was going to try to get my phone fixed. She asked me what the problem was, so I explained it to her. Then she offered to go with me to get the problem straightened out! We ended up having to go to two different stores (the first was not a mobifone store), but we finally went to the right place. It took about 5 minutes for her to explain the problem and for them to change the deadline from every 2 weeks to every 2 months. I even got to keep most of the money I had on my account!

 

30 Day Challenge

Over the past couple of months weeks days, I have become addicted to reading blogs.  A couple of my favorites are Running on Happiness, Living on Love and most recently (yesterday) I discovered Pioneer Woman.  I spent 1 2 3 several hours yesterday perusing posts about people I don’t even know.

After realizing the insane amount of time I spent reading online yesterday, I asked myself, what draws me to these blogs?  Maybe it is because I am far from home and I love reading descriptions of ordinary living in the United States (especially on a ranch.  Oh God, what I wouldn’t give for 10 minutes in open space).  Perhaps it is (especially in the case of Pioneer Woman) that I love the engaging writing style.  I think though, that the biggest reason I love the stories these women tell is that they are content and happy with their lives and the choices they have made. They find the wonder and the beauty and the love in everyday life and are so awed by it that they feel compelled to share it with the world.

I want my blog/life to be like that.  So here is my attempt to make a better blog and to find/make/appropriate verb contentment and joy in my life.  For the next 30 days my goal will be to post one picture and/or one good moment from the day.  It takes 3 weeks to make a habit so hopefully this will continue after my 30 day challenge.  There are plenty of good things around, so I am hoping the hardest part will be remembering to post everyday.

A Reminder that Life in Vietnam isn't all Bad.

(If you are offended by drinking, don’t read this post).

Today I was reminded that appropriately used alcohol with the right people just makes life better.  As I wrote last night, I have been pretty down the past few weeks.  But tonight, I had dinner with Sarah, Michael and two Vietnamese guys from London. (Michael met one of these guys when he was in Venezuela a couple years ago and he is traveling with his cousin.) We walked around the Bach Khoa area and found a buffet like place on the street perpendicular to my house. It was quite nice because you got a plate of rice and you could add whatever you wanted and you are charged for whatever you get.  So I got a plate full of food for 25.000 VND ($1.25).  (It made me realize, I really need to get out and walk around my area a bit more.  So much awesome food!)  After dinner we stopped for cake and then caught a bus up to the Old Quarter where we met Josh at a Bia Hơi.  Bia Hơi’s are places around Vietnam that sell very cheap, very weak beer.  It was my first time going, and I was excited because 1. I am the only person in my family who likes beer so I don’t drink it often and 2. I am a light-weight so it was nice to be able to drink more than one before having to stop.  I had 3 ½ and was at the perfect stage of feeling the effects of the alcohol but not being drunk.  Plus the company was excellent. A very good evening.  Too bad I forgot my camera.

Frustrations

Dear Family and Friends,

I am sorry I haven’t been updating my blog as often as I originally intended.  I have hit a bit of a rut in the last couple of weeks here.  I am much more homesick than I anticipated.  There haven’t been any major events that have gotten me down, but rather an unrelenting stream of small things.

For instance, I had been doing quite well getting myself around town, but about two weeks ago, I managed to get lost twice when taking the bus.  The weather has been cold and rainy, and I caught a cold which drained all of my energy.  I have gotten over most of it, but I have a cough that won’t go away because of the bad air quality.  There are tons of motorbikes everywhere and people smoke all the time (at least, the men do).

I am also very frustrated with the traffic in Hanoi.  Walking can be very dangerous because people do not pay attention to traffic rules.  Motorbikes park and drive on the side walks or go the wrong way down the street, so I have to constantly pay attention to everything going on around me while I am walking.

I have also discovered I am not made for city living.  I hate all of the tall buildings, and I miss open, green space.  The lakes and rivers here are extremely polluted which I find very distressing (especially after working for the Stream Team program).  I miss the infrastructures of the United States (transportation and sanitation specifically).  I realized that Vietnam is a developing country, and it will get those things sorted out eventually, but in the mean time, it is frustrating.

I’ve been surprised by how much I miss the little things at home.  I miss the convenience of my car and the ability to go where I want, when I want without having the limitations of a language barrier.  I miss going to church with people I have known my entire life.  I miss spending time with my family and friends.  I hate not being there to celebrate weddings, new babies, restaurant openings, grad school acceptances and other important milestones happening in the lives of people at home.  I miss movie nights and not having a curfew.  Mostly I miss being with people who know me well.  The people here are great, don’t get me wrong, but the fact is, I have only known them two months.  That’s not enough time to get to know someone well.

Additionally, I feel inadequate for what I am here for.  I have no idea how to teach, especially listening. I want my students to succeed, but I don’t know how to help them do that.  I’ve also somehow completely lost my ability to initiate conversations. I used to be able to talk to anyone, but over the past two years I’ve gotten more and more tongue tied with meeting new people.  That makes creating relationships with those around me rather difficult.

Even with all the bad/annoying things I am dealing with, there are many things I enjoy about living here.  Spending time with students is awesome; I have had a chance to explore parts of Hanoi with them.  It’s fun since many of them come from the provinces, and so they are also learning about Hanoi.  I’ve gotten involved at HIC (Hanoi International Church), both with a small group bible study and volunteering with the worship service/Sunday School.  So overall, I am still glad that I am here.  Through everything, I have never doubted that this is where God needs me to be.

Thanks for reading to the end!

Love, Hanna

My Day

My schedule with the school worked out that I do not have class on Tuesdays.  I was excited about this when I found out because I thought I would use Tuesdays as a time to explore Hanoi on my own.  15 minutes into my first exploration escapade in Hanoi (back in January), I realized exploring on my own is really boring. I also have a terrible sense of direction so walking around on my own equals a lost Hanna.  So Exploration Tuesdays quickly turned into Sit At Home and Do Nothing Tuesdays. This option also did not work out well since it turns out too much down time equals bored, homesick Hanna. I have hit a rough patch in my adjustment, so this Tuesday I decided to make plans to keep myself busy all day so that I wouldn’t have time to fixate on everything I miss from home and hate about living here.  So I made plans to have lunch at the Cimas and dinner with my friend Josh from church. I also decided I would spend the morning at the park by my house and the afternoon in the Old Quarter looking for postcards.

I woke up around 6:30 and puttered around getting ready and finally made it out the door around 9:00. It was misting, and I almost considered turning around since I didn’t think there would be any dry benches at the park. I decided to continue on because I didn’t want to be cooped up in my room anymore. I stopped to buy Banh Bao for breakfast, and then continued on to the park. When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the benches were dry enough to sit on.  I picked a bench and spend a few minutes journaling.  It started raining harder, and I did not have my umbrella with me so I had to move to a different bench.  I found one that was sheltered from the rain by a tree and continued writing.  After a little while, I was interrupted from my writing by a Vietnamese man who was about 27-30 years old.  He asked me a question in Vietnamese to which I responded, “I am sorry; I don’t understand Vietnamese.”  Momentarily surprised but not deterred, he sat down next to me and proceeded to ask me more questions in Vietnamese (only one of which I understood). To most questions I answered, “I am sorry; I do not understand Vietnamese.” (Usually I said this in English.  I did try in Spanish once, but he didn’t understand that either).  I hoped he would eventually get the message and leave since I clearly couldn’t understand him and (I thought) obviously wanted to write in my notebook.  He stopped talking to me for a while to text someone, and the next thing I know he says, “Welcome to my home.” I said “Thank You,” thinking he meant “Welcome to Vietnam.”  But he kept repeating “welcome to my home.” I stopped listening to him after about four times since he had no idea what he was saying.  He was frustrated again but still determined kept on texting whoever he was talking to. The next thing I know, he says “I love you” about 3 times.  I gave him a ‘you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me’ look, said, “I don’t think so,” and returned to my writing. He interrupted me again to ask for my phone number (at least that is what I think he asked…).  I was getting aggravated with him at this point because 1. he actually thought I might be stupid enough to give a strange man my number and 2. what did he think he could do with it since I don’t know Vietnamese and he doesn’t know English?  I tried to tell him to leave because I wanted to write in my journal, but he didn’t get the message and continued sitting next to me on the bench, texting to someone.  (This someone must have been looking up the English sentences for him to say to me.  A tiny bit flattering; a large bit annoying). I finally had to get up and move after he invited me to come to his house. (I mean really? How stupid does he think I am?) I wasn’t very happy about having to move since I was there first, and I didn’t want to have to sit in the rain again. But such is life.

After my eventful morning at the park, I went to the Cimas for lunch.  It was delicious and afterward I got a chance to talk to Aimee about some of the frustrations I have with living here. And I got to play with this cutie for a while.

It started to get very dark as we were playing outside, so we had to retreat back into the house.  The wind started to blow very hard and soon there was a downpour of rain. I changed my original plan for the day and decided to go to Sarah’s to watch a movie instead of going in search of postcards. The rain abated for a short time, and Aimee drove me to the bus stop so I could go to Sarah’s. I was a little concerned when I got on the bus because the windows were so foggy, I couldn’t tell where I was.  I got off the bus at what I thought was the correct stop, but when I looked around, I didn’t not recognize where I was so I changed my mind and decided I had gotten off to early.  At just about this time, the rain started up again.  So as I was walking towards (I thought) Sarah’s house, I was pelted with cold, hard rain drops and blasted with a cold wind.  After about 10 minutes of walking, Sarah called me to inform me that I had gotten off where I was supposed to and that I had been walking in the wrong direction away from her house.  I was very frustrated about that because it is the second time I have done something like that recently.  I have been doing so well getting myself around, but I have managed to get lost twice in a 5 day period.

I finally made it to Sarah’s, and enjoyed watching Prince of Persia while my clothes (sort-of) dried. We had plans to meet some friends for dinner at Vincom (a shopping center near my house but a 25 minute walk from Sarah’s).  We left early to try to grab a taxi, but our efforts were fruitless.  The taxis were all full because of the rain.  We decided to walk since it wasn’t raining anymore. We made it just on time and enjoyed a lovely meal at the Pizza Hut with Josh and Lisa (two friends from Church).  I had hoped to catch the bus after dinner but ended up walking home since the bus left the stop just before I got there.  It was cold, and I knew it would take longer to wait for the bus than to just walk.

So now I am safely at home, recuperating from my day and feeling the beginnings of a sore throat which means I am about to come down with a cold.  Please pray for a swift recovery!

 

Football

On Saturday, Sarah and I joined students to watch the ‘powderpuff’ football (soccer) game between the female foreign language students. The football matches were part of the activities being held this week at Bách Khoa in honor of International Women’s Day, March 8.

Enjoy the pictures!  See more from my weekend here.