Home Sweet Home

Well, we finally made it home at midnight Wednesday, June 30th. We left at midnight on the 29th from Vietnam, but you must keep in mind that there is a 12 hour time difference. So, from the time we left Vietnam to the time we step into our door at home, it was 36 hours.

Our trip back home took longer than the trip there due to a 10 hour lay over in South Korea. The airlines that we flew through was very nice and gave us a free tour of Seoul, Korea.  We visited the nation's Blue House (like our White House), a Buddist temple, was served a traditional Korean meal, and taken to the city market. It was very nice of the airlines, and South Korea was very nice. I felt like I could be in any large city in the U.S.

We are still working on getting back on schedule and sleeping at the right time. Hopefully, by the end of the weekend, everything will be back to normal.

Final pics and movies: http://gallery.me.com/mitchellandwendy

The Mekong River and a Snake Farm

Well, today was the last adventure day here in Vietnam. Our family decided to take us to see the Mekong River and then to a snake farm. Both were very interesting.

While at the Mekong River, I finally got close to the experience you see in the picture at the top of our blog page. The scenery wasn't there, but the boat and the hats were.  We also had the opportunity to feed alligators (Mitchell's aunt had a great time teasing them) and watch people make coconut candy from scratch.

When we left the Mekong River, we traveled to a snake farm. They must have had close to 100 snakes here, They also had a few other animals: ostriches, monkeys, bears, snake-eating birds, and other little animals that I am sure are feed to the snakes at a later time. Now, this snake farm is not like one you would find in the US. They let you get up close and personal here in Vietnam. Below is a picture of one the snake exhibits. They were not all like this, but a few were. There is no type of cage around these snakes. They are just on a little island about 3 feet from the short wall you are standing behind to view them.

(Can you spy the snakes? There were about 10-15 little cobras in these trees.)

Now take the following into account and tell me how you would feel. You are in a snake farm filled with pythons and cobras. You see old snake skins OUTSIDE of the snake cages. The cages themselves do not look of the highest quality, and they have snake-eating birds at the farm. Let's just say I was ALWAYS aware of my surroundings.

Tomorrow morning I am going to try to upload some of the short videos we have taken while here. We will see if our internet connection can handle it. Some of the videos to look for: A Walk to Grandmother's House, Making Coconut Candy, Cleaning Out a Coconut, Feeding the Alligators, and Loc, the Snake Charmer.

More pics of the day: http://gallery.me.com/mitchellandwendy

Happy Birthday to Mitchell

Tuesday is Mitchell's 33rd birthday. Since we are leaving the country that day, and Sunday is the only day most people have off in Vietnam, his family threw him a birthday party today. When I say his family, I mean the WHOLE family. I have not seen that many people in the same house since the family gatherings we use to have at my Mamaw and Papaw's house. I would guess there were nearly 50 people there.

As soon as Mitchell's little English speaking cousin (I blogged about her a few days ago) saw him coming, she started running in the house yelling, "Oh no, he's coming. Oh no, he's coming." When we made it into the house, they had a birthday cake set up for Mitchell, and his little cousin brought him a gift. They had even found candles that said, "33" for him to blow out. They sang "Happy Birthday" to him in English (some better than others).

Mitchell's dad had bought all the ingredients to make hamburgers for him. I think the kids enjoyed the French Fries more than we did, even though they dipped them in fish sauce instead of ketchup. The hamburgers were almost the same. They couldn't find hamburger buns, so we had our burgers on french bread. Mitchell said College Street Burgers is one of his first stops when we get home. (Mine is Mexican Food.)

Then it came time for the gifts. Mitchell received a hammock, shoes, shirt, and a little craft item that said "Happy Birthday". Besides birthday gifts, the family wanted to just give us gifts to remember them by. I received a couple of outfits. We also received coffee, cashews, hats for the kids back home, and banana candy.

It was a great day with the family. Many of them didn't want to leave because it would be the last time they saw Mitchell and his dad. We have been asked several times if we will come back next year. One of Mitchell's aunts said that as soon as it gets easier to travel out of Vietnam, they plan to come to America for a visit.

We have two days left here. Tomorrow, we are going to see the Mekong River with some of the family. It will be our last outing.

Pics from today: http://gallery.me.com/mitchellandwendy

Vietnamese Elementary School

Being the teacher that I am, I had to go visit an elementary school just to see what it was like. One of Mitchell's family is a superintendent for the school district here. They live right next door to a school, so they took me for a tour. It was all locked up for the summer, but I could still see in the classrooms. When I glance into the first classroom, I felt like I had stepped back in time about 50-100 years. Each classroom has wall to wall desks (The old timey wood desks that hold two kids in each one.), one teacher table, one storage cabinet, a chalkboard, and was equipped with a ceiling fan and a few other fans. Mitchell's aunt told us that you can expect to find at least 40 kids in each class. In the picture below you can see their bell system. They had brought it into the classroom for the summer, so it wouldn't get stolen. It is the red drum at the front of the room. In today's gallery you can find more pics of the school. I can't wait to show these pics to my students this next year and talk to them about how many of the things they receive at school are privileges, not requirements.

Some other things I learned about Vietnamese schools:

1. All students bring their lunch or pay to eat. There is not free and reduced lunches.

2. There is no school bus system. All parents must drop their kids off at school in the morning and pick them in the afternoon.

3. They have summer school just like we do. 

4. They must also pass a test to be accepted into college. One of Mitchell's cousins is having a hard time in math. She has to take her test at the end of July, so right now she is riding a bus 2 hours each way to Ho Chi Minh City to go to a special class to help her with her math skills. She stays in Ho Chi Minh for 4 hours. Then in the afternoons, she goes to another class in her town for 4 more hours to practice math.

5. They learn cursive writing in first grade. They are not allowed to write any other way, then when they reach 4th-5th grade they are allowed to write in print. They have beautiful writing by the way.

I am sure there are more things I learned, I just don't remember them right now.

More pics: http://gallery.me.com/mitchellandwendy

The English Language

Before we came to Vietnam, we had been told that many of the younger generations could speak English fairly well. A Vietnamese student must pick a language, English or French, to learn in school. Starting in 6th grade, they spend hours a week learning that language, so by the time they have graduated, they have spent 7 years learning that language. In addition to that, they must also have two years of the language they didn't choose. For example, by the time I graduated I would have 7 years of English and 2 years of French.  They have been teaching this way since Mitchell's dad, Loc, was growing up.

(Mitchell's Little Cousin's Favorite Show, Phineas and Ferb)

This generation however, has an even greater advantage, T.V.. Last night, we were eating supper with Mitchell's whole family. He has a little 5 year old cousin that has just started school. She spent most of the night asking and answering questions in English. Amazing to me! How did she learn? In her class at school they watch the Disney Channel, which is still in English here, 3 hours a week. She had picked up enough English from watching English t.v. shows to speak simple sentences, understand our simple questions, and answer them in English. This begs the question, "How should we be teaching our American students to speak Spanish or any other language?"

The Heat

Well, it has finally happened. We have been told since we arrived that the government likes to shut off the electricity for hours at a time. It might be one section of town for a few hours and then another section of town. Up until this point, we have not seen it happened. Well, it finally happened!

We have just arrived back from Phu Quoc and are back in the town were Mitchell's grandmother lives. When we arrived at the hotel, they informed us the electricity had been shut off. We have been sitting here for almost two hours with no electricity, which equals no air. As I write this, I am also fanning myself with a book to keep the sweat at bay. I'm really hoping it comes back on soon, or it's going to be a long night.

Tour of the Island

Yesterday, we took a tour of the south part of Phu Quoc Island. The resort we are staying at provided us with a driver and tour guide who spoke English. I am so glad we had our guide, Thao, with us. He was able to explain many things about Vietnam and the island. He also answered all of our questions.

Once again we made many stops in one day. We visited a museum of the island, a pearl farm, a central market, the pier, a fishing town, a waterfall, a pepper garden(farm), and a fish sauce factory. The waterfall was beautiful and Mitchell got a little picture happy. (You can see how bad it was if you look at our pictures for the day.) We were suppose to stop at a Buddhist Pagoda, but we requested that we skip that stop since we have already seen several since coming to Vietnam. (The smell of burning incense is something that Mitchell and I will not miss when we leave. They burn incense everywhere you go.)

One thing we have noticed about the Vietnamese is they want to show you EVERYTHING. They are very proud of their country. You can tell that they do not have much understanding of America though. They don't realize how big the country is compared to Vietnam. They are amazed by things that are everyday in America.

We very much enjoyed our day and getting to ask questions of Thao. He was very informative and willing to tell us anything.

More pics at: http://gallery.me.com/mitchellandwendy