Cho Moi & Tuc Dup

Thursday I was down because of the champion’s league final, however by Friday I was eagerly anticipating what Cho Moi town was going to be like. My students from the TC class had arranged for me to visit Cho Moi (Newmarket) with them. Not really knowing anything else I met up with them at about 9 in the morning. We headed out to the ferry to cross the Mekong and still no one would answer my questions.

Once across the river we proceeded along towards Cho Moi however it appeared that they were lost. I thought we knew exactly where we were, though I still didn’t know where we were going. We decide to turn off the main road and head down this dirt track and over the wooden bridges. These bridges always make me scared as they are poorly constructed and high with no or minimal railings. To make it worse the time we crossed was low tide amplifying my fear of heights. Happy to report no problems and after 3 more of these bridges we arrived at our destination, the monitor’s house.

We arrived at his sister’s engagement party and it looked like we were late. Not long after we arrived we tucked into some food and talked about marriage. My students kept asking me about when I would get married. No matter how much I tried to dodge the topic it always came back, like a boomerang. After eating the karaoke started and the guests started singing traditional Delta music. We thought it was time to escape and my students had planned something else to do. Once again I was ignorant as I didn’t hear clearly because of the loud music.

We hopped on the motorbikes again and headed towards Long Xuyen. I was surprised when it looked like we were heading towards Chau Doc (near the border with Cambodia). We came to this big intersection and turned left into Tri Ton district. I was amazed that we had to pay a toll to use this road, as they sure don’t use the money to repair the road. It was narrow and full of pot holes. Travelling on this road often made me afraid that I would fall off the bike.

When we arrived in Tri Ton we waited for our group to catch up. It was here I was enlightened, we were going to Tuc Dup Hill. This is a famous site in An Giang as a symbol of resistance and is locally known as two million dollar hill. It definitely had a very nationalistic feel to the site and a reasonable amount of propaganda. I tried to ignore it, and found that it is an amazing place. We started looking for the crocodiles that were advertised yet all we could find were ostriches and a horse. For some reason I felt overly excited about seeing the horse (or more likely it was a pony) as it is the first one I have seen in VN. I really missed it when I couldn’t see it on the way back, yet a little further on I saw that it was giving rides around the tourist park. I thought it was carrying too much wait with two grown adults on its back.

We started to climb the mountain and after about 75 metres or more (it was hot in the sun as the mountain was facing west and it was about 2 in the afternoon) we decided to follow the track into the mountain. We descended into the caves and it was claustrophobic. Lots of boulders just resting on each other, forming solid caves like the keystone principle in an arch. It was very cool in the caves a welcome relief to the heat outside. We trekked around snaking through the caves for about 30 mins. In some places I thought that I would not be able to pass because of my size. Once we came out we had a relaxing walk down the mountain. The photo can not do justice to the beauty of the view.

We finished the day with a few ice cold soft drinks and dwarf coconuts. No one told me that inside the fruit, which resembled lychees in look and texture, were filled with coconut water and managed to shower myself with it. As we left Tuc Dup hill we passed many Khmer style buildings which are very different from the more traditional VN style we usually see. We headed back home to Long Xuyen at about 4 in the afternoon with the threat of rain not far off.

KD final exam party

My international trade students on Friday finished all their exams and decided to have a party. They invited me and some other teachers, however most of the other teacher’s had to be present in the school for one reason or another. So once again I was left alone at the mercy of students.

I was quite ashamed that one of the first things I knew about Friday morning was receiving a phone call from students asking where I was. After a hard nights work I was feeling a little under the weather, with that dry mouth feeling. Luckily I had Gatorade, drank some then had a shower, and by the time I met my students I felt much better.

When I arrived at the house I saw an interesting sight: males in the kitchen. It has been my observation that Vietnamese males do not like being in the kitchen much. I went over to see what they were doing and under the instruction of some girls they were cutting away some vegetables for lunch. It all looked interesting to watch yet I was quickly ushered out to another room to play cards. It was good I taught some students 21, and discussed my still unresolved future plans. At least this time I could tell them that I would be in Australia before July 1.

The students asked me if I would like to drink beer or (rice) wine. I said beer with hesitation, as I was afraid of drinking at that point, still feeling under the weather from the previous night’s activities. When they arrived back to my relief they had only bought beer. They bought a beer called Fan Saigon and despite what it says on the label it is not high quality beer. The beer has an unusual aftertaste, which dissipates after you drink a few glasses.

We sat down to eat not long after and as is traditional we had to sit on the floor. It really felt like a long way down when I sat, and not long I was distracted from the pain by a toast.

Then we proceeded to eat the food. I think they should open up a restaurant. The food was good, and produced with a team effort, even if some people’s job was to entertain me. The green mango salad, duck and other eggs, and of course soup. Once again I was floored at the size of the fish, it was a huge fish, which was delicious.

By 2.30 we were all tired from eating and drinking until our bellies burst. It was good way to spend lunch, and a reminder of how much I will miss my students in Australia.

Class is out

Over the last few weeks have finalised my lessons with my students. I felt a little sad as this will be one of the last times that I will see them before I leave. The first class to finish their lessons where the International Trade students. Some of the students invited me to Thoai Son and also to visit a student’s house. The next class to finish was the Accounting class, followed by the Agribusiness class, and lastly the Finance Class.

While finalising the some work the class representative came and asked if I had any plans. As I didn’t she asked me to join the class for (extremely early) dinner. So we went to the restaurant and proceeded to wait for everybody else to arrive. I enjoyed talking with my students on a more personal level, something I miss as in class we often talk about business topics.

Many students seemed eager to find out about my plans, however this left me confused as I still don’t know what I will do in the future. The feeling of uncertainty consumed me for a while until we were distracted with the seafood soup. I felt that everybody was trying to make me have a good time and persuade me to stay here longer. After dinner, we went to a massive photo session across from the restaurant. I was put out by the number of reshots we had to take because people just moved into the way of the camera without any regard for the photographer. Luckily, we finished after about 15 mins and headed out to karaoke.

At karaoke the feeling of being powerless arrived again, as they wouldn’t let me choose songs yet proceeded to find every English song they could and a student would sing it with me. Although, this could have been a risky situation with my bad singing it all turned out great and we had tons of fun. By the end of the night I was tired (as was my voice) and was eager to turn in.

The next day was the exams for the Agribusiness class. As I arrived the students seemed just as nervous as I was. I could not work out why I was nervous, just was. Maybe I was worried for them, alas for no need as most did well. As I finished working I noticed that most of the students were all still around and I suspected something was up, after the previous day.

They all convinced me to go to coffee, which I thought was nice. I also missed a lot of opportunities to talk to the students about non-business topics. We went to this really nice coffee shop on what seemed like the edge town. It was really tranquil and was not expecting the surprise that was waiting for me. Kevin, an old friend was there. I met him from Julie and he is a good Karaoke singer. So unfortunately I spent a lot of time catching up with him, yet felt obliged to attend to my students interjections. The questions posed were similar to the previous day’s, to which I still had no answers.

During the coffee, a number of students were discussing where to take me next. One student slyly asked me if I like rabbit. After I said yes it was agreed to go and eat rabbit. We proceeded to go from one side of town to another through the back streets. I was really lost as I hadn’t been this way before, yet my students continued to reassure me that they new where they were going. And they did, before I knew it I was being toasted while people were choosing dishes from the menu.

Well it was the students turn to become the teacher as they wouldn’t let me speak English and continued to teach me Vn. I learnt some useful phrases and felt good that I could use them on them that day, to great amusement for all. After a large bit of banana rice wine we decided to call it a day, with our bellies full.

I was expecting after the finance class to have some memories with them, however so far I am disappointed. I think it has something to do with the rushing of all their subjects from a variety of teacher’s not giving any time off. I hope I will have an opportunity to see them before I go and learn more about them.

Thoai Son District

Saturday morning I had arranged to meet with some students and visit Thoai Son District with them. I had previously been with these students to this area and was anticipating another good trip. We all met at the gate and rode off on the motorbikes to Thoai Son. When we arrived the students had organised to meet one of their friends there and we ate breakfast. I felt really special as I had ordered the same meal as my students yet the lady who prepared the food would not let me eat any of them as she prepared a special meal for me. It was worth the wait as it tasted great.

Following breakfast we toured the town and then proceeded to move to a high school called Thoai Giang. This was when the real reason for the trip was revealed to me – introduce the students to a native English speaker. The students amazed me since with very little resources the students had studied their English lessons well. I felt that the school had achieved quite a lot given the demanding conditions. At lunch we met the principal of the school, whose daughter was in the class I had just been with.

We went for lunch at the local hospital canteen and I believe that hospital food is possibly the same around the world. I noticed that there were not too many other places to eat where we were. After lunch we returned to the school and continued what we did in the morning with a new class. This class were just beginners so we quickly launched into songs as I met them during their usual singing lesson. That was the last lesson of the day for them and as we left there was an opportunity to have a group photo.

We returned to town and wanted to visit the Thoai Son tourist area. It is more domestic tourists than international, as Thoai Son is really of the beaten track. This, I feel, gives it its charm. We were surprised that the prices had gone up more than 3 times since the last time we visited and thought we might find something else to do.

Luckily there are many restaurants to choose from and one member of our team knew exactly which one to visit – Le Quyt. Here we enjoyed Beef wrapped in vine leaves, noodles, vegetables, and rice paper. We finished the meal with juicy watermelon. To chase this delicious food down we had banana rice wine. As we sat and talked we talked a lot about my leaving of An Giang, what will I do, will I return etc., and I felt proud at how well my students had improved there English in the short time I have been with them.

We said good bye to our host and started to return to Long Xuyen. As we exited the town on the bridge I took a last look at the collapsing mountain, and was overcome with a sense of finality as I might not see it again for a long time. We made good progress on the way home and we stopped at an orphanage.

This was a strange place. It looks so empty from the outside yet when you walk in about 100m or more you start to see that the place is alive. I was moved by some of the stories of the situations that made these children orphans such as poverty and disease. However they all seemed so happy without a care in the world. Once we had finished there it was off to return home for a well deserved rest.

Chol Chnam Thmay

Friday the 13th was not an ordinary day. Despite my supersized hangover previously mentioned, it was also AGU’s Khmer New Year party. Chol Chnam Thmay, the Khmer new year, was organised by the Khmer students association. This year they organised a big party and were holding it just by my room, at the volley ball court. All morning I had heard them set it up and was starting to feel eager about what it was going to be like.

When you entered the volley ball court you went through a tunnel of people for lack of a better description. Each of the students bowed and smiled and it felt nice to see so many friendly faces. When you walked over to where the seating was all arranged you saw this stand of fruit. Its purpose beyond decoration was unknown to me. It looked really nice with bananas, pineapples and tied in sugar cane.

The welcoming party

Once the ceremony started I again realised that this could be boring. Usually in VN, a ceremony generally consists of long speeches (in VN). Yet this ceremony was different, most speeches were short, and broken up between dancing and award ceremonies. The dance is very similar to Thai dancing and was astonished by how much effort the students put into all the intricate moves. Another thing that really caught my attention was that the girls were wearing traditional Khmer clothing. I was stunned in particular by this one girl was wearing a yellow and blue outfit which just stood out from the others. The embroidery (or weaving not sure how to describe) was of flowers and looked like it would take hours to do just 1.

Traditional Khmer clothing

After all the formalities there was one thing left to do, dance. I felt horrible about the thought of dancing in front of so many people when the students asked me. Yet all the other foreigners were dancing so I felt that I would dishonour them if I didn’t dance. I felt rather awkward and wished for the song to end (it really was the never-ending story).

With ending of the dance we all moved to the eating area. I was anticipating eating Khmer food as I haven’t tried any yet. I was disappointed with two things first Van said it was a non alcohol table and second the food was not Khmer. The first course was chicken salad which was lush.

Next was Bo Kho, a type of stew possibly inspired by French cooking. It was also delish. As we were enjoying it to my relief came some alcohol, traditional Khmer liquor. That relief was short lived once I got a whiff of the aroma. It really was indescribable. I recall one person said it smelt like fermentation yet all agreed it was unlike anything they had smelt before. The way to drink it I found was don’t smell it. The taste was not as bad as the smell would suggest, it was like sugar and bitter lemon juice.

Lastly we had fish soup. The fish was huge. The cooks had cut it up into 3 pieces and each piece was bigger than my fist. When I was eating I came across some bones and was floored by how big the bones where. I pulled out a part of the bone from the piece of fish that I had and it was the size of a hairclip – 5 cm long. I thought I should polish them up and use them as a gift.

After eating and drinking, I was still tired from the previous night and made my escape while the students, many who just came to see, had started Khmer dancing until late at night.

Students dancing to Khmer music.

Friday the 13th

I am not really into superstitions in general so today being Friday the 13th really had no meaning to me. Reflecting on events so far though makes me feel that I should take it a bit more serious.

The hangover I (still) have today is big and the headache is just starting to subside now, yet still feel a bit lifeless (it was supersized). Went and had some beef with Tyler and Hendrik and it really hit the spot and gave me the energy to go out and teach in the afternoon. However I got a call around 1 asking about when I was going to pick up the teaching materials. Feeling rushed, I went and got them. Got to the room and started to setup my computer and it didn’t work. I was flabbergasted. If it didn’t work I would not know what to do as all the work I have done in the last 2 years is on it.

I was trying to get the computer started chatting and joking with the students and thought well it is 13/4 – two bad luck numbers. I was wondering, as it appears to me Vietnamese people are very suppositious in regards to most of life’s activities, that being in country that I now start to become superstitious as well.

Nahh!!!!!!!!!!!!

To my relief the computer is working again and those thoughts are out of here.

Canals, Comrades, and Ghosts

A few weeks ago I went to a restaurant affectionately called the tile place since you can heat a tile and cook on it. It is quite an enjoyable experience and I was there with some members of my faculty. I was really impressed with the fact they could remember my order from previous times that they didn't even listen to the new food requests. The other thing that impressed me was the new front of the restaurant. As I left I was surprised by the picture across the canal so I took a picture - my first panoramic picture being of Cau Quay.

Cau Quay at night

Afterwards to continue the celebrations of the 76th anniversary of the Youth Union's founding, the students had another concert. The faculty and I went to watch the students perform. One dance performance that I really liked was called the "History of Viet Nam". One of the morning classes performed this dance and it traces the history from the creation on the Vietnamese people to modern times. It is put to patriotic music which makes you feel apart of the dance. I felt amazed at how much effort they put in and how good it was.

The mother of Viet Nam and her comrades

As I was leaving to get some coffee with the performing studetnts, I met some of the International Trade class watching the performances. They seemed as impressed as I was with the performances so far. I thought it would be good to capture this on camera. I just wonder if they knew that they were surrounded by ghosts.

Students and the Ghosts watching the performances

Caught in the act

I often wonder why my students are always late to class. Monday morning I had the satisfaction of finding out: - they are all doing their homework.

Caught doing their homework before class