Public Enemy #1

Not a bad view from the train

Good news and bad news people.  I am going to start with the bad news as people usually do.  If you prefer good news first then I suggest you skip down a couple of lines and read backwards.  So I am pretty sure that my blog has been censored in Vietnam.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with censorship, Vietnam has a history of censoring media and most recently censoring bloggers.  I guess I pose a serious threat to the government because I can no longer access my blog to look at.  I could be wrong (and probably am), but don't be surprised if my next post comes from the depths of a Vietnamese jail cell.  Actually they would probably censor that too.  Damn.

The goods news is that the guest house that we are staying in had WiFi installed today!  And thanks to our boy genius Billy, we can all access it and its running smoothly.  So this means I can post more often, check and send email more often, and do facebook things too!  Now that I think of it, this may be bad news for some of you people out there, in which case you are a jerk and I am not sorry.

Surrounded by women... what else is new?

Today was our third day of working and teaching and made for quite an exciting day.  Today young Vietnamese students training for the military graced us with their presence.  About halfway through our lesson plan, nearly 100 Vietnamese students dressed in fatigues led by seasoned Vietnamese soldiers donning countless medals and stripes entered the school and stepped into our classes.  They seamlessly fit into our lessons and I think they really enjoyed it!  With about 30 minutes left all of the teachers brought the students into the auditorium for group activities which, although with varying levels of success, worked very well and everyone was laughing and cheering.  It felt good to be in charge of over 300 students!  After our activities, everyone stuck around to take pictures with us.  Not to brag but many a shy girl came up to take pictures with us good looking dudes.  At least thats what I tell myself.  All in all an awesome day.

Minds to be molded.  Muahahaha!

Today I finally felt like I knew why I was hear.  As we stood in front of 300 students eating up every word we say, cherishing every moment with us, and jumping on any opportunity to learn about us, I realized how unique and valuable of an opportunity this is for every single student we teach.  Native English speakers have so much to offer in English classes.  These kids are used to learning from Vietnamese people who have learned English from Vietnamese people who have learned from Vietnamese and so on.  And thus there accents, intonations, and general grasp of the language can be quite skewed.  But to speak with a native speaker can give insight into how the language is supposed to be spoken.  And these kids know that.  I am writing this right after finishing up our lesson plan for tomorrow, and what yesterday felt like work, today feels like fun.  I'm pumped.

While it is only our third day, I can already tell that our class is awesome.  We only have two boys, but both boys are very smart and love to participate. I think it might be a trend in Vietnam for girls to learn English more often than boys.  Maybe this is a trend in other countries too.  Our 18 or so girls are also awesome and full of personality, even the shyest ones!  It is great when you see the shy ones come out of their shells, even if it is just for a split second.  Can't wait to get to know everyone a little better.

Well its 9 o'clock here which means its past my bedtime.  You guys, 4:45am is really early.  And I am reminded of this every morning at 4:45am.  So I am gonna hit the sack.