End of Work Week #1

Hard to believe but it is Friday!!!

My favorite day of the week, whether in Ho Chi or the good ol’ New York City. Actually in any country, as a matter of a fact. Nothing beats the feeling of being done with work and having the whole weekend to relax (or not... because the next 4 weekends are pretty much booked with sight seeing all around Vietnam, which is quite wonderful) but I’m going to still pretend that I don’t have to wake up at 7am tomorrow. 

Already a week of teaching has gone by and only 3 remain. 

Thinking about it in weeks, seems like Ms. Pho will be forced to retire in no time!

Meeting new students always feels like you're breaking in a new pair of shoes.

You don’t know how it’s going to feel until you wear it out for a day. 

Once the shoe becomes broken into, you feel like they are "yours" and you’ve also fallen in love with them in the process of breaking them in.

It took precisely a week but after today, I feel like I have a good grasp on a lot of the students here. It’s difficult to know ALL the students after a week cause there are 100+ students in this summer program. 

In terms of their English proficiency, I was pretty surprised. As I have mentioned in an earlier blog post, there are 3 levels of students.

Level 1: Students can write their names in English. Say basic English phrases like: thank you, can I, sorry… identify colors, numbers, and days of the week etc.

Level 2: Can write sentences can follow simple oral directions with little to no help.

Level 3: Can understand English fluently with the exception of some higher level vocabulary words. I was most impressed by level 3 because the students are VERY fluent and teaching them doesn't feel any different than teaching my fluent English speaking students back home.

Something that caught me off guard is how hard it is to instruct the level 1’s (the youngest of the bunch) to use their fine motor skills when they have a hard time understanding what the heck is being said to them by their crazy Korean American teacher and because they don't understand you, keeping them interested and focused on the lesson is a different story.

You can bet, all of my level 1 lessons this week included LOTS and LOTS of hand gestures,
exaggerated facial expressions,
and “LISTEN to the teacher please!”

BUT, in the midst of ALL the "please listen" and the crazy facial expressions, the students were able to create these fabulous arts and crafts pieces.

Enjoy!

Paper Flower Bouquet by Level 2 Students

Paper Cut Self Portraits by Level 1

Animal Mosaics by Level 2

Nice to Meet You, Ho Chi Minh City!

It’s my 3^rd night here in Ho Chi Minh City. The flights getting here were pretty horrible. I don’t know how people go back and forth from Asia to USA like nothing! It was especially bad because I sat in a window seat next to 2 passengers who slept through the whole 14 hour flight (okay, they did get up like once or twice to eat but that was it) I felt bad that they had to suffer because of my frequent trips to the restroom. Lesson learned: ALWAYS REQUEST AISLE SEAT IF YOU HAVE A WEAK BLADDER. Haha. 

Having arrived early morning Sunday around 3 AM, the city was empty and the motorbikes were a few. Didn’t really see much on the drive over to the SEMEO building where I will reside for the next month. The school building itself is where I teach and live. The classrooms are located throughout the building and there are 2 guest suites on the top 5^th floor.

The suites aren’t anything fancy, but it’ll do for the next month. There is air conditioning, running water, and a housekeeper who cleans my room and does my laundry so I’m not complaining! It’s actually better than home considering I don’t have to do laundry. As far as I am concerned not having to do laundry or clean up is equivalent to a 4 star hotel. Haha.

Some Noticings about Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

1) Motorbikes are EVERYWHERE. It’s actually a luxury to own a car because taxes are very high on them. Therefore, motobike > cars.

While on the topic of motorbikes, let me also tell you that crossing a big street here is a matter of life or death. What I’ve learned after 2 days is that you cannot hesitate, make eye contact, or feel bad when you’re crossing the street.

You gotta be BOLD and let the drivers dodge you, and not vice versa.

2) Our school building is located in a PRIME SPOT. Inside District 1 (which I hear and have found to be the most happening district in Vietnam. There are 12 districts in all). We literally live next door to 2 huge luxury malls stocked with a supermarket, clothing stores, a gym, and endless food courts. Bubble tea, baked goods, ice cream, mochi, pho, spring rolls... Anything my little heart desired back home is found here.  Of course, except my mama’s cooking!

3) Napkins are hard to come by in restaurants! I’m so used to using a million napkins whenever I eat but here all you get if you are lucky is a wet nap to wipe your hands. In some of the more expensive restaurants they do have towel napkins.

4) Military time. I know that a lot of countries actually use military time but because I am so used to the 12 hour system, whenever I look at the time I have to do a double take then do a quick subtraction of 12 hours in my heard in order to figure out what time it is. I’ve even switched my iphone to military time so that I can get used to it.

5) Coconut water & beer is so cheap here (compared to New York City)! You can get a fresh coconut water for about $1 but I'm sure you can haggle the merchant to sell it to you for cheaper and local brew goes for about $2. I intend on drinking as many coconuts as I can. Puhaha. 

6) It rains EVERY day here but for only a short while. It gets real hot during the day then the clouds look like it just can't take it anymore and it just releases a flood of rain water. It passes fairly quickly and the sun comes out again.

7) Vietnamese cuisine is wonderful! They do not use much oil or additional spices. Rather, everything here is seasoned naturally with herbs such as cilantro, basil, and other funky smelling things. I look forward to eating all types of authentic dishes and haven't had a banh mi yet! I am on the look out for a good place to try it though!

8) Work started and it’s only been 2 days but I will say this. No matter where I go, I feel that all children are the same, in terms of what they need, what they want, and how they learn.

All children need love & discipline, they all WANT to be praised and made to feel special and good and they learn best when you make it known that you want to be there and you want to teach them.  Therefore, I want to try my best to LOVE the 100+ Vietnamese students that I have the privilage of teaching this summer! I will post soon on how the 1^st weeks lessons went, how the students have received me, and all things related to work... cause you know I am here to work. Haha. 

Till then,

Chao!

PS. For those of you who have reached out to me and have been keeping me in your thoughts, thank you! Jetlag is better and I am adjusting to life in HCM little by little every day. :)

Delays at Incheon Airport

A few hours a go, I arrived at Incheon International airport in Korea. 

Which at first was nice and exciting, since it was suppose to be just a quick layover on the way to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 

However, quick is no more because my flight is officially delayed a few hours!

Which is still okay because Incheon airport happens to be one of the best airports in the world. They've got everything you need from Starbucks, all kinds of food options and various shopping stores. Oh! and CLEAN bathrooms. Can't get over the bathrooms.

Therefore, I will do a  quick picture update as I sit here at gate #31 looking very much like a zombi from the lack of sleep...

How I passed 14 hours.

Jotted down a couple of things. Watched 3 movies. Took 2 naps. Ate 2 airplane meals. Read on my kindle. Was EXTREMELY uncomfortable. I guess I did a lot. Haha.

 

Right by gate #40 for the connecting flight there was a Korean sports bar. Korean baseball on TV.

One of the two meals I had on the plane. I LOVE how it comes with a "How to" book. The art of making bi-bim-bop. Lol.

How Asiana Airlines apologized for the flight delay. It worked like a charm. In Korea, they put red bean on their Starbucks green tea frap! Tasted like green tea shaved ice from Paris Baguette.

My first meal in Korea. Spicy ramen. Was so spicy my lips turned the shade of my very pink shirt.


Okay, this is it for now. Gonna try to rest my eyes before I board again in a couple of hours. :X

Hear ye, hear ye!

Ms. Pho is about to take over this blog in T-7 days!!

I am feeling all sorts of emotions as I await the adventures waiting for me in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  Kind of nervous but definitely excited to see what Vietnam has in store for me. 

-Lesson plans have been complete. 
It took me about a month to put together 24 arts & crafts lesson plans. 
Some of the arts & crafts activities I have planned out are:
rainbow fish, paper portraits, butterfly mobile, hand print flowers, and hand and foot print turkey Can't wait to show you how they turn out. I've actually tried some of the crafts out with my class this year. So far, positive feedback from the kiddies!

-Shots & medications have been taken. 
Malaria is a serious problem in some parts of Vietnam. Though Ho Chi Minh City isn't listed as one of the problem areas, I will stay on the side of precaution. You never know... 

-Started getting essential items together to pack such as...
hand wipes, medication, ear plugs (heard HCM city can be quite noisy!), female products (last year's intern told me it's rather hard to find over there), and bug spray!
I am ALSO bringing a giant bottle of Avon's Skin So Soft (thanks to a generous and kind co-worker)... I heard works great with mosquitoes!!!

At the moment, I am  pondering which 10 essential clothing items I should bring.
It's going to be HOT,  HUMID, and RAINY in Vietnam.
Sounds fabulous doesn't it?
Gonna try to pack as light and COTTON-Y as possible. Haha.

Other than that, I am looking forward to meeting all of my students and going pho-shing for the best bowl in town. So please stay tuned!

XOXO,

Ms. Kimpop or shall I say
Ms. Pho? ;)

Hasta la Vista, Goldfish!

Not quiet sure what it is about goldfish crackers but children love 'em!

It is a VERY popular snack choice by the little ones.
They NOT only love them but also like to do questionable things like dunk a bunch of
goldfish in to a cup of water and drink it straight up. Haha. 

I guess it could be the cute little goldfish shape or the fact that they are bite size and fun to eat.
I was a fan of goldfish too... that is until I discovered the BUNNIES!

Cheddar Bunnies to be exact.

Taste JUST LIKE goldfish, if not better.
But what makes these Cheddar Bunnies so great is that...

it's made with ORGANIC wheat flour and other ingredients that I can actually pronounce. 

The actual description is as follows:

Baked with organic wheat flour and Real Aged Cheddar, our Cheddar Bunnies are great tasting and wholesome. They are ideal for toddler-sized hands, but their crispy crunch and real cheesy flavor will tempt snackers of all ages to eat them by the handful.

Actual ingredients: ORGANIC WHEAT FLOUR, EXPELLER PRESSED VEGETABLE OIL (SAFFLOWER AND/OR SUNFLOWER), SALT, CHEDDAR CHEESE (PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURE, SALT, ENZYMES), YEAST EXTRACT, YEAST, PAPRIKA, ANNATTO EXTRACT FOR COLOR, GROUND CELERY SEED, ONION POWDER.

Therefore, if your child or someone you know (possibly a grown child like me... haha)
loves those goldfish cause they're soooo delicious,
hand them a box of cheddar bunnies and you'll probably have them saying
"Hasta la vista, goldfish!" as well.

PS. Also, the white cheddar bunnies are pretty delicious as well!
I actually like the white ones better than the regular cheddar bunnies. But that's just me.

PPS. You can usually find cheddar bunnies on sale at Target!
Happy bunny hunting!