Cooking Vietnamese

After work this morning, the other teachers and I signed up for a Saigon cooking class. One of our first dinners here in HoChi was at Hoa Tuc (which is a block away from our school building) and they happen to offer cooking courses right above their restaurant.

As stated on their pamphlet:

"We offer to learn traditional and contemporary food which tastes and looks delicious but is simple to prepare and recreate at home. You will use Vietnamese kitchenware to realize and enjoy a tasty 3 courses Vietnamese meal. Of course, no MSG are used." 

I have never taken a cooking course before, abroad or at home so this was a very new & exciting experience for me. I have heard from lots of travelers, including a few teachers on this trip that cooking classes are a great way to experience the country's cuisine & culture. 

Our cooking class started off slowly at around 2 pm. We were greeted warmly by our chef pictured below. 

She gave us a brief introduction to some of the different roots, vegetables, and herbs that we would be using.

Then it was on to our 1st course: Mustard leaves roll with crunchy vegetables & shrimps

It was fairly simple to make and the best part was making the fish sauce with kumquat juice! After each course, we were given 10-15 minutes to enjoy our creations. I inhaled mine in a matter of minutes. Haha. 

2nd course: Fried sticky rice fritters stuffed with pork & carrot

Tasted a lot like rice cakes but it was deep fried in peanut oil. Was pretty delicious. They also recommended making this dish into a dessert by stuffing it with coconut flakes and dark chocolate. Must try back at home!

3rd course: Fresh rice noodle with BBQ pork & vegetables

We got to marinate our pork from scratch & fan it on the charcoal! Felt very authentic. I've actually had this dish numerous times here but this one was the best yet! Soooo fresh. 

Overall, I had a really awesome time at the Saigon cooking class and would do it again in a heartbeat. It was definitely a great way to learn more about the Vietnamese culture and bring something valuable back home AKA the yummy recipes and experience! Can't wait to experiment and try it at home. Dinner parties.... anyone? ;)

Oh and the whole course cost $35. A little bit on the pricer side according to Vietnamese standards but it was a unique experience and definitely worth every penny, I'd say. 

Flying Solo in HoChi

Every Wednesday, I teach an intensive course to my level 1 students. It runs from 3-5pm (or 15-18:00) and it's an extra class after the morning class where the focus is on reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

All of the teachers on this trip have to teach an intensive course once a week on different days. Wednesdays are my days. So, after teaching my intensive course this afternoon, I decided to trek out to the streets of Ho Chi Minh... SOLO.

Now, it probably doesn't seem like a big deal but it was a pretty big deal to me. You see, I haven't really gone anywhere or done anything ALONE since I've gotten here. I didn't have a reason to do anything alone... since I am on this internship with 4 other fabulous teachers ;). 

Anyways, long story short, I had postcards waiting to be mailed out to NYC. 

I grabbed a quick lunch at school and with a map ripped out of my Lonely Planet book in one hand and a bunch of postcards in the other, I started on my journey to the post office, which was only about 5 blocks away (5 longgggg blocks...) haha. 

The walk started off slow... I crossed one street (yes, i am still alive!!!),

Crossed another (i wonder if people are staring because they can tell that I am not from here),

Crossed a huge intersection (i wonder if tourists ever get their foot run over by a motorbike...),

Walked down a huge street with lots of cute little stores & a bakery
(should I treat myself to something? the answer is always a YES! got myself a cheesy baguette),

Walked PAST where the post office should have been (asked a gentleman in a cop like uniform for directions...got redirected to go back half a block). 

Finally made it to the post office (licked about 20 stamps... yuck!) Happily handed the post office lady my cards and started on my long journey back to the school. On the way home, I decided to treat myself to some corn being sold by a lady on her bicycle. 

It was my reward for a SOLO trek well done. 

Cost me 5,000 dongs! 

Which is .25 cents.... haha.

Even in Ho Chi Minh City...

When I first applied to be a teacher in the Summer Fun program,
I had no idea where in Vietnam I would be teaching.
I found out that this program existed through a flyer that I saw on
Queen College campus one evening. All the flyer said was, 

Teach English in Vietnam this Summer

When I got accepted, as far as I knew...  I had signed my summer away to live 
in a small Vietnamese village for a month. I imagined a rural place 
with fields of green, 
huts, 
people in straw hats being pulled around by 
some sort of four legged animal.    

When I finally decided to do some research, I was surprised to find out that 
Ho Chi Minh City was the biggest city in Vietnam inhabiting about 
9,000,000 people (says wiki). 

When I arrived last Sunday very early in the morning, 
I couldn't see much but I do remember thinking that the outer city streets
reminded me a lot of the city of Santo Domingo in Dominican Republic.

Right outside of the city, there are small buildings, family stores, and 
paved streets with traffic lights. As you get closer to the city center 
(which is where my school building is located) it starts to look a lot more 
like New York City with scattered sky scrapers, malls, restaurants, 
food carts, lots & lots of people, and of course moving vehicles. 

Much to my disappointment, there were no villages, oxen, or rice
paddies in sight. At least not here in Ho Chi Minh City.
However, outside of this very city all of the above can be
found with no problem as I discovered this past weekend on my
trip to the Cu Chi tunnels. 

In the past 8 days, I've come to discover that life here is 
very much like life back at home because
even in Ho Chi Minh City they...

1) Have frozen yougurt.  I was happy to discover that I can satisfy my 

frozen yogurt toof with some YOGEN FRUZ :). 

2) Have TALL sky scrapers. This is the BIOTEXCO FINANCIAL TOWER. 

Tallest building with a heliport. 

3) People get around in cars & motorcycles. 

4) Have an equivalent to a Starbucks coffee called, 

TRUNG NGUYEN COFFEE. 

Very popular place for coffee and other food items such as 

fried rice and french fries. 

5) Have malls with American brands at ridiculous prices 

(this is the mall directly across from the school/my home, 

called VINCOM CENTER).

6) Can find endless places to pamper yourself. 

90 minute facial + 90 minute body massage = about $60

I actually got this very package last week and it was 

probably the best thing I did for myself here in Ho Chi Minh 

because I was finally able to sleep through the night 

and kiss jet lag good bye! 

7) You can find small children who should not have an iphone. 

This is actually one of my students. He was receiving 

a very important phone call in the middle of our field trip. Haha. 

Anyways, stay tuned for a "Only in Ho Chi Minh City" entry because 

there are also LOTS of things that are not like life back at home... :) 

From a less home sick & better adjusted, 

Ms. Pho

Cao Dai Temple & Cu Chi Tunnels

Got up bright and early this morning to be a good tourist here at Ho Chi Minh City. Haha.

The summer school that were working for which is named, Summer Fun has planned out 4 weekend expeditions for the teachers so that we can learn more about Vietnam and its history! Pretty sweet.

It was a 3 hour drive away from the city to Cao Dai Temple (pictured below).

Then we drove back toward Ho Chi Minh City and stopped to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels.
Cu Chi Tunnels are underground tunnels built during the Vietnam war which served as hideouts for the Vietnamese soldiers.

I leave you with this crazy Tiger trap made by the Vietnamese army. There are bamboo spikes at the bottom of it. Ouch!

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