on Beefsteaks and Teachers

It was a good weekend. I especially enjoying hanging out with a couple expat friends. We ended up at a place overlooking the river in Phu Nhuan near my house, where a lot of local Vietnamese go. It closes very late, around 4am, so a lot of locals go there when the bars and clubs close, and it's a great place to people watch. It's also a good chance to buy cheap food from the people who wander up and down the tables trying to sell things, like quail eggs and boiled peanuts. It took me awhile to get used to the softer peanuts when they're boiled but I've come to like them.

Sunday night I wanted to go with Uyen to a place that advertised ostrich meat. I was really excited to try it, but when we came they told us they were out of ostrich. So, we settled for beefsteak, which was fine, because I really like it here. It's not the same as the typical steak in America, which I imagine as being thick and juicy with steak sauce. Here it's very thin and is served on a hot pot which is hot and crackling as it comes to you. Often it is also served with an egg and other styles of meat, and even french fries and bread on the side. The Vietnamese then squirt chili sauce over the whole mess but I passed. Anyway, beefsteaks are one of my favorite dishes in Vietnam, and they're usually cheap compared to Western food. Plus, almost every coffee shop in the city has it on the menu, so if you're ever in a hunger panic at any time of the day, you can count on getting some beef and eggs and bread at a cafe.
Here's a picture of my meal:



So, now that I've been teaching more children's classes, it's very interesting noting the differences between my co-teachers. When I walk into a class, the students are often already engaged in a lesson with the Vietnamese teacher, and I unwittingly cause a disruption. They all turn to me, most of them saying "hello!" and if some of them remember me then they shout my name. Some Vietnamese teachers are really hands-on and don't like letting go of the class. I'll start to teach and they'll keep interrupting with suggestions or ideas for games, which is okay towards the end of class if I'm looking for a different activity to do. Sometimes they will even interrupt in the middle of a game and say they want the students to work on their workbooks. But these teachers are good at translating my more complicated instructions to the students so they can participate in the games. Other teachers see me come in and immediately retreat to the back of the class, where I don't hear from them until the end of class and I'm pretty much on my own. So, if I do try to explain an activity, the students are lost and the teacher isn't really paying attention, so I have to look at them in exasperation until they realize they should translate what I'm saying. I can relate to these teachers, because the students really are a handful, and they have to be around the kids longer than I do, but still, I rely on their ability to convey quickly in Vietnamese what I'm trying in vain to describe with English and hand signals. At any rate, I think I'm able to better establish a rapport with the students when I'm communicating directly with them without having the other teacher trying to direct things all the time.
In general, I feel like a novelty item, as a foreign teacher. I come in and I'm immediately an item of interest. I don't have all the training of the Vietnamese teachers, and I'm not expected to have any knowledge of grammar or anything like that. Yet somehow my role is still essential. I guess it pays to have someone who speaks English as a native speaker so the students can at least hear how it's supposed to sound. Especially when even the Vietnamese teachers pronounce things wrong, saying "He ee tall" instead of "He is tall". No one wants to say the "s" at the end of words. It's an ongoing battle.
But Rome wasn't built in a day!

I've finished Don Quixote and bought a photocopy version of The Quiet American for 2 bucks while on vacation in Nha Trang. It's quite short and I'm almost done, but I'm enjoying it so I'm only reading a little bit everyday. I'm interested in its portrayal of Vietnamese culture 50 years ago, not so much interested in the politics. After I finish it I want to compare my experience with that of the observations in the book.

And on that note, farewell til next time. I'm trying to blog more often now that Kevin of SaigonNezumi.com gave me a shout out and I'm getting some more readers! So, if you read mine then check out his too, he talks a lot about coffee shops which are a major interest of mine!