Sports Day for Students (11-19)

At school, there were two events this week: academic competitions and Sports Day. As a result, I saw six of my nineteen classes this week. Because of the competitions and preparations for Sports Day, most classes were missing a third to half of the students.

Academic competitions were Tuesday and Wednesday. The English competitions were Tuesday. I was a judge for the spelling bee, and Kate and Lovely were judges for speech. I’m not sure why Tony was not a judge; perhaps because he didn’t have a student he worked with. Monday the three of us were taken to a meeting for most of the morning. It was not helpful, and we didn’t need to be there. The man in charge said would pronounce a word, say a sentence with it, and then pronounce the word again. I was to prepare sentences. Then they decided that I shouldn’t prepare sentences because I’m a native speaker and might make them too difficult. So the other judges would prepare sentences in the morning. When I arrived and asked for the words and sentences, I was told that I would just say the words two times. No sentences.  The women there didn’t seem to know what I was talking about when I told her about the meeting on Monday. Oh, well. Khun Toom had asked me to practice spelling with her 6^th grade student so he could get used to my voice. She gave me a list of words that I thought looked like an official list. It was. It was the words that were prepared for the contest. Sister Toom also asked me to pronounce words for her 9^th grade student. She, too, gave me the official list of words that were in the contest. At the contest, I wondered how many others had the official list to practice with. Sister Toom’s boy had missed about ten words on Monday, but he was the winner at the contest—perhaps because he missed the words and then practiced them. Kru Toom’s boy was second at the contest, having tied with a girl twice and then lost in the second extra round that had special words that were not on the original list and were very difficult for that level.

When I finished the spelling contest, I went to the storytelling contest hoping to see Bank. The contest had started and I didn’t know if he had presented yet or not. He hadn’t; so I got to see him. He was fantastic. He really rallied for the presentation and did a wonderful job. He’d been excellent at school on Monday, but he was even better at the contest. He took first place with a score of 94 out of 100. I am very proud of him. He will go on to the next level, which is the contest for all public and private schools in Ubon. (This week’s contests were only between the private schools. The public schools have their contests next week.) People kept congratulating me on the good job, but I had good material to work with. He had good skills when we started and is highly motivated and is an extrovert, all of which contributed to his success. Sister Viphaporn told me she is very happy, as is the Mother Superior, who knows about my winning student.

On the way back to school, we had lunch at a food shop, which was a special treat for the students—and teachers. When I went to my afternoon class, there were no students. I knew that many would be at the competition, but I knew that some would be at school. When I asked about them, I was told they were “somewhere.” We weren’t worrying about the fact that their location wasn’t known. OK with me. I had just thought the students left, who would not be the top students, could review and practice vocabulary, which they could use.

Spots Day was Friday. It was originally scheduled to be last week but was changed till 30 November. When I saw the bleachers and altar set up, I wondered if it had been changed to this week. The other teachers in the office had learned about the change, another example of the lack of communication of information. In preparation, students practiced for the opening parade every day in the morning and during the 3:00 class for two weeks. And some also practiced at 4:00; so we had our make-up class to the boom, boom, boom of the drum while they rehearsed. They played football during the lunch break. My other schools didn’t spend so much time practicing for the parade. When I mentioned this to Khun Yindee, she said, “It’s because it’s a private school” and explained that it’s all about showing the parents what their students can do.

Thursday I heard Kru Tang tell the students to come to school at 6:00. That, of course, means that teachers had to be there, too. It takes a long time to get their makeup and costumes ready for special events. When I arrived at 7:30, the school was practically empty. The parade started somewhere else. About twenty minutes later, we heard the drums heralding the arrival of the parade. 

The ASEAN country flags were all carried. This is definitely a big theme this year.

 I would say that more students were in costumes than at the other schools and more flags were carried, but other than that, and considering that it is a much larger school, it didn’t seem more spectacular than the other parades. 

There were also many more preschool students in costumes. A number of parents walked along with their young children. Many of the students were dressed up only for the parade and opening ceremony. It’s all show. At the other schools, the costumed students presented dances to the VIPs and were cheerleaders. Here, only about twenty were cheerleaders. Only three groups presented dances, and they weren’t in the parade. The others were truly there only for show during the parade and opening ceremony and changed into regular clothes afterwards.                  

After everyone gathered in the common area, we waited about twenty minutes for the important men to arrive for the opening ceremony. I felt bad for the students standing in the sun. After everyone walked out in order, the morning activities began.

Everyone was divided into four teams; I was on the purple/violet team. We wore shirts showing our color. 

Students walked in the parade and sat in color groups. 

Some students were the cheering squad and sat in bleachers. Each team also had a small group of cheerleaders. Others seemed to roam around most of the morning. I think a lot of students went home. There was a long break during which students practiced cheering and the cheerleaders practiced. Then the teachers played football. Since I’m not a lover of sports, I spent the rest of the morning in the office.

After lunch, students gathered in the bleachers and the rest of the students present sat and watched. The running races took place. Then there was a contest between the cheerleaders. After each group performed/danced, the teachers danced by color groups. Next was the tug-of-war contest between the groups. After that, students took down the decorations for their section of the bleachers. Then it was time for the usual closing ceremony before going home.

I was surprised how few sports were actually played on this Sports Day. At my other school, students played football and volleyball. They also played chairball and tacraw at the larger school. The day was about students playing sports and supporting their team. Here, most of the time, the students were not involved in sports and only a small group of each team was involved in cheering. In the morning, when I asked about other sports contests, I got a vague answer. When I asked about football, I learned that they had had football contests during lunch. I had thought they were practicing for Sports Day. So the day wasn’t really a Sports Day; it was a Fun Day. And the students had fun. I’m glad it’s finally over, as the boom, boom, boom was getting to be a bit much.

At 5:00, the end of the teachers’ day, there was a dinner/small party for all teachers. They served salad, chicken noodle soup, and ice cream.

Other news of the week:

I’ve been enjoying my after school make-up class with the 7^th grade students who failed last term. I required that they attend a special class for one week for English and one week for science. I think most of them have special needs that are not, and cannot be, addressed in the large class. Working with them in this small group reminds me how much I have enjoyed working with such students over the years, helping them learn that they can do learn and do the work and they are not stupid. They have really worked in this class and most of them are trying to do the work. With the small group, I can make them read on their own. Most of them can do something with support and with time to do it. They are, of course, highly motivated to change their grade, which also helps. A few, however, cannot do anything. I talked with Khun Toom about this latter group and about giving them a passing grade when they really can’t do anything. She said it’s up to me in the end. We’ll have a meeting about a couple of the students. Those who chose not to attend the class will fail.

The 8^th grade students finally asked about improving their “0’s.” So next week I’ll start with them. I’m not as enthused about raising their grades, as most of them are the ones who just talk and do nothing in class and then copy answers for two minutes and think I should be happy and praise them because they have completed the work. I have finally realized that they are probably surprised at their failing grade because they “do” the work and think they are being good students. The fact that they have failed every test did not sink in. I’ll make more effort to make that clear this term. I also realized that they did not get mid-term grades other than the grades of their exam, which they didn’t pay attention to. I’ll make those clearer this term, too.

All this making up grades (Students will have 10-25 points added to their grade to make it 50.) makes me wonder if I should just give in and give them their 50 passing grade in the first place and save myself the extra work. Knowing myself, that won’t happen, but sometimes I wish I could just do that.

Loy Kratong in the City (11-13)

Loy Kratong was Thursday. This is the special day to give thanks to water. I always enjoyed this special day in the village and was curious to see how it was celebrated in the city. The tessaban (local government) had an event that night, which was what I expected because I knew they had had celebrations there before. On Wednesday, there was a large, pink lotus in the middle of the pond and there were signs announcing the event.

At school on Loy Kratong, the pre-school students celebrated. There was a large kratong in a small plastic pool that was put out for the occasion. Students carried small kratongs around the school building in the morning and then left them in the pool.

On the way home, I decided to stop at the tessaban to see what was happening. It was only 5:30 and things were just beginning, but there were a lot of food stalls set up and ready to sell food. So I purchased a few items for my evening meal—not one of my most nutritious meals but it was good. People started to arrive over the next hour. 

Several very large kratongs from different neighborhoods were on display. (The village did this, too, but they kratongs were brought to the event in small parades from the neighborhoods.) A lot of small kratongs were for sale. (Some were for sale in the village, but many people made their own.) I noticed that they were on styrofoam, not the traditional banana tree sections. Banana trees are not abundant and expendable in the city. Hot air balloons were for sale, and a number of people bought them and set them off. (There were only a few of these in the village.) 

Some people who were part of the stage program were wearing traditional clothing. When I asked to take a photo of a few, they had me join them and took photos, too. 

At about 7:00, I was surprised to see Khun Kwan all dressed up. She was a judge for the stage shows.

The stage show started with the older people wearing traditional clothing. They then went to the pond and placed kratongs in the water in pairs. A man was taking official photos of this; so I guess these were important people. 

Other people placed kratongs in the pond off and on. Given the number of people there, I was surprised how few kratongs were in the water. (In the village almost everyone put a kratong in the pond.)

After the official placing of kratongs in the water, I turned around and saw Sister Viphaporn. She and another Sister were walking around. When they realized I was alone and planning to walk home, Sister Viphaporn had me join them and said her driver would take me home. We joined her cousin sitting on a mat for a while. Khun Kwan walked past and was happy to see that I was now with someone. Then we walked around the pond to look at the kratongs on display, as they hadn’t done that yet. I do enjoy her as a person even though I don’t agree with many of her school decisions and I know most of the teachers do not like her.

Sunday we (Khun Dakom, Khun Toy, Khun Teamjan, and I) made our bi-monthly trip to the hospital to renew our prescriptions. They picked me up at 7:00, which meant they left home at 6:00. We had our blood taken by 7:20. Khun Toy had gone upstairs when we arrived to get a number to see the doctor. We ate breakfast and then we waited to see the doctor, who started to work at 9:00. At 11:00 we were finished and went to the pharmacy. The waiting room there didn’t have nearly as many people as it usually has, and we left at 11:20 with our meds. The doctor’s nurse had announced that prescriptions would be given only for 30 days because the supply is low because of flooding in Bangkok and they don’t know what will be happening in terms of delivery over the next month. So we got two prescriptions for 30 days and have to return to the hospital next month to get the second part. But we don’t have to see the doctor then; so it shouldn’t take so long. I wondered if the waiting room at the pharmacy was not crowded because of the low supply of meds.

When we left, I was anticipating lunch at the Chinese duck noodle restaurant, as usual. But after a bit, Khun Toy said we were joining Khun Dakom’s friend. This was Khun Slim, whom I’d met before at the grand opening of his sons’ tutoring schools. Khun Dakom talked to him about me (I think), and he said I can teach English at his school next year if I want to. I had remembered that Khun Dakom has a friend with a school and had thought about asking him about it; so it was nice to have this offer. It is something I will consider, as it could be a good thing to do for a few months until Khun Toy’s retirement. We’ll see.

The lunch was at a restaurant that advertises its shrimp. There is a huge sculpture of a shrimp on the way in. We had a lot of grilled shrimp that was delicious as well as several other dishes. Khun Slim’s wife bought some grilled shrimp to take home. As always, it was really good to hang out with my special friends.

Teachers had a seminar at the school all day Saturday and Sunday. Khun Irene reported that they were at school from 8:00 Sunday morning until 7:00 PM. As always, I’m glad we do not have to participate.

Vacation in Viet Nam--back to Ninh Binh and Hanoi (11-5)

Tuesday morning I took a walk around our area of the village while breakfast was being prepared. I was especially glad to have done this because we needed to leave after breakfast rather than have a walk around the village as planned. Rain was forecast and our driver was concerned about leaving and getting to better roads before the rain. So we headed down the mountain at 8:00. 

Instead of retracing our route, we took the shortcut down, walking along a stream that we had to cross a couple times. 

Again, we walked through the rice fields where people were harvesting their rice. 

The quiet morning scenery was lovely. I had thought about asking to stop at one of the schools on the way back, but, as we were in a bit of a hurry to get driving before the rain, I didn’t.

The driver met us at the end of the road at 10:30, which shortened our walk a little. We drove for an hour and a half and then stopped at the same café for lunch and had the same delicious noodle soup. Again, Jackie and I walked down the street while the others finished eating. Then we had two more hours in the car before arriving at the guesthouse at 4:00. In all that time, we had rain for about ten minutes.

Riding in a car was interesting. Horns are used frequently to warn others that a car is coming or passing or to let them know to get out of the way. The car had three types of horns. The most frequently used is a little musical, beating a few times but not harshly. Our driver also has a horn like the police use. He used it only a few times and people recognized it as a police horn and always turned to look. Both on the way out and on the way back, we stopped at a certain point so the driver and Nam could put on their seatbelts, as that was an area that was often policed. The rest of the time they didn’t use them. (Photo: driver washing the car after coming out of the mountains)

At lunch time we passed hoards of students riding their bicycles from school to home for their lunch break, which Nam said is an hour and a half to two hours long because they often have a long ride.

We learned that all young men have mandatory military service for 18 months. They usually do this at age 18, after secondary school. But sometimes they wait until they are 24 or 25. He is 24 and has already completed his service.

Political slogans and signs were common, especially in populated areas.

Back in Ninh Binh, we went for a walk before dinner. There is a pagoda near the guesthouse; so we headed there. Since it was early evening, many people were sitting outside enjoying the cooler air. They were friendly and enjoyed having photos taken. 

At the pagoda, three women were sitting in front of the altar chanting/praying. It reminded me of the monks doing this at that time of day. There was a lot of food being brought into the room. We didn’t know if something special was happening. I read later that the full moon and new moon are special days at the temples; so, perhaps, this is what was happening that evening, as it was the night of the new moon.

Wednesday morning we took a walk around Ninh Binh for a couple hours. We were glad to have the morning to walk around and see some of the city before leaving. The back of the guesthouse card has a small map with a walking tour. 

We went to another pagoda that was closed. We found another pagoda that is being built and was open. We went past a place displaying a lot of porcelain and went to look at it. It is probably made there as well. We both ended out purchasing something there; so that was a treat.

Then it was back to the guesthouse for lunch. They don’t usually serve lunch, but Kim had offered to make lunch for us. She prepared a lovely and delicious noodles and chicken dish. Then we were on our way back to Hanoi. First we stopped at a hotel so Jackie could put her part of the bill on her credit card, as Kim can’t do that yet.

We had decided to take a train for a different experience. There was a distinct, strong, unpleasant odor in our car. I was lucky that my nose is not as sensitive as Jackie’s. She thought it was rotting meat. When the people across from us got out and took their many boxes, the odor left. Other than that, the trip was uneventful. The train route was pretty much the same as the bus route, paralleling the road.

We were so warmly welcomed back at Hotel Gecko that it felt like returning home. We even had the same room. Our tour guide on the way to Ninh Binh had suggested that we go to the ancient house not far from our hotel. Since we were both interested in that, we headed out quickly. The ancient house is the Traditional House that is over a hundred years old that is now a Vietnam Heritage Center. In addition to displaying artifacts from its original period, there are also displays of beautiful things for sale. Since the quality was good and prices were good and the money goes to a good place, we both bought several items. It was a good place to leave the last of my cash.

The first day in Hanoi I had changed my Thai bahts to Vietnam dong; so I needed to spend the last of them. I also had American dollars with me. Prices in most places that deal with tourists were in dollars.

A restaurant the hotel women had recommended is on the same street as the Traditional House; so we went there for dinner. We were lucky to be early, as it was packed with people waiting to get in when we left.

Written Vietnamese uses the Western alphabet.  This was very convenient, as it made it easy to read signs even though we didn’t know the words.

Thursday morning we left at 6:00 to get to the airport for our flight back to Bangkok.  I enjoyed my brief time in Vietnam and want to return to see more of the country.