Thursday Ramblings

Friday of last week, the last day of the term at my school, all the students went to watch the film Baraka. I had heard of this film before but hadn’t seen it, and I was impressed. It is made somewhat in the mold of Koyaanisqatsi, if that’s familiar to anyone. I’m not sure what exactly to say about it, but if you like simple but remarkable photography, and mesmerizing music, check it out. Here is a link to the associated website. The students thought most of it was too boring. Sometimes I think that my students are sadly sheltered and maddeningly immature. Sometimes I think that I am old and peculiar and staid. I’m probably right on both counts.

The terms at my school are only five weeks long, so they go by pretty quickly. My new class this term has seventeen students, which is rather larger than usual. I had one class last term which was fourteen or so, but remembering their names was a challenge. There were two Ngas - Thu Nga and Thanh Nga, three Trangs - Thu Trang, Quyen Trang and Huyen Trang, two Hungs - Manh Hung and Trong Hung, then a Huong and a Phuong and a Phong... I knew most of their names by the end of the term but it took most of the term to get that far! Anyway, my new class is a lower level than I have taught before. So far it is going pretty well, I have to amuse them a little more than the upper level students, but on the other hand I don't have to explain subordinating conjunctions!

Having been back in Vietnam now for almost six months, I have finally realized that my Vietnamese is not going to improve much by osmosis. Sad. So I am back in language class, at the same university I studied in the first time I was in Hanoi. I enjoy it, although that class is quite noticeably above my level in terms of vocabulary. To offset that I am also taking a sporadic Vietnamese language class at the school I teach in, which is free for teachers, but is noticeably below my level since the other teachers taking that class haven't studied Vietnamese at all, or not until two weeks ago. So I come back from one class confused, exhausted and thoroughly convinced of my monumental inability to accomplish much, and from the other class slightly amused by my colleagues (language professionals, all of them) who can't remember, much less pronounce, the Vietnamese tones... Maybe with the combination of both classes I can move forward!

Tonight I found, behind a very small door on a rather large street in the middle of town, a German restaurant. The Kaiser Kaffee is appealing, if for no other reason, simply because it is called The Kaiser Kaffee and it is in Hanoi! It actually looks sort of German - old fashioned low ceiling with (fake but tasteful) exposed beams and straight-backed wooden chairs like any proper PA Dutch restaurant would have at home. The lady who seemed to be in charge of the place is, well, an unusually German-sized Vietnamese lady who kept on speaking German to me... I guess my Vietnamese was bad enough she couldn't tell what language it was! Anyway, BRATWURST, they have bratwurst. How cool is that! I had bratwurst and Vietnamese fresh spring rolls... The silliest things make me happy!

And speaking of the silliest things, here are my favorite news stories recently:

Man Bites Panda - cute and NOT cuddly
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5364058.stm

The Ancient 26-year-old Terracotta Warrior
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5355546.stm

Vendredi heureux a tout le monde :)