Friday 19th Sept.2008
Mr Tho had invited me to visit his High School, so yesterday I was ready at 6.am to accompany Michael on his bike to the home of Mr Tho, where he lives with his parents, from where he drove us in a very nice car about 8 miles or so to the school. The journey took us along the main road east that then leads north to Hanoi and was full of cars and Lorries as well as the morning rush of motorbikes. I really must take a video of a journey in the rush hours to remind me of the chaos!
The school is beautiful and only two years old. The girls all wear traditional dress, which looks wonderful on their slim figures (I’ve seen no sign of obesity here) and the boys all wear white shirts and dark trousers. They have the manners that used to be the norm in the west; standing up when the teacher enters and leaves the room, but apart from that they’re all normal teenagers!
I was flagging slightly by Michael’s third class and glad to come back when school finished at 10.30, for something to eat and an afternoon nap.
Monday 22nd Sept. 2009
I’ve not been feeling so well for the past couple of days with a bit of tummy ache and a dry sore throat, so I got some medication last night with Judy’s help. Mark and I were at her parent’s restaurant for an evening meal, which was of course delicious. However, I just wanted to get back into bed; then I slept for hours, waking up with a very nasty cough. So I’m in bed today with my laptop, just drinking liquids, watching TV and falling asleep every now and then. I’m not even hungry, so I must be ill!
Mr Duck, one of the Vietnamese teachers will take my class tonight and I’ll do his on Wednesday. I’m looking on this as an opportunity to rest after a month of activity. I’ve been tapping on... ‘I really appreciate how my body gets on with the process of healing... and all I have to do is give it time with lots of love and care.’
Watching TV, I’m getting a new view of the world through the BBC World Service, USA’s Bloomberg News and an Australian channel. These programmes mostly focus on the Asian perspective and Europe seems so far away, as it is.
Thursday 25th Sept.2008
After a couple of days I’m now recovered from the flu and took two classes last night. Actually that was hard work and I found myself losing my focus. So I’m taking it easy today and will recap on the rules of English grammar that are frequently broken and rewritten. Pity the poor students trying to comprehend the complexities of the English language. Although it may be easy for us, we don’t always get it right either!
I realise this is all a bit late as I've had trouble getting online lately.
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