Be Our Guest, Be Our Guest...Let's Make the Next Three Weeks the Best!

As a high school teacher, I am always asking questions of my students that involve the hows and whys of physics applications of observations in nature. It is an important way for me to assess understanding of physics concepts and topics discussed in class with my students. But these are not the only questions that I routinely ask of my students. Some questions that I ask have nothing to do with physics. As an example, I am always curious of the future plans of my students following graduation from high school. Where do you plan to go to college? What do you plan to major in? Have you begun the application process? And in the majority of instances, the students are quick to respond with definite answers and confidently stated decisions. They readily defend their statement by telling me that it is a beautiful campus, they love the city and that the college/university has the major that they are interested in. That is great, until I ask them the follow-up question – Have you visited the college or university that you plan to attend? “No, not yet. But I plan to visit soon.”

Now, I know that you are probably left with one burning question:

What in the world does my interest in the future plans of my students have to do with the current blog topic of people in Vietnam?

The answer is quite clear. The definite decision made by my students on where to spend the next four years of their life was typically based, not on what they experienced or personally inquired about but rather on what they saw on the Internet and heard from discussion boards. Although each of these platforms provide important information that a student can use to make such an important decision, the student should also know that the Internet uses very scenic, colorful, and aesthetically pleasing photos to help promote the university or college and those participating in discussion boards are typically those with positive experiences interested in recruiting future students.

As I always emphasize to my students before they formally commit to their chosen college/university, it is imperative that my students make an effort to personally visit the campus, interacting with the students, meeting with professors, and engaging with academic officials. The students, professors, and academic officials are, in essence, ambassadors of the school. If the student encounters students that smile and are personable, professors that are articulate and engaging, and academic officials that are patient and welcoming, the student will walk away with a good feeling and experience a sense of belonging to the campus. If not, the student will not be as inclined to pursue admission. My point is this: The first impression of a new place or environment is generally a lasting impression and the single factor responsible for that first impression is typically not the location, the campus, or the academic fields of study. It is the people that one comes into contact with and their level of interaction.

This was my exact feeling in my preparation for my 3-week visit to Vietnam. When I found out I would be travelling to Vietnam and engaging with students and teachers at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School, my first response was to reach out to representatives from the school to begin a conversation of mutually agreed upon scheduling and logistics, tasks and responsibilities that would make my involvement and participation a relatively seamless and productive one. It was not long before I heard from a representative from the high school and, as my visit would unfold, the many different individuals that had such a definite, heartfelt impact on me during my time in Vietnam. In this blog, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the people who played an instrumental role in making this experience a truly memorable one.

Before I begin, I would like to point out an evident omission throughout the course of this blog entry, provide a rationale for that omission, and propose a request to those identified for a potential remedy. Beginning several months prior to my departure and lasting through my three weeks in Vietnam, I had the privilege and pleasure of meeting and interacting with many individuals – teachers and students at the school, family and friends of teachers at the school; people that I worked closely with and some that I saw in passing. In all of these instances, I did hear their name but was unclear about how their name was spelled. In addition, I am uncertain about the proper spelling of names with regard to the placement of marks, symbols, or accents that are descriptive of the Vietnamese language. Because I do not want to take the chance of publishing a misspelled name, I will include a picture of all of the individuals who I had the opportunity to meet and will describe the circumstances surrounding our meeting but will not include a name unless I am sure of the spelling of their name. That said, if a reader of this blog entry sees their image in a picture or can identify the person with a level of certainty, I would like to invite them to post their name in the comment section.

Ngocchau Nguyen

            My first contact with representatives from the Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School came months before my actual visit to Vietnam. My introduction to Ms. Ngocchau Nguyen came through a series of e-mail correspondence which began on June 5, 2018.   

This e-mail would turn out to the first of many leading to my arrival in September. Ms. Chau was the representative of the school who had done a tremendous amount of planning, preparation and legwork to ensure a smooth, jam-packed and productive schedule for each day of my three weeks at the school.

            I first met Ms. Chau in person on Sunday (September 23, 2018) evening at a formal dinner with the school authority and selected teachers from the English and Physics departments. It was nice to finally put a face with the name and to be introduced to the representatives of the high school that I would be working closely with in the weeks to come.

Now, for the introduction of these educators…and good friends. I am going to begin with the easiest one first. On the front row from left to right, it’s me seated next to the head principal, Tran Minh Luan. On the back row from left to right are Ms. Chau (English teacher), Truc Nguyen (English teacher), Phan Van Linh (English teacher), Nguyen Thi Thanh Van (Physics Department Chair), Tran Thi Loan (Assistant Principal), and Qui Ca Tran Thi (Physics teacher). The dinner was a massive spread with many dishes decorating the table. The dishes looked so good and they smelled even better! After formal introductions, we all had some eating to do. It was a great start to the Fulbright assignment. All of these individuals in the photo played a very important role during my stay in Vietnam, providing me with long-lasting and life-changing memories. I will be describing these memories with each of them throughout this blog entry. But first, let me continue with Ms. Chau.

            Ms. Chau, as I said, had done a tremendous amount of work in preparing for my visit. After 3 months of exchanging in e-mail correspondence and serving as a liaison with the US Embassy in Hanoi to facilitate all of the required paperwork required for my visa and the detailed plans for my upcoming visit, it was nice to finally get a chance to sit down with her at the formal dinner on Sunday, September 24. One thing I remember about the dinner was that, as we were eating, she pulled out her phone, spent a couple of minutes searching for something, and then came and sat down next to me. “Have you seen this?” she asked me as she showed me her phone. On the screen was a picture of an insect. I wasn’t sure if this was a pop quiz or just a fun fact about insects in Vietnam that she was trying to show me, but I said, “No, I haven’t.” She continued, “So, you have not seen this insect in your room?” Well, I hadn’t even slept one night in the room but in my short time while in the room, again I had to confess that I had not noticed that type of insect. She went on to say “Good, but if you do see one, don’t squash it with your hand because it can cause a severe rash and pain. They are usually found on the bed, in linens and on the blanket or pillow.” I replied, “Good to know, thanks for the info.” It turned out that the insect that she was referring to was a bed bug. Not the ordinary bed bug, but bed bugs found in Southeast Asia. Now, this is where I thought (at times, seriously) about posting a picture of bed bugs found in Vietnam. It is not the most pleasant creature to gaze at so I will leave it to the reader with a morbid curiosity to know what these insects look like to research through a simple Google search.

            So, as I got to my room that evening, do you want to guess as to the first thing I did? Good answer. I carefully scoured over the bed, looking closely at my blanket, bed linens, and pillow and did not find any semblance of bed bugs. What a relief! It was a long day, so I prepared for the next day – the first day at school with the students – and went to take a shower. I went into the bathroom, turned on the light and entered the shower when I saw this.

Everyone…say hello to mi amigo, Clyde!

My initial reaction? Nothing! Frankly, I was too tired to even shriek and actually, made a deal with the spider. I won’t bother you if you don’t bother me. It was agreed upon and the partnership worked like a charm. I apologize that I digressed but back to Ms. Chau.

            As I stated earlier, the next day following the dinner was the first day at school. Ms. Chau was my escort throughout the day, taking time to make sure that I met the faculty members that I would be working closely with throughout the following three weeks. Shown below is a picture of one such meeting with teachers that I actually met the evening before at the formal dinner.

Ms. Chau was also kind enough to spend a Saturday (October 6, 2018) with me together with her family, beginning with breakfast.

An interesting fact about this eatery, which is very common in the city, is that the restaurant is part of the house where the owners live and it is also used at other times of the day as a business. In this case, the business is a paint store.

This was followed by coffee at a nearby coffee shop. Shown in the picture are Ms. Chau and her family as well as another Fulbright teacher who was assigned to a community college in the city and her faculty sponsor.

We then left the coffee house to return to Ms. Chau’s house for lunch. This was a very interesting experience in that I not only had a chance to eat Vietnamese food but was also allowed in the kitchen for cooking lessons. The actual lesson was recorded and will be posted in the blog entry that follows.

To give you a better idea of the table that was set for lunch, here is a view before we all sat down to eat.

I would also like to make another observation which I have found to be consistent with all of my opportunities to sit down to a home cooked meal. There is a wide variety of dishes that are prepared for the meal. In Texas, at least in my experience, lunch is typically 2 – 3 courses and a drink. It was nice to have samplings from several dishes to sample and eat. I think meals such as the one displayed in the photograph above serve as a testament to the extraordinary effort and hard work in the kitchen that went into preparing the meal. It was also quite common to have a bowl of fruit as well as a dessert item or two.

In addition to the meal, I did find some time to mingle with the other house guests – the pets of the family. There was a dog (I’m sorry but I forgot its name but it was such a gentle soul) and two small kittens (I do remember their names because they were so unique – Pepsi and Coca. However, please don’t ask me to point out which one was which!)

They were beyond cute and a bundle of energy. At one point, I was talking with my guests when I noticed something pulling on my pant leg. Before I knew it, one of the kittens had climbed on me and was soon perched on my shoulder.

It was a great afternoon spent with a wonderful family. We wrapped up the visit with a parting photo with the family.

I was taken back to my room to rest until my next appointment to visit the house of a former physics teacher at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School – Mr. Vo Van Dung. It was a fascinating visit to say the least. Why it was fascinating will be described in more detail later in the blog entry.

Phan Van Linh

Mr. Linh was one of the first teachers that I had met upon my arrival in Vietnam. He and Qui Ca Tran Thi were the teachers who got up at 5:00 am on the morning of Sunday, September 23 to make the 3.5 hour drive to Ho Chi Minh City to pick me up from my hotel and take me to the school.  

During the trip, we had a lot of time to get acquainted, discuss Vietnamese culture and food (especially during our stop to eat lunch) as well as go over the schedule for the upcoming three weeks.

            Mr. Linh would turn out to be more than just a designated escort during my time in Vietnam but rather similar to a brother. I spent more time with Mr. Linh than anyone else where we would speak on a wide range of Vietnamese and American issues, ranging from education to economics to language to culture. But probably the one thing I enjoyed speaking to him about the most was his experience to travel to the United States as a scholar. Approximately two years ago, he had the opportunity to study at The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas and one thing was clear – the experience in America had a significant impact on him on many different levels. I would come to realize that I would experience that same impact as a result of my time in Vietnam. I loved hearing his stories about life on a college campus, the interesting people he met, and his trips to other states to attend conferences as well as to enjoy the sights each state had to offer. Having spent a lot of time with Mr. Linh – there were many pictures taken. A representation of all of the selfies that we took together are displayed in the collage below:

We did spend a lot of time together, not only having a chance to eat meals together, but also to visit his house where I had a chance to meet his family (in this picture, his twin daughters) as well as his students that meet for private lessons in English.

I found that many teachers often offer private lessons in their teaching specialty to students outside of the school day typically in the early evening. This additional teaching assignment, which is held in a room of their house converted into a classroom, serves to supplement their income. As you can see from the photo above, these lessons are well attended, particularly for English teachers.

            On another evening, I went with Mr. Linh to a nearby recreation center to watch him perform in his favorite hobby – ping pong. Ping pong or table tennis is something I have always enjoyed watching and playing and it is very popular in Vietnam.

I was especially honored to be invited to travel to his parent’s home for an evening meal and to meet his family – a trip that was about 45 minutes in length but required a ferry trip as well as winding roads in a rural village. So, on Tuesday, October 9, we set out on Mr. Linh’s motorbike to his parent’s house. But first, since it was on our way out of town, we stopped by his in-laws for a quick visit. His father-in-law who was from Northern Vietnam was retired from a distinguished career in the Vietnamese military as a high ranking officer.

Following a 30-minute visit with Mr. Linh’s in-laws, we got back on the motorbike and made our way to the ferry. The ferry ride, which was approximately 30 minutes and occurred on a continual basis until I believe 9:00 pm or 10:00 pm, allowed us to cross over the Mekong Delta. So, what was the ferry ride like? Well, the following two videos will give you an idea. The first video clip is us riding onto the ferry and the second clip is us disembarking from the ferry.

We arrived at Mr. Linh’s family home and were treated to a phenomenal meal, followed by a tour of the home.

But of all of the time spent and the memories made from my time with Mr. Linh, the one thing that I enjoyed the most and would look forward to was our morning coffee at local coffee shops. Although I am an avid coffee drinker (I absolutely loved the coffee with milk – more on that in the next blog entry), it wasn’t the coffee or the hot tea that made our visits to the coffee shops so special. It was the people – friends of Mr. Linh – who would stop by and join us for fellowship and conversation.

On one occasion, when we initially stopped for our morning coffee, we were joined by two of Mr. Linh’s friends but a short time later quickly expanded to include six of us.  

Van Nguyen

I had many opportunities to work with Ms. Van who serves as the head of the physics department. As department chair, she and other physics faculty would conduct frequent observations of each physics teacher and then follow each observation with a meeting involving all participating teachers to provide comments and critiques of the observed lesson.

Ms. Van also made sure that I was kept busy during my time at the school, particularly when I needed props for my lessons. In one lesson on Newton’s Laws of Motion, I wanted to demonstrate to the students that all objects, regardless of size or mass, fell at the same rate and hit the ground at the same time when released from the same position. To do this, I needed to search for five bouncing balls of different sizes. I would select five students from the class to come to the front and stand on chairs, each student being given a ball to drop. (By the way, if you think you have heard this before, you have because it was mentioned in a previous blog entry. I did want to provide the back story for the balls seen in the photo below.)

When I explained to Ms. Van what I planned to do during the lesson on Newton’s Laws of Motion and asked where I might be able to find five bouncing balls of different sizes, she did not hesitate one moment to say let’s go to a toy store. So, we were out the door and on motorbikes in minutes. Probably five minutes later we pulled up to an outdoor market where one of the storefronts was a toy store. Shortly after I entered the store, I found exactly what I needed and the lesson went on exactly as planned. I appreciated very much the efforts on behalf of Ms. Van to help me with the props I needed for my lesson.

Ms. Van was always available to have meals with me, like breakfast shown in the photo below with Ms. Chau.

It was a nice restaurant that was a very short distance from the high school. Although we were seated indoors, we were seated in an area where one side was outdoors. It was very a pleasant day and the view from our seat is shown on the right of the collage below.

I was seated close to the outdoor view and enjoying my breakfast when I noticed something from my peripheral vision. I turned to the right to see an unusual view and quickly snapped a picture.

Ms. Van also gave up a weekend to accompany me on a nearby sightseeing excursion to Gao Giong Eco-tourism Park in Cao Lanh. I will be speaking more about this field trip in an upcoming blog entry. After a busy day and interesting sightseeing, we all stopped for a great lunch.

 Ms. Van was always supportive of her teachers, genuinely cared for her students, was helpful to me and very easy to speak to, always had a smile on her face, was very caring and well…became a second mom to me. Wait, what? A second mom? Well, not that I am counting but I actually had several teachers step up and treat me in a very caring way as if I were their own. So, let me explain.

OK, so it finally happened. Something that I routinely take great pains to avoid upon learning of any upcoming trip but particularly extended international trips. Yep, I am referring to getting sick. In preparation for this trip, I (as well as all other Fulbright awardees) must undergo a medical physical exam which I did and passed with flying colors. One additional item that I added onto my list of medical precautions which was not required by Fulbright was to take the yearly flu shot, which I did as well. I tried to do everything I possibly could to avoid getting sick.

But, with all of the preventative measures taken prior to the trip, I did get sick during the trip. Now, before your mind races through a continual list of maladies and illnesses that could have possibly affected me and speculating as to the seriousness of the medical problem, no need to wonder much further – I just came down with the common cold. Nothing serious, just a runny nose, minor sore throat and slight congestion. It was more of a hindrance that anything else, often leaving me exhausted at the end of the day but nothing that a good night’s sleep wouldn’t adequately address. However, it was the presentation of these symptoms that caused several of these teachers to spring into action. Would you like some medicine? Would you like for me to take you to a doctor? Can I get you some orange juice? The symptoms developed on Saturday evening and persisted into the beginning of the week.

            On Monday, during a classroom observation meeting, Ms. Van didn’t even wait for me to respond – she left the meeting at school to visit a nearby market and returned with oranges (which by the way were green – same smell, same taste but different color). So, I took part in an orange which was tasty. She also later brought me some mint leaves to chew on. 

Mint leaves have a number of purported therapeutic benefits including relieving nasal congestion and boosting the immune system.

Following the meeting, I returned to my room to rest and at 2:30 pm, yet another teacher was at my door, bringing me lunch.

He sat with me while I ate and we had a great conversation. I had to return to the school at 3:30 pm to observe presentations from students who were in the English Speaking Club, speaking about various facets of Vietnamese culture.

Later that evening, I heard a knock at my door and when I answered it, it was yet another, different teacher who had dropped by to bring me some honey and lozenges for my sore throat.

The kindness did not stop there. The next afternoon on Tuesday, October 2^nd, yet another teacher cooked me a special dish (very similar to chicken & rice soup) and brought it for me to eat since I skipped lunch to go rest.

            Words cannot adequately express my sincere thanks and gratitude for the outpouring of love and compassion expressed toward me – a teacher that they had only known for approximately one week. I was, to say the least, very touched and taken aback by these Herculean acts and efforts of generosity. I could already tell that it was going to be extremely hard and quite emotional to say goodbye two weeks later, as I would prepare to return to the United States. There will be more on that in an upcoming blog entry. 

Truc Nguyen

An English teacher at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School, Ms. Truc was a constant presence and a huge help for me during my time at the school. She always had a smile on her face and was extremely helpful in translating lessons in classroom observations, assisting in dialogue exchanges in department meetings and explaining important aspects of Vietnamese culture to me. In addition to her invaluable bilingual skills, Ms. Truc also gave up her weekends to accompany me on visits to tourist sites in Dong Thap province such as the Gao Giong Eco-tourism Park, but also to Nam Phuong Linh Tu, an architectural, cultural, and spiritual complex developed by businessman Dang Phuoc Thanh.

We had traveled with several of the students from the high school, as shown in the photo below.

As we were walking among the well-kept grounds of the complex, Ms, Truc and I happened to come across a bride and groom who were taking wedding photos.

She had explained to me that this was a common site for wedding photos and went on to say that moments like these reminded her of her wedding photos at a location with an equally striking backdrop. As she showed me her wedding pictures, Ms. Truc stated that she would soon be celebrating her wedding anniversary on January 6. This was an interesting fact as this date was also my birthday!

Ngocthuy Nguyen

            Ms. Thuy is an English Teacher at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School. Even though she was not present at the initial dinner on September 23, Ms. Thuy was very welcoming to me and made sure that my time in Vietnam was a very memorable one. In addition to her assistance with translation during classroom instruction and interacting with faculty members, Ms. Thuy also accompanied me on several weekend excursions such as the one to Sa Dec Flower Village, known as Happy Land.

On the trip, Ms. Thuy brought her daughter, Mary (far left in the photo above) who I found to be an exceptional young lady. She was very personable, smart, had a great sense of humor and spoke English very well. Mary is currently in elementary school but I found that she takes weekend lessons in art and martial arts and loves to read.

            Perhaps one of the best highlights of my time in Vietnam was being invited to Ms. Thuy’s house for dinner. Ms. Thuy and Mary came to my room to pick me up and, once I had donned my helmet, we were off to their house.

I had a chance to meet Ms. Thuy’s husband, and Mary’s sister but was especially honored to meet the newest addition to the family, Lucky.

They went out of their way to prepare a wonderful dinner with authentic Vietnamese cuisine. It was simply amazing!

I have always felt that the best way to appreciate Vietnamese culture is to experience it with the native Vietnamese. I had a very good time and took away with me many great memories from that special evening.

Cong Nguyen

            Mr. Cong was a physics teacher who also was not present at the Sunday evening dinner but a teacher I enjoyed working with during my time at the high school. As with the other physics teachers, I did have a chance to observe him teaching a class and the lesson was a lab activity on free-fall motion. The objective of the students, working in small groups at lab tables, was to experimentally determine the acceleration due to gravity. This was interesting to me as this was the last lab activity that I did with my students in Texas before I left for Vietnam.

            Mr. Cong did accompany me and other teachers for several outings including coffee in the morning as well as dinner in the evening. I enjoyed the times together, relating stories about life in Vietnam, eating great food and enjoying a beer.

On one occasion toward the end of my time in Vietnam, Mr. Cong invited me to coffee one morning before breakfast. He came and picked me up from the school and we drove the short distance on his motorbike to the place that I had been with Mr. Linh and his friends before. We got seated and I ordered the usual – coffee with milk and ice.  

As we were waiting on our drinks, I noticed that Mr. Cong started checking his phone. It was his son who wanted to come and join us for coffee. His son was in middle school and would not be going to school until later in the morning. I stated that I would love to meet him and waited for him to join us.

He was a very articulate young man who spoke English very well and has plans to study computer science. He had many questions about life in America and American culture which I was glad to answer. He has a bright future and I wish him nothing but the best!

Qui Ca Tran Thi

            Ms. Ca was another physics teacher who, just like all of the other teachers, was extremely friendly and hospitable. We spoke on several occasions and, on one occasions, had a chance to observe her teaching a lesson on electrochemistry. In addition to her making the trip with Mr. Linh to Ho Chi Minh City upon my arrival to Vietnam to pick me up and return me to the high school campus, Ms. Ca also accompanied me on my visit to Sa Dec and Happy Land. The photo below was taken on our way to Sa Dec, at a point along a bridge where it was safe to pull over for some scenic views and photos.

As was the case for many of the teachers, Ms. Ca took time to join me in meals, like breakfast at this outdoor restaurant, days before my departure from Vietnam.

Vo Van Dung

            Look at the photo of a department meeting of physics teachers. Do you notice something or someone different that has not been seen in other photos of the physics faculty?

Yes, the teacher in the dark blue dress shirt seated to my left is Mr. Dung. He recently retired from the faculty of Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted high School where he served for many years as teacher and physics department chair. He is very well respected and still brings a wealth of knowledge to the current physics teachers. Mr. Dung is a very interesting individual who, among his many interests, has devoted many years to boy scouts as a leader and scout master. Following the departmental meeting, we all sat down to dinner at the Can Tin cafeteria on school grounds.

We then followed dinner with a group photo and an invitation extended to me by Mr. Dung to visit his home on the upcoming Saturday, October 6.

On the days leading up to Saturday and my impending visit to Mr. Dung’s house, I was told that I would be in for a unique treat – a chance to view his collection of models. In addition to scouting, one of his primary hobbies was building models of airplanes, battle ships, and famous structures. He had amassed quite a large number of models throughout the years – I just had no idea how large the collection would be.

            Saturday came around and, together with Mr. Cong as well as with Ms. Truc and her husband, I was taken by motorbike to Mr. Dung’s house. As I entered the house, I was immediately taken with the enormous display case of models. The models were more than just an exercise in constructing a miniature version of a plane, ship or structure, but I was also taken with the historical significance of each of these models. This was quite a history lesson for me!

Of all of the models among his collection, the one that captivated and amazed me the most was the model of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

In addition to the model display, it was also clear of Mr. Dung’s commitment and devotion to scouting. I learned that not only was Mr. Dung involved as a scout master but so too was his lovely wife.

As a testament to his devotion to scouting, Mr. Dung showed me a quilt with some – yes, I said some – of his patches that he has collected throughout the years from scouts and troop leaders from around the world.

So, as is typically said on TV – But wait, there’s more! You mean there is another talent of Mr. Dung above the model building and scouting achievements? Yes, music. Mr. Dung is a very talented musician. He then brought out a musical instrument. I didn’t catch the name of the instrument but he did explain the structure of the instrument and how it was played.

After his explanation of the instrument, Mr. Dung then indulged us in a special song.

What a great way to end an incredible afternoon with exceptional individuals!

Tran Thi Loan

Ms. Loan is a member of the school authority and serves as an Assistant Principal at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School. In addition to her administrative responsibilities, Ms. Loan made a significant effort to check on me throughout the day, participated in meals with additional teachers,

joined me in selected planned weekend excursions like this one on our way to Sa Dec and Happy Land,

and attended my professional development workshops with teachers.

Tran Minh Luan

            I enjoyed getting to meet Mr. Luan during the dinner on Sunday, September 23. Although a school typically focuses on students and the teachers who are responsible for instructing the students, it is the principal and administrative staff that establishes and promotes the culture and environment of a school which are often important attributes to teacher satisfaction and student success. For me, it is the principal which tells me more about a school than either the teachers or students. We had a pleasant conversation during dinner where I learned a lot about his academic expectations for the students and administrative management of the faculty. I was however, a little surprised when he told me to be prepared for a quiz. “Ruh Roh! What in the world could I be quizzed over? I certainly didn’t have a chance to study!” He saw my look of concern and then broke out with a grin. “I am going to quiz you about the food dishes on the table!” Whew! I was looking to learn as much as I could about Vietnamese culture, and the food we would soon be dining on was a great place to start. I did appreciate the efforts of Mr. Luan, as well as everyone else seated at the table, who took the time to teach me important aspects of the Vietnamese culture. 
            Although he was the head principal and had many daily administrative issues and responsibilities, Mr. Luan made regular efforts to ask me how I was doing and to make sure everything was going well. Mr. Luan was with me from the first day of school (at least for me),

and made frequent efforts throughout my stay to check in with me and make sure that everything was OK. Probably the most memorable events from my time in Vietnam came on Wednesday, October 10 (prior to my departure to Ho Chi Minh City on Friday, October 12) as the teachers and administrators that worked closely with me while at the high school convened for a formal farewell. It began in the afternoon with a debriefing of my time at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School with an itemized list of achievements and experiences as they aligned with the expectations established on behalf of the Fulbright proposal. The presentation was followed by an opportunity for each person seated at the table to reflect on the past three weeks.

It was a truly touching and heartfelt moment to hear from everyone on how my presence at the school impacted them and then for me to speak about what this opportunity meant to me academically, professionally, and personally. I had no idea how my decision to apply for a Fulbright award approximately one year prior to my arrival in Vietnam would be life changing on many different levels. I was given several gifts including a special scarf presented to me by Mr. Luan.

Following the meeting, we all met at the front of the school for a group picture.

We ended the evening with dinner at a very nice restaurant. It was a great way to end a phenomenal day!

Students

Of course, I could not end this blog entry about the people I met during my time at Nguyen Quang Dieu Gifted High School without a mention of the students. Although I worked with a select number of teachers and administrators during my time, I also met with and had the opportunity to teach many students. It was such a pleasure and a privilege to instruct groups of bright, motivated, and articulate young men and women. They were in their seat at the beginning of class, prepared to learn and always had a smile on their face. After every lesson that I taught, it became routine for all the entire class to take a group photo with me.

            On one occasion (the evening of Wednesday, September 26), I heard a knock at the door. As I opened the door, I was surprised to see a small group of about 10 students. As we exchanged pleasantries, they presented me with a tray that contained several pieces of Vietnamese Mooncake. Mooncake is eaten to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, a special holiday in Vietnamese culture.

I was honored that the students would think to share slices of mooncake and an important aspect of Vietnamese heritage with me! 

Coming Up Next: As I sat down to write this blog entry about the people I met and interacted with during my time in Vietnam, I did not know it would be so lengthy. I think this gives the reader an idea as to how many people played such an instrumental role in arranging my visit and coordinating all facets of my assignments while there. The following blog entries will not be equal in length but will address topics equal in importance as I describe my experiences as a Fulbright teacher. In fact, the next blog entry will focus on Vietnamese dining and a new favorite beverage!

Disclaimer: The blog, "Dr. H's Fulbright Experience", is not an official site of the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State. The views expressed in this blog are entirely those of George Hademenos and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.