Okay, so it's been about a week that I've been here in Hanoi (or maybe I can take one from the ATL and call it Hot-Noi). Internet access has been sparce and email complications have abounded, but hopefully things will start to run a little smoother in that department since it's my main way to stay connected with everyone back in the states.
I think over these last seven days I've been coming to the slow realization of how much of an infant I am in this country. For example, this weekend I had three goals, none of which were accomplished. I wanted to buy a bike. I wanted to talk to a student on the phone. I wanted to send out another big email.
As for the bike, somehow the bike I was interested in (a used Japanese one) went from the high price of 1.5 million dong (pronounced "dom"....sorry all of you who are eternally 13, myself included) to 2.5 million in the course of a 30 minute bargaining break. All I can assume is that yesterday the international supply of bikes dipped dangerously low. Or maybe they just became the new Razor scooter or Nascar. Are Huffies popular again in America? Regardless, the price was way more than I was willing to spend. By the way, 16,000 dong is roughly equal to 1 U.S. dollar.
As for getting a hold of the student, the folks on the other line couldn't understand me at all, so I wasn't able to make phone contact. Remember when Magic Johnson had that talk show , The Magic Hour, and it got cancelled because he couldn't pronounce the words clearly enough for people to understand? Well, I kind of feel like that. In the end though, it was nothing an email couldn't solve.
As for email in general, it's going to be a learning experience this year I think. Access is just a little tougher than it was back at Purdue. Plus my ELIC enourage account won't send anything right now. Hopefully I can get that worked out.
I was planning on getting together with some old students tomorrow morning, but I had to cancel because of a teacher faculty meeting. I'm hoping we can reshcedule for later in the day. This next week should be a busy one though, full of meetings with old friends, hours of lesson planning and teaching, and the process of continued acclimation to this somewhat familar but still very new culture. Honestly, it's been a great week and I'm excited for what the rest of the year will bring.
Thanks so much for the all comments. It's nice to be able to access this thing again. It's going to be a nice way to keep in touch.
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3 comments:
Magic Johnson...he was so brave, he announced to the world he had HIV at a news conference and then defying all odds he came back to the NBA even though many players threatened to leave the league over fears of getting HIV from his sweat and saliva.
Huffie ... no. I would suggest a Trek Y-Foil, the Plymouth Superbird of the bicycle world. If you can find one, it will cost big dong.
i don't know who gregg is but i like him, and not just because he has three g's in a name of only five letters.
i think aids makes you slur your speech and makes you dumber. i'm gonna look it up.
will, i would suggest getting both front and back pegs for your new bike. i had them at purdue and needless to say i was "the big man on campus" for four years, (see any of the many exponent articles on me and my bike). plus, you can do so many more tricks and might get sponsored for the x-games. how's that for street cred, students? the x stands for extreme of coarse.
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