Sorry for the hiatus. I'm just now getting over a pretty bad cold that had about a two week duration. They say that when you move to a new environment, like Vietnam, it's pretty common to get sick like this because all of the pathogens are, at least to this denim clad American immune system, pretty novel. I tried to hold out, but eventually I caved and bought some antibiotics. The pharmacy was a glass counter inside of a small street vender shop and David, my team leader, walked me through the process. The majority of the transaction, on my end, was me wincing and grabbing my throat while the young woman across the counter nodded her head. In the end, I paid a wopping 69,000 dong, which is pretty cheap considering Hanoi is pretty expenisive when compared ot most Southeast Asian cities.
Needless to say, a sore throat isn't exactly the perfect complement to a new teaching regiment. However, classes actually went pretty well. All in all, I;m teaching five 2.5 hour classes each week: 1 sophomore speaking class, 2 freshmen speaking classes, and 2 international relations classes for juniors. I enjoy them all, but I enjoy the i.r. classes the most as it's in these classes that we tend to delve into the most interesting discussions, because honestly, we tackle some pretty big issues. For example, this week's lesson was over the Aids crisis and next week's covers the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
I'm also starting to develop relationships with some of the students. I met with a student for tea this morning, then Scott and I had lunch with two Combodian students, and tomorrow I'm touring Hanoi with one of my junior classes. By far, it's the relationships that make my time here the most enjoyable.
I shared this with Sue already, but on another note, and at the risk of sounding corny, lately I've discovered a newfound appreciation for Ira Glass and This American Life. One of the programs I listened to lately was about a man who had invented a special kind of tweezer from which he had made millions. Just recently though he decided that he was going to bring peace to Iraq, so he, all by himself, departed for the middle east, left his tweezer know how back in the states, and took on the sensitive role of a diplomat. You've got to love that mentality.
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i pick my nose with a special kind of tweezer
You got to love the tweezer guy. Prolly a big business, millionaire Republican who kept the economy going by buying goods, investing in the stock market, and paying his employees good wages. Eventually he became a bleeding heart liberal and went to end an unjust war in Iraq. That...my friend is an American hero.
Like the Little Train that Could, the Tweezer Man who Can left the comfort of his home with just a tag on his coat, that he borrowed from Paddington Bear that said "Please look after this man".
So does anybody know how it is going for the Tweezer Man? Is there an end, or an update to this story?
Long story short....The Tweezer Man became disillusioned and came back to the states. Now he is running for president and airing commercials showcasing footage from his talks. If anyone is interested the title of the episode is "Man vs. History". The second act of the show is a reading of a short story which is okay, but I listen to and love that show for the real stories.
I watched the Office premier alst night and thought of you. It was really funny.
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