Tomorrow is our last day of teaching, that is really hard to believe. Believe it or not, today I taught in a "finance" class, now what to I know about finance? Turns out, somewhat to my surprise, enough to hold my own. These 4th year students all want to go into banking, but none of them yet have a job. In my afternoon class the students did presentations on : the role of the Vietnamese woman in society, transportation , and literacy, not bad! We had many opportunities to discuss some improvements in spelling and pronunciation.
After a quick trip to the hotel for a shower and change of clothes, we headed to a special restaurant for dinner with the heads of the International Cooperation Department( our sponsors while we are here). The food was plentiful(also filled with sodium, a bit much for me) and the conversation enlightening. We learned a lot about how this private University is run. you won't believe it, but the yearly tuition is only $200 dollars per student. When Phil asked the VP how they can possibly make it(they receive no government dollars), he replied " we pay the teachers very poorly". Sadly, that is not unlike how teachers are paid in the US.
The taxi ride home brought yet another surprise; the streets around our hotel are "arrested" (aka blocked off) due to the celebrations, so the driver dropped us near the Opera House. Big doings going on, with the street blocked off for dignitaries visiting the Opera House, and then a dramatic military parade, and we were lucky enough to be in the front row. A real treat for sure.
Hot, sweaty, and tired, we made the trek back to the hotel. Some sleep now before our last day of teaching tomorrow.
Tired but satisfied,
Barbara
No comments:
Post a Comment