Back on the wagon

(Actual Date: January 25, 2007)

Once again, I must marvel at the wonders of life. I barely had time to breathe into a bag for AHS when another school, one that I've had my eye on from the beginning, picked me up for 20 hours. Yes, everyone, I can pay rent again! The school's name is Cleverlearn - this is where I taught my first official class and where I met Lisa, my first local friend who's been amazing to me.

For those of you who know me, or have ever had to listen to me vent my problems, you may have noticed that I tend to overanalyze and overthink, well, everything. Dude, it annoys me, too, but when you have trouble sleeping, your mind just tends to wander. As it does in the shower. And on a motorbike. Etc.

But everything took care of itself. I now teach students that really want to learn, and I cannot describe how big that difference is. It's amazing to actually be getting somewhere in the classroom, and it definitely makes me feel a whole lot better about how I spend my days. I have one class where I just teach them all about the culture of different English-speaking countries. It's awesome.

So today, my tutees from the shipyard (a job that actually requires me to look Vietnamese) took me out to dinner. Five Vietnamese men and me. And they got me to drink beer. To all those in Austin who are very shocked, and possibly indignant, I'm sorry. They ordered it for me, and here, I just can't figure out how to say no. It's like the gift you can't give back. I even chugged one of them. Joel and Mario, I will chug a beer with y'all when I get home. Mario, you even get to pick the beer. Joel, I'm not chugging a Lonestar...; )

I got to find out all sorts of interesting things. One guy, Phong, who is a little over 40, wears a wedding ring, even though he is single. He says people will think he is crazy if he isn't married. His friend, Khoa, on the other hand, has a wife and daughter, and he doesn't wear a ring at all.

I also found out that army officers are not allowed to travel outside the country. They told me the government is afraid they will leak secrets out if they go abroad.

Even though at times, i felt like I was on a date with 5 different guys, I still had fun. I got to eat oysters on the half-shell (YUMMMM!), shrimp that they "boiled" (they were on a platter with a little bit of juice that they put on a stove on a table), and fried pork knuckles (it tastes a LOT better than it sounds...). All in all, teaching is turning out to be pretty fun. And all I had to do was wait patiently for it to come to me.

Now, if only I could apply these principles to other aspects...