Lacey: Lance and I dressed up to look our best for the first day of school! Our day starts with a half hour van ride to Vincom Village, the neighborhood where our school is at. The students trickle in and we start with a little play time and a snack and then we have time for circle time, songs, reading books and other activities. After that they have lunch and a nap before we repeat the same activities in the afternoon. The school day ends at 5:30 and we take our van ride back to the center of town. It makes for a long day when we don't get home until 6:15ish. Sometimes I'll cook supper and sometimes we will grab some street food. We are quite exhausted from the days activities and don't have a lot of left over energy for anything else in the evening.
Teaching this age group is a new experience for the both of us. Teaching 2-4 year olds has its ups and downs. They are the cutest little things and I love when they run up and hug me! Trying to have a lesson with them is another thing! As I said, it involves some singing, reading books and doing a lot of repetitive activities, which now include greetings, feelings, weather, days of the week and working with counting from 1 to 10. My 2-3 year old class doesn't go as smoothly because they don't repeat after me and interact near as much. The 3-4 year old class is a lot better than that.
The middle of the week went down hill fairly quickly because I must have eaten some bad food. I ended up having a rough afternoon. Miss Jennie from my school took me to the pharmacy to get some pills.....which seemed to do no good! It took another day and a half of not feeling well to go back to the pharmacy. I probably should have gone to the doctor, but didn't want to deal with it. The unfortunate thing about our school is that to get a sick day counted as a sick day, you have to get a note from a doctor! I find this very annoying because I don't find it necessary to go to the doctor every time I am sick! (I believe my dad said, you go to the doctor when you are near death!). Oh and the lady from the school who took me to the pharmacy the 2nd time, made me get some pregnancy tests because she thought that was the reason I was sick!
1st Picture: traffic on the drive home from school - mass chaos!
2nd Picture: Vietnamese love Obama!
Lance: Maplebear Kindergarten, the routine in our life........Since moving to Vietnam in early August there really hasn't been a routine in our life other than school. Work days start off with Lacey getting up while I procrastinate in bed. (Since it takes me a little less time to "fluff" before school.) I have routine of catching a French Bagguette down our alley with an egg, cucumbers, dried shrimp and some hot sauce for around 8,000 VND or 40 cents. We then walk a few blocks until we see a "baby" taxi, which is the smallest taxi cars. Then catch a 5 min taxi to Vincom Center where we meet our shuttle bus. At the drop-off we also found a cheap cafe where we can get a Cafe Da Den or black ice coffee for around 75 cents. We then get in the van with anywhere between 3 and 6 other passengers for our 30 minute commute. We arrive at school around 8:30. Kids free play, then there is a snack at 9:00. Around 9:30 I start circle time with some songs, days of the week, feelings, weather and other topics in which we try to get the students to verbalize in English. Sometimes this goes well, but usually I do the talking. Songs on the other hand.......the kids love them! Doesn't matter what language and they will shake it too if it gets them going. Kids are adorable, but it sure is something new for me to try and get 3-5 yr. olds to pay attention! It seems like there are always a few conversations going on, and this is frustrating, but you just have to understand that they can only take in so much each day. Around 10:30 the morning lesson is done and we either head to free play or music. Kids then eat and nap until around 2:00, then I have my older class from 2:00-5:30. This is a class almost entirely of boys, and around 3:30, they clearly have had enough of the school day. The last two hours or so seems to be made up entirely of diffusing screaming matches and reminding them to use their hands for love. The kids are great as individuals, but as a group the 13 boys over-run the 3 girls and occasionally Mr. Lance. Our commute home then leaves around 5:45 or so, which gets us back around 6:15 and then its time for supper and much needed relaxation.
In general, teaching so far has been very enjoyable as far as getting to know the kids and to be around their enthusiasm. I have never had to breakout in song or be as dramatic as I have the past few weeks. But that is probably good for me. I suppose that is why the days are exhausting and so long.
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