Teaching, Tex Mex, Vietnamese wedding, and aerobics!

Happy Halloween to you Americans back home!  We have been here one month now.  No, Halloween is not "celebrated" here by children trick-or-treating but some stores do decorate with Halloween motifs.  And there are probably parties in some places, but I have nothing to report!

Last week's blog had a picture of me lecturing for my first time, so I thought I'd show that Bob also has his first lecture under his belt as well! 

"Dr. Robert" has taken over the contact lens track lectures.

On the topic of teaching, today we had a half day seminar we were invited to (as were all the medical school faculty) on the topic of Competency-Based Curriculum.  It was very interesting, kind of learning about learning. :)  Wrap your mind around that.  More specifically, the contrast was between "classical" learning in Vietnam and newer models of competency-based learning which has 3 elements:  knowledge, skill, and attitude and how to assess competency in students in this model.  It was presented in English (yay!) by a Belgian professor with a lovely French accent. A translator translated the lecture into Vietnamese.  Tomorrow we have a full day seminar by a different Belgian professor on a related topic.

The lecturer on left from University de Liege in Belgium, translator on right.  Screens in both English and Vietnamese.

We chuckled over the drop-down "desk" from the chair ahead.  A great working distance if you are near-sighted and young enough to have a good near-focus.  Neither of which term applies to us far-sighted people. :)  Phuong, in the background, is a Vietnamese ophthalmology graduate who is teaching our optometry students in their native language.  She actually has normal vision (not near-sighted) and can focus at near, being not to bifocal age yet!

Next, more food pictures!  We've been staying close to "home" but Friday night decided to explore downtown (i.e. where Westerners can find familiar food) for dinner.  We had found a restaurant that promised Tex Mex food...(the owner is from Maine and has a Vietnamese wife according to the restaurant's website) ahhh, real burritos and nachos!!  We have been eating a lot of rice and noodles!

La Fiesta!!  The name of the restaurant!

  

Burrito mostly finished (on left), nachos on right.  And sangria!!

First time we saw salt and pepper on the table here.  Really.  Usually the condiments are soy sauce and fish sauce.  And chilis in a bowl.

After dinner we walked around District 1 (downtown) a bit, and also wanted to find Pasteur Street Brewing Company we'd read about in our Lonely Planet guide.  Bob does not like going down alleys, so of course, guess where the entrance to the brewery was?

Narrow little alley leading to a steep
staircase up to our destination.

Steep staircase!

They even had "weird beer" like in America--
we didn't order the "what the heo" beer at the top
(heo is "pig" in Vietnamese, haha) but the
description says it's brewed with pork loins
and bacon!

Miscellaneous stuff to fit in:

Dog at the bus stop.  I miss my dog!

The fish sauce selection at our local market.  I couldn't get the whole wall into one
picture!  This is not soy sauce, but all the brands of fish sauce.  It'll be interesting
to see how many brands I have to choose from when I get back to Charlevoix.  I'm
thinking probably one.  Maybe two?

Saturday we also walked around downtown, exploring with our colleague Dr. Koh.
Bob found the indoor ice arena in the fancy Western mall!  It was just being set up,
opening slated for Nov. 1.  NOT regulation hockey size, oh well!!

We can't find basil at our supermarket so Bob found basil seeds and planted them last week
and they are already sprouting!  We had some containers with dirt on our balcony already.

Lastly (almost), is my Vietnamese wedding report.  Last night, Sunday evening, we attended Minh's (our Vietnamese once-weekly cleaning lady and cook) son's wedding.  We also met 2 of Minh's other employers, both teachers here for the past 4 years.  One is from Colorado and one from Canada near Niagara Falls.  We sat with them which was nice to be able to exchange some experiences.  The bride and groom were married in a ceremony earlier (we were told) attended by family and close friends.  We arrived at 6:30 for the dinner to be served at 7 pm.  After dinner, some people began to leave but guess what was happening on stage:  karaoke!!  The audience was invited to go up if desired and several different singers went up!  Not us.  It was very loud with the accompaniment and hard to talk to our table mates.  We left about 9 pm, having to work the next day.

Fancy wedding invitation

The inside of the invitation.  The groom's name is Pham Quoc Thai (Thai is his first name) and
the bride's is Vo Thi Be Nam (Nam is her first name).  The wedding was held at the Glorious Wedding and Event Center (see the word "Glorious" on the right side, half-way down?)

We arrived by taxi to this sight: attendants lining the entrance.

Inside the entrance a pianist was playing...

...and wedding displays were set up.  Our dinner was on the 2nd floor up.  I think
there were 5 floors with other weddings going on.

Entering our dinner room, after getting a photo in the 2nd floor
"lobby" with the bride and groom.

Initial table setting. (my seatmate, the Colorado teacher, lamented about no fork or spoon) The drink choices were water, Pepsi, or Heineken, and servers kept refilling our glasses.

Before dinner, some singers/dancers took the stage to entertain us.  Perhaps they sang
a wedding type song...it was in Vietnamese!

After the entertainment, the bride and groom and their parents took to the stage for introductions.
Minh is standing next to her son, and next to Minh is her husband Pham Van Chieu.  Some
gold confetti showered on all of them from the ceiling.

The bride and groom did cut the cake--only the top layer is a real cake.  There was dry ice "fog"
pouring out of the bottom layers of the (cardboard) cake.  The guests are not served this cake (the one on top of course).

The bride and groom also poured champagne or wine into this fountain structure.  It also had 
dry ice "fog" coming out the bottom!

When it was time for dinner, uniformed servers marched into the dining room in a line.

I forgot to take a picture of the first course, a delicious shrimp spring roll.  This is the second course,
crab soup.  It's thick like egg drop soup I've had in the US.

First main course, steamed chicken.  The server portioned it out and handed it to us.
Note the chicken head.  I don't think anyone claimed it, although the 2 North Americans sitting with us offered to let us have it.  Haha!

Next main course, Australian beef.  It was like a beef stew and so delicious!

Last of the main dishes, it translated as "lotus leaf rice hub."  Lol.  It was rice with lotus seeds, according to someone familiar with Vietnamese food.  The seeds had the texture of garbanzo beans.

Dessert was one of these little cakes.  A lot of sweets are made with rice flour, which
meant it was sticky and rubbery to cut into.  But sweet and delicious!

The inside of the cake had a little layer of cake (as I think of cake) and a nugget of sweet paste.

And lastly, my most recent experience.  Over the weekend I investigated the 2 nearest gyms and joined the less expensive one ($184 US for 9 months vs. $806 (!) for 9 months).  Tonight I went to my first "dance fitness" class with Ms. Xuan.  It was pretty fun!  It felt good to exercise anyway.  A lot of hip-hop dance moves with no instruction, just following along with the instructor on stage.  I tried to hang out in the back but the instructor asked me to come forward so I could see better (I think) and she could help me.  She knew a little English.  I'm sure I was the worst dancer in there, but it was exercise!  The second half we got mats out for stretches and toning (sit-ups, etc.)  She had us hold some stretches and counted.  You know how you think to yourself, I can hold this for X counts?  Lol, the count was in Vietnamese!  "Mot, hai, ba, bon, nam, sau, bay, tam!!"  OK, now I know, counts of 8!  At the very end she gave an instruction to the class and said to me "now we sleep."  ????  She must have seen my confusion because she said "only for 3 minutes!"  In other words, stretch out and relax/cool down.  Another different experience in Vietnam!

YAP Gym and Yoga, across the street from my apartment.
Floors 3 and 4 (lit up) are the dance studio, yoga room, and gym.

One week of teaching

I survived my first lecture!  It was kind of a boring topic, but one must do what is  assigned.  We really did have plenty of time to prepare which is very nice.  Mondays are usually completely office days, in which we can be on the computer and prepare for our lectures.  Tuesday we sat in on Dr. Koh's lecture on contact lenses, the first lecture we heard in English. (We had listened to one of Mr. Long's lectures but he teaches in Vietnamese as do 2 of the other faculty in the optometry department.)  It was helpful to watch her lecturing style.

2nd course: crab soup with quail
eggs in it.  They were tasty!  Just
like little boiled eggs (of course).

Wednesday we had an important meeting in the morning with the optometry department professors, 2 representatives from Brien Holden Vision Institute, the vice-rector of the University, 2 ophthalmologists from the ophthalmology department/eye hospital, and a financial department representative as well as a training/curriculum representative.  The main topic was getting the vision clinic up and running so our students can begin to see real patients and not just practice on each other.  A lot of their equipment has been provided by Brien Holden Vision Institute out of Australia, but we found ourselves wishing we could just order useful optometric items/ eye drops/ contact lens samples or call someone back home to send over some of those things!  Of course it's not that easy with lots of legal wranglings that must be done.  After the meeting we were again treated to a fantastic lunch in the upper room above the "Canteen" of the university.  It was a "hot pot" main dish, but one of the fellow guests told me it was a Thai hot pot since there was lemongrass in it.

First course: fresh spring rolls
wrapped in rice vermicelli instead
of flat rice paper wraps.  Delicious!

The hot pot, brought to boil on a burner (covered at first).  Broths here
are delicious and full of herbs.

Different greens to add to the broth after the meat is cooked.
The flower-type things were "pumpkin blossoms."

Hot pot meat ingredients:  beef, squid, clams, prawns.  Once
the broth is boiling, these ingredients are put into the broth.

Rambutan, or "chom chom" in Vietnamese
fruits for dessert.  This time we were served them
with half the shell cut away--easier to finish peeling
and eat!

Thursday we both helped Dr. Koh with a lab in optics:  teaching 2nd year students (17 of them in the lab) to neutralize (read the power of) lenses, both using trial lenses and lensometers.  Friday was my lecture; I did not fill the whole 3 hours but Dr. Koh sat in on my lecture and used part of the time to review the lab from the day before, then asked the students if it was OK to let them out early on a Friday afternoon. !!!  No complaints from any of them!  Bob's first lecture will be this coming Tuesday, on the topic of fitting contact lenses (for 3rd year students).  One of the Brien Holden representatives kept calling us "international lecturers" during Wednesday's meeting.  I guess we are! :)  Her name is May and she is Malaysian but is living in Melbourne Australia for her work for BHVI.  

May had meetings Thurs and Friday but offered to show us around downtown HoChiMinh City Saturday (yesterday) since that is where her hotel is.  She travels a lot so is familiar with the city, and she showed us places famous with "foreigners" (like us, haha).  We were in District 1 (we live in District 11) and it was strange to see so many Caucasian people, and more signs in English than in our neighborhood.  We ate brunch at a place with a "Western" menu (I got an omelette with MOZZARELLA cheese!  No mozzarella in Vietnamese groceries found, so far) Of course it was Western prices too! Maybe pho for breakfast (noodle soup) isn't such a bad idea at $1-2 a pop.  Here's a picture we took as we laughed at the idea whether western tourists really need to be told this obviously what is being served in the restaurant!

"I wonder if I can get fish here?"

Two more street scene photos to share.  One is a reminder of the craziness of walking streetside here.  There really are motorbikes EVERYWHERE.  The sidewalk is not sacred for walkers!!  And I thought it was interesting that you could buy pet fish on the street.  It's a very colorful display.  Vendors also spread out blankets and sell shoes, Tshirts, hats, backpacks, dresses (not on a blanket, they use racks too), tools, etc.  We saw a lady with some baby bunnies one day too (for sale) but taking a picture was too obvious.

Bob's back, the sidewalk, bus stop shelter, crowded street in
order from left to right!

 

Colorful fishies.  The top middle bag had bright pink
and turquoise fish.

Thanks again for following our blog.  Life is continually an adventure here!  It helps to be open-minded and not have any expectations but just take what comes our way.  Have a great week, everyone!

Sunday Go-To-Meeting Day

A few more things...mostly to keep these posts from getting too long/tedious.  Because I'm chronologically minded, I'll start with Friday.  

We did 2 more touristy things on our last regular day before beginning our teaching assignments.  We started the morning at Ben Thanh Market. Built in 1870 by the French, the market was initially called Les Halles Centrales before being renamed Ben Thanh in 1912.  It is now the oldest surviving market and one of the symbols of Ho Chi Minh City, a "must" for visitors to this 300-year-old city.  It's a market where one is expected to bargain, and shopkeepers call out to shoppers that they can make a deal!  "Sir?  Madam?  Can I help you?  What do you look for?"  we heard repeated many times.  Bob did buy a hat there to shield himself from the sun while walking (he was the "first customer of the morning" and so he got "the best price first thing in the morning."  :)  So the seller assured us!  We walked several avenues in the large market but didn't really need to shop for anything specific so headed to the Saigon Zoo, which also contains botanical gardens.

Sign at Zoo Entrance

A baby monkey!!  Being groomed by MaMa.

Vietnamese preschoolers on a field trip, so cute!  Bob in his new hat from the market.

Camel at the zoo (one of 3, I think)

Some of the pretty landscaping

One of many bonsai arrangements.

Sleeping leopard

 We also saw tigers and hippos and reptiles...it was a bigger zoo than we expected!

Today we found a church to go to!  Bob felt better about attending after reading on the website that the church (named THE WELL) had been approved by the Vietnamese government to conduct worship services for Ho Chi Minh City's expatriate community.  It's advertised as an evangelical, multi-cultural, interdenominational congregation.  It was kind of far away from our apartment but I was happy we found it.  There is one other church listed in our google search but the address isn't given (we're instructed to email to ask for the address) so I'm not sure if it's any closer.  But The Well was pretty cool.  I think about 50 people were in attendance, and we walked in with a girl from Vietnam who was happy it was our first visit since it was hers as well.  She is a pharmacist and was familiar with our university we'll be teaching at.  We met a couple behind us from Washington DC (the man's business is seafood), and we met a couple from South Africa that are teachers at the Vietnam Australia International School.  3 tall young men that sat in front of us I didn't get a chance to meet but was impressed that young people would spend a Sunday morning in church; the South African teacher told me they were Dutch engineers working here.  We had a great worship team with songs we recognized (!), the worship leader was Australian (guessing by his accent) and the pastor was American but I don't know from which state since we didn't get a chance to meet him either.  He preached out of the book of Jeremiah.  It was a nice service and I thought it was cool to worship with people of all nationalities.  I took a short video of the praise team but then a slide on the projector overhead asked people not to post on social media without the permission of the people in the photo, so all you get to see is the sign on the fence (from their website since I forgot to take my own picture).  Oh well!

So, tomorrow is our first real day of going to the university all day.  The first few days will be observing; we have a big meeting on Wednesday and on Thursday we both get to help with a lab to teach students to read the power in spectacle lenses.  Friday is my first lecture on a Public Health topic:  Global Blindness and Visual Impairment.  Bob lectures next week on contact lens design and fitting.  We've been studying and reviewing the modules for teaching provided by Brien Holden Vision Institute all weekend.  I'll let you know in the next blog how our jobs are going; thanks for following us!