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!