"Teacher, teacher...hot!"

I started teaching this week! My schedule changed since my last entry. They gave me a brand new class to start this past Tuesday (7/20). Here is a little bit more about how it went...

What I planned:

I would go to my "Let's Go" class at 5:30pm. These are the older kids, they are currently working on projects to present to their parents next week. I would observe Theresa (the current teacher) and help where needed. I would leave the class early, at 6:30pm to go to my classroom and prepare for my brand new class at 7pm. The new class is "Potato Pals" class which is the beginning class for our youngest students. (In other words...I was preparing to teach 16, 4-6 years who don't know any English.) I would leisurely print out/review my lesson plan, get the name tags ready, write/draw the rules on the board and compare notes with TA one last time before the kids arrived.

What ACTUALLY happened:

I show up to school and there is no power-which isn't too terribly unusual. From time to time, the power will go out for a few hours to prevent brownouts. We have a generator for these times so, although the power was out-we were still able to have class at 5:30pm. We could only use a few lights and fans but it worked. Meanwhile, we kept being told "They said the power is supposed to come back on at anytime"....but it didn't. Finally, at 6:15pm Ky (one of the school admins) goes around to the classrooms telling the teachers that ALL of the lights are going to go out in 5 minutes. The generator, you see, was running out of gas. He assured us that he was going to go buy more fuel and the generator would kick back on within minutes. This message was translated into Vietnamese so all the kids would be prepared. 5 minutes later, the lights go off-plunging us into a pitch black room. The kids started screaming and running around...no no no, perhaps running "around" isn't a correct description-running into each other. Yes, that is more accurate :) Oh my goodness, talk about utter mayhem! The next 25 minutes were spent with lights coming on and off and on and off. Turns out it was something electrical within the school, not the power company. Theresa and I had to take our kids downstairs as it was too dark and too hot to stay in the classroom. We passed the time fanning the kids with their school books and hearing "teacher teacher, hot!" over and over again. More than once I had to stifle my own laughter as I looked around at how much different my first day of teaching was turning out compared to how I planned.

By 6:45 the power STILL wasn't on and I thought for sure that they would cancel my class...but I was reassured over and over again "the lights will come on". Around 6:50 they finally did and they finally stayed on. In a frenzy, I printed out my lesson plan and got together the needed materials as best as I could. The actual class was interesting. Since they are brand new English students (and super young) most of the class had to be translated into Vietnamese. As a rule, the teachers are to try talk simply enough and use other non-verbal ways of communicating to get the ideas across to the students (they don't want the students to lean too heavily on the translation). For the first day/first few weeks though and exception is made. It is kind of hard to gauge how the class went because I have nothing to compare it to. The TAs told me that it went well. I was just glad to make it through- and glad that I only had one crier (and he stopped after the first 10 minutes).

Teaching is hardwork!!! I never thought that it would be easy, but I hadn't fathomed just how challenging it would be. I am sure that it will get easier with time but for now...it is kicking my butt! I feel like I am learning to speak in another language (and I don't mean Vietnamese). It is an entirely different mindset. The kids are worth it though...they are just so wonderful and I melt every time I hear them say "teacher Kait"

And on that note...I am going to go plan my lesson for class tonight :)

PS: A really fun thing about starting a new class (versus taking one over from an existing teacher) is that you get to give the kids an English name to use at the school. I gave my kids the names of family and friends...so it is quite humorous to me to ask "Randy" to sit in his chair or "Susie" to stop picking her nose, haha!

Grace and peace,

Kait

pictures!

here is a link to some pictures from Vietnam!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2087889&id=56902051&l=1c95b66a13

wonderful Vietnam

Hard to believe but it has been over a week since I left home! I made it here to Danang last Wednesday evening after 24 (or so) hours of travel and 5 plane rides! Though long, all travel went completely smoothly-no lost luggage, no canceled flights. Even the 12ish hour flight to Taipei wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be, I do have to say though that I came up with a whole host of new sleeping positions :)

We were met by Mr. Hai (the director of the school) and Ky (another school admin.) when we arrived at the Danang airport. We loaded up all our luggage in a taxi and made the oh-so-long 5 minute drive to our house. Now, I knew that we were all 6 going to live in house...but I didn’t really know what to expect beyond that. We were all astounded when we saw what we would be living in for 2 years. The house is wonderful. I have my own spacious/furnished room and bath...no complaints here! It is in a great location- a 2 minute walk from the school, 20 minute bike ride to the beach and surrounded by plenty of yummy coffee stands!

The first day that I was here was spent buying various household items. Later in the day I went to school to observe Audrey teach a class. (Side note-Audrey has been doing such a phenomenal job here over the past few months that they decided to make her the director of the younger children’s classes! In other words, she is my boss! You go girl :) It was quite the reality check! Teaching is going to be great...but it will definitely not be easy.

Just yesterday I got my teaching assignment. I will be teaching four classes in total. They will not be new classes as I will be taking them over from two other teachers. The next two weeks will be spent in the classroom observing those current teachers. I will ease into co-teaching during the third week and then go from there. I sat in on two of my classes yesterday and know already that I am going to love the kids! They are so cute and energetic!

My schedule here is rather interesting. Because of the heat, it is common to wake up really early (like around 5am) and go to bed early. There is a break in the middle of the day for lunch (the biggest meal) and a nap. We are very spoiled as the school pays for a lady to come and cook our lunch. She has made us so many kinds of yummy Vietnamese dishes over the past week! Then I observe from about 5:30-8:30pm every night except Sundays. Beyond those two things, my days are pretty open! It has been great because it has allowed me a lot of time to rest, explore, go to the beach, get some logistics situated, etc. Hopefully in the future some of that time will be spent volunteering at an orphanage.

Ah there is so much more that I have to tell you all about, but for now I will keep it at that. Thank you everyone for your prayers for safe travels! I am so excited about being here...and am so excited for what the next two years will bring!

Grace and peace,

Kait

peace out

The day has come. And as I sit here, in my living room in Seattle, words cannot express the fullness of my heart. The past few weeks have absolutely rocked my world. God has showed up time and time again through the generosity of so many of you. Whether it be an encouraging note, a word of wisdom, a cup of coffee, a financial pledge...I have felt completely surrounded by love and support. As I was describing the past few weeks to a friend, I told her how I don’t feel like I am going to Vietnam alone...and I am not referring to the others from APU. The amount of support and encouragement that I have received has been a clear message to me that I am a part of a team...I am not entering into the next two years by myself. It is an amazing feeling.

I was describing all the happenings of the past few weeks to yet another friend and she asked me “Kaitlyn, are you writing all these stories down?” I said that it hadn’t even occurred to me but that I would soon remedy that! It was funny because the next friends that I talked to both asked me the same question. The power of the stories...the power of the support and generosity behind the stories is completely evident to everyone that I tell! I think it is important for me to write them down so that I can come back to them in a time of need and/or a time of doubt. So...it is on my to-do list for the 20+ hours I will have on the plane. Needless to say, I think I will get it done :)

I could write so much more but I have a few more things that need to get done in the next hour before I leave for the airport! So, just wanted to say thanks to all my teammates!

I would ask for prayer in the next few hours as many “see you laters” will have to be said. It is a weird/exciting/sad/exhilirating time. I feel like my emotions are being pulled in all directions. My specific prayer requests would be this:

• for safe travels
• for peace of mind and heart. I haven’t really felt fearful about the trip...which I thought was kind of weird. I haven’t realized till just recently that my fears have taken the form of all the “what-if”s of leaving friends and family.
• for the ability to sleep on the multiple planes that we will be taking! 20+ hours is long no matter what...but if I am unable to sleep, it will seem like eternity!

And...I am off!

Grace and peace,

Kaitlyn