Under the Sea

One night, as I sat watching the BBC documentary Life with my housemates, I got it in my head that I wanted to learn to scuba dive.  Seeing footage of all the crazy fish and weird coral that live down in the water made me realize: I MUST see it for myself.

So I booked a very last minute trip to Thailand with my coworker Hannah and set off to swim with the fishes.  Twenty four hours and a xe om, plane, taxi, subway, sky train, night train, bus, and ferry later, we arrived in beautiful Koh Tao. 

Hannah rides the rails

Night train fun

Finally!  Koh Tao!

We stayed at Crystal Dive Resort on Koh Tao, and I signed up for the PADI Open Water Diver course.  After checking in to the bungalow and eating lunch, I started my course that afternoon.  The first day was less than thrilling, just watching videos and taking quizzes, but the promise of underwater adventure was just below the surface (see what I did there?).  

Crystal Dive Resort

Path to our bungalow

Pretty nice classroom, if you ask me

Another day of videos, quizzes, an exam (perfect score, whaaaat??), and practicing the basics in the swimming pool, and we were ready to dive to the bottom of the big blue sea.  I had worked myself into quite a little nervous wreck the night before, imagining myself getting tangled in seaweed, having my leg chopped off by the boat propellor, and slowing drowning due to a regulator malfunction.  But the morning of the first open water dives, I woke up early, all my death dreams pushed aside, ready to see some sharks and giant squid. 

Setting sail for the dive site

Even though I had aced the written exam, I struggled a bit with the practical side of diving.  I couldn’t really remember all the steps of checking your equipment before getting in the water, and I mostly relied on my partner to make sure everything was in working order.  Luckily there were seven people on the course, which put me the odd man out, so I was paired with one of the Dive Master trainers, Daniel.  I felt confident he wouldn’t let me jump in the water without all the gauges and other doodads operating properly.  

And once I was in the water and it was time to descend to the depths, I quickly discovered that filling in the correct circles on a test doesn’t actually mean you’ll be a great diver.  Right away my ears felt like they were going to explode from the sides of my head, and I strained to make them pop and equalize.  I rarely have trouble when flying, so I assumed it would be the same for diving: just swallow a few times and move on.  But no.  I had to be privately coached on how to do that thing where you plug your nose and blow to pop your ears, with the added graceful element of shaking your head from side to side to force the air bubbles out of your ear canal.  But the dive instructor Brandon was very patient, even when he had to drag me down to the bottom by the weight belt because I was too focused on blowing my ears to remember to actually descend below the surface.

Anyways, now for the good parts.

DIVING IS AWESOME.  You breathe under the water.  Like a fish.  No holding your breath.  No going up to the surface for air.  Just swimming around, free as a fish.

Over the course of two days, we did four open water dives for our certification.  We saw tons of cool fish and swam over some beautiful coral.  I’ve just spent about twenty minutes here at my computer trying to figure out how to best describe the experience, but no words can do the trick.  The only thing that comes close to doing it justice is this video taken by the resort on the last day of our dive certification course. 

My debut as choreographer comes in minute ten :)

That night we celebrated our new qualifications by drinking too many beers and playing with geckos.

Books and beers: the perfect studying combo

So tame

Maybe too tame

Before heading back to reality, we squeezed two more dives in on the morning before the ferry.  The second dive took us around a ship wreck, which was equally spectacular and creepy.  

Buddy check complete!

Sitting on the upper deck of the ferry boat speeding away from Koh Tao and towards Chumphon (Chumporn?  Chumpaloompah?), I reached up and discovered that I’d lost an earring somewhere in the depths of the Gulf of Thailand.  A small price to pay for one of the most remarkable experiences of my life (so far)!

Swing 

I want to go baaaaaack!

Less jewelry, more freckles

And it’s all thanks to David Attenborough.... 

Open Water experts!

Tessa

Brandon, me

Akhmed, Ollie, Tina

Piotr, Snir, Justin

It's the Little Things...

Today’s article is written for the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival, a monthly series that focuses on providing helpful tips and advice to ESL teachers around the globe. I'll be posting a new ESL related article on my blog on the 5th of every month. Check back for more articles, and if you'd like to contribute to next month's Blog Carnival, please contact Dean at dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com, and he will let you know how you can start participating!  For more tales of proud classroom moments from around the world, check out the other links for December's Blog Carnival.

It’s difficult to choose one moment in my time teaching abroad that I could label as my “best” or “proudest”.  When you’re in a career like teaching, there are so many highs (mixed with a healthy dose of lows), sometimes they become the norm, and you forget to be grateful for them.  But reflecting on those moments can be a real boost to your morale, giving you a jolt of energy and feeling of accomplishment.  

In the spirit of reflection, I’m going to share a few of my fondest memories, simple as they may seem.  I truly can’t choose just one!

Two years ago, when I was teaching in Taiwan, I had a sweet little class of three six-year-old girls.  They started with me in August in the very lowest level class, learning to say “hello” and recite the alphabet.  But by winter, we were reading simple books and chatting up a storm every week.  It’s amazing what young brains taught in a small group can absorb!

Reenacting the barber shop scene in "Kipper's Haircut"

I had a student in Taiwan that changed his name three times in the course of a year.  His name started out as Dan, but since there were two other boys in the class who had chosen the name Daniel, he decided he wanted to be different.  (Side note: the name Daniel is very popular in Taiwan because it’s Hello Kitty’s boyfriend’s name!)  Dan was not one for subtlety, so he chose to rename himself as Milk.  Yes, Milk.  Now, I loved this ‘name’ and did not question his decision.  It fit him quite well.  But his mother did not like this dairy moniker, so it was back to the drawing board.  After some deliberation, he came back to class rebranded as Mario.  I couldn’t help but sing the theme song every time I called his name for register.  

Check out his artwork.  Hahahaha!
Full credit :)

So many of the students here at British International School Vietnam come to class everyday with a great attitude and an excitement for learning.  It’s refreshing, really, to not battle constantly with behavioral issues (although I deal with a fair amount of this too) and to actually focus on teaching and learning.  This allows for breakthrough moments for the students.  I had a six-year-old girl earlier this year read a sentence independently during class.  She was so proud of herself because this was the first sentence she had ever read on her own!  She read the sentence, “The chick is in the egg,” and immediately broke into a huge smile and shouted out, “I read! I read by myself!”  A truly heartwarming moment that I had to capture on film.

Proud moment; first-time reader!

Here in Vietnam, I’m teaching the youngest students I’ve ever had in my class.  My four-year-olds are particularly cute, and they make me smile everyday when they insist on calling me “Ms. Samantha Cinderella Princess.”  I mean.... come on.  Too much cute.  Since I’ve never taught kids this young, I’m still learning the best practices and what appropriate goals are for this age.  Every once in a while, I come up with something that turns out fairly well, like this gem:

With these little cherubs surrounding me on a daily basis, it’s no wonder I can’t choose just ONE best moment!

Master Becomes Student

Today’s article is written for the Reach To Teach Teach Abroad Blog Carnival, a monthly series that focuses on providing helpful tips and advice to ESL teachers around the globe. I'll be posting a new ESL related article on my blog on the 4th of every month. Check back for more articles, and if you'd like to contribute to next month's Blog Carnival, please get in touch with Dean at dean@reachtoteachrecruiting.com, and he'll let you know how you can start participating!  To read other blogs from overseas teachers, click the link!

As an ESL teacher, sometimes it’s easy to forget how challenging the process of learning a new language can be.  I often find myself focusing so much on writing lesson plans, preparing materials, attending meetings, and doing paperwork, that I start to lose sight of what’s most important: the individual needs of the students!  Sure, we’re all trained to understand the range of learning styles and how to deliver lessons to reach type of learner.  But sometimes all the best practices get lost in translation, pun intended.

What'd you say??
(BIS Vietnam)

But all the challenges and frustrations of language learning are shocked back into my system any time the tables are turned and I become the student.  

My turn in the desk
(Shane Taiwan)

As a high school and college student, I studied German and Spanish, and I felt fairly confident using the languages in class or out in the real world.  However, living in Taiwan and studying Mandarin Chinese, I quickly realized how very different learning the most-spoken language in the world was going to be.  Initials, finals, tones, Simplified, Traditional, pinyin? Forget it.

Sometimes I want to cover my eyes, too!
(Shane Taiwan)

But the desire to communicate with the local people drove me to keep trying, and sitting in class trying to listen to and speak the language truly opened my eyes to the struggles my students were likely facing in my English classes.  If I was having difficulty understanding and pronouncing the sounds in Chinese, they were probably toiling to do the same in English.

Too much work!
(Shane Taiwan)

Must.... learn.... English....
(BIS Vietnam)

Before I moved to Vietnam, I thought “Great! Vietnamese will be much easier than Chinese!  At least they use an alphabet I recognize.”  Ohhhhhh, how wrong I was.  Vietnamese is no easier to learn than Chinese.  It has more tones, a bunch of extra vowels, and a pronunciation pattern that I find beyond mind-boggling.

Forget tests. Let's just play games!
(ILA Vietnam)

When I’m in class as a student, it brings to mind how it feels to be on the other side of the desk.  I’m reminded that as a teacher, I need to provide my students with more than just vocabulary and grammar lessons.  Students want to learn, but they also want to have fun and feel safe.  And THAT is what teaching is supposed to be all about!

I had my fair share of fun with this class!
(Shane Taiwan)

Vung Tau: Jesus and a Sunset

Having grown weary of life in the city and in desperate need of some fresh air, my roommates and I planned a weekend away in Vung Tau.  Plus, why the heck not?  A mere hour-and-a-half boat ride away, Vung Tau was a quick and cheap alternative to my typical weekend of boozing on Bui Vien, followed by the new two-day hangovers that have plagued my life. 

We made our way down to the Saigon River and boarded the Petro Express high-speed hydrofoil ferry out of town.

Nick, Sarah, and I aboard the catamaran

Our hotel was a short but hazardous walk from the pier, as the afternoon rain made the polished stone sidewalks slippery.  We tossed our bags into the room and set off for a stroll along the beach.  Walking down Front Beach, stopping for an intensely sweet blended coffee, and watching the sunset from the seawall: what better way to get away from the noise and chaos of Saigon?

Front Beach

Post-coffee crash

Vung Tau

Photo credit: Sarah :)

Sunset, Vung Tau

That night, we set out on a mission to find a seafood restaurant recommended by one of Sarah’s friends.  He couldn’t remember the name of the place, but told us it was next to the Du Duc Inn.  In our search, we stumbled into a Daffy Duck bar that was near the address he reckoned, only to find ourselves sipping beer in what must have been a brothel.  Tons of young Vietnamese women in very high heels and very tiny dresses, bending over pool tables to make a shot and cozying up to icky old expat men.  We ran away quick.

Luckily, we found the seafood place and wiped those images away with delicious hot pot and more beer.  Then it was off to bar hop in the strange establishments on the beachfront.  My favorite was a Harley Davidson bar, which had nothing more to do with Harleys than the name and this beer koozie. 

Photo credit: Sarah x2

Bright and early the next morning, we devoured our breakfast, choked down some tar/coffee from the hotel dining room, and flagged down a cab to go see Jesus.

Yes, Jesus.

For whatever reason, there is a large statue of Jesus in this seaside Vietnamese town.  He stands atop the hill and looks out over the water.  We climbed one million steps (definitely NOT built for Western feet) in sweltering heat and encountered various religious sculptures and carvings along the ascent.  One guy even stopped us and asked to take a photo of us posing with this girlfriend.  Maybe he thought we were disciples.

Jesus!

Final steps to glory

Mural on the Jesus statue

Angel

At the top of the climb, we found Jesus.  He stands with arms outstretched, and you can go inside him!  I took off my shoes, checked that my clothes wouldn’t offend, and entered the.... Jesus.  A spiral staircase led us up to a viewing deck, standing on the shoulders of Christ.  Amazing views.  Rusty nails.

So much work to get to Jesus!

Looking out over Jesus' arm

Vung Tau from Jesus' shoulders

Vung Tau

Nails to deter tourists from climbing out on Jesus' arms.
I only realized they were there after jabbing my hand down on one.  Probably dying of tetanus now.

Jesus and an island

Feeling as if we’d just wandered the desert for 40 years, we savored an ice cream and made a beeline for the beach.  Unfortunately, our dip in the sea lasted less than 30 minutes.  As an ominous black cloud peeked over the mountain, we scrambled to collect our clothes and cameras and ran to find cover before the flood.  No ark in sight, so we settled for pizza.  Fair trade, if you ask me.

I’m pretty sure Jesus would have turned unleavened bread into pizza, if he’d had just one more miracle.

Ha Long Bay

After a couple days of sightseeing in Ha Noi and hiking adventures in Sa Pa, Lauren, John, and I treated ourselves to a bit of relaxation on Ha Long Bay.  

Our driver took us from Ha Noi out to Hai Phong; it was two hours of unnecessary traffic jams and movie soundtrack power ballads playing on loop.  There’s only so many times you can hear Because You Loved Me before you start contemplating jumping out of the van speeding down the highway. 

We hopped aboard the hydrofoil and headed toward Cat Ba, a journey with fewer power ballads but way more puking.  I love the smell of other people’s vomit in the morning.  (I saved all my puking for the next day....)

A short walk from the pier, we met up with our guide Lu at Eco Friendly Vietnam.  From there, we were whisked away to our private junk boat for the next three days on Ha Long Bay.  Two cabin rooms, sun deck, our tour guide Lu, Captain Vinh, and our private chef Duong, all for about $200 each -- a good deal if I ever saw one.

Cabin room

Plenty of shade up on the sun deck

Hard to complain about this view....

The first few hours on the boat were spent lying in the sun and taking in the views of Ha Long Bay.  The name means “Descending Dragon Bay” because the islands resemble the back of a dragon sinking into the water.

Finger Rock

Dragon's back / Islands

We sailed past many local fish farming villages as Lu filled us in on some of the history of Ha Long Bay.

Floating fishing village

Rush hour traffic

In the afternoon, we kayaked around in the bay.  Sadly, the water is polluted with garbage (even saw a hypodermic needle float by), so swimming was out of the question for me.  But the views from the kayak were beautiful.  We saw monkeys running around on the cliffs and navigated through caves around the islands.

That night, Duong cooked us up a feast of seafood delights, and we spent the evening playing cards and laughing.  After a few beers, Lauren and I quickly defaulting into our strange friend language of animal noises and obscure movie quotes, which we always find hilarious but left John wondering how either of us has managed to accomplish much more beyond tying our own shoes.  Following one particularly riotous exchange that left Lauren and me dissolving into tears, John sat across the table, stoney-faced, and asked, “What is even funny about ANY of that?”

It can’t be explained.  Sorry, John.

I spent the next day in bed feeling like this.  Luckily, I had this view to cheer me up.

Sick view.  Get it?? 

Ha Long Bay

Revived and fully rested, I was ready for adventure on the last day.  We made a stop at Monkey Island, an area in Cat Ba.  True to its name, there were monkeys on that island!

Checking out the newest visitors

That's a monkey. 

Awwww, monkey family

My next visit back to Milwaukee has a lot to live up to, so start planning, Lauren and John!