Afterword

Last Thursday I made the familiar 3 1/2 hour drive through the Adirondack mountains and remote North Country, NY, to my second home in the US. That's St. Lawrence University and the people that surround it. I caught up with friends who haven't yet graduated and professors still there.

It was a better time than I even thought it would be. I gave a presentation about the year in Vietnam at two Intervarsity Christian Fellowship chapters. God answered prayer to give me clarity and passion in my words and to impact those who heard.

AND- my teammate Bryan drove up on Friday afternoon and stayed the rest of the weekend. The last time we saw each other was at the Danang airport on July 1st, and here we were again, celebrating the experience we had together and laughing like usual. He contributed greatly to the presentation on Friday night.

So Bryan was introduced to the characters of my college days stories, which was a fun connection to make. Saturday night we hung out with a group of Nepali students who were cooking a small feast for a festival. We just can't stay away from those internationals!

I ended the visit with the glad relief of reconnecting to a very important part of my past, and with the knowledge that I had left a legacy in my four years there. Praise God for it all!















Still striving together for the goal















With my good friends the Ewart family (minus their son Sean). They are staff for IVCF, and they played a huge part in my faith and development during college.















My friend Dipesh, from Nepal.

Epilogue

I'm around the house today making apple crisp and enjoying the last days of summer in VT. Many chances in the past week to do that: Dinners on the deck, Mom's marathon in Schroon lake, a hike in Wright park, and lots of time on the seat of my bicycle.

And I'm missing my friends, my students, my teammates, and all that I left behind in Vietnam. Nothing there is replaced by all the enjoyment here.

I owe another THANK YOU to the many who have supported me in this year of service, especially through faithful prayer and encouragement, and very importantly by giving money. If I haven't seen you yet to say thanks and give you a hug, I hope I will.

Seven weeks ago, to the day, I was leaving Danang. Nicky and I flew together to California and made the most of it with an airport scavenger hunt. And, oh yeah: here's a photo of me about to break international law by bringing a banana through the Taiwanese border. (I had to eat it quick). (If you can't see it, the sign says "declare or drop here")



















The two weeks I spent at training were even better than I thought they could be. Fellowship with the teachers (some who I had met last summer and many new ones) was close and FUN with a lot of laughter, worship, prayer, and American food. The new batch of teachers headed for Vietnam is A+, and I felt useful giving them and introduction to the Vietnamese language and culture.

Last time together at training (with Dawn and Nicky)















Consider a year teaching English overseas: www.teachoverseas.org. I'll get a hundred bucks for every person I refer. (Yeah, right.)

But seriously, have you thought about it?
This is interesting.

Since arriving home it has been a well-paced reintroduction to life here, and I've had the opportunity to celebrate with extended family often. (Just last weekend we hosted a surprise party for my mom's 50th. The big surprise was all six of her siblings making it out here).

Both Dawn and Nicky are back in Vietnam (but not in the same city) for another year with ESI. Bryan is at seminary in Nyack, and we're planning to see each other this fall.

I've come around the final bend, in a way, back to where I started from, so I think it's appropriate that I wrap-up this blog from here at home. That term "wrap-up" is misleading, actually. I don't want to crystallize that year overseas as a packaged, sealed event in my life, as if it should be boxed up like a keepsake and mourned for. That isn't it at all. Rather, I see the seeds that God has planted and the relationships he has set in motion starting with that time and place, and the whole uncoiling future changed, salted by it. The real impacting things are spiritual, anyway, which aren't bound to that time and that country.

Trying to put together slide shows and summaries of the year has been tough--even giving answers in a conversation, for that matter. It still seems far too much a part of me to be presenting it as a memory and an event, or to make it into a list of thoughtful answers to all the questions people (rightly) wonder about. But if you do ask, I'll do my best to share and explain as generously as I'm able. And as I do I'll understand it all a bit more myself.

I'll leave off with a few pictures from the weeks at home.

Here's me and my 9-month-old niece Savannah.

















A misty morning on the river behind our house






















Hiking through goldenrod





















Bye for now. I hope you are all well!!

-Tyler

Weekend on the mountaintop

Last Saturday all the teachers and school staff took a trip to the mountain Bana, where the air was cool and sweet and the view was spectacular. Here's Danang from 1,487 meters (that's almost 4,900 feet):

The Danang bay is on the left, and the sea coast to the right. The big peninsula in the center is "Monkey Mountain." There aren't any mokeys there. Maybe in the past?

We DID, however, see a family of monkeys grubbing food from tourists at the top of Bana. 8 or 10 of them altogether, about the size of large house cats with throughtful, greedy little faces and clever fingers. It was my first time seeing monkeys in the wild. I could have watched them all afternoon. Someone threw one a stick of gum. He ripped off the paper and started peeling the foil like a fruit skin.

Here's a blurry picture of me feeding one:

It was good to spend time together away from school and the routine. Everyone needed it. Stress is pretty high here at FSEC with Me and Nicky about to leave, and with new staff being hired and trained. Praise God for rest, for friends, and for high elevations.

Here's me, Simon, and a newer teacher Steve:

Slideshow

Follow this link to a slideshow I put together for my students about Bryan's and my trip to Cambodia. Tanks, elephants, head bandages, ancient ruins, and more! The file is 18 megabytes.

http://tylersmith.badongo.com

It's the real thing

Yesterday some kind of noxious bomb left over from the war went off in the hills outside Da Nang. A family we know well with three small children lives in a community half a mile from where it detonated. The mother described the experience as "suffocating...like it had sucked all the oxygen out of the air." Some acrid substance in the air made their lungs and eyes burn. Their infant nearly stopped breathing. She took all her kids on the motorbike and headed for town. People in the neighborhood were breathing though wet towels and trying to find a place with clean air. This morning the family's pet bird was dead.
At moments when life here feels secure, a place devastated by war only a few generations ago, things remind us of the suffering that so many went through. Praise the Lord that today it is only a lingering memory and peace and health are the norms.

On a lighter note:
Our phone was been dead for several days. The man who came to fix it on Monday said a mouse had chewed through the line, so he stuck a new wire out the window and around the outside of the house instead of through the wall.

In Saigon

Bryan and I are traveling this week--for him a final week before returning to the US and for me a break for me before teaching through July. For both of us, a chance to spend some time together and enjoy the friendship that has grown this year.
Right now we're in Saigon before heading to Cambodia tomorrow. Although living in Danang for a year has worn off the foreigner's dazzle, moments today and yesterday in the city have left me praising God for having this chance.
So far our 24 hours in Saigon have been full of interesting things:

Lunch at KFC

The War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace
Dinner with my old friend Sara and her husband Tielman
A few minutes of Catholic mass at the Notre Dame cathedral
A surprise visit to the hospital

Tomorrow, Cambodia by bus.

Out of the groove

On Saturday we saw off our team mate Dawn at the Danang airport and returned to our house on 15 Le Dinh Ly street as the first time an incomplete team. Several of the office staff were there, along with Hai and Teresa, us, and a few of Dawn's friends. Saying our goodbyes to Dawn instantly sharpened my picture of departure on August 3rd. We clearly remember walking through the airport last August 24th and tasting Danang for the first time, loaded with our expectation.

Of the four of us only Nicky is returning here. Bryan will be going on to seminary in Nyack, NY. Dawn will be returning to Vietnam but to a different city to teach. Dawn will have a jam-packed summer of support raising and visiting relatives before we cross paths at training in Pasadena in August.

Another teacher with ESI and good friend, Heath Carelock, left Danang on Thursday.
But we have an addition: a teacher from Cananda, Sarah, has arrived with an independent contract to teach at Fisher's. She is our new house mate.

At our Danang International Fellowship this morning we were reminded that it is not often God's will to leave us in a comfortable groove for too long. Yes, it is true of this year.

I wish I could send you all a perfect impression of life here. No number of photos or souveniers or stories will be be sufficient. I wish I could keep a perfect impression for myself to open up every few months when the memories fade and run together. But God has created us to live and breathe for communication, and I know the continuing work of this experience will be revealed in my attempt at transmitting it to others and at ordering it in my own heart. I am constantly thankful that this IS a shared experience through all your prayer and support. As a solo adventure the lower points would be lower, and the joys would have few sharers.

Let me put in a word here for my team: that is, Nicky, Dawn and Bryan. I remember being asked, "So do you know these people who you are going to spemd the year with?" I FAR underestimated the amount of growth that would come from the team living, and the amount of support we would be to eachother. Up to arrival I had pictured this as "my time" in Vietnam. Now I can't think of it except as ours. There was a definite sadness in our goodbyes to Dawn, but the winning emotion was thankfulness and praise.

A lfew newsy things: Bryan and I are planning a six day trip to Saigon and Cambodia at the end of June. It will be a nice little together before Bryan leaves.
Friday was a new experience for all of us. Hai took us along with all the school staff to have a foot massage. We were surprised to find that our feet include our arms, shoulders, and scalp. And I've never had my feet soaked in a vibrating bucket of cinammon broth before.

No power

Today the power turned off at the school at 4:30—about the time students begin to trickle in for 5:30 classes—and was out for about hour. Same thing happened yesterday, which is the funny thing, from about 5:30 to 6:30. The kids poured out of the dim school lobby onto the sidewalk, full of energy, and we rounded them up into a big circle. We sang and danced tried to entertain. Two men in hardhats, orange suits, and sandals showed up on a motorbike and got to work on the transformer outside the school. Just at dusk, *click* an hour later, the school lit up again, and the children rushed inside up the stairs, screaming with joy.

Where are you going?

I filled up my big rolling suitcase this afternoon with some props for the lesson, “where are you going?” I couldn’t help smiling as I pulled it behind me three blocks to school, under the scrutiny of all the neighbors. “Tyler! Where are you going?” asked one, the neighbor with the 2 year-old in her lap. I explained. A little farther, “Oh, going back to America now?” (In Vietnamese). No, I said, not yet. From inside the pool hall a man I had never seen before shouted “Ooh, you come home now?” No, not going home yet, I smiled. I came to the corner and the sandwich vendor pointed at the suitcase with great concern. “No, just for my students” I said. Two motorbikes pulled up asking if I wanted a ride to the train station.

A minute after nine

It's a minute after nine in the staff room at FSEC. Nicky is to my right making flashcards for "rug," "bug," "slug" and "hug" (for a pronunciation game) and a new teacher, Matt, has just finished his class. Matt has been here for about a month now.
I taught a class tonight, and have been hanging around the school since about 4:00. Seems like even when I don't get a lot accomplished it's a worthwhile time--watching the students come and leaving, hopping on and off their parents' motorbikes, chatting with the office staff, munching on carrots, planning for classes.
Oops, we're getting kicked out now. But first we need to find the lock for the gate.
Hope you all are well!

Snapshots of the Vacation

Tet holiday (Lunar New Year) is over and for a few weeks the city has been recovering the normal routine. The woman who sells egg sandwiches at the corner by the school seems to be taking an extended holiday, to Bryan's and my dismay, while her kiosk is tarped over and chained to the telephone pole. Maybe today will be the day.

My parents left a week and two days ago after spending 10 days here. Seeing them, as one friend put it, had the healthy effect of connecting the two worlds I live in--home and here--and we thoroughly enjoyed the time together. Highlights were having them visit the school, relaxing at the house with my teammates, and bopping around Danang on rented/borrowed motorbikes.
(Picture: an after-church stop to drink coconut milk with Mom and Dad. It was the first time for all of us.)

I met my parents in Hanoi on the night of the Tet holiday itself--in fact, we were in a taxi from the airport to the hotel on the stroke of 12, creeping through throngs of partiers and motorbike traffic, seeing fireworks explode here and there out the windows.
A few hours prior I had been with all the ESI teachers and our stateside director, Rick, winding down our mid-year retreat. As a group of 9, we spent a few days in Halong Bay, about three hours from Hanoi, relaxing together at a ghost-town of a hotel. Doing the tourist thing is always novel, but wears out fast. February was the month for touristy activities--more than in the rest of the year combined!

Here are a few photos:

Bryan, Rick, Mary (ESI teacher in Vinh), Heath, Nicky, and me.

Dad and I co-teaching!

M and D on their rented ride. 5 bucks a day...helmets included.

February 13th update

Here's an email I sent out before the vacation:

Dear friends and family,

Chuc Mung Nam Moi! That is, Happy New Year!

Like an expectant mother--as I heard someone make the comparison yesterday--Vietnam is preparing for the lunar new year this weekend. It's the biggest event all year--hands down. Shops and schools are closing, people are repainting their gates and buying new outfits, and Danang city has been flooded with yellow flowers and little mandarin orange trees.

As of Saturday night we began a ten day vacation from school, and what a blessing it is! On Sunday our regional director arrived from the US, along with another ESI teacher from a northern city, and in a few hours this morning we will all fly to Hanoi for a time of retreat,
sightseeing, and fellowship. We are really enjoying swapping stories and continuing the friendships we started last summer at training.

Other exciting news: my parents will be arriving to Hanoi this Friday night, where we will hopefully rendezvous at the airport. I am going to relish the ten days of being their host and guide in this place I have come to call home.

Our God is good. To give a fair report, teaching is still difficult, though my confidence is higher, and the mundane parts of life often take center focus. It might be easy to picture life overseas being wild and different and entertaining. It IS, it is; but the same things are inside me. Still, my overriding thought is thankfulness. I am profoundly thankful to be in this place at this time, learning what I am and serving who I am. More than ever I enjoy the relationships with the
staff at the school, learning more Vietnamese and using it when I can, getting to know the neighbors, and observing the Vietnamese people from a close vantage point. *Living in another country is an incredible opportunity; for any of you in the position to do so, seriously ask the
Lord if it is an opportunity he would have you take. *

Our team is getting along wonderfully; in fact, it is a little sad to picture life without them. We all laugh a lot together. I appreciate more and more their gifts and personalities: Bryan's wisdom, Nicky's servant attitude, Dawn's thoughtfulness. Bryan spent a miserable week of January knocked out from a kidney infection, but has recovered now and is, Lord willing, on the rebound to regaining the 30 pounds he has lost since last summer (!) from the problem which caused the infection.

Despite the good things happening, this has been a difficult period for me spiritually. I feel stretched and challenged, not from external things but from the consideration of my own heart and life with the distance that this place has offered. I know that God has placed me in a
season of maturing, yet I often feel resistant to that process. It is, I feel, as if God is stripping away the false parts of me and I am scared when I see how little remains. For certain, the only thing we have to put confidence in is Jesus! May we all grow more and more into his image.

As ever, thank you for your support and blessing to me! Send news and prayer requests my way and I'll try my best to respond.

Class photos

Hello all!
Here area few shots of me with some of my classes, dating from a few months ago up to a few weeks ago. I hope they'll help fill in some of the the gaps in imagination.


My youngest class. English names: front row L to R- Robert, Oliver, Rick, Adam, Peter. Back row: Ellie, Becky, Abby, April, Kristen, Beth. (What was I thinking wearing that tie and shirt?)





















Heavy anticipation: "How fast did we go around the circle?"





















Singing the ABC Jingle Bells at a parents' meeting. I hope I'll have a video clip posted soon. They sounded pretty good! English names L to R: Catherine, Amanda, Meg, Julie (back), Daisy, Travis, John, Sarah, Katie, Kyle.



Checking worksheets in my older class.












Giving "Adam" his certificate.


Teaching these kids I've experienced a sort of pride and attachment that I imagine is similar to parenthood. There has been plenty of frustration, tiredness, discouragement--and still some moments are. "Look at the big picture" a voice reminds me. This is definitely worth it.