Mailing address

c/o Fisher's Superkids English Center
99 Nguyen Van Linh
Da Nang, Vietnam

arrival and settling in

(An intersection near our house)

These days I'm feeling like a happy sheep—well-fed, well accommodated, and safe in the care of a good shepherd. Hai, the school director, has been incredibly attentive to our needs, giving us structure and guidance in our first few days here. With Hai, walking around the city, going to restaurants, and shopping have been full of adventure without fear.

We arrived in Danang last Thursday afternoon after smooth and comfortable travel, and a few hours' layover in the Hanoi airport that had made us suddenly aware of our foreignness. (That feeling continues.) The hot-wet air of Danang was full of smells that reminded me of Romania—exhaust, masonry, and oft-worn clothing. Hai and his right-hand man Simon greeted us with a colorful welcome sign. We loaded into a car for the short drive to our house, and I buckled my seatbelt as we merged in with the motorbikes and bicycles. Hai looked over, smiling, “Oh, those are illegal in Vietnam.”

Before our team arrived Hai was working to make our stay comfortable. We are blessed with a house that far exceeded our expectations. It's a 3-story townhouse on the corner of a block (starting one level up from the street) with four bathrooms, air conditioning, and a bedroom for each of us. The stairs are polished black stone, and off the second floor hallway is a little fountain and goldfish pond. A friend of Hai's who owns a successful car-renting business built the house six months ago and recently moved with his family to the US. The family's maid, Le (lay), comes every morning to clean and do laundry, and soon she will start on a schedule of shopping and cooking lunches for us. What a provision.

Our official orientation to Fisher's Superkids English Center (FSEC) began Monday at a coffee shop across the street, hearing from Hai about the school's vision and the teaching philosophy. Hai met his wife Teresa studying TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) in the US. They opened Fisher's this year. Private English centers like it are common, and a big business in Vietnam. FSEC's goal is to hire only native English Speakers and provide a Western-style learning atmosphere. Apart from us, the school has 2 part-time and 2 full-time teachers, all foreigners. Classes are in the evenings only now that regular school has started. I
will begin teaching this Friday evening and for the first several weeks have a light class load. Most of my students will be in the 7-12 age range. I've observed classes the last two nights, and I have to say I'm intimidated by the kids' energy! Learning classroom management will be a necessity.

Fisher's Superkids English Center is on a main business road, and like all the buildings around, is tall and narrow like one domino in the row. The first floor is a reception area and office, and the next 3 floors are classroom spaces. Three young Vietnamese women staff the office, dressed in matching blue skirts and blouses. Today we are beginning to meet with them a few minutes a day to help us learn the language. I'm looking forward to the relationships that will develop among the staff
and teachers.

On Saturday Hai took us to a famous city nearby called Hoi An. I'll let a few pictures do the describing:

(first two are Bryan's photos)

That's the main news for these days. I am filled with an overall excitement for what is to come, and grateful to have been given this opportunity. The wonderful care we have been under from Hai has reminded me of the real Shepherd who I can trust with my life. Perhaps as the stress level increases and inevitable difficulties come, I'll learn that more and more.

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Culture notes

Now that the important news is over, I can't resist adding some more observations. No obligations to read.

I've already discovered that Vietnam is a service-oriented society. At restaurants a small crowd of wait staff hovers around the table, reaching in to refill your tea glass or replace your dirty plate. Every store seems to have its own set of gatekeepers and security guards. When we rode an elevator, a sharply dressed lady ushered us in and pressed the button. At the school the office staff seem eager to do whatever they can to save our time.

Naptime. In the early afternoons, the heat and the mid-day lull make it no shame to take a short nap. I've seen a motorbike driver in the front of our house laying down balanced on his seat, hat over his face. At the market in Hoi An a woman dozed balancing across a small plank and a plastic chair, while the boat drivers rested on their canopied decks. Today after lunch we entered a clothing shop with the blue-uniformed guard passed out at the desk, and as Bryan and I looked through a rack of shirts we saw the heads of the two dozing clerks poking out from under the skirt rack. After a few minutes they emerged, looking tired and obligated to assist us.

The Vietnamese language is lovely to hear, a blend of subtle vowel combinations and soft consonants. It has six tones, which affect a word's meaning as much as the letters. Students of English have difficulty with word endings like “s” “d” and “t”. In school they learn plenty of English grammar and have dazzling penmanship, but since they rarely learn from native speakers, their speaking is very limited, and even long-time English students often have heavy accents. At Superkids it is a goal to focus mostly on pronunciation and fluency.

Proportions. Trash cans are few, small, and in hard to get to places. Plus they're well-decorated. One of ours is a pink kitty; another shows a picture of "Mr. Aligator" who says "happiness to everybody!" Today in the store we saw one shaped like a penguin that had written in red italics: "Garbage, please come in!"
Since the Vietnamese people are smaller than Americans, doorknobs and countertops are lower, and the rise of steps is a few inches shorter. It will take some getting used to.


I think I'm having a double cultural adjustment--not only to the Vietnamese culture, but to the the professional world. In rural VT the idea of well-dressed is a clean pair of Khakis and a button-down shirt. Danang is cosmopolitan comparitavely, and I've learned that I'll be wearing a tie and dress shoes to work every day. So I've been doing some shopping, and luckily, things are cheap. Yesterday I bought a nice new outfit for just under ten dollars.

itinerary and training reflections

Training is over!
I'm letting out a sigh of relief, having some time to relax and wind down, followed by a deep breath in to get ready for departure next Tuesday. There's been so much buildup and talk until this point. Now Vietnam is only a few days away.

Here is our team's flight itinerary:
(local times given)
Depart LAX August 23, 1:15 am: China Airlines flight #7 to Taipei
Arrive in Taipei August 24, 5:30 am
Depart August 24, 7:30 am: Vietnam Airlines flight #0925
Arrive in Hanoi 9:30 am
Depart 11:45 am: Vietnam Airlines flight #0315
Arrive in Da Nang 1:00 pm.

In Da Nang, our school administrator and host, Hai Huynh, will pick us up and help us get settled into the house the four of us will be sharing for the year. Hopefully we will have until the following Wednesday (Aug 30th) before we start teaching.


(Left: leading music for our final commencement ceremony and worship service)

Our evening teaching practicum concluded last week with a fiesta and some wonderful hispanic food and hospitality. Our students thanked us for our time and energy; we thanked them for giving us the opportunity to practice our teaching.

Last Saturday I went on an all-day hike into the Santa Anitas. We found some beautiful waterfalls and pools to cool off, and spent the time in between on dusty trails, seeing grouse and lizards and rabbits.

Thinking back over training, it's been a real whilrwind of a time. I feel as ready as I could expect to be for adjusting to a new culture, teaching English as a foreign language, and living with a team, but I know that preparations in this setting can only go so far. At this point, what I'm ready for is to find out myself.

The first few weeks of training were the heavy ones; these last few have been the reward. And while the atmosphere at training can't help but feel artificial and set apart from the real world, It's been a real privilege to get to know the other teachers and especially to hear their stories of getting to this point in their lives. I've gotten to know dynamic families with young children, older men whom I respect and appreciate, and peers with whom I share the same youthfull struggles and curiosities. What a sense of common purpose has developed between us all! As much as I am eager to be overseas, leaving this larger community behind will add another layer of difficulty to the transition.

In small groups for "manuscript study" (an inductive Bible study method) we just fininshed up the book of Philippians. I'll sign off with these verses that have been ringing in my ears:

Philippians 2:5-11
Your atitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death--
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

old friends

My Friend Travis Moore was my first contact with TeachOverseas after he taught in Uzbekistan from '04-'05. He and Amber (his wife since last December) were students at SUNY Potsdam while I was at St. Lawrence. We went to the same church and our campus fellowship groups often mixed. This year they are going to Morocco together with TeachOverseas, which took me by surprise when I arrived at training! It's been great to reconnect and have some common memories.

Pasadena - first stop

(Sunset at the William Carey International University campus, where training is held. The building in the lower left is my dorm.)

Today ended the second full week of training, and full they are. In the days we spend time with our country teams, we have sessions on TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) and we learn about team dynamics and what to expect for cross-cultural living. In the evenings we go off campus for teaching practicum to where some local churches and community centers offer English classes to immigrants. I have taught three times so far, feeling a bit stretched, and thankful I can hit the worst of the learning curve before it really counts. (Our practicum students have been middle-aged and elderly adults from Iraq, Lebanon, Armenia, and Mexico. Not quite the same as I'll have in Vietnam.)

It is thrilling to be in one place with all the other teachers, about a hundred in total, headed soon for China, Central Europe, the CIS, Russia, Morocco, and Vietnam. We're a diverse bunch, from different parts of the country, denominational backgrounds, personalities, and ages. Many are recent college grads like me, but there are several families, a few newlywed couples, and a few 40+ singles. We all have had good times of laughter, worship, and learning. I am impressed by the quality and depth of character of the TeachOverseas staff, who are preparing us very well (I hope) for life overseas, and have contagious vision for what God can do with a handful of willing people.

The four smiling faces here is our team of four going to teach in the city of Danang. Left to right: me, Dawn (OK), Nicky (IA), and Bryan (WA). We will live in a house together and teach at “Fisher's Superkids English Center” for kids ages 4 to 15. The site is completely new to TeachOverseas, and in fact, this will be the school's first year in operation, with us as its first full time teachers. I wonder if we'll be local celebrities. (Click on the picture if you'd like a closer look at the faces.)

A man named Bill, back from his second year teaching in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), has been a great resource in telling us what to expect of the culture, our students, and life as a foreigner in Vietnam. For instance: Vietnam's education system is all about memorizing answers to tests, so students are slow to give their opinion or speak in class. A haircut will by default include a full face-shaving and an ear-cleaning. On the streets you can find great fruit smoothies and iced coffees. We're never quite sure what will apply to our own situation in Danang, but it's fun to hear about anyway.

A few other notes: I've been helping with the worship team, which has been a great outlet and a way to feel useful to others here. It's been hot out here—last weekend well over 100, and in the 90s early this past week.I suppose that's good preparation for Vietnam. No A/C in my room, which is also good prep.

It is sinking in that I will be gone for a year, loosening ties with home and making them some other place. It's an exciting, nervous, new kind of feeling. I can tell that God is working among those emotions to grow me in new ways, for one, in focusing less on myself. It has been easy to think of this coming year as an experience, an opportunity, an adventure. I believe it will be all of those, but I need to be reminded that my purpose is to serve.

I send out a big thank you to all you who have and continue to support me. Just being here in Pasadena thinking about what is ahead gives me renewed appreciation for you all. I look forward to sharing this year with you in words and pictures.

God is good.