Can't Wait

After about 5 attempts at uploading pictures to Flickr and my blog I have given up. So, sorry for the lack of pictures. I'll keep trying before I leave, but I can't promise anything. I can't wait to be back in a country where it doesn't take 5 minutes to load a web page or upload a picture!!

Since the middle of last week my workload has greatly decreased. We started finals last Thursday and they were finished yesterday. I also stopped tutoring for the year as of last Friday. It is Wednesday morning and I really have nothing left to do except get on a plane and head home.

And, because I have had time to actually think I started reflecting on the year. And, if I do say so myself, I think the teaching staff at this school did one hell of a job with basically no direction from the principal. Without getting into a long story, he is more interested in pleasing the Vietnamese staff than he is with getting to know his teaching staff and student body. Case in point...I am quite sure he did not know my name until two months ago. When we got here we had no resources, no textbooks and our library was a joke. There were no video or audio resources available...however, I have found that YouTube is absolutely invaluable! I found so much there that I could use in my classes.

As far as the social scene is concerned...I have to say that the expat scene here is quite different than that is Seoul. Here there are more foreigners here on short business trips than teachers. HCMC is growing and there are English schools popping up all over the place, so the need for English teachers and that aspect of the expat scene will increase. I just saw on a National Geographic show last night where Vietnam has the 5th fastest growing economy in Asia. Construction is constant and there are cranes everywhere you look. But, there are still so many poor people here. I think the average monthly salary is about $75-$100. No wonder they look at foreigners and think that we are rich. I had money stolen from me last month...I am quite sure it was one of the cleaning staff. One of the other teachers and I kind of joked that we hoped she used it to send her son to a better school or a year's worth of clothes or something.

This year is ending on a positive note for me. I do not regret that I decided to come here. I have met some great people...some have left already or are moving on to new opportunities after the school year is over. But I am lucky that except for my fantastic roommate, most of my closest friends are coming back next year. And, since I had 11th grade this year I wanted to come back and see them graduate next year. There are a lot of great kids in that class. So, I have had a lot of wonderful memories and some GREAT stories to share when I get home. I hope to see as many people as possible when I am home for the summer. Until then I am signing off from
Vietnam...see you in the States!!!