Though I am making the most of my accommodations here, they are not ideal. From what I have gleaned from fellow ETA's blogs, mine are somewhat on the low end of the spectrum. But today I am appreciating them. Read on to find out why.
I had no engagements today (or so I thought) so I planned to alternately work and veg for most of the morning. I let myself sleep in a little, but given my new schedule that meant setting my alarm for 8am. At about 930 I got a phone call.
- Did you forget that you will come observe my class?
- No! Of course not! ... What time does it start?
- 940.
- Ok... see you soon!
Now, you would think that having gotten up around 8 or 830 I would have been ready to go, despite the fact that I had in fact forgotten about this. Instead, I was still in the throes of the vegging stage of the day, so I was not. I was not even dressed yet. But I was awake and swift and I made it to the class with time to spare.
The class I was observing was 3rd year writing. Despite the fact that it was a writing class, I was pleased to see that there was a lot of listening and speaking going on, too. To be perfectly honest it seems strange to me to try and isolate language skill areas into distinct classes when they are so interconnected. Anyway, to cut to the chase, students were told to work in groups to identify a problem on campus and propose a solution (a.k.a. practice using 'should,' 'could,' and 'would'). I had already been told when I arrived in Ben Tre that this is the most poorly funded college in the district (possibly even the province, I can't quite remember anymore) but, not having visited any other colleges here, I have nothing to compare it to other than American institutions, which seems like an unfair meter. To my interest, students here cited facility-related shortcomings similar to those I perceive as someone from an educational system with vastly different resources. They complained about the library's collection being limited and outdated. (It really is. When I was taken on a tour and shown the collection on English books, they were mostly multiple copies of grammar texts with scintillating titles like Phrasal Verbs.) Students complained about not having a language computer lab where they could access software to practice speaking and listening on their own time. But they also complained about two things that surprised me. First, that the electricity in their dorm toilets doesn't work, so they don't have light in the bathroom. Now, I may have creepy crawlies paying me visits courtesy of my missing 4th wall, but at least I can see them. Not to mention the fact that I don't have to share a bathroom. Second, students complained about the food at the canteen being bad and expensive. I can agree with them about the quality of the food, but their comments regarding the price point were unexpected. I often wonder about how prices for food and goods translate when being considered by someone with a local income. Dinner might only be $0.75 for me, but how big a chunk of someone's weekly budget is it to pay 15,000 VND for dinner? I guess I shouldn't have been surprised; students had already told me that they prefer to cook for themselves because it is more affordable, but it is still hard to wrap my mind around the fact that while I can feel thrifty eating out and feeding myself for one or two dollars a day, that is not an affordable option for most people here. So I'm feeling grateful. Grateful for my room, the best that Ben Tre College can do, and grateful for my finances.
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