Vietnamese, tối ngày sáng đêm

Monday morning was supposed to  be my second to last class with the 2nd years. A few minutes before class was going to start, I got a text message from the students, asking if we could meet in the canteen instead of in the classroom. I wondered if this was because it would in fact be the last class, but they said no, next week would be the last class. About five minutes after I joined them at the canteen, the student who acts as a class representative got a text from the teacher, stating that it would be the last class. So much for that. I texted the teacher to confirm that I would not be teaching next Monday, and it took about five texts for him to definitively tell me the same thing he had just told the student. So, all of a sudden, it was my last class after all. I usually try to plan something special for the last class. Usually a lot of review games and probably some course evaluations. I was disappointed that I didn't have a chance to make the last class special, but I was glad that at least our time at the canteen (about the first half of class) felt like a celebratory change of pace.

Goodbye K8 students!

While at the canteen, the students asked me a lot of questions about my trip to Cambodia. Among other things, I told them that many Cambodians thought I was Cambodian. My students all laughed. One of them asked me why they thought so. I said I didn't know, and one student slyly replied, "I do." I was about to tell them that many people mentioned my skin, and pointed at my arm, but before I could say anything another student exclaimed, "because you're black!" Everyone laughed. And yes, I guess by Vietnamese skin tone ranges, I am pretty black.

This reminded me of something I forgot to mention about my time in Cambodia. By now you know that in Vietnam, women aspire to be fair-skinned, and take more pains than a vampire to keep the sun off of their skin. However, on my last day in Cambodia, I encountered a refreshingly different perspective. I was leaving the last temple and a saleswoman who had approached me when I went in saw me and tried to convince me to buy something from her. During the course of our banter, she asked me where I was from. She expressed surprise at the fact that even though I was American (and therefore expected to have light skin) our skin was the same color. And then, completely unexpectedly, she said, "our skin is more beautiful." Even though many Vietnamese people have understood and accepted that many people in the US actually prefer to be tan, it was a really treasured moment to hear that self-affirming assertion coming from the mouth of a Southeast Asian woman.

Anyway, at the end of class, I made a short impromptu speech about how much I had enjoyed teaching my students, and wished them the best in their future endeavors. I reminded them that even though I wouldn't be teaching them anymore, I'm still here, and encouraged them to come see me or have meals with me. And that was that. It was over and I'm down to Friday classes with first years and English clubs with whomever bothers to show up.

Last night I had a really good Vietnamese moment. A common recourse for a language student lacking confidence is to talk quietly. If you talk quietly enough, no one will hear you make a mistake. But if you're talking that quietly, no one will hear you say it right either, and when you're asked to repeat yourself you'll end up feeling less confident whether or not you actually said it right. My students do this in class and it drives me crazy, but the truth is I do it to with Vietnamese. I recently decided that I must have at least one Vietnamese beverage every day for the rest of the month (coconut juice, sugarcane juice, smoothie, ...). Last night I went looking for a coconut, but the woman I usually buy them from didn't have any at the front of her store. I saw her sitting in the back in a hammock and I didn't want her to have to come out to help me if she didn't have any and I wasn't going to buy anything, so I shouted to her to ask whether she had any coconuts. Without hesitation or an expression of confusion, she replied that she was out. It was a really simple question to ask, something I could have asked after my first few Vietnamese lessons back in Hanoi, but the fact that I asked it -- and shouted it (it's hard for me to keep tones when I have to shout) -- and was instantly understood was a great feeling. Since she didn't have any, I decided to get sugarcane juice, and my exchange with that vendor was similarly assertive and successful.

I sort of had a Vietnamese lesson with Trang today. I turned in one test, took another, and got one to do tonight. The tests are actually really helpful for both of us to see what I know and find gaps in my knowledge that Trang can subsequently fill. I can also sometimes see that I'm better at this than I thought. Reading comprehension is definitely my strength, but I think that's more because I'm a good test-taker than because I'm really good at it. Still, it was exciting today when I understood all but a few words of a whole paragraph that I had to read. It felt minor, basic, but then I reminded myself that that I wouldn't have been able to make heads or tails of that paragraph a few months ago. Whether or not I've achieved as much as I once hoped doesn't mean I haven't achieved anything. I learned that a sister-in-law is an em dâu. The second word is the same word as the word for strawberry, but a sister-in-law is not considered a strawberry sister; it's just a coincidence. I also learned a new favorite Vietnamese phrase: tối ngày sáng đêm. Literally it means something like, 'dark, day, bright, night,' and it's used similarly to how we would say 24/7. In other words, it means always. 

In the evening I had the teacher's English club. Before going I went out to get some dinner, and I think one of my students had that 'realizing your teacher has a real life' moment. She was behind me in line and when I turned around and said hi to her she looked and sounded just utterly flabbergasted to see me. I wasn't sure whether there would be English club or not (actually, I was pretty sure there would be but I was hoping that for some reason it had been canceled but no one had told me) so I texted Mr. Luan to ask. He is the person with whom I have the biggest language barrier, but today I realized that I was perfectly capable of asking him about it in Vietnamese, and decided to make his life easier instead of my own. I texted him in Vietnamese, and we had a whole series of exchanges about the club and whether or not I had had dinner. It was nice for me, and I bet it was way more comfortable for him to be able to talk to me in his native language.

My wish sort of came true, and only four people showed up for English club, and two of those four are required to be there. So, everyone decided to go out for smoothies and fruit salads instead. This fit in perfectly with my vow to make the most of Vietnamese beverages, and I got a jackfruit smoothie. While we were there, Mr. Luan kept showing everyone the text messages I had sent him, and people were quite impressed. I was glad that I had actually composed the message with my own ability rather than with the help of Google translate, so I could feel proud rather than guilty. I feel like I've turned over a new leaf with Vietnamese, and all I can say is better late than never.