When people talk about Vietnam, they generally focus on either Hanoi in the North or Saigon in the South and rarely is the Central ever mentioned. During the Vietnam War and previous conflicts, Central Vietnam served as a very critical strategic location which when given up by the South in 1968 was one of the factors in the North’s victory. This most likely explains why many of the cities we visited in the Central had roads that were formerly airstrips and Da Nang itself use to be a large U.S military base. During the tour of the DMZ, it was also explained that the Central were the location of many battles because it was in many people’s eyes, the key to winning the war. Beyond being a strategic military location, not much is known about the Central by many outsiders and even the Vietnamese people. Of course, there are some major international attractions like Hoi An, but the region as a whole is constantly overshadowed by the North and South. However, things are beginning to drastically change and with the great influx of foreign investments and the presence of foreigners, the central will soon emerge as its on cultural and economic center. My fear is that the growth and development going on here is not sustainable or organic and takes a very Western approach. I have yet to travel to the South, but in comparison to the North, Central Vietnam is significantly different and unique in its own right and offer many things not found in its northern counterpart, such as a greater variety of different foods. Interestingly enough, this difference sparked a huge debate between myself and some very prideful Hanu students. My personal view is that the central, lead by Da Nang has the potential to surpass Hanoi in terms of international attraction and economics.
Although, the government is starting loosen its grip in terms of regulation and control in Hanoi, in my opinion the reign of freedom is more limited than in Central cities. As a result of its location, cities like Da Nang have more options in terms of development and many people deem it to be the “second Singapore” and essentially the vital link to California and Southeast Asia. The East-West Corridor, which begins in Myanmar runs through Thailand, makes Da Nang the vital highway to the Western world. While the North looks to the government for guidance and the South relies heavily on foreign influence, I believe the Central has a great blend and its own independence in decision making. One notable thing about Da Nang is that although it is very developed in terms of infrastructure, buildings, and economy, there is still an unofficial curfew at about 10 pm. Many of the shops, café, and even night club begin to close their doors and a silence falls about the city. I was truly shocked that such a developed city could shut down for the night, especially at such an early time. However, I see this as an effort to preserve old traditions and customs in the face of globalization and the fact that the city unofficially sleeps at 10 is really significant.
Another thing that stood out in the Central was that in cities like Da Nang and even Hue, I saw a lot more foreigners than in Hanoi, which surprised me a lot. This could be due to a number of things, but my guess is that less government regulations¸ more tourist destinations, better food, and the people account for this phenomenon. This leads back to the debate I was having with some of the Hanu students and these are some of the reasons I listed about why I enjoyed Central Vietnam much more than Hanoi. They attribute it to the fact that I’ve been in Hanoi longer and the Central was something new, so naturally it would resonate with me more. While this may be a credible argument, the fact of the matter is some of the latter reasons are irrelevant to their argument. For one, there was a great deal more variety of food in the Central and to me the food was of a better quality in terms of taste and flavors. The foods in Central Vietnam seem to employ more spices, sweetness, and stronger flavors which I am accustomed to while the food in Hanoi seem to be bland. In response, the Hanu students argued that our families are from the South so we are accustomed to these flavors which is different from the North own style. However, we are not all ethnically Vietnamese and you can’t argue with 24 different taste buds from very different backgrounds.
Another stark difference was the attitude and pleasantness of the people from the Central who seem to be much more welcoming and accommodating. One experience in particular occurred when a group of us went to eat. The owner created us with a warm smile sat us down near fans and started to explain the different foods they offered. When we told him we weren’t sure, he started to suggest different dishes and eventually selected a very delicious three course meal, consisting of Bun Bo Hue, Banh xeo, and noodles. He continued to converse with us and other customers and checked on us frequently. Even many of the Hanu students who have been to the central had to concede that the service was better than in the North. The dinner was exceptionally cheap and we were even given wet napkins for free, which if we were back in the North would have been charged for. Another example of difference in behavior, was the lack of unnecessary honking that occurred on the road, which was very pleasant after the constant bombardment of beeps and honks back in Hanoi. Overall the people we’re much more friendlier and welcoming than Hanoians and this was true for all the Central cities we visited.
To conclude the Central trip, it was an exceptionally enjoyable experience that I would have loved to experience for a longer period of time. Speaking on behalf of all the UC students, the Central in comparison to the North is a much more pleasant and comfortable place to live. The difference in opinion between myself and the Hanu students will never be resolved and expectedly so, and while I understand where they are coming from, my opinions are very strong based on my experiences. The friendliness of the people, the large variety of flavorful food, and just the overall feel of the place made it extremely hard to return to Hanoi. I even sense some resentment and anger from people when we arrived home and suitably, we were greeted by an angry man yelling at one of our members for no particular reason. Welcome back to Hanoi, ladies and gentlemen.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Helpless in Hanoi
After a few weeks now, the children have really opened up to me and some have begun sharing their stories; stories about who they are, what they like, and more even more sensitive, their background and how exactly they ended up at the orphanage. While I cannot disclose their stories, the things that I have heard have surprised me tremendously. When I decided to volunteer for this program, my motivation in selecting Xa Me was that the children grew up with no parental figure or role model and were literally street children with no parents. My goal was to be some sort of role model to these children and given them tools essential to succeeding in life. However, I realized that they do have families and some are often aware of their family existence and whereabouts. The reason for some of the children’s placement in the orphanage is because they’re family do not have enough resources to provide for the whole family and subsequently, some of the children must be given up. Sometimes it is more than one kid as evident by the fact that there is a brother and sister staying at the orphanage. Another surprising thing I discovered was the fact that one of the older girls had to apply to get into the orphanage. She is currently attending cooking school and for the sake of transportation and saving money she stays there, but is free to return home whenever she can. This perhaps explains why it was the first time I saw her in the three weeks I have been volunteering. These facts change the dynamic of what constitutes an orphanage and if a girl has to apply to stay at an orphanage, issues of ethics have to be raised.
These aforementioned issues only begin to scratch the surface of what concerns ethically about the orphanage. I understand that this is Vietnam and some of things I am accustomed to are not applicable here, but not everything can be negotiable. For one, the safety and supervision of the children of the orphanage cannot be compromised. My biggest concern has to be the lack of supervision that I see when I visit the orphanage especially at night. It’s obvious that the children seem very self-efficient, but the fact of the matter is, kids will be kids. Without supervision, the children will do as they please and there is not much stopping them from leaving and wandering the streets at night. Perhaps this explains why I see some of the older kids less often than the younger ones and why they will sometimes bring friends over. My fear is that the younger children will see this and as they begin to get older replicate the behavior and tendencies of the older children. Another concern has to do with the friends that the older children bring over. While a majority of them seem like very nice people, there are a few that the children seem to fear and in the second week, I encountered one girl like I just described. She verbally threatened a few children and badgered others to answer whether they liked her or not and often times she would feed them the answers. The physical threat here is a concern, but more critically, I believe the emotional and psychological abuse that is occurring here has a bigger impact on the children. I did step in, but it seems to anger her more and her attitude seemed to suggest that in my absence it would continue. In the future, maybe someone will bring someone over who is even worse than this girl and then who will protect the children. Are the owners of this orphanage aware of outsiders coming in and if so what is there feelings?
I believe the owners are not aware of the presence of the outsiders because from what I have heard from the children, they are very strict. It is simply a matter of them not caring too much and assuming the role of financial caregiver. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great deed that they are doing, but ethically, if you open an orphanage to provide for the well-being of children, it should encompass the physical, emotional, and psychological components. As we have learned from John Bowlby’s attachment theory, physical caregiving is not nearly as important as emotional, which impact the children tremendously. In his experiments as well as others who study attachment, secure attachment relationship is the biggest assurance of future healthy relationships. These children obviously do not have the attachment figure to help ensure that they will have a healthy physical, emotional, and psychological future. I do not want to generalize and say that all these children will turn out bad, but it certainly does not help their situation. Further, it also seems that there may be some kind of reprimand in the event that the children misbehave. The children sometimes will say things to me and follow up with a do not tell the owners. This suggests to me two things; either there is physical abuse going on or psychological abuse, in the form of threatening to kick the children out of the orphanage if they misbehave. I have no concrete evidence or proof of this, but having dealt with troubled youth in the past, I have an intuition about things like this. Further, if this is true, what exactly can I do?
Ethically, I know I am obligated to do what I can to protect these children but with little resources or the know-hows, I am limited in what I can do. This has a big drain on me emotionally because I care so much about each and every single one of them. I try not to think about this but when I am there, it’s a constant in my mind. All I can do now is try my best to help the children and in my heart I trust I will know the right thing to do.
These aforementioned issues only begin to scratch the surface of what concerns ethically about the orphanage. I understand that this is Vietnam and some of things I am accustomed to are not applicable here, but not everything can be negotiable. For one, the safety and supervision of the children of the orphanage cannot be compromised. My biggest concern has to be the lack of supervision that I see when I visit the orphanage especially at night. It’s obvious that the children seem very self-efficient, but the fact of the matter is, kids will be kids. Without supervision, the children will do as they please and there is not much stopping them from leaving and wandering the streets at night. Perhaps this explains why I see some of the older kids less often than the younger ones and why they will sometimes bring friends over. My fear is that the younger children will see this and as they begin to get older replicate the behavior and tendencies of the older children. Another concern has to do with the friends that the older children bring over. While a majority of them seem like very nice people, there are a few that the children seem to fear and in the second week, I encountered one girl like I just described. She verbally threatened a few children and badgered others to answer whether they liked her or not and often times she would feed them the answers. The physical threat here is a concern, but more critically, I believe the emotional and psychological abuse that is occurring here has a bigger impact on the children. I did step in, but it seems to anger her more and her attitude seemed to suggest that in my absence it would continue. In the future, maybe someone will bring someone over who is even worse than this girl and then who will protect the children. Are the owners of this orphanage aware of outsiders coming in and if so what is there feelings?
I believe the owners are not aware of the presence of the outsiders because from what I have heard from the children, they are very strict. It is simply a matter of them not caring too much and assuming the role of financial caregiver. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great deed that they are doing, but ethically, if you open an orphanage to provide for the well-being of children, it should encompass the physical, emotional, and psychological components. As we have learned from John Bowlby’s attachment theory, physical caregiving is not nearly as important as emotional, which impact the children tremendously. In his experiments as well as others who study attachment, secure attachment relationship is the biggest assurance of future healthy relationships. These children obviously do not have the attachment figure to help ensure that they will have a healthy physical, emotional, and psychological future. I do not want to generalize and say that all these children will turn out bad, but it certainly does not help their situation. Further, it also seems that there may be some kind of reprimand in the event that the children misbehave. The children sometimes will say things to me and follow up with a do not tell the owners. This suggests to me two things; either there is physical abuse going on or psychological abuse, in the form of threatening to kick the children out of the orphanage if they misbehave. I have no concrete evidence or proof of this, but having dealt with troubled youth in the past, I have an intuition about things like this. Further, if this is true, what exactly can I do?
Ethically, I know I am obligated to do what I can to protect these children but with little resources or the know-hows, I am limited in what I can do. This has a big drain on me emotionally because I care so much about each and every single one of them. I try not to think about this but when I am there, it’s a constant in my mind. All I can do now is try my best to help the children and in my heart I trust I will know the right thing to do.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Rich in a Sense
I recalled having a conversation awhile back with my grandmother about why she decided to have ten children considering she did not have the resources to support such a large family. Her response was that when one converses with new people, they do not generally talk about finances or how much money they make but rather they talk about their family. For her she’d rather have a large family and struggle than be rich and have fewer children. Subsequently, for her wealth and happiness is measured by the family. While this struck me by surprise and I argued that it was faulty logic and I’d rather be rich financially than be rich with children, this actually seems to be particularly true among the older, traditional Vietnamese.
Earlier today I encountered two older gentlemen, who looked to be in their early fifties, while walking with a few fellow students and they invited us to sit and eat. They were very friendly and we soon discovered that one of the men was actually the owner of the Bun Bo Hue restaurant. We began to converse and discovered that they have actually been to America before and stayed for an extended period of time. As the conversation continued, we decided to interview these two men for our weekend assignment figuring this would be a very interesting perspective. So we started by asking the question about how to distinguish the categorization of being “poor” and “not poor.” By their attire, it was quite obviously they were well off so I personally expected them to speak about and focus on material things versus items of necessity, such as being poor signified not having a motorbike or a house. However, the two men came from poorer backgrounds and worked their way to become successful and they ultimately understood both sides of the spectrum. They shared similar ideas about what distinguished an individual as being poor such as not being able to provide basic necessities like food and shelter for family and constantly having to worry about money because you have no to very little of it. The owner of the shop shared with us his story about growing up having very little and sometimes having to go without food. What resonated with him the most was the suffering and sadness he saw in his parents faces knowing they could not support the large family. Nevertheless, he goes on to emphasize the importance of family and how he would not have made it to where he was today without them. This compelled me to think about my conversation with my grandma so I probed further and asked whether he would rather have a large family and be poor or be rich and have very few family members. To my surprise he didn’t suggest that one could be rich and have a large family, but rather he said he would always pick having a big family because money cannot buy you happiness.
The following question I asked in the context of development in Vietnam and so when I asked whether the gap between the rich and poor is increasing or decreasing, they both agreed it was dramatically increasing. They actually blamed the foreign influence and at that point referred to a few of us as being Viet Kieu, which actually offended me, but nevertheless I understood where he was coming from. He says that he was afraid when he opened his Bun Bo Hue shop that the northerners would not enjoy his food and business would be bad. However, the location of the shop exposed it to a lot of foreign customers and thus boasted business. Despite benefiting from this economically, he argued that foreigners are disrupting Vietnam and will further increase the gap between the rich and poor. Both men, while still courteous and pleasant to us, seem to have a negative attitude towards foreigners, particularly Vietnamese Americans who they view as not truly Vietnamese. So finally when asked what direction the gap was headed in the next ten years, they pointed to the foreigners walking past us and explained it would only get bigger.
Earlier today I encountered two older gentlemen, who looked to be in their early fifties, while walking with a few fellow students and they invited us to sit and eat. They were very friendly and we soon discovered that one of the men was actually the owner of the Bun Bo Hue restaurant. We began to converse and discovered that they have actually been to America before and stayed for an extended period of time. As the conversation continued, we decided to interview these two men for our weekend assignment figuring this would be a very interesting perspective. So we started by asking the question about how to distinguish the categorization of being “poor” and “not poor.” By their attire, it was quite obviously they were well off so I personally expected them to speak about and focus on material things versus items of necessity, such as being poor signified not having a motorbike or a house. However, the two men came from poorer backgrounds and worked their way to become successful and they ultimately understood both sides of the spectrum. They shared similar ideas about what distinguished an individual as being poor such as not being able to provide basic necessities like food and shelter for family and constantly having to worry about money because you have no to very little of it. The owner of the shop shared with us his story about growing up having very little and sometimes having to go without food. What resonated with him the most was the suffering and sadness he saw in his parents faces knowing they could not support the large family. Nevertheless, he goes on to emphasize the importance of family and how he would not have made it to where he was today without them. This compelled me to think about my conversation with my grandma so I probed further and asked whether he would rather have a large family and be poor or be rich and have very few family members. To my surprise he didn’t suggest that one could be rich and have a large family, but rather he said he would always pick having a big family because money cannot buy you happiness.
The following question I asked in the context of development in Vietnam and so when I asked whether the gap between the rich and poor is increasing or decreasing, they both agreed it was dramatically increasing. They actually blamed the foreign influence and at that point referred to a few of us as being Viet Kieu, which actually offended me, but nevertheless I understood where he was coming from. He says that he was afraid when he opened his Bun Bo Hue shop that the northerners would not enjoy his food and business would be bad. However, the location of the shop exposed it to a lot of foreign customers and thus boasted business. Despite benefiting from this economically, he argued that foreigners are disrupting Vietnam and will further increase the gap between the rich and poor. Both men, while still courteous and pleasant to us, seem to have a negative attitude towards foreigners, particularly Vietnamese Americans who they view as not truly Vietnamese. So finally when asked what direction the gap was headed in the next ten years, they pointed to the foreigners walking past us and explained it would only get bigger.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Love the Kids
In the first week, the language barrier was my biggest concern due to my background and lack of proficiency in Vietnamese. While I could pick up some of the words and phrases, I relied heavily on Kristine to translate and communicate with the children. I would often have to ask her what a child said or tell the children to tell Kristine so she could translate for me. As a result, while I still bonded with the children my interactions with the children were primarily on a physical level, which made me frustrated. However, I felt my frustration was not a lack of language skills (I was simply using this as an excuse to not force myself into uncomfortable situations) but rather my level of comfort and willingness to speak Vietnamese. I knew this had to change because communication would be a big part of my relationship with the children and if I truly cared for them and wanted to help them I knew I had to be able to speak with them. This was the key to expanding upon our relationship, making it more beneficial to the children.
So this following week, I decided to put my excuses aside and really try to communicate with the children. While it was unfortunate Kristine was sick and could not go, it was a great opportunity for me to force myself to speak and verbally communicate with the children knowing Emily would have to rely on me. During the bus ride over to the orphanage, I was rather anxious thinking about how the next four hours would play out. When we finally got there, we greeted the children and they asked about chị Kristine. To my surprise, I was able to explain to the children that she was sick and while she wanted to come, she could not make it. The children responded by pointing out who among them had also caught some kind of sickness. This exchange went on for a little while with more kids jokingly saying they were sick: headaches, coughs, and even heartaches. We joked and laughed about it and after realizing that I had communicated with the children without any assistance I began to calm down and actually had a newfound willingness to talk and have more exchanges. We proceeded to move upstairs and we ate dinner and the conversations began to continue. Even Emily was able to speak a few words here and there and the children confirmed with me in Vietnamese that they understood. I realize that with Kristine gone I had assumed her role and I was actually doing a very adequate job. Later in the evening the children were able to teach me a few games that relied on using Vietnamese and I successfully learned how to play. In my mind, this had been the breakthrough I was looking for and now I knew I could finally begin to truly help the children.
This was one of my biggest goals from the beginning, to acquire enough Vietnamese to efficiently communicate with the children and subsequently, build a relationship with them and help them more. This week we again decided to keep the environment informal because I did not feel confident enough to adequately explain certain activities to the children. The relationship between myself and children is definitely growing and I have to admit I am moderately afraid that we are getting too attached. Personally for me, it doesn’t feel like an obligation to go and volunteer because spending time with the children make me feel like I’m at home again playing with all my cousins. Furthermore, I am bonding with all the children and I think they really trust me because they share with me their stories. There are moments when we are able to joke around and then moments when we can discuss more serious matters. However, being older and knowing the situation, I that I have to refrain from getting to close because I know the ramifications involved and in the end the children have the most to lose. This is a constant dilemma that is constantly in the back of mind, knowing that in just four months I will be returning home and the possibility that I will see these children again are very slim and unlikely. Nevertheless, I really care for all of them and I want to do everything in my power and with my limited time here to help them all succeed in one way or another. I am still searching for the answers and with this new breakthrough I think I am beginning to near it.
So this following week, I decided to put my excuses aside and really try to communicate with the children. While it was unfortunate Kristine was sick and could not go, it was a great opportunity for me to force myself to speak and verbally communicate with the children knowing Emily would have to rely on me. During the bus ride over to the orphanage, I was rather anxious thinking about how the next four hours would play out. When we finally got there, we greeted the children and they asked about chị Kristine. To my surprise, I was able to explain to the children that she was sick and while she wanted to come, she could not make it. The children responded by pointing out who among them had also caught some kind of sickness. This exchange went on for a little while with more kids jokingly saying they were sick: headaches, coughs, and even heartaches. We joked and laughed about it and after realizing that I had communicated with the children without any assistance I began to calm down and actually had a newfound willingness to talk and have more exchanges. We proceeded to move upstairs and we ate dinner and the conversations began to continue. Even Emily was able to speak a few words here and there and the children confirmed with me in Vietnamese that they understood. I realize that with Kristine gone I had assumed her role and I was actually doing a very adequate job. Later in the evening the children were able to teach me a few games that relied on using Vietnamese and I successfully learned how to play. In my mind, this had been the breakthrough I was looking for and now I knew I could finally begin to truly help the children.
This was one of my biggest goals from the beginning, to acquire enough Vietnamese to efficiently communicate with the children and subsequently, build a relationship with them and help them more. This week we again decided to keep the environment informal because I did not feel confident enough to adequately explain certain activities to the children. The relationship between myself and children is definitely growing and I have to admit I am moderately afraid that we are getting too attached. Personally for me, it doesn’t feel like an obligation to go and volunteer because spending time with the children make me feel like I’m at home again playing with all my cousins. Furthermore, I am bonding with all the children and I think they really trust me because they share with me their stories. There are moments when we are able to joke around and then moments when we can discuss more serious matters. However, being older and knowing the situation, I that I have to refrain from getting to close because I know the ramifications involved and in the end the children have the most to lose. This is a constant dilemma that is constantly in the back of mind, knowing that in just four months I will be returning home and the possibility that I will see these children again are very slim and unlikely. Nevertheless, I really care for all of them and I want to do everything in my power and with my limited time here to help them all succeed in one way or another. I am still searching for the answers and with this new breakthrough I think I am beginning to near it.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
First Interview
Rarely does anything we plan in life occur how we want it, which foreshadows our first few attempts at interviewing a pho seller. Our first target was the pho shop on 49 Ban Tran, renowned for its delicious bowls of pho accompanied by fried Vietnamese doughnut, not sure of the exact name. Thursday was chosen as our first attempt which so happen to coincide with Vietnam’s Independence Day. We immediate realized this was a big mistake because the line extended passed the door into the streets. In fact, we waited 30 minutes for our bowl of pho, which I must admit was worth the wait. The was nothing particular special about the pho besides the fact that they cracked a raw egg into the soup, but the flavor definitely intrigued the taste buds. In addition to the egg, the pho consisted of noodles, a few variety of vegetables, and an abundance of beef. The broth was seasoned just right with a slight sweet flavor to it and the meat was not chewy as customary of Vietnamese beef. Overall, I would have to say it was one of the best bowls of pho I had since my arrival in Vietnam. Nevertheless, we waited and waited for the line to dissipate before attempting to engage the owner of the shop, but after waiting a couple hours we decided to call it a day and accept defeat.
Our second attempt came on Sunday afternoon, when we hoped the line wasn’t as bad. While there still was a wait, we were able to enjoy a bowl of pho as we waited for an opportunity. Finally, it came and we approached one of the owners of the shop. So we explained to her that we were doing a project for school and asked if we could interview her. We even followed up with a “if you’re busy we can come back and do it when it’s best for you.” Unfortunately, she shot us down and we went home sad and defeated. Following those two bad experiences, we became somewhat desperate and began to ask around at the pho places near campus. Attempt after attempt ended with the same results, either they were busy or they simply did not want to do it.
Things begin to get real desperate with time running out so today we decided to visit every pho place until we could finally get an interview. Luckily I was accompanied by two lovely girls, Hayley Huong and Mai, who were able to use their charm to get an interview with a 22-year-old pho seller. I primarily listened while I recorded the interview, but from my perspective the interview went really well. The flow of the conversation was very smooth, everything was very natural, and there were definitely no moments of awkward silence or pauses. Further, our interviewee seemed very enthusiastic about helping us, whether it was he was interested in what we were doing or because he was charmed by my two counterparts remains unanswered. However, having such a willing and accommodating interviewee helped the process a great deal. He even gave us a cup of tra for free and we actually didn’t even purchase food. These different factors ensured that our interviewed turned great and despite the initial setbacks, the interviewed turned out how I imagined it turning out to be.
This first interview is definitely a great learning experience. Some of the things I definitely learned for the future: everything will not go according to plan and you must be ready to adjust and adapt, try to keep the interview somewhat informal and conversational, and keep on preserving. Personally, I will try to jump into the conversation and interject my own questions in Vietnamese instead of relying on my teammates. Nevertheless, I think we did a great job and I look forward to the next interviews.
Our second attempt came on Sunday afternoon, when we hoped the line wasn’t as bad. While there still was a wait, we were able to enjoy a bowl of pho as we waited for an opportunity. Finally, it came and we approached one of the owners of the shop. So we explained to her that we were doing a project for school and asked if we could interview her. We even followed up with a “if you’re busy we can come back and do it when it’s best for you.” Unfortunately, she shot us down and we went home sad and defeated. Following those two bad experiences, we became somewhat desperate and began to ask around at the pho places near campus. Attempt after attempt ended with the same results, either they were busy or they simply did not want to do it.
Things begin to get real desperate with time running out so today we decided to visit every pho place until we could finally get an interview. Luckily I was accompanied by two lovely girls, Hayley Huong and Mai, who were able to use their charm to get an interview with a 22-year-old pho seller. I primarily listened while I recorded the interview, but from my perspective the interview went really well. The flow of the conversation was very smooth, everything was very natural, and there were definitely no moments of awkward silence or pauses. Further, our interviewee seemed very enthusiastic about helping us, whether it was he was interested in what we were doing or because he was charmed by my two counterparts remains unanswered. However, having such a willing and accommodating interviewee helped the process a great deal. He even gave us a cup of tra for free and we actually didn’t even purchase food. These different factors ensured that our interviewed turned great and despite the initial setbacks, the interviewed turned out how I imagined it turning out to be.
This first interview is definitely a great learning experience. Some of the things I definitely learned for the future: everything will not go according to plan and you must be ready to adjust and adapt, try to keep the interview somewhat informal and conversational, and keep on preserving. Personally, I will try to jump into the conversation and interject my own questions in Vietnamese instead of relying on my teammates. Nevertheless, I think we did a great job and I look forward to the next interviews.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Service Learning
To be quite truthful, I was a little bit nervous going into this service learning project and although I have volunteered with similar organizations and have plenty of experience with my own family, I knew this would be very different. There are the obvious obstacles such as the language barrier and my limited time in Vietnam. I understand Vietnamese but speak only a small amount and rarely complete sentences and subsequently, I knew I wouldn’t be able to articulate what I feel or what I am thinking to the children. After my first week, my fears were confirmed and at times it gets extremely frustrating. I get along absolutely great with the children but I realize that there is so much I could tell them and help them with if my Vietnamese was more proficient. For example, they were trying to teach me a card game but due to the language barrier I wasn’t able to pick it up. However despite this obvious obstacle, this has motivated me to another level to improve my Vietnamese and to be able to communicate better with the children.
Besides the language barrier, another issue that has been bothering me is the fact that I am only going to be here for a limited amount of time and on top of that I am only scheduled to work 2 days a week. I don’t want the children to feel as though I am obligated to volunteer and in the end I will be gone leaving them as if nothing happened. This is very difficult for me because although I have only been with these kids for a week, I care tremendously for each and every one of them. For me, playing and interacting with the children is very natural because of my large family and the experience I have had with children. I understand that I am supposed to keep my “distance” due to the fact that I will be leaving in 5 months and the impact on the children would be far worse, but I can help but start to feel connected and attached to them. I must admit that the first day was the most difficult in particular because initially I felt pity for these children. While my mother loved me tremendously, my father wanted nothing to do with me and although the reasons may be different, I understand how it feels to not be wanted. I truly feel that it’s the worse feeling to ever experience, to want so badly another’s affection and not to be able to acquire it. So the dilemma for me is how to be able to keep my distance emotionally so that the children are not so badly affected when I leave. I can already sense the children getting attached and I am still trying to find a solution but I’m not sure I can.
My goal for the next four months is help the children realize that they are all very special and capable of anything they put their mind to and I truly believe it. People may say its cliché or I’m giving them false hope but I truly feel I can make an impact. I will obviously help teach them English and things that are essential to life, but I want to influence them in a way that they can forever remember. I want to give these children something that they can utilize and will be applicable in their life. What exactly am I hoping to accomplish is still developing but I will try my best and in the short time I’m here I will certainly do everything in my power.
Besides the language barrier, another issue that has been bothering me is the fact that I am only going to be here for a limited amount of time and on top of that I am only scheduled to work 2 days a week. I don’t want the children to feel as though I am obligated to volunteer and in the end I will be gone leaving them as if nothing happened. This is very difficult for me because although I have only been with these kids for a week, I care tremendously for each and every one of them. For me, playing and interacting with the children is very natural because of my large family and the experience I have had with children. I understand that I am supposed to keep my “distance” due to the fact that I will be leaving in 5 months and the impact on the children would be far worse, but I can help but start to feel connected and attached to them. I must admit that the first day was the most difficult in particular because initially I felt pity for these children. While my mother loved me tremendously, my father wanted nothing to do with me and although the reasons may be different, I understand how it feels to not be wanted. I truly feel that it’s the worse feeling to ever experience, to want so badly another’s affection and not to be able to acquire it. So the dilemma for me is how to be able to keep my distance emotionally so that the children are not so badly affected when I leave. I can already sense the children getting attached and I am still trying to find a solution but I’m not sure I can.
My goal for the next four months is help the children realize that they are all very special and capable of anything they put their mind to and I truly believe it. People may say its cliché or I’m giving them false hope but I truly feel I can make an impact. I will obviously help teach them English and things that are essential to life, but I want to influence them in a way that they can forever remember. I want to give these children something that they can utilize and will be applicable in their life. What exactly am I hoping to accomplish is still developing but I will try my best and in the short time I’m here I will certainly do everything in my power.
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