RedWiseacre

Hanoi Hanoi! A beautiful city with the old world charm of the French Quarter, the kinetic energy of the barter in the Old Quarter, the cultural diversity of the people, the pungent, sweet, spicy smells of food and sweet aroma of coffee, the frenzied sounds of motorbikes zipping through intersections, the incessant honk of horns, shouts of passersby and drivers alike. It's a captivating city that seizes and repels. Reception at Home of US Ambassador Ted Osius We all arrived in Hanoi at the beginning of the week in anticipation of a reception for all Fulbrighters -- those who are currently serving in Vietnam and those who are on their way to the US to study. The ambassador's residence is a stately home, fitting of a US diplomat and we were graciously received by Ambassador Osius' ... read more

Landing in Jakarta: the Airport LIA -- Language in Action, hosted their 2nd International Conference in Yogyakartha at the end of April and beginning of May...still Southeast Asia but how different the culture from Vietnam! Landing in Jakarta at the airport I found so many different groups, each wearing distinct clothing to distinguish membership in that clan as distinct from others -- different colors, different head scarves, some with particular embroidery, some wearing the headscarf in a different way, some wearing skull caps, some a kind of fez. quite extraordinary. I wanted to whip out my camera but was a little too stressed with some visa and passport challenges to fully savor those moments and my first impressions. Hotel Aryudata Changing my plans to fix those problems I had to book a hotel in Jakarta and ... read more

Bac Lieu University in the Mekong Delta in south Vietnam is situated down on the very tip of the southern Ca Mau Peninsula. Bac Lieu University is a young university, established in 2006 and opening its doors in January 2007. Like PDU Bac Lieu University's mission is to train highly skilled human resource professionals, conduct scientific research and transferring technology to serve the regionally and nationally socioeconomic development. This colloquium on Action Research was offered by the Office of English Language Program, US Department of State, and co-sponsored by the US Consulate General HCMC. It was an exciting visit to another university in Vietnam to meet faculty and English teachers in different regions of Vietnam! I am continually amazed at the professionalism of these EFL professionals and by their resilience and perseverance in seeking opportunities for ... read more

English Club What a great group of students at Pham Van Dong! They are so eager to learn English that they come on Saturday morning to a hot classroom to enjoy speaking and reading English! It's a pleasure to see them -- they are so eager! Each Saturday morning we enjoyed reading VietNews, a newspaper out of Ho Chi Minh City full of articles about people, culture, sports, and all those topics that are interesting to young people. We did one of my favorite activities which is a team competition -- each team chooses an article, writes some questions about the article, and then they ask the questions about their article. The team gets a point for each good question and a point for each answer. First person to raise their hand gets to answer! The ... read more

The Women's Association of PDU in Quang Ngai organized a celebration for the women faculty at PDU to celebration International Women's Day. It was a day full of fun, food, sightseeing, the beach, games, and enjoyment to celebrate the women in the community and their contribution to the university, to society and to their families. We began the day's events very early with a buffet at Central Hotel's top floor diningroom with a view of Quang Ngai city. The buffet included eggs and bacon for the Western palate but a spread of Vietnamese traditional breakfast fare of course with pho, rice, dumplings, and all sorts of more traditional dishes. There was coffee and I was able to get some fresh milk to boot. After a delicious meal at Central Hotel, we boarded two buses to visit ... read more