Settling In...

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In Quang Ngai, I've survived the last 4 days of rain and rather cool weather to enjoy a full day of sun...hope it lasts through the night. This afternoon, I walked to the university to see lots of freshly washed clothes hanging out to dry...even washed some of my own clothes today and hung them out.

Yesterday, I was introduced to Mr. Phuoc Pham Dang, Rector and Vice Rector, Mr. Nghi Pham; Mr. Ca Tran Hau, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Mr. Nhi Nguyen Tu, the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages; Mr. Du Nguyen Dinh, Head of International Cooperation and Mr. Hung Pham Thanh, Deputy Head of Training Dept and Mr. Hai Nguyen Thanh, the Head of Training Department at a formal welcoming meeting. I have had the good fortune and pleasure to already have met the Vice Head of International Cooperation, Ms. Dao Tran Thi Mai, who has served as the primary liaison since I arrived. The Rector was kind enough to take us out for a seafood dinner last night -- great squid, a clam chowder with saffron, grilled fish spring rolls similar to what we had at the restaurant in the Mekong Delta and some steamed vegetables as well as the crispy rice cake that Quang Ngai is reportedly famous for. Delicious! It's not going to be easy to lose weight, I can tell.

Today I also got my official teaching schedule -- I've already been co-teaching a class on the Renaissance to student teachers who are studying on the weekend to improve their credentials -- presented on Saturday afternoon after getting back around 1:30 am -- but now I've been to the new campus, met the coordinator of teachers and have a full schedule. It'll be challenging with the 7:00 am classes since I'm a diehard night owl.

With the help of Prof. Nhi from the university I also managed to get a little discount on my room since I'm here for 4 months -- they knocked off about 700,000 -- and I got a bank account today and then went to register my phone number...the account and phone number registration are still in process, however. The ATM card will not be available for 7 days and there is some delay with the phone number registration that I didn't quite understand.

I start my first Vietnamese lesson tomorrow -- it's not an easy language but so long as I'm here I would like to pick up some few phrases and get a better understanding of the language system at least.

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Photos

Pham Van Dong University
Mr. Hung Pham Thanh, Deputy Head of Training; Mr. Hai Nguyen Thanh, Head of Training Dept; Mr. Nhi Nguyen Tu, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages; Ms. Dao Tran Thi Mai, Vice Head of International Cooperation; Mr. Nghi Pham, Vice Rector; Mr. Phuoc Pham Dang, Rector; Mr. Duc Nguyen Dinh, Head of International Cooperation

Pham Van Dong University
Mr. Hung Pham Thanh, Deputy Head of Training; Mr. Hai Nguyen Thanh, Head of Training Dept; Mr. Nhi Nguyen Tu, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages; Ms. Dao Tran Thi Mai, Vice Head of International Cooperation; Mr. Nghi Pham, Vice Rector; Mr. Phuoc Pham Dang, Rector; Prof. Cynthia Wiseman, US Fulbright Scholar; Mr. Duc Nguyen Dinh, Head of International Cooperation