A Saprising Mistery

Good afternoon from the rather nippy Hanoi,

We are now a day away from Christmas Day and it will be strange to spend our first Christmas living together in a foreign country. As usual the teaching days approaching Christmas have been busy and tiring. Both of us are feeling quite run down again, as most of the teachers seem to be. The chesty cough has returned. The one thing we certainly will not miss in Hanoi is the terrible air quality which must have a dreadful impact on the people that live here given it has made us both quite unwell and we haven't even been here 6 months! We would probably happily stay in Hanoi if the air was cleaner.

Getting in the Christmas spirit with the kids.... 

We spent the weekend, as we mentioned in the last blog, in Sapa. Sapa is situated in Lao Cai province and is very close to the border of China. In fact our tour guide told us people there often get 1 day visas across the border for 50,000 dong to visit/shop etc. and they just need to be back across into Vietnam by 21:00. It made us think about how close we will be to the border when we are in Shenzhen in June. Perhaps the next few weeks will not be the last time we spend in Hanoi?

Anyway we took the overnight train to Sapa on the elegant Victoria Express. Before departing we did a bit of shopping and relaxed with some wine and cocktails in the Victoria lounge. We heard before boarding that we had lucked out and got our own private cabin. A tip we can certainly give is that you should just book into a 4 person cabin and see what happens. You might be lucky like us and if you are not the fee for upgrading was very reasonable and lower than what we were quoted to just book out a private cabin. It was really worth doing this as there is very little space. The cabin will be fun with Claire and Amy on our 16 hour train from Da Nang to Saigon.... Even though it was cramped the cabin was really cute and charming. The beds were actually more comfortable than our so-called mattresses in our rooms which are so hard we are both convinced we have permanently damaged our backs from them! At least it justifies getting lots of massages.

Rob in the Victoria lounge

Our cabin and Becky

The train crew came around and served us drinks before we departed. The train was beautifully decorated with a Christmas theme which made us feel very at home. Although it was comfortable both of us found it very hard to sleep on the train purely because it was so noisy. So when we arrived at our beautiful hotel - after a private transfer in a jeep - the news that we might get our room early was definitely welcomed. We went in for a delicious buffet breakfast in the Tavan restaurant which had the biggest Christmas tree and a roaring fire. It all felt very homely. We noticed upon arriving in Sapa that it was noticeably colder than Hanoi and there was thick mist covering the mountains - hence the blog title. It gave Sapa a certain mystery and awe and was beautiful. We were lucky that the mist did clear a bit when we were out.

At around 9am we were able to check into our room so got a nap before heading off for a trek around Va Vieng village with Thao. Along the way we saw many of the minority groups which live in Sapa dressed in their traditional dress. We saw some Black Hmong and Red Zao. Our guide, Thao, explained that the women wear thick leggings on their legs to protect them from snake bites. Becky had a sneaking suspicion this was why and was relieved at the thick wellies she was wearing... although we saw no snakes. What we did see were absolutely HUGE spiders. Robert was not impressed. The walk was beautiful and we got to experience two extremely rickety bridges which Becky was not entirely convinced would hold. The first shook as you crossed and the second had wood which looked rotten and you could see parts where the wood had given way.... anyway we made it across safely and our guide was very amused at our reactions. The second bridge is actually also used by motorbikes.... that certainly is not a mark of safety in Vietnam but we guess it is reassuring? On the walk we saw lots of beautiful nature including little pigs and lots of buffalo and the beautiful rice terraces which Sapa is famed for. We also had some really interesting conversation with Thao who told us that on balance she is not keen on the tourism in Sapa because it is destroying the environment. Becky also commented that the culture of Sapa seems to gradually getting westernised with Vietnamese restaurants now serving cocktails and western food and it being inundated with bars and karaoke places. It does seem a great shame and although the wealth it brings to the region will mean this isn't reversed you could see what Thao meant by the environmental impacts - there were hotel blocks being built up everywhere.

Thao also discussed with us a fact we had noticed being in Vietnam which is how hard the women work. It is the same in Sapa with many of the women doing all the work and taking care of the house. We only saw men in the Bia Hoi. It really is quite bizarre. Thao also sadly told us that many of the women now do not wear their traditional hoop earrings - which all show your relationship status; married, single etc. - because when their husbands get drunk they pull them in violent attacks often. It makes you realise that anywhere in the world there are always things going on that unless someone like Thao tells you about them, and we suspect many tourist guides sugar coat everything, you never realise they are happening. Thao also told us many people in Sapa actually speak English and not Vietnamese due to their education and being taught English through tourism. The Vietnamese government now provides education for free in Sapa to ensure the local children get taught Vietnamese as well as English.

After a throughly enjoyable tour we got back to our hotel and headed for a foot massage which was so good that we booked in for another massage the day after. We got ready and then headed to dinner where we got a delicious bottle of prosecco - we have not had prosecco since we left England - and watched the spectacular traditional dance. We even had a go at the end. We both fell in love with this beautiful Vietnamese woman who was the most beautiful dancer and very unusual looking. Although Becky regrets not taking up the offer this lady gave her to dance with her. We headed to the bar after dinner for drinks and some cheese before getting an early night.

We slept in the next morning and enjoyed another great buffet breakfast by the fire. Around lunch we wondered around Sapa and then came back for our full body massage which was incredible. We were both quite surprised when we realised our masseurs had climbed on top of us.... it was really relaxing. After grabbing lunch in the bar and playing a bit of scrabble we got our car back to the train station and it was time to get the overnight train. By this point Becky was feeling quite unwell and we both slept a bit better as a result of just needing to sleep! We arrived back into Hanoi and got into bed before we both had to head out to teach in the afternoon.

Rob relaxes post massage

Thank you to Gary and Joanne for a throughly enjoyed Christmas present.

Our new favourite cocktail - Japanese Slipper

As mentioned this last week of teaching has been testing again - this time written tests and lots of marking. The testing has raised all sorts of questions for us both and it is a wake up call for us both that we are not in England anymore. As though being gone since August wasn't a bit enough sign.... To be honest sometimes (and Becky was discussing this with a former intern this week) people seem to forget we are in a developing country and the way things work will be nowhere near the same. Some in a good way and some in a bad way. Neither of us have really experienced culture shock but we can see why people do. It can be frustrating when you can see so many processes not working properly and nobody fixing them. We explained in the last blog that we were strongly advised to score students at least 5 in the speaking test as otherwise they fail and have to be held back a grade. Any teacher in the UK will feel this sounds like rigging the test scores... and obviously it is. However when we both thought about it we kind of understood... both of us mainly teach children in Primary schools - so under the age of 10 - and many of Becky's students at 5 or 6. It seems harsh to fail a child at that age and of course a low mark will demotivate them. At the same time we both feel it means they never learn from their mistakes. An unmarked test would be far better or perhaps a different form of consequence for failing. It does make you realise the huge pressure teachers and TAs are under to produce amazing results and it does result in behaviour that is out of character... like literally changing answers on papers... both of us and many teachers have witnessed this. Of course in England there has been such an outcry at testing of children so young that SATs have been scrapped until just before you head to secondary school and even then the consequence of a poor result doesn't mean you are held back a whole year. It has made many teachers feel that marking these tests, where the scores will be altered in many cases, is a pointless exercise. On the flip side Becky was just telling Rob that it has let her spend some quality time one on one with some students who complete the tests faster explaining where they did well and where they did badly. This is time we rarely get given classes can be over 60 students large. Rob feels it has been a bit of a break for us. We do the listening part of the test and then the students crack on themselves. Teaching will mostly resume as normal next week.

One of the things the tests also show is how hard our TAs work. So many of them have marked tests (hundreds and hundreds) and assisted with the oral tests. When Becky thinks through all of her TAs they all have really special qualities and do work incredibly hard. At Tran Phu Becky teachers with Yen and Nhung. Yen insisted on taking all the tests even when Becky got Livvy (who covered for her whilst in Sapa) to try and get them off Yen. She works so hard and smiles the whole way through it. Nhung was so committed to getting the tests inputted and given to BME on time that she drove out to Chu Van An on Wednesday to collect them off Becky and she is always up for having a laugh. At Thach Ban B Thao, Hieu and Nga have marked basically all of the tests. Both Nga and Thao have been unwell this term, but taken no time off, because they are committed to their students. Hieu cares so much about how the students do. Mai at Thuy Linh is an angel, she is always smiling and laughing, her English is incredible, and she is an excellent teacher. Tra at Chu Van An arrived early and wrote all the grade 1 names on their tests - no small feat given there are over 200 of them - because she knew some of them couldn't write well and it would save time. This shows her incredible work ethic. At Hoang Liet Becky works with Van who is always a ray of sunshine, smiling, happy and the kids love her. She also knows when they need to be quiet and has an awesome sense of authority. She will go above and beyond to help. At Thuy Linh Becky also works with Hang who the children adore and is always smiling and bubbly. She is an incredible lady.

Robert gets on well with all of his TAs. At Thach Ban A he works with Hiuyen, who is nice and always helpful. There is also Lien at Tay Mo who is a good laugh and the children love her. Robert also works with a Hiuyen at Tay Mo who he finds is a great support. All of his TAs have assisted him this semester and we will both miss them when we leave in a few weeks.

This week was also the week where Becky and Rob both hosted Vietnam's Got Talent: Christmas Special, in their classes. This resulted in some beautiful renditions of We Wish you a Merry Christmas. On Friday night we headed out to a jazz evening at Noble House where we saw some Christmas songs sun. It did feel a little like home.

Last night we headed out for dinner with my wonderful TA Mai and Danni. Afterwards we went for a party at Danni's house which was good fun. Anyway we hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas Day - we miss you all and send you all our love for the festive season.