Mother's Day in Vietnam for Teachers! Part I

In Vietnam they have selected one day in November called TEACHER DAY. The purpose of this day is to honor all people who are teachers. Wow...the US needs to establish this holiday. It is GREAT and the first time I have ever really been "appreciated" by the masses for being a teacher. I heard about teacher day for several weeks beforehand, but now that it is over, I finally think I understand what it is and what it means. My analogy is that it is similar to Mother's Day. You honor, respect and give gifts to your teachers....just as you would your mother! Nice--especially if you are a teacher.

Both Phil and I wondered what the heck was going on when we returned from our trip to Laos and Cambodia. It was the first week of November and the students were buzzing (translated means yelling, screaming, dancing and singing) ALL DAY LONG! It started at 6am and didn't stop until 11pm. The student complex where we are living has a large courtyard area right outside our door. Students gather here to talk, play volleyball, badminton and kick soccer balls. They also gather here to practice singing, dancing, waving fans and other Vietnamese cultural items such as hats, sticks and other things I don't recognize....all to VERY LOUD music. it wouldn't be too bad if it didn't go on all day and if they didn't play or sing the same song over and over and over again. We both wore ear plugs when our brains just couldn't tune out the noise.

Not only was this type of activity going on....but the students were also working very, very hard on a variety of posters. They would drag electric cords out from their rooms after dinner and work on these posters until 10:30pm when the "lock down" occurs and they are locked in their dorm rooms. And of course while they were working, they were also talking very loud, singing to each other and playing their favorite radio station on boom boxes. Needless to say, it went on and on for several weeks....to be exact until Nov. 20th!

I kept asking people what was going on...and everyone said TEACHER WEEK! Since the university where I am staying is a "teaching university" this week is extremely important. But beyond that, I couldn't get anyone to really sit down and tell me blow by blow what would happen. So Phil and I just went with the flow and watched and unfortunately listened as the day .... and for our campus...the week, drew closer!

The Sunday of "teacher week" I get up early...and depart for Tai Chi and then visit the local market to buy fruit. As I return home and get closer to the complex I hear drums. Someone is beating on a huge drum...and the loud speakers are BLASTING music. The time is 6:15am and it is a Sunday morning. I put my hands over my ears and walk to our room. Phil is inside with his ear plugs back in and scowling....it isn't pretty! Well, it turns out that this is the day that the residents living on campus play games and display the posters they have been working on. At 8am things really begin to crank up. A badminton competition begins......the posters are hung.....and a huge tug of war contest among the dorms begins. The pictures below are several that we took that morning. It lasted until 11am....when things quieted down and we could actually talk to each other again.

Below: Photos of 6am at the complex and a "tug-of-war" competition around 8am!




These are pictures of several of the posters the students had been working on. They really were beautiful! All the stars were handmade! The painting was awesome. I don't know what they posters said or were supposed to represent, but they really were beautiful.








Phil and I wandered around. This is a picture of "Mr. Field" standing behind the students laughing. The students were trying to compete in a bike riding event and were not doing very well.




By noon the student complex games and competitions were all over. We thought maybe this meant that "teacher day" was over too. We were very wrong. Stay tuned for part II!