Nhớ Nguồn

“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” Malcolm S. Forbes Tonight, I've either upheld my Eagle Scout rank with honor, or made the biggest mistake in my English teaching career. 

Some of the teachers, myself included, have asked our students, "If you could have superpowers, what would you want?" Of course I'd love to be able to teleport and control the very fabric of space and time, but there are other, more practical powers that I'd also like to have. One such power I'd love to have is the intellectual capacity to absorb and comprehend all that is around me. I'm talking about Sherlockian powers of deduction, where I could notice every little thing about a person and accurately guess everything about them. That would really come in handy right about now. I can't believe that even after a year, I'm still experiencing jarring culture shocks. This one's got to be the most upsetting, too, mostly because it involves family. The ball's in my court now, though, and what happens next could really define my eventual departure from Vietnam. Walking on eggshells now...

There was a time when I questioned the impact of teaching English. This was when many of my friends had worked or currently were working for NGOs and other small development organizations around the world. In a bit of snobbery, I didn't think teaching English could be that meaningful, and although I was partly right, I've recently realized that the work my friends did probably wasn't any more meaningful. I don't mean to say that they didn't make positive changes for the world, or that the people they helped were insignificant. I mean to say that the work they did probably had little impact on the macro-level problems that those people were victims of. I'm talking about rampant poverty, institutionalized corruption, wide-spread hunger, and a whole slew of other issues. I applaud their good intentions, but good intentions alone never solved the world's problems. If you want to read more about my rant, I suggest this article . I know now that the Englis...

It's an odd moment when you realize you've gleaned profound wisdom from a man who makes sushi. Regardless, I've come to accept these word. Four years, now, I've been away from home, and there will be many more years until I return. I know that my family loves me, and I know that if I was so inclined, my return would be as welcome as the father who receives his prodigal son. But I know that this is not my fate. I have chosen, and I will do everything that I can to walk my path and achieve that which I set out to do. The true sadness is that is that I am alone in these pursuits. It isn't enough to simply sacrifice oneself to achieve great things. Sometimes, other sacrifices must be made. Another wise person once wrote to me, “I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it.” I'm still traveling.

Before I write one of my usual updates, I'd like to share the work of my students. I'm currently teaching a group 4th to 7th graders who have now reached a fairly high level of competency in English. By way of exhibiting their work, I've started a blog for them so that others can see the kind of progress their making. So far, they've researched important people in history and have written short biographies for them. Later this week, I will put up their recent project to design and describe their own fantasy character. If you, my faithful readers, have got the time, I know it would mean a lot to them if you took a look at what they've done and left some words of encouragement for them in their respective comments sections. Follow the picture to find access the blog. As for me, a recent effort gone south has made me reevaluate my plans for the rest of this year. I think that I want to get back in shape by training for another marathon and getting my gills by ge...