Nhớ Nguồn

An important lesson for today: it's one thing to bet on a horse; it's another to train the rider. Middle/high school coaches definitely don't have it easy, but least they don't have to support two schools at the same time. Another thing: I'm going to seriously reconsider supporting anymore schools with anymore of their extracurricular activities. Too much work, not enough gratitude.

I've been teaching for a good amount of time, and the students still surprise me. This is a picture of class 6/1. I told them to bring clothes in for a fashion show, and without any reminders for an entire week, the kids were prepared. The student in the middle even went through the trouble of constructing an entire robot suit! I could almost dedicate an entire post to all the funny and weird things I've seen in Vietnam. Here are a group of construction workers on lunch break outside the gym I go to. I had the chance to visit one of those restaurants where you eat in the dark here. I think I was most amazed by how long we were at the restaurant. What with the pre-dinner "game," the seating preparation, and the very slow eating, we ended up spending almost two hours here!  On a final note, I've discovered a new hobby/interest: art! I should mention one thing about these pictures: they were both drawn on my phone using my finger, not a pencil o...

“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.”  It did get me far and I was surprised. Thank you, Mr. Tyson. Tuan Nguyen (Mr.)   Senior Teacher ILA Go Vap, Ho Chi Minh City Tel:  +84 8 3985 0368  – Ext. 1666 Website:  www.ilavietnam.com

Replace "Japanese" with basically any other Asian language/ethnicity.

Paradise Falls wouldn't even hold a candle to this place.

I like reading Vice as much as the next 20-something year old male, but I often have to take a moment to breathe after finishing their articles. They write a lot about things like government corruption, illicit drugs, and the black market for underage sex slaves. That's why I was glad to find a far more lighthearted, if not still eye-opening, piece the other day.  The article that hit me was about a reporter's experience in Vietnam. Click the picture to read about the new White Man's Burden. The article hit home because I realized the reporter's experience was not solely "white," but was one experienced by Westerners in general. Those feelings aren't completely unfounded. My grandma's pastime is reminding me about Viet girls who have taken advantage of Viet guys for their money, and I suspect that at least one must be true. Still, one must be as careful with prudent foresight as one must be with indiscriminate trust. Maybe that's commo...

People ask why I prefer teaching at the public schools. Here's one way to show you why: