As I'm finishing up my 8th week off school ... 7 of those due to Coronavirus ... 6 of them teaching online, I figure it's time for another update. I'm still physically healthy ... mental health is manageable (from the going crazy standpoint, not from a depression/anxiety standpoint). I've done a lot of random stuff during this time: 1. made pizza from scratch ... it was delicious 2. had a picnic in the park with friends ... learned to make pita bread for the occasion 3. helped a friend clean out the massive pile of charity donations in their living room ... this lady is piling a bunch of it on her bicycle ... absolute legend this woman 4. lots of cuddles with my new cat Lucky 5. learned to make croissants ... very tasty 6. helped friends complete a 1000 piece puzzle over the course of 5-ish hours. It was already partially done when we started working together on it Online teaching is going alright. We now have to do 2 live sessions with our full class per week. In addition, we have 3 office hours per class per week with smaller groups of students. So basically, I'm still teaching 25 classes/hours per week ... just in front of a computer screen. It's a challenge to get some of the students to participate in discussion and problem solving. Yesterday, I had to threaten my small group with absences if they wouldn't talk (basically "we can sit here for 40 minutes in silence but we're here to solve these problems together. If you choose to sit silently for 40 minutes, I still get paid but you get marked absent." ... they begrudgingly spoke after that. Today was much more productive conversation wise (different groups of students). I still have 2 students who have yet to show up to a single live session. One had the audacity to email me asking for a one on one meeting to "get the material he missed." . . . umm sir, I post recordings of all the lessons online afterwards. so, no, try coming to regular classes first. I had another student who asked if she could attend a different class period's session in addition to her own so she could get to hear the same material twice. I commend her dedication to understanding the material and awareness of her own struggles. Of course you can do that, just don't miss someone else's class :) My cleaning lady is I think mildly confused but not yet annoyed that I'm constantly in the apartment now. I feel bad having told her both days this week to come back later when I'm not teaching. Updates on the situation in Vietnam:
As of right now (literally just checked), there are 60 active cases in Vietnam (76 total including the 16 recovered from our initial wave of patients), 20 of those in Hanoi, no deaths in the country yet. At least 5 of those cases were within 3 km of my place. The government is currently searching for passengers of at least 8 recent flights that arrived in Vietnam. Each of these flights had someone who tested positive for the virus after arrival. Masks are now mandatory in public places. Many westerners are complaining about getting yelled out when they go out without a mask . . . not hard guys, just wear a mask. Doesn't have to be the best quality or even new, just wear one ... it makes people feel safer even if it you're reading everything the CDC and WHO said about masks and believe you don't need one. Fun fact: Recent studies suggest many cases (more than 10%) are transmitted by asymptomatic carriers or pre-symptomatic patients. Links: CNN , Science Daily ... So wear the damn mask people, the Vietnamese medical system cannot handle an abundance of patients if you happen to accidentally infect other people. Me personally, I'm not worried about getting sick myself. I'm more worried about accidentally getting someone else sick. Bars, karaoke places, and schools are shut down. Quite a few restaurants have changed to delivery only though you can definitely still go out to eat at a number of places. Vietnam is no longer issuing new visas and almost all foreigners are denied entrance into the country. We're now seeing a max exodus of foreigners back to their home countries. Many weren't getting paid at the moment anyways due to schools and language centers being closed. My flight to Bangkok later this month was finally cancelled (thank god!). I was going for the EARCOS conference (meeting of international teachers) which was cancelled almost a month ago but I couldn't get a refund if I cancelled. Decided to wait it out which now worked out in my favor.
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ShannonMath Teacher living and working in Hanoi, Vietnam Archives
February 2022
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