A meeting, pho, and some facts
02/05/2009
It is another beautiful day in Nha Trang, with lovely blue skies, brilliant sunshine, cooling breezes, and the sounds of students in the air. I wish I could share this beautiful weather with my friends back in the midwest! In the late afternoon when I go for a walk, it seems like everyone is out--walking, jogging, and most of all, playing soccer, volleyball, and basketball. This beach is just a short distance from campus, and makes a wonderful "playground" for students with extra energy to spare.
This morning I had a formal meeting with the University’s Vice President and the Librarian. With Ms. H. serving as a gracious interpreter, I was welcomed and we discussed the benefit of exchange programs and the hope that this is just the beginning of cooperation between our two universities. The University here is very open to a two-way exchange of faculty and students. Their students would have the opportunity to study in an English-speaking environment and could experience the American system of higher education, and it would be an excellent cultural opportunity for American students who came here. One challenge, of course, is that students here are very poor and would need to have sponsorship to help cover the costs. I learned today, for example, that the Vietnamese government set the university tuition at only $100 per year so the students who are admitted to the university can afford to attend.
During our meeting, the Vice President gave me a lovely leather keychain and business card case with the university emblem, and I gave the librarian a packet of postcards depicting American libraries. He was quite taken with the picture of the Indiana University Library, which he thought was very beautiful. He and I will meet next Tuesday morning with an interpreter, and I’m looking forward to learning more about how they do things here.
I learned a few other interestiing items today. I know that many of you back in the U.S. are tightening your belts because of the economy. At this university, it is a way of life. Everyone makes a conscious effort to conserve water, electricity, use of the telephone, among other things. If you are not using the lights, you turn them off, and the same is true for your computer. There is set number of phone calls your office may make, and if you exceed it, you pay for the calls. As I understand, people are willing to make these sacrifices because the savings are used to improve the university and to provide supplemental pay to faculty who are doing the additional work of curriculum development, teaching overloads, and other extra things to make the educational reform possible. I also learned that until this year (2009), Vietnam did not have a personal income tax system, but starting January 1, they have one much like our own. The money it generates is to be used for the public good (I'm assuming things like infrastructure, education, poor relief, etc.).
As the nurse at the I.U. Travel Clinic told me, most people who travel to this part of the world experience some digestive problems and while I was pretty lucky for my first month here, my turn has come. Thankfully, I was able to take it easy yesterday, and this evening when I went to a nearby restaurant for some pho I found that it tasted delicious. (It reminds me of chicken noodle soup, only made with rice noodles). The woman who runs the shop does not speak English, and so I simply said "Pho." Then, of course, she wanted to know what kind of meat I wanted in it, and I was lost. Those of you who know me well know that I am not very discriminating when it comes to meat. You can serve me a great pork roast (like my sister-in-law did for Christmas) and I think it's turkey. Tonight I thought I pointed to pieces of chicken, but by the shape of the bones in my bowl, I think it was pork. Whatever! It was delicious, nutritious, and settled well in my stomach.
I expect to be well-nourished this weekend since I have dinner invitations for both Friday and Saturday evenings. On Monday afternoon I meet my first class. Wish me luck! The woman I'm team teaching "Reading 6" with will be gone this first week, so it should be interesting!
