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Richard Yuschik writes...

...about his experiences while volunteering in the Vietnam University program.

Greetings,

This is my first newsletter from Vietnam. On 1 July I flew from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City, then on to Da Nang where I am now staying. I am teaching English to Vietnamese students (adults) at Duy Tan University (DTU), Da Nang University, and at the LG company, an international organisation with an office here in Da Nang. I am staying in a nice house in Da Nang where the volunteers stay. Two ladies have just left, one from Australia, and one from NZ (Wellington). There are now 3 of us - myself, a guy from Ireland, and a guy from the USA. We also have the Vietnamese coordinator of the program staying with us. He helps us with logistics, any questions or problems, the Vietnamese language, etc. He also works at DTU.

We have a very good Vietnamese cook who provides us with 2 very good meals a day. We get up early, make our own breakfast; cereal, bread, etc., then we are off to teaching by 7.45am. This has mainly consisted of working with the instructors in preparation for the upcoming courses; daytime university classes are not in session due to summer holidays in July. We get back by 11.00am when a really nice local meal is ready for us. Generally we are free until the evening meal is prepared for us at 5.00pm. We then go to teach English classes in the evening from 5.45pm to 7.15pm; adults who are working and want to improve their English. At times we go out with the students for a drink. In one case I went with 3 of them to a karaoke bar and had a great time. One of the students is a keen tennis player so we are playing this evening at 5.30pm.

There are very nice beaches in Vietnam, water temperature 26C. I have been to the beach at Hoi An and at My Khe. The last 2 nights we went out to play pool. It is very hot here, no air conditioning in the house. During the day it is 32-36 and in the evening about 26-28. I am gradually getting used to the heat, starting to sleep better.

Overall, it has been a great experience so far. I feel very safe here. All the local people are very friendly, often saying "hello" in English. I now say "sin jow" to them which is Vietnamese for hello. I am trying to learn a bit of Vietnamese, but its slow going. The traffic consists of mainly small motorcycles, driving on the right (most of the time). It is pretty much a 'free for all', so crossing the street is a real mission.

I'm keeping a diary of events so that I can look back and remember what I have done. I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone. It has cost me a bit of money, but I can say that the Vietnamese people are wonderful and very thankful for what I am doing. Vietnam is a very poor country. All of my students are very keen to learn English so that they can have a better life.

Regards,

Richard