A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
I have discovered a new version of Hell on Earth. Previously, I had thought that Hell on Earth would be watching an entire episode of Barney, or listening to George W. Bush field foreign policy questions. But now I realize how pitifully minor these annoyances are.

I now know that Hell on Earth is trying to teach English in a classroom with no air conditioning, no fan, no way to open the outside door, and 15 whining 10 year olds begging to leave early.

Even when I arrived at 8:00 am I knew it was going to be bad. The school is teeming with kids on Saturday morning, and nobody had any idea when the power would come back up. Electricity here is, shall we say, inconsistent. Ironically, the school is located just two blocks from the main headquarters of the power company. I'm betting those guys have backup generators in their basement.

My 4th floor classroom was about 85 degrees when we started, but we were getting a generous dose of the morning sun through the unopenable windows and glass door. By the time of the break an hour later, it was easily 95 degrees in there, all of us were visibly sweating, and unfortunately, 10 year olds do not tend to keep their feelings and complaints to themselves. We only got through about a quarter of the lesson, they had no interest in games or songs (a miracle, truly), and insult was piled on injury when my fellow sufferers and I discovered that the other half of the building had power starting about 10 minutes into the lesson. Evil, evil gloaters they were too.

By the end of the 2 hours, half the school seemed to be having class outside, which was no picnic either. Next time I know to take the class to the park (or even the parking lot) instantly when I learn the A/C isn't working. Otherwise some 10 year old might suffer irreperable harm to his or her eardrums as I scream in frustration.

© 2002 Katy Warren
posted by Katy at 7:22 PM