Singing performance

On the 15th anniversary of our university, we took part in a performance. About 15 or so were chosen to sing on the stage. And I was one of them, as a representative of the management board of the department and a union representative and a singing loving person, I was eager to take part in the group. Some people said our singing were really nice: nice lyrics and nice dresses. Some complained that it was nothing special... But in my opinion the group were very happy whatever other people said. We did it for the whole department and we did it to make our department more engaged into the whole university's social events and we did it to get to know more about other colleagues. After the performance I got some encouragement. One mission finished and other missions are waiting ahead: end-of semester tests.

Sunday in Tay Ho

Our department had a buffet party in SEN TAY HO, in the north of Hanoi, while I live in the south. Quite a long distance. But it did not matter because today was Sunday and always worth seeing and chatting with friends.

The sun shone brightly in the early morning and the temperature was not too high because it is between autumn and winter weathers. I chose to wear comfortable clothes and at 10 pm the journey started.

On the way, I recalled some memories. Here was Quoc Tu Giam, where I went with my friend long time ago, also on a nice day. There was the West Lake, where we went sailing once. And on the left Happy House restaurant, where we had lunch. Here was the flower market, where we bought tulips and other flowers.... And then I saw SEN restaurant in the Water Park, my destination. The park was empty and quiet. So much different in summer. I stayed in the restaurant until 1.30. Then time to rush to my private class in my mum's place.

It may take me a long time to get back there. But I will come back.

Teachers' Day

A happy day comes to all teachers in Vietnam. My living room is full of flowers. It looks nice. This is one of the flowers I was given.

What did I do today?

Well, still teaching in the morning. My university never has a day off on Teachers' Day. And this morning I taught a class with lazy students. They have been studying for so long but most of them can communicate in English. As a teacher I feel really disappointed. They do not have a good foundation, and now teaching them ESP for third year students is really useless. But no choice. I feel relieved today because I will not teach them anymore. In the next three weeks, they do tests. They are the worst class I have ever met so far.

As soon as I got home from school I skyped with my long-distance friend. It lasted more than one hour. Really nice.

I went t my son's room and teased him by lying down next to him in his own bed and saying that i wanted to nap here. He said "No, mum. You should move to your own bed. If you are here I won't be able to sleep." He started to sleeping in his own room on 15 Nov. I moved to my bed and intended to have a nap but when I started to read the novel by a Chinese female author (I bought a long time ago) I found it interesting and as a result I forgot to sleep. :-) It is about a young woman aged 30 who experiences an unhappy first marriage and her life after her divorce. I finished 2 chapters out of 16 or so.

3.30 pm I called Mai, my close colleague and asked her when the buffet for teachers took place at university and arranged to meet each other there. 3.45 I left home. Near the gate of my main campus I had a little accident, my motorbike fell down when turning into the small lane because of some sand and gravels on the surface of the road. Some scratches on the bike. No problem with the body :-)

5 pm I was in the hall with a lot of teachers and staff listening to the principal's speech and then we had a buffet in the canteen. Good food and good chat with colleagues. After that I went back home.

And now listening to my favorite English songs and uploading my blog. A busy but pleasant day.

Teachers' Day in the air

Five days to go does Vietnamese Teachers' Day come so the atmosphere is felt now. Teachers receive greetings, flowers and gifts from students as their gratitude to teachers, who bring them a new horizon of knowledge. These days the classes are more relaxing and comfortable. Our staff room is full of flowers. All of us look happy. And when you travel in the streets, it is easy to recognize teachers among the crowd: people with flowers.

With other vices in our department, this morning I went to the main campus to meet the board of our university. We ordered a very beautiful bouquet of daffodils to present the principal. While waiting for late comers on the ground floor, I asked Mai, my colleague, to take this photo for me to mark Teachers' Week 2011.

11.11.11

Today is a special day. I heard on the TV that a lot of couples in India chose to get married on 11 November 2011. For me 11 11 11 is really nice for not only 6 ones but also an anniversary in my life. 3 years ago I met a special person in Highlands cafe, Vincom for the first time. Now he is in another country, far far away. We still keep in touch via the internet and we agree to celebrate 11 November by going back to the cafe just for recalling the first time...

One of the square tables must be where we sat: a tall man in yellow shirt and a short woman in a brown sweater with two white hearts on the front... Memory is memory.

Part of the poster

As I said in my previous entry, my son is responsible for decorating the poster for his class to celebrate Teachers' Day. This is part of my son's poster. I decide to use it for my blog. Nice, isn't it? In Vietnam, teachers are regarded as boat rowers who carry pupils to new places, new horizons by knowledge at school. Pupils are always grateful to them.

Poster for Teachers' Day

My son has to decorate his class's poster to celebrate Vietnamese Teachers' Day. He is working hard on that and feels very excited. As a mother, I give him encouragement and support him 100% by turning on the lights, putting the dinning table in the living room so that he has got enough surface for his A0 paper, preparing some snack, and giving good comments sometimes. His work reminds me of long time ago when I was at his age. I had to organize the same thing. As the monitor, I had to ask my classmates with good handwriting to write poems and songs in the poster and one classmate to draw pictures to decorate it. Time consuming but very fun.

New TV cabinet

Finally we have a new TV cabinet as I always wanted. Yesterday I went to the furniture shop where we bought some pieces of furniture and this afternoon it was delivered and assembled. We considered to buy it long time ago but after I saw one in Bangkok I decided to change the old cabinet (I bought it when I moved into the flat).