Day Two - First day at HUBT
We started the day out early as we were to be picked up by the university driver at 7.30am. Breakfast at the hotel was hmmm… basic. I had a banana and some fried rice that was cold. What looked like orange juice turned out to be diluted mango juice! But that didn’t dampen my mood as I was looking forward to meeting the people at the university. I wondered where in the world the university was or if it even existed as we couldn't find it on the map.
The driver came to pick us up some 15 minutes late, but we reached the Hanoi University of Business & Technology (HUBT) in less than 10 minutes. The morning air was much cooler than the humid warm air we had the previous day and I wished it could stay that way for the rest of the day, considering I was in my black jacket suit!
The directors and lecturers at HUBT were highly hospitable. They asked lots of questions about Singapore and brought us on a little tour around their campus. The university, a private one, is 10 years old this year and is mostly attended by the richer kids of Vietnam, which poses a problem to the teachers as they seem less motivated to study. But I could see some students earnestly studying at the little library while others were surfing the internet. For a campus that served 10000 students, the facilities were more sparse than the computers our labs in schools in Singapore are equipped with. They appreciated the few flat screens they had donated by their collaborating university in Taiwan. I didn't dare say our secondary school kids are already using all of these back in Singapore.
They gave us a half day off so my team mates and I decided to head down the lake to do a little toursity stuff. The Ho Hoan Kiem Lake is apparently well-known and loved by locals and tourists and having been there, I can understand why. It's amazingly serene, even in the heat of the afternoon sun.
Crossing the road was a challenge and really, we nearly got hit by a pickup that was just trying to be funny. The motorbikes and cars were generally less fierce.
I got some laquered plates and got my Huggy Bear a free straw hat at one of shops near the lake.
I guess I would have enjoyed shopping more if not for the fact that it was scorching hot in the afternoon and I was drenched in sweat. We dropped by a quaint cafe place and I had a nice iced lemon tea. Tired, we decided to head back to the hotel before heading back to Ma May Road to meet the team from HUT (Hanoi University of Technology) for dinner at this restaurant called 69!
I had deep-fried Vietnamese spring rolls and jasmine tea with ginger, lemon and honey. Yummy.. And it cost me only 40000 dong (around $4.70).
We passed the Hilton Opera Hanoi Hotel just before we headed back to our hotel and hearing that it offered free WIFI at the lobby, I decided to try my luck. Lo and behold! I am so glad I found this place. I swore for the next 12 days that I'm here, this will be my daily routine - to plonk myself at the nice cushy sofas, enjoy the cool air con and new age music in the background and tap on the free WIFI! So, after dinner, one of my team mates and I decided to walk back to the Hilton and here we are - blogging!
Tomorrow, I start teaching a class of some 20 odd students in their first year at the uni. According to their English teacher, they have only a basic grasp of the language. I think it'd be a challenge to think of a lesson to suit their level, and considering they are studying to be business graduates, i had to think of something relevant for them. After this, I'm heading back to my hotel to prepare for tomorrow's lesson. I hope they'll enjoy it!
I miss home less now that I've got WIFI - I've msned my brother, emailed my friends and have begun to blog so my friends back home know what's happening... But nothing beats being able to talk to them!
Til I update this blog again - you guys at home - I miss you and see you soon! :)
The driver came to pick us up some 15 minutes late, but we reached the Hanoi University of Business & Technology (HUBT) in less than 10 minutes. The morning air was much cooler than the humid warm air we had the previous day and I wished it could stay that way for the rest of the day, considering I was in my black jacket suit!
The directors and lecturers at HUBT were highly hospitable. They asked lots of questions about Singapore and brought us on a little tour around their campus. The university, a private one, is 10 years old this year and is mostly attended by the richer kids of Vietnam, which poses a problem to the teachers as they seem less motivated to study. But I could see some students earnestly studying at the little library while others were surfing the internet. For a campus that served 10000 students, the facilities were more sparse than the computers our labs in schools in Singapore are equipped with. They appreciated the few flat screens they had donated by their collaborating university in Taiwan. I didn't dare say our secondary school kids are already using all of these back in Singapore.
They gave us a half day off so my team mates and I decided to head down the lake to do a little toursity stuff. The Ho Hoan Kiem Lake is apparently well-known and loved by locals and tourists and having been there, I can understand why. It's amazingly serene, even in the heat of the afternoon sun.
Crossing the road was a challenge and really, we nearly got hit by a pickup that was just trying to be funny. The motorbikes and cars were generally less fierce.
I got some laquered plates and got my Huggy Bear a free straw hat at one of shops near the lake.
I guess I would have enjoyed shopping more if not for the fact that it was scorching hot in the afternoon and I was drenched in sweat. We dropped by a quaint cafe place and I had a nice iced lemon tea. Tired, we decided to head back to the hotel before heading back to Ma May Road to meet the team from HUT (Hanoi University of Technology) for dinner at this restaurant called 69!
I had deep-fried Vietnamese spring rolls and jasmine tea with ginger, lemon and honey. Yummy.. And it cost me only 40000 dong (around $4.70).
We passed the Hilton Opera Hanoi Hotel just before we headed back to our hotel and hearing that it offered free WIFI at the lobby, I decided to try my luck. Lo and behold! I am so glad I found this place. I swore for the next 12 days that I'm here, this will be my daily routine - to plonk myself at the nice cushy sofas, enjoy the cool air con and new age music in the background and tap on the free WIFI! So, after dinner, one of my team mates and I decided to walk back to the Hilton and here we are - blogging!
Tomorrow, I start teaching a class of some 20 odd students in their first year at the uni. According to their English teacher, they have only a basic grasp of the language. I think it'd be a challenge to think of a lesson to suit their level, and considering they are studying to be business graduates, i had to think of something relevant for them. After this, I'm heading back to my hotel to prepare for tomorrow's lesson. I hope they'll enjoy it!
I miss home less now that I've got WIFI - I've msned my brother, emailed my friends and have begun to blog so my friends back home know what's happening... But nothing beats being able to talk to them!
Til I update this blog again - you guys at home - I miss you and see you soon! :)
posted by deb at 11:05 PM
1 Comments:
Good to hear from you, star! Do keep us posted, ya...
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