Sunday, April 28, 2013

New experiences



      In MVCC, the classroom atmosphere is more relaxed than that in Vietnam. In classrooms, students can wear shorts, hats and can eat something or drink coffee.  (In Vietnam, students are not allowed to eat and drink or wear shorts, hats in class. When the teacher comes into the class, all of the students will stand up to greet him or her.) In MVCC, I also have some chances to present about Vietnam, the students seem very interested and they ask many questions.


        The classrooms in MVCC are well-equipped with telephones, heaters, projectors, computers, rubbish bins and movable chairs… Students are encouraged to discuss, ask questions and have presentations in class. The students and teachers are from many parts of the world with many skin colors and various costumes. It is a good way for people to learn other countries’ cultures.





      I learned a lot from the way people display and affect everyone's awareness on the Earth Day (April 22) in IT lobby. People showed the model of water treatment and some banners to encourage everyone to save energy. 









     In the US, I have a chance to know the rules of a baseball game and experience the frozen lake and picnic with BBQ. I had wonderful time there.
 
 
 




 


 



      I also have a chance to enjoy a concert performed by the winner of American Idol with a lot of audience.

 

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Trips to Washington, DC and New York City


I had great time when visiting Washington, DC and New York City last weekend and this weekend. There was so much fun with the teachers and students in MVCC. I have known many places that I have learned in university and read in books about the US.
 
In DC, it was much warmer than Utica, so there were a lot of flowers, green grass and trees along the street, and the sight was so beautiful.

The international students and I visited many famous places in DC: Washington Monument, Lincoln Monument, Woodley Zoo/Park, National Aquarium, National Mall and Cherry Blossom Festival…
There were many people in Lincohn Monument and this is a picture of the international students and me.


Many interesting cultural activities were held during the Cherry Blossom Festival...

 
 
 
 

... and the cherry flowers were so beautiful there.

 

I saw a lot of animals in the National Zoo/Park, especially panda bears. They are so lovely.





 In New York City, I saw the Empire State Building, Grand Central, the Museum of Sex and attended 'Poetry Reading' in a cozy cafĂ©.
There were many tall buildings and a lot of people walking on the street in New York City.


This is a picture of Sara and me in a park near the Museum of Sex.

This is me with the tulips ...

... and the Empire State Bulding...


 
and in Grand Central with a student of MVCC.

These trips are one of my invaluable experiences in my visit here.

 

 

Monday, April 15, 2013

International Festival


I had a lot of fun on the International Festival Day – April 10. I came to the lobby in front of IT 225 one hour earlier with many things I brought from Vietnam and I found in Sandy’s office. Then Sandy, John (a Vietnamese student in MVCC) and I displayed these things on the table of Vietnam. We had many things about Vietnam: flag, map, money, fairy tale, handmade souvenirs, nón lá - palm-leaf conical hat, tiny boats, pictures and many different kinds of souvenirs.

A Thai student and then an American student came and sat near me. They wore nón lá and explained to visitors about the things on our table. It was so much fun. Many people said that they loved the things we displayed and asked to buy them, but we said we didn’t sell those things. Then they wanted to know where in Utica they could buy those things, especially nón lá. I was so happy to hear that and I was excited to talk about Vietnam.
 

One of the visitors, Mr. Sam – a middle aged Vietnamese student in MVCC, said that we had almost all symbols of Vietnam on our table. He also asked for taking pictures with the displaying table and me. Other visitors, including men and women, tried wearing nón lá and took photos.  They also asked about Vietnam’s capital, the location of Ho Chi Minh City, the language, the neighboring countries of Vietnam, and the leaves to make nón lá, etc… It was fun and I took a lot of pictures of them.
 

I also had a chance to go around and see other displaying tables of Japan, Spain, International Club… Aiko performed calligraphy in her Japanese table. It was very interesting. I saw many flags and pictures of people from different countries on the walls. Two other people and I were introduced as honored guests and I was asked to sing a Vietnamese song. I knew that I didn’t sing well and people must have suffered a lot from my singing J.
 

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Standing in lines: a good habit that we need to learn


 
In two weeks in the US, I have been in some embarrassing situations about forgetting to stand in lines to pay for food in the supermarkets. To be honest, I didn’t intend to break the rules or to cut ahead in lines, but I didn’t notice and didn’t recognize the line beside me. It may be because there were just two or three people there and the line was not very straight. Then the cashier politely told me to stand in lines and at that time I recognized the line and stood at the end of the line. I am a little bit ashamed to say about this embarrassment but standing in lines is a very good and civilized habit that we need to learn.

Japan is admired by many people for their discipline after the frightening disaster of earthquake and tsunami last year. We could see that at the boundary of death and life, Japanese pupils went downstairs in lines to avoid danger without pushing or elbowing the others because they knew that these acts will make the situation worse. Millions of people in Vietnam admire the Japanese so much when they knew the story from the blog of a Vietnamese Japanese policeman at the time he helped provide relief for Japanese people. He said that when he helped to give food to the victims, he saw a little Japanese girl who was very cold and hungry at the end of the thousand-people queue. He put his jacket on the little girl and gave a bag of dry provisions-his own food to her. But he was so surprised to see that the girl put the food he gave into the food box near the person who was delivering food, and then she returned to her place in the queue. It was the habit of standing in lines that made a nine-year-old child know to share her food to other hungry people and know that it would be unequal if she ate that alone.

We knew that there were a lot of deaths in Cambodia in their Water Festival in 2010. When everybody gathered on a bridge, someone said the bridge was very weak then many people tried to escape and they trampled upon each other. As a result, people didn’t die of the bridge collapse, but die from suffocation and internal injuries.

In Vietnam, we don’t have the habit of standing in lines. Generally we know the policy of ‘first come, first served’ but we stand disorderly to wait for the services, but some people also act impolitely. And if someone informs the crowd that there is a mortal danger, people may create a stampede immediately. There are some articles reminding everyone not to push each other in public but not all people aware of that.

Standing in lines expresses our respect to other people and the community. Standing in lines is a way to remove the idea of considering ourselves the center of everything. It can screen and take away our selfishness and form order and discipline.

I know it is not easy to get everyone into a new habit. Habits must be trained from the early years of life and adults must set good models for children. However, I will encourage at least my children, my students to learn this habit to make a better community.

Monday, April 1, 2013

My first blog: My first impression about people at MVCC

Seven days is not a long time, but to me, the first seven days of my visit at MVCC seems to be a very long time. It’s not because I miss my family and want to go home, but because within these seven days, I met a lot of people and experienced many new things. I think it’s normal because whenever I return from a day trip, I recall what I did, what I saw at the early morning of that day and to my mind they seem to be the memories of some days before that, not of that day.
 
There are a lot of things I have experienced, but the most impressive one that will stay in my mind forever is that teachers and students at MVCC are very friendly, helpful and considerate. I don’t know how to thank Sandy for her devotion to me. When Sandy picked me up at Syracuse Airport, she gave me a bottle of water. She said she thought I was thirsty. I never thought of that. That was just a small act, but I was really moved by her thoughtfulness. Before going to the airport, Sandy had turned on the air conditioner and put a lot of food in the fridge in my dormitory room. Then the day after, she walked me around the school, introduced me to many people, and always asked me about my health, my jet lag, my food, my warm clothes, my electric adapter etc. … In the first few days, I’m like a baby bird in her arms or I’m just like her little granddaughter.

And everybody here is so friendly. It’s not like the stereotype I heard about New York people – unfriendly, they just walk and walk. But Sandy says people in Utica are not like those in New York! It seems everybody here knows my about visit and when they meet someone strange, they think it is me. Some days ago when I got out of the elevator, Leslie saw me and she said hello and she asked if I was Oanh. I didn’t know her at that time. Then she introduced herself and told me about my visit to her class on Friday and about my presentation on Monday. And the students in the dorm are also lovely. Last Tuesday when I got back to the dorm door, there were some students at the door too. I was looking for the card in my bag to get in, and a male student next to me used his card to help me make the door open. At that time I was embarrassed and didn’t know if I could come in with his card. I continued looking for my card and then a female student opened the door and smiled at me. I knew and I said thank you a lot to them.

Also, I have learned about a lot of new and helpful things like inter-library loan, Spanish food, American lunch of sandwich and soup, cheesecake of New York style, American working time without a nap at noon, blogs, pet hair cutting, Easter Day, and especially the extremely cold weather with a lot of snow.