L'shanah tova to all!

A second Jewish new year comes and goes with me unable to celebrate in a traditional and comforting manner. My first Rosh Hashanah away from Jews and the familiarity of High Holiday services, I was in Senegal and luckily was invited to a holiday party at one of the members of the American Foreign Service' house. This year in Vietnam, I am not so blessed to find a fellow Jew within a 100-mile radius of me (a 500-mile radius? I would be curious to know where the nearest one is!), so I am on my own.

I feel guilty that my Jewish faith gets put on a back burner when I am living in countries that are so overwhelmingly NOT Jewish. Regardless, I am sitting and meditating on what I want for this new year, and I think that I am in a very special place (geographically, spiritually, psychologically, etc) to prepare for the year ahead of me.

In general, Rosh Hashanah is a day for meditating on the kind of person we want to be in the upcoming year, and how we can improve ourselves since last year. I think that being here in Vietnam, being given this enormously generous and powerful opportunity from the Fulbright Commission, I have a unique chance to truly work on building myself into the human being that I want to be, and then bringing that person home with me to the United States a year from now.

So what do I want for the new year?

Adventure. Lots of adventure, and lots of discovery. I want to connect with new people, connect with myself, and make an impact on my students' lives and futures. I want to discover the collective spirit of Vietnam and feel embraced by the culture. I want to be kind to those who frustrate me, and keep my temper during situations that are less than ideal. I want to embrace the peculiarities of this country with an open heart and an accepting mind. I want to be kinder and more patient, both with others, and with myself. I want to avoid jealousy, spite, competition, and bitterness, and I want to cultivate generosity. I want to care about what matters, and let go of the things that don't. I want to invest my time and energy into wise decisions, and leave naivety, boredom, irresponsibility, and selfishness in my past.




With all of that said, I think that this new year is off to a wonderful start. I am finally feeling comfortable in my role as a teacher. Lesson-planning is becoming easier and more like second nature, and the idea of standing up in front of the classroom and leading a group of 40 students for 3 hours no longer terrifies me. I am actually truly loving what I'm doing, and feeling like I am beginning to see improvement in my students' English, and their confidence in general. Students are FINALLY beginning to volunteer to speak up in class (I have not really enjoyed calling on people and putting them on the spot up till now), and I can tell that they enjoy and benefit from the class activities that I plan. They are becoming more comfortable with me and my quirky American teaching methods, and I am beginning to find my niche in the University in terms of where I am most useful and most needed. I am also beginning to adjust to the teaching schedule and the demands that the schedule entails. I am no longer an exhausted mess after a week of teaching, and I feel like my body is starting to anticipate that Tuesday and Wednesday are difficult, long, jam-packed days, but doable, nonetheless.

My Vietnamese is coming along nicely, too, which is incredibly reassuring. Just one month ago, I was leaving Hanoi in complete frustration and fear that I would never learn enough Vietnamese to get by. But hey, I'm getting by. I can talk about foods that I like, where I live and how long I have lived there, how I feel about the weather, places in Vietnam that I find beautiful, and even a few hobbies of mine. No, I can't discuss philosophy or politics (nor would I want to), but when I sit down in a restaurant, I can make small-talk with the waitresses who are presumably wondering who-the-hell I am and why-the-hell I am in their restaurant.

And the best part of all of this? It is only month 2!!! Sure, I will eventually plateau, perhaps around month 4, so I don't expect for this whole year-long experience to be one where I am constantly having new revelations and discoveries and major improvements, but for the next few months, I anticipate that my growth will be rapid, and I am excited for this growth.

Tomorrow morning around 6, MJ should arrive in Vinh, and I am actually excited to wake up early, hop on the bus, and greet her at the train station in order to escort her back to Ha Tinh. Then a weekend of exploring, adventuring, gossiping, eating, relaxing, and laughing with her and Sasha is in store, and I am so excited.

Typhoon Nesat, you will not get in the way of us having fun, and you will not ruin Vietnam for me. I am feeling optimistic, confident, and excited for the next few weeks, and for the year ahead.

Happy New Year to all who are celebrating, and may you all be inscribed in the Book of Life.