5/21 Entry: Meeting Vietnamese Interpreters by Dave Whitaker

Today was our first full day in Vietnam. We roused surprisingly early from our slumbers with but minimal trauma from the rigors of our journey. As the light of morning glinted off the polished stone tile of the Hung Vuong Inn, a gentle harbinger of the searing heat to ensue, we savored our first meal in over 36 hours outside of “coach class”.

A walking tour of town soon followed and we were oriented with the traffic….patterns?…internet cafes and ATMs as the temperature incrementally rose. On the last stop of our stroll we straddled bicycles that will be our main mode of transportation during our stay and eased, uneasily into the rushing currents of Hue’s traffic. We pedaled through town deftly evading buses, motorbikes, and attrition…this is not the group member who has showered the least since our departure…. they too however, were avoided in a most tactful manner…and I thank them for it…ah…attrition due to heatstroke.

It served us well to learn early the lesson of adequate hydration. Meanwhile, recuperating back at the hotel we struggled with the pronunciations of the names the ten English language university students that we will be teamed with during our stay. We will be meeting on the roof at 2:00 pm. Nhi had gone over our lists with us, patiently creating the sounds we strove to replicate. It is, I suppose, good practice for us as teachers of sounds to first, be learners.

The energy and excitement of our first encounter was channeled into “ice-breaking” games. A sheet was held up between the two crouching groups with one person from each group directly in front of it. When the sheet was dropped the first of the two facing each other to say the others name claimed that person to their camp. During introductions when this game was explained it was evident that they had lists of our names as well and everyone frantically crammed to match the faces with the names on the pages. The volume of facial expressions and laughter that this game produced was priceless.

We talked for a while after the games and their enthusiasm was infectious. Their role in the work that we will do with the school children increases our effectiveness exponentially. In Vietnam it is common to refer to others in terms of family, as in “Uncle Ho” for Ho Chi Minh and these students easily deserving the mantle of older sisters and big brother of the children we will be working with. I am honored to be able to offer them assistance.