The Grand Tour

Oh good lord, what have I done?

So it finally hit me today. Not the "oh-my-god-we're-in-Vietnam-do-you-know-what-this-means" breakdown I had as our plane was landing in Hanoi, but more the "what-have-I-done-to-my-poor-husband-and-his-students" kind of guilt that came over me as I watched Toli give his first lecture at the university today. I mean, this whole thing was my idea. I got the announcement about the open positions, I convinced him to apply, I bought the plane tickets...but the truth of it all is that the real cost and burden of this whole thing lies upon Toli and his students. I can't help but feel that if this experience goes down the tubes, I, the initiator, will suffer the least bit of damage while Toli and his students will have to suffer the price. It's a really sobering thought.

I have a lot of reason to believe that Toli's short tenure here will be a success - he's a great computer scientist and a wonderful teacher. And the students are all very intelligent, talented, and motivated. But there are a lot of obstacles to overcome, least of all the language and cultural barrier. We joked before coming here that all the students would start speaking in Greek accents after hearing him lecture, but it wasn't that funny once I saw them struggling to understand Toli as he discussed the differences between parallel and distributed operating systems. The concepts are difficult enough without the additional task of having to understand a fast-talking Greek guy. But Toli can't baby them either, though, because if they expect to get through a Master's program in Houston, they will have to adapt to hearing all sorts of accents from professors who won't care what country they've come from. I guess I'm just feeling all fretful and maternal about the students.

Putting that aside though, I am really impressed with Toli's ability to adapt to Hanoi. He seems to be experiencing a lot less culture shock than I had expected, and possibly less than I am currently having! He's gotten the hang of crossing the street, he can get around the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake with barely a glance at the map, and he's mastered enough key Vietnamese words and phrases (coupled with his pidgin French) to win a few smiles from the residents here.

As for me, I'm keeping busy today by helping Toli's students with some personal statements they are writing to complete their financial aid applications for the Houston program. It's interesting, because I often help Fay (Toli's sister) with her essays in her grad school classes, and the linguistic/grammar mistakes between Greek versus Vietnamese native speakers are vastly different. It makes me appreciate all their effort in learning English, because I can't imagine having to write that kind of composition in Vietnamese or German.

I've also managed to get over my terror of going out on my own (as Toli has been working most of the time) and gotten to know the city and its residents a little better. Remember that dwarf I met in the Internet cafe? His name is Phu, and he managed to charm me into writing an English note to the Little People of America group, of which he is a member. I'm surprised he even needed to ask me though, as he runs this little tea shop in the Old Quarter down by a local hostel and is a big hit with the backpackers there. And tomorrow, Toli and I are invited to attend the wedding of a pretty good friend of mine. She's this laughing girl I met through my dad back in 1996 - it's a little jarring that she's already getting married, but I'll be really glad to have the opportunity to see what a wedding is like here in Vietnam. So I hope to have something good to talk about in my next entry!

Posted by Christine at March 5, 2004 06:42 AM