Posts Tagged ‘VIS’

As we wrapped up our first week back at school, I was feeling neglectful of The Guide Hog but too busy to do anything blog-worthy. And then Mother Nature handed me a story. Rain pounded Vientiane overnight, but that’s nothing new in this wet season. As we headed out the door for school this morning [...]

Pii Mai (Lao New Year) is next week, and Vientiane is getting ready. Today our school held an assembly to mark the occasion. I had noticed Hawaiian luau-style shirts for sale all over town lately, and I just figured they were hot with the tourists. Fortunately, my Lao colleagues set me straight: Flowers play a [...]

Saturday night, we celebrated Christmas with our Vientiane International School friends at The Jukebox, an open-air pub owned by an American teacher and his Lao wife. I served on the organizing committee, but I didn’t do much (other than work with another teacher to compile a music playlist). Everything was fabulous! Lovely decorations, delicious food, [...]

As a teacher of English to kids who don’t speak English, I spend much of my time waving around flashcards, overenunciating vocabulary words, leading youngsters through silly songs with repetitive lyrics and actions, and contorting my face and body in ways that help communicate the mysterious language. I can’t say the word “book” without automatically [...]

When the lunch bell rings at school, Tony and I usually eat leftovers from the previous night’s dinner or we purchase meals from our canteen, which is operated by a local restaurant owner. Recently, the VIS receptionist, Paramy, started providing lunches prepared by her husband and delivered to school – at a third of the [...]

On this day at schools around the world, children dressed in costumes and celebrated Halloween. Last year, our whole ESOL department at Shanghai American School dressed as pirates. Here we are in all our swashbuckling glory: This year, at my new school, I was the lone pirate. In fact, I was the only person – [...]

At a school where … • one second-grade class comprises 12 nationalities, • many kids speak a different language with Dad than they do with Mom, • the elementary teaching staff represents 5 continents, • even the native English speakers get confused by each other’s accents, and • an impromptu lesson about an insect in [...]

Today I had to borrow money from a friend to pay back another friend. How embarrassing is that? It’s not about spending too much and living paycheck to paycheck. It’s about a ridiculous banking system. Our school deposits our salaries in the Laos Public Bank, which is open from 9 to 3 Monday to Friday. [...]

Last week, I accompanied 20 fifth graders on their study trip to Vang Vieng, Laos, about 4 hours north of Vientiane. The classroom teacher, Paula, worked with an organization called Green Discovery to plan a fantastic trip that built on the theme of environmental consciousness. The students were totally keen to discuss the impact of [...]

Highlight of my week so far: I was on supervision duty in the open-air cafeteria, and I noticed quite a ruckus at the first-grade table. Several little boys were standing up and howling with laughter. When they saw me approach, they all sat down quickly and resumed eating their lunches. “What’s going on here?” I [...]