-^-for posterity-^-

with jack gone the students really have reached out to me. they continually visit and tell me not to be lonely. they are so very concerned. it’s like i’m sick and they’re my mother.

we sat by the lake talking. three male students and me enjoying the warm night air. the first student has a frog’s face and is always smiling. his english is wonderful and he comes up with the most wonderful ideas: original and thoroughly creative. the second student has wide eyes and high eyebrows. he always looks inquisitive and is from the north. he’s very homesick and we talk together about the difficulties of being so far away from home. the third student is built like a broom handle. his hair peaks on the top of his head like a mountain summit and his english is slow and drawn out. i listen patiently as he explains the ins and outs of vietnamese dating life. he always seems to be pursuing someone.

the lake is a hole in the ground surrounded by four sloping concrete sides. it rests directly beside the river and the water is stagnant at the same height. it is a perfect habitat for mosquitoes. for a moment you wonder if it wasn’t constructed for their very survival.

we talk about traveling and visiting other countries. we talk about stereotypes and fear. i told them about how many people were truly concerned that i would be unsafe over here and how drastically far from the truth it really is. i feel more safe here than i do in my mennonite, suburban enclave. the students were shocked that people feared my coming here. the student who is built like a beanpole said, very emotionally, that, “you should go home and tell them all how nice it is here. we don’t mean anyone harm.”

i told them everywhere that i had been in the world. they sat in their chairs riveted as i described country after country. i told them about the tin roofs of st. thomas in the virgin islands. i told them about the sheep roaming around on the emerald green hills of northern Ireland. i told them about the winding streets of Seville and the baby blue alleyways of morocco. they wanted to see everything i had seen. they had as much of a thirst for adventure as i do. they would have trekked all over this globe if they would have had the same opportunity. i’ve been so very lucky.

“why don’t more people travel?”, they wondered. “if they have the money and the chance, why don’t they go?” well, i couldn’t really give a good answer. i couldn’t stop reflecting on how lucky i was to be here. how many other places in the world are there where people feel that you’re qualified to teach based on your mastery of your mother tongue. how lucky we are all and how few of us take advantage of it all. we know so little about this vast world and we have our whole lives to roam around wide-eyed. what are we afraid of?

they all wanted me to tell you that vietnam is a wonderful country and i couldn’t agree with them more. they wanted me to tell you that it’s safe over here. they wanted me to tell you that people in vietnam are generous and friendly. they just wished that they had the money. if they had the chance they wouldn’t hesitate for two seconds.