-^-for posterity-^-

geoffrey chaucer wrote the canterbury tales in 1387. well, some people say it was earlier and some people say it was later. no one’s really sure. they do know that it was one of the first examples of an oral tradition morphing into a literary one. he was (is) an important person.

today i taught about chaucer for four hours. the canterbury tales are a series of stories told by pilgrims on their way to the cathedral in canterbury. there are thirty pilgrims and most tell a tale. we are focusing on the tale of the pardoner. his tale is about three young men who are trying to find death. instead, they find gold. they end up killing each other.

i taught about medieval stuff. today i explained why something written over 600 years ago was important for vietnamese students to understand. i don’t know if i even convinced myself.

i was met with blank stares; sometimes a furrowed brow.

it’s quite difficult to explain the importance of the catholic church in the fourteenth century to these students. there’s a large, catholic church in town but it is grey and ominous. at night there’s a cross that lights up on its steeple. it can plainly be seen from miles around. i can easily see it from the roof of my building. it lights up pink. it’s a pink cross that shines as a beacon. neon pink.

explaining what indulgences are is also quite a task. explaining what knights, friars, monks and squires are requires a good deal of forethought.

my teaching was a whirlwind of hand gestures, emotional exclamations and large dusts of chalk dust. the board was fully covered with dates and names a number of times. how much of it was absorbed is yet to be truly known.

we’ve covered chaucer and move on to shakespeare. i think i’m learning more than i’m teaching.