connie's space

Sharing two Facebook Links below:

Easter Celebrations at The Center: https://www.facebook.com/connie.wieck.5

End-of-Term performances: https://www.facebook.com/suntisouklvc

More to follow as Laos New Year is upon us. My 3-day holiday began today. My goodness! What a wild and crazy time with streets erupting in water fights, us motorbike riders being doused with buckets of water as we go by and tons of inflatable pools lining the streets as people splash about in the excessive heat.

More to follow.

Connie in Vientiane

Enjoy these!

https://www.facebook.com/suntisouklvc/videos/1164546791434059

And be sure to follow the Suntisouk Language and Vocational Center at all times.

https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=suntisouk%20language%20and%20vocational%20training%20center

Director Connie in Vientiane

Saturday, March 8, is International Women’s Day. For a majority of Asian countries, and that also included China, a day off is given as a celebratory day remembering women around the world.

Due to the official day being Saturday, the Laos government has announced we have Monday off. This includes government offices and all public schools.

Although we are a privately-run language center, the day off will include us as well. No classes on Monday nor staff working. Yeah!

Planning Our Special Event for Several Weeks

I’d been thinking about our students and what we could do to recognize the women of Laos. Last year, I was so new that the day just went by with our usual lessons. But this year, I wanted to do something special.

For 3 days, Shaloom, Santi and I prepared our students to do some kind of performance which would be recorded to post on Facebook and within our different class chat groups.

Parents, by the way, are always checking those group chats. They love seeing their children active, engaged and doing things in class. Other language schools only bother doing such postings at the end of the term. We teachers try our best to post several times a week. In fact, because of this ongoing habit last term, word among the parents spread and we gained several new students because of it.

As for our upcoming performances at the Center: For our lower level learners, each class sang “Happy Women’s Day to You” with the melody of “Happy Birthday to You”. They know this birthday song well as it seems to be a universal, both in English and in everyone’s native language.

The task I came up with was for us as teachers to let each class sing their performance however they’d like. We went class by class on the Hall stage, recorded each performance, and afterwards, came together for a final “Happy Women’s Day to You” sung again with waving, laughter, heart signing and blowing kisses.

Mine devised an active “stand up/sit down” on stools for different phrases. (See the practice photo below.)

Shaloom’s junior high students, being more mature, created their own sentence-speaking English write-up praising women with each choosing a strong adjective which describes women of today.

Practice in the Main Hall: Performances Amazing!

Yesterday evening, Thursday, was the big night to perform.

We practiced several times to make sure all was done well on the stage. Suher, our caretaker, was in charge of using my phone to make the video. We went one by one with a final “Happy Women’s Day to You!” which included both students and teachers. Great Success!

Adult Learner, Alat, Not to be Left Out

I wasn’t about to let Alat, my private adult learner, be left out of this special event. She and I worked together on a script for us to also include with others on the SLVC (Suntisouk Language and Vocational Center) Facebook page.

Performances Uploading Today

As I type this, my new executive office manager, Santi (also teaching the A,B,C class learners), is posting the videos and pictures.

Along with the visuals is this announcement from myself, the director:

“The teachers and students at Suntisouk Language and Vocational Center want to wish all the women of Laos and around the world a very happy International Women’s Day. Enjoy our performances and pictures. Want to join us? All are welcome to study here! Have a wonderful holiday, everyone.”

And on that last note, I wish you all the same: Happy International Women’s Day!

This new term has found me a tad busier than usual.

Aside from co- teaching junior high with Shaloom, then my own Level 1 elementary ed students, a new adult evening class came into my schedule beginning February 10. This had me at the Center from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. or even later. While I certainly enjoy teaching, other duties in play as the Center’s director left me a drained by the end of the day.

Winnie, my adopted dog, certainly noticed the difference.

She was constantly at me (over and over again) for our 6:30 a.m. wake-ups. Before, I was up and about with one wet whisker tickle to my face. Her having to paw, nudge, stand on my head and lick at exposed skin numerous times was not ideal. A few times, bless her, she resorted to the pee pads placed by the patio door which I’ve had down during our toilet training sessions. I leave them there just in case and while she hadn’t touched them in over two months, my lax “up and at-em!” attitude had her caving in on using them.

I needed some respite.

Shaloom therefore is taking over the 1-hour junior high class and while that may seem like not much, it honestly has helped me energize myself for those late-night adult lessons.

Sharing My China Experiences

As a final send-off to my junior high, the last 2 weeks ending our time together I put together a Chinese New Year unit. For someone such as myself who had been in China for 24 years, sharing my China experience with these young people of Laos had me in full enthusiastic teaching mode.

Not only that but Laos, bordering China and having so many Chinese expats in country, had exploded in Chinese New Year celebrations. The malls were full of Chinese Happiness characters, Year of the Snake displays, festive, upbeat songs for Spring Festival (what we call Chinese New Year) being played throughout major stores and red clothing for kids and adults lining shops along the streets.

Stores also sold in vast quantities Spring Festival door decorations. This included the infamous couplets wishing homes good fortune, success, good luck and numerous other words of wishing one for a prosperous year. I naturally had to have mine as well, placed on my apartment doorway.

The Year of the Snake in my Junior High Classroom

It was great fun to put together PPTs, worksheets, making English doorway couplet displays, learning to writing Chinese characters as well as video taping good wishes in English to all.

This gave me the opportunity to wear my traditional qipao (the Chinese women’s dress) as well, fitting right in with Spring Festival festivities. As you can see, we had a great time!

But the true moment of excitement came when everyone received a red envelope.

The red envelope is given to children and students by adult relatives and friends. It’s filled with spending money for the new year and is something that all look forward to, even college students who often receive much-needed funding for school.

For my students, I divided my left-over Chinese money into 16 red envelopes, adding one for me and Shaloom. Different amounts were placed inside, from 1 yuan (roughly 23 cents) to 20 yuan ($3.20). Numbers were drawn to see which envelope would go to which student. As teachers, I thought it would be fun to include the two of us as well.

There were opportunities, before opening the envelope, to exchange numbers.

“Who will get that 20 yuan note?” I asked. “Want to change your number with me? Or someone else?”

A majority held onto their number but we did have a few who cautiously changed with a classmate.

Here we are for our final photo together, my last class as their fulltime teacher.

Of course, I’ll be visiting from time to time. I also see and talk to them every day in the courtyard as they come to the Center but there is just a different relationship now as Shaloom takes full ownership of their English study. While being a novice teacher there past 6 months, Shaloom had a great deal of experience now with me in the lead. It is now time for him to branch off into the realm of educator on his own. He’s been doing a superb job and I have no reservations at all of turning over these young people into his care.

My Very First Adult Student, Alat

In the meantime, my evening sessions with 22-year-old Alat have been so rewarding and fascinating. She is learning English to improve her private business, that of being a tour agent. She has numerous clients from embassies and overseas companies all around Vientiane which she and her uncle have built from scratch. She lives at home, helping support her entire family. Her parents sell jewelry to help with income as well. Alat has 2 younger sisters to support, who are in school, and an older brother who has just left for New Zealand to study English.

Her main difficulty is her shyness, she said, in being forthcoming with information and asking what clients need or want. Her language skills are exceptional so it’s just a matter of building confidence, helping her craft her sentences to fit her clients’ needs and speaking with more fluency.

And it looks like I’ll be having more adult students in the future, too! More news on that later.

Pee Pads on the Decline

As for Winnie needing those speedy early morning rises on my part, looks like I’m doing better than usual. Although still getting home close to 9 p.m., not having my junior high lesson plans to deal with has made a huge difference in my stress level and time-management ability.

Winnie has only one nudge or wet whisker brush to get me up, and I’ve had no wet pee pads to deal with for the past week. Let’s hope it continues.

Until next entry, here’s Winnie and Connie signing off.

My silence has been due to a hectic beginning to the school year. We are now entering Week 5 of the new term. More students, more classes and even private classes for me added from 7 – 8:30 p.m. has given me little opportunity to post. When returning home so late at night, then spending daytime hours following through with director duties, lesson planning and spending literally hours on my classroom PPTs, I honestly just want to crash with Winnie by the time I get home.

A Surprise: Valentine’s Day

I assumed Valentine’s Day would just make an appearance in my apartment, with my display of cards which I’ve kept throughout the years. After all, this is not a Laos special day at all. I was even lucky enough to receive 2 cards from my mom who sent them with a church visitor last month. She graciously bestowed these upon me with my mom’s specific instructions NOT to open until Valentine’s Day.

I am a good girl. I waited until my February 14th Friday to open. Not at all disappointed and I felt very loved.

Who’d have thought, however, that Valentine’s Day would appear here in Laos besides my apartment? But appear it has!

While not at all a tradition in the country, this day has thoroughly spread throughout larger cities and tourist areas due to the foreigners’ influence.

Every placement as a teacher I’ve had has seen this Christian-founded celebration emerge, with all the commercialized twists and turns along with it. Cards, flowers, candies, red clothing decorated with love symbols, special restaurant food offerings, as well as shops and malls decorated in hearts.

I remember this day was all over Japan many years ago when I taught there (1988), then hit Taiwan in the late 1990’s, China in the 2000’s, and now here in Laos.

As always, I came close to ignoring this day until one of my elementary ed. girls, quirky Vipaphone, brought sticker hearts to class. I say “quirky” as this tends to be her personality.

As the students lined up to enter the classroom on Monday, she gave me this sly, knowing look, pulled out her sparkly stickers and proceeded to place them all over our faces. As a teacher, such distractions before a class is to begin is not exactly the best of actions. I didn’t want to squelch her enthusiasm but next year, that ain’t going to happen. Her Laos stickers, while pretty, kept pealing away from our skin the entire hour. They ended up littered and sticking fast in folded wads to the tile floor, tables, whiteboard, books and even my projector.

My teaching certification was not in elementary education but I will say, I’m learning fast, folks. Those grade-school kids keep one on his/her toes, no matter what country they are from.

How could I not resist to share at least the joy of chocolates with all our 35 students (and staff) for this special day?

Because we don’t have Friday classes, I planned for Thursday (the day before the official day) as our special celebration day.

Thanks to so many monetary donations to the Center from many of you reading this post, in a split second, I am able to release funds into my hands for Center shopping ventures. This one had me loading up on numerous chocolate cookie packets and foil-heart chocolates. At the Center, Shaloom, Santi and I laid them all out and divided up for our classes.

You certainly helped to make this day especially noteworthy to everyone who attended classes.

Connie’s Special Lesson

With Vipaphone’s hint of Valentine’s Day, I created a special lesson for my Level 1 students. We practiced writing sentences concerning Valentine’s Day for hand-made cards. The words and sentences read as followed:

Happy Valentine’s Day! Please be my Valentine. From, _________

After learning to write, we practiced saying and then cards were made.

As the students finished, I pulled them one by one outside the classroom to record giving their Valentine’s greetings. These I posted in our Level 1 Whats App group. (Nothing like your child speaking English to please the parents.)

Afterwards, it was picture time for everyone while holding cards, including myself.

You will notice one adult is with us, Nok, who is an extremely dedicated elementary school teacher. She joins my class for free, wanting to improve her pronunciation and use some of my lessons, to teach her own students. I admire her so much. After a full day of teaching, she comes to my evening class from 5:30 – 6:30. I know she must be tired. Who would want to spend more hours with kids than needed, or even in a classroom? Yet she does so with enthusiasm and great desire to learn.

Am I that dedicated to my profession? I wish.

A Moving Gesture

Before receiving their cookies and chocolates, I explained to my class that they were free to take their cards home with them.
“Give to your mom, dad, grandmother, brother or sister tomorrow to wish them a Happy Valentine’s Day,” I smiled.

But instead of taking home, one by one, I was given their cards to keep for myself.

Only Nok took hers home, most likely to show her students the next day about our special class together. She might even have had her own grade level make their own cards. I’ll have to ask her on Monday.

As you can see below, I certainly felt loved by the end of my evening on Thursday.

How about your Valentine’s Day? As glorious as mine? I do hope so. Have a blessed week! Stay tuned for reports of my unwanted guests (grrrr!!!), some funny stories and more adventures from this country called Laos.