It's not sugared water
So
I was wrong (remember "Stand by me" ?). These little sprays for
asthmatics do contain medication, a bronchodilator to be exact. You don't
see what I'm talking about ? Let's take it from the beginning, that is back
in March 1998, 6 months after I arrived in Can Tho.
Beginning
to cough a lot, I take care of it. But no way, José : I'm beginning to wake
up during the night, breathless. It reminds me my asthma crises, when I
was a kid. Allergy, again ? Strange. But it's getting worse
every day, until I'm strongly advised to get one of those little sprays.
Still doubtful on the next crisis, I grab the blue thing and...
WOW
! Not even 30 seconds, what a relief !
Later, doctors
and friends confirmed this problem touches more people than i had thought : many
expatriates suffered from it...in Can Tho. And if in Can Tho I needed the
spray up to 7 times in 24 hours, I could do without it in Ho Chi Minh-City, in
Nha Trang, in Hanoi... A long time treatment received in Belgium did not
improve my condition that much.
The big crisis came in March
1999. And that's also when my employers decided for me : Forget Can
Tho, welcome to Hanoi ! Sh... I didn't want to leave Can Tho,
and it was actually very hard when I had to : heartbreaking goodbyes, moving away
from my new dear house...
What's positive about it ?
I can breathe normally again (despite Hanoi's choking heat at this time of the
year), my post is a new one created for me (I don't take anybody's place and I
will be replaced in Can Tho), Hanoi offers many more entertainment possibilities
than Can Tho, I've friends here... And well, I live at "a friend's
house" for now !
But
of course I'll miss Can Tho, the teachers, the students, the friends very much
: that's for sure.
Well.
No room for lamentations, let's take up the "Hanoi" challenge.
I will not work there by myself, doing everything anymore : we're a team here,
and we have the South-East Asia Bureau (BASE) here. So I'll have help and
should be able to specialize, probably will I take care of some of the primary
classes of Hanoi, Hai Phong, Ha Long...
But before school
starts again in September, there's much to do : prepare the workshops for the
new teachers in August, prepare next year, etc.
Hanoi,
here I come...
|
Feeling
better in Hanoi... | Schoolyear 1999-2000Another
schoolyear starting, in Hanoi for me this time ! We should
have 120 classes here this year, plus about the same in the surrounding provinces
which we'll help also. |
It's this
"WE" that will change a lot for me, compared to Can Tho. Indeed,
we are three Belgians from the APEFE : Nadine Paulus, Jean-François Van de Poël
and me ; three Quebecers from the CEQ : Monique Rozenfarb, Antoine Tawil and Muriel
Murray ; and two Vietnamese : Le Na and Khang, all supervisors.
So
I'll not have to take care, like in Can Tho, of the primary and secondary classes,
of the sciences and the French, of the management, of the permanent representation,
of the contacts... I'll be able to concentrate on the teaching of French
in the primary classes, that sounds good !
And
with the good experience in Laos (see this page), I'm
in great shape for these new challenges !
Tuk-Tuk
in Laos
In
even better shapeSince I was honored by the People's Committee
of Can Tho Province in the form of this framed certificate, very rarely given
to an individual... I warmly thank again my friends in Can
Tho, they can be assured I will carefully keep this souvenir ! |
Wow
! |
|
Important
moment | And welcomed !Even
if I will not take care of it directly, the Nam Thanh Cong school wished to invite
me to its opening ceremony. Impressing (more than two thousand students)
et very welcoming ! On my side on the picture, the new principal
of the primary French school and her husband. The French school develops
privileged relations with Nam Thanh Cong this year. |
Impressive
(
More than two thousand pupils)
And very friendly!(If
you look for me, I am in the group below to the right, just a bit further than
the tree) |
|
Well, enough of "job talking"
on this page.
If you want to know more on the subject,
click below :
