Trung, Nhi and Y

Yesterday was a relatively uneventful day, however I did reconnect with Rob, who had hosted the benefit we both had put together in June for the English-language students in Siagon. I met him and a couple of his friends at Bill's Hideaway Lounge in Dallas for a couple of drinks while we sat and watched a cabaret show. I was asked if I would perform a half-hour cabaret set next monday, which I was happy to agree to.  It's a cute space and they have a baby-grand piano. Now I have to come up with something! Anyway, I promised Rob that I would finish posting Nigel Veal's descriptions of all the folks that are being schooled in Siagon as a direct result of this benefit and the generosity of his friends. So here are the final three:

• "Trung. Email has now become an important extension of my teaching at intermediate and advanced level. Over the past few months I have built up a large collection of grammar and reading comprehension exercises. Students also sometimes send me their written work to correct by email. One example is Trung, whom you [Eddie] know well. Although I see him in the park most evenings, it was difficult to find a suitable time and place to give Trung private tuition. Then I discovered that he spends a lot of time during the day logged onto his computer so I asked him if he would like to receive email exercises pitched at his level (which is pre-advanced). He jumped at the opportunity. The first exercise that I sent him was completed and returned withing 5 min. I correct it and sent him a 2nd exercise which was, again, returned immediately. We now exchange emails several times a week. On the rare occasion that he doesn't understand something, he can ask me in the park. I'll also try to find a suitable weekly time slot to give him one-on-one conversational practice. ..........................................................................
• "Nhi is the other student you know who now receives regular private tuition from me. Initially she started to study with Vinh on Saturday evenings but it wasn't ideal because Vinh tended to monopolize the conversation and with Nhi's limited vocabulary, she had difficulty following. So now I teach Vinh on Saturdays and Nhi on Sunday. She comes to my hotel where we study in a quiet corner of the reception area. Nhi is keen (almost impatient) to learn. She realizes that proficiency in English is the key to obtaining a decent job in this city. After studying for an hour or so at my hotel, we go to drink fruit shakes and then relocate to the park for conversational practice and gentle exercise. Usually we complete a walk of 6 or 7 circuits around the perimeter. I am a firm believer in the peripatetic method of teaching prescribed by Aristotle, and Nhi certainly seems to learn a lot this way. Walking also seems to deter other people from joining or interrupting us. ..........................................................................
• "Y (a one-letter name pronounced like a long E) is the new night-time receptionist at my hotel and she has become my late-night student. That is to say, I teach her for an hour around midnight practically every night before I go to bed. Her level is intermediate buy she is trying hard to expand her vocabulary and improve her speaking skills. On her first day in the job, with no suitable books to hand and a long night of boredom ahead, she was pouring over a travel brochure and jotting down the words she didn't understand. She asked me to explain these words, half of which were misprints. As an alternative to the badly-translated brochure, I produced my Vocabulary in Practice text and a story book. Now, every night we do one vocabulary exercise and read one story. I also test her on her new vocabulary from the previous day. Y's nocturnal boredom is temporarily banished, and for me it's quite a pleasant way to end the day."

-- Nigel Veal

First Communion...such an innocent time

The text below has been taken directly from The New St. Joseph First Communion Catechism (1963), available in the bookstore of the St. Francis Roman Catholic Church in Grapevine Texas.  This is where my brother is sending his children to "Faith Formation":

"What happens to those who die in mortal sin?

...Hell is a terrible place.

...Those who are there suffer great pain.

...They are slaves of the devil.

...They hate God and everyone else.

...They love only themselves.

...They can never be happy."

Dueling Pianos, Dallas style

Yesterday I flew to Dallas to spend some time with my Brother's family. I rented a car, and am getting my suburban on. Last night bro and I took a ride into downtown Fort Worth where we were going to check out Pete's Dueling Pianos, but as we drove by, there are was a line of people waiting to get in. So we then drove 15 miles to Lewisville where we went to another dueling piano bar called Rockin' Ivories. It is in a strip mall, and is a very large space, with most people sitting at tables. Perhaps there were 40-50 tables with about 3-4 people at each, and then a smaller bar where there was about 35 people gathered around. The stage was very large with two grand pianos, and a full drum kit. There was a full mirror that was set at an angle behind them that spanned the length of the stage so you could see their fingers and the tops of their pianos. The 2 pianists would alternate, one playing drums while the other played piano. They played all the standard rock piano songs, and the crowd was completely involved. The bar made a ton of money and so did the pianists. Apparently they only do the dueling pianos on Fridays and Saturdays, but the money that the bar makes on those two days alone justifies the business. Praise be!

All Speech is a Lie

Yesterday I went to the Village Zendo, a Zen Buddhist temple I go to for meditation, and heard a dharma talk on one of the precepts of Zen Buddhism, specifically, it says: "Don't Lie". (Now please, dear readers {all 3 of you, I imagine}, don't think for a single errant second, that I, the irreverent one, the grand agnosticator and hater of all things done or said in ignorance in the name of God or religion, am, or ever will, proselytize to anyone. That's not my intent. I am just chronicling my experiences.) What was really interesting was the teacher said that in the subtlest sense that all speech is a lie. The Zen Buddhists believe that the only reality is in the present moment. And they break it down to a mere instant. So by the time you have processed a thought in your brain and begun to speak about it, that truth is no longer relevant because now you are in an altogether different instant in time, with it's own truths that are different than those of the instant in time (a few seconds ago, perhaps) that you are speaking of. Of course, don't believe me, because this is now a different moment. Maybe that's not true anymore.

Humility

I have been working with another pianist/singer for the past 7 months or so, doing a dueling piano rock & roll act. His name is Paul, and he is really quite incredible. He has an outstanding ear, uncanny really, and a musical intuitiveness that is quite rare. I have been soaking up as much as I can from him, but it is really quite humbling. I have always preferred to surround myself with people that are more skilled than I am so that I can learn from them. That being said, it is the type of thing that makes you step back and take a really deep breath as you force yourself to look realistically at your own limitations. Yesterday I asked him to instruct me on soloing on the blues, which is the basis of much of the Rock that we play. Throughout the hour I was forced again and again to stare down my own limits musically. Which I know is kind of the point. How can you expand your limitations if you can't identify them first? But it's still disheartening at times.

San Juan

Last weekend I got a cheap flight to San Juan and went with my friend Aileen, who was in desparate need of the beach. It was kind of disappointing, actually, cuz I wanted to spend the days on the beach just relaxing and reading, but it was somewhat rainy much of the time, and the day that it didn't rain at all, it was so windy that it was more of a hassle than anything else.

I had booked a budget hotel right outside of the Condado district, but it was kinda run down and definitely not acceptable to my traveling companion. So we walked a couple blocks to the beach and found "Numero Uno", a relatively decent guest house with chairs directly on the beach. The second night we stayed at another guest house, cuz Num. 1 was full. Then back to the Number One for the last 2 nights.

We did rent a car one day and drive all through the interior of the island, which is all mountainous and tropical. Lots of windy roads, and great views. We got very lost, which was kind of the point. Ended up on a dirt/mud road, god knows where, with Aileen getting more nervous by the minute, but that's when we saw "The View". We found a very remote spot far away from any paved roads where we could see 30 or 40 miles to the sea, and it was amazing. Mission accomplished.

There were some nice dining experiences, and some meditation looking out on the ocean. Came back to NYC to realize that I had left my favorite sunglasses somewhere in the airport. Looking forward to spending time with the BF this week, then off to Texas on Sat where I will visit family and friends for about 9 days. Link, my best friend and roommate (really!) left for Ecuador the day I returned from San Juan. We sent each inappropriate text messages and emailed pictures of ourselves waiting, using our favorite toy d'jour, the iPhone, as we were sitting in our repective airports, waiting for our planes.

Vinh, Phuc and Tuyen

I finally rented my apartment!! Yay!!! I have a tenant for 12 months. Now I have much more freedom to do some more traveling. This weekend I got a last-minute deal to San Juan, Puerto Rico and am leaving tomorrow morning for 4 days with my friend Aileen. Perhaps my next entry will be from the beach! Anyway, here are Nigel's introduction of three more of the English language students from Siagon. --Eddie

• "Vinh, who is 20 years old, is a really likeable young man with high ambitions: he wants nothing less than to speak English like a native speaker. Needless to say,he is a long way from achieving his goal but he works hard and has an impressively large vocabulary. He is tremendously polite and respectful, always addressing me as "Sir" even though I have often invited him to call me Nigel. He first studied with me in Nguyen Du Street. Then, when my class closed, I agreed to teach the family of another student called Anh in their home. As a friend of Anh's, Vinh was invited to join this class although as the only non-family member he felt a little uncomfortable studying in Anh's house with Anh's mother, Anh's aunt, Anh's cousins, etc. He told me that he didn't feel as free to express himself as he had done in the old class. Moreover, whereas Anh's family are well-off, Vinh comes from quite a poor family and he explained that he couldn't really afford the tuition fees. I agreed to teach him for free by sending him email exercises to complete during the week and then meeting up with him every Saturday evening for conversational practice. The arrangement is working well.  Vinh has a love not just of English but of knowledge,which means that I oftenteach him about other subjects like history, geography and science. He remembers everything and often refers back to a fact that I taught him months ago.He has a problem differentiating between certain sounds, notably B's and P's at the beginning of words and -g and -ck at the end of words. His obsessive desire to pronounce every word correctly often leads him suddenly to interrupt me in mid-flow:
  

"Pluck, pluck, pluck. Is it right, sir?" he asks. (He is trying to say "plug".)
"No, you pluck a chicken. You plug in your computer."
"Pluck, pluck, pluck. I pluck in my computer. Is it right, sir? How many percent?"
"No, you must pronounce the g - guh, guh. Plug."
"Pluck, pluck, pluck. What about ploo, ploo?" (He is trying to say "blue") "Is it right, sir? Oh, I am feeling very ploo today." ..............................................................................

• "Phuc is an advanced-level student, aged 21. Eddie, you may remember him because he often comes to the park in the evenings but always leaves around 9pm. This is because he lives in a pagoda with four other students and five Buddhist monks. Curfew time is 9.30pm and he must return before the gates are locked. Phuc has few financial transactions in his life. His accommodation and meals are provided free of charge as long as he remains a full-time student and does not undertake anypaid employment. He must also do his share of the domestic chores in the pagoda, including cooking, according to a strict rota. Recently, he discovered that I am sometimes free on week day mornings, so he asked if he could come to my hotel twice a week to study with me. He is preparing for his advanced-level TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exams and even I find the articles in his course books interesting. He also brings with him each time a list of new words gleaned from his wide reading, the definitions and uses of which he wants to understand more clearly. Teaching at Phuc's level is my forte. It is also enjoyable, not least for the purely selfish reason that it actually stimulates my brain! .........................................................................
  
• "Tuyen is a very gaunt-looking young lady in her early 20's who lives on the other side of Siagon with her mother who has cancer. Her younger sister is studying at University buy Tuyen, it seems, has drawn the short straw, because she must be home to take care of mom 24 hours a day and do the home-based selling job that her mother used to do before she became ill. I teach her almost entirely by email because she lives so far away and has no free time to attend lessons. However, every 4-6 weeks she insists on making a 3-hour bus journey to meet up with me. Between times, I send her email exercises and she sends me her answers for correction. Invariably, a short message is attatched: "You are my good teacher. I admire you, I want to consider you as my friend but I'm afraid you don't agree...The more exercises you send me the more happiness I get." and "You are the kind teacher in my mind. I try my best to study English but sometime I have some problem and i can't find the person who can help me." Tuyen is a sad, lonely girl who is wracked by self-doubt and lack of confidence. She is fearful of the future (especially regarding her mother). She has told me that studying English late at night is the only real pleasure she has in life."

--Nigel Veal

The Maids at Le Trung Hotel, Chi, Greeny, Minh and Chau

As most of you know, when I went to Vietnam last March, I made friends with several Vietnamese English students in Siagon, who would hang out in a park and look to meet foreigners so they could better their English skills. And you know that I met up with an English guy named Nigel Veal that was starting an English language school. When I returned to the States, I organized a benefit in Dallas, in the home of my friends Rob and Steve. Rob gathered all his friends together and we raised $900 to send to Nigel so he could teach 12 young men and women aged 18-29 for about 6 months, at no charge to them. The next few blog entries I will post some of their stories as told by Nigel. Meet the first 6 students:

• "The maids at Le Trung Hotel. Three months ago,an American Vietnamese lady who was staying at my hotel asked me if I would consider giving free English lessons to the two maids who clean the rooms. Neither could speak more than a few words of English and I don't speak Vietnamese so I knew it would be a challenge. Anyway, I agreed and I now teach them just for an hour, three or four times a week, when they(and I) finish work at 9.00 or 9.30pm. Hotel maids work very long hours for little pay, although meals and basic accommodation are provided. The older girl, Loan (pronounced Long)is 26 and has worked here for six years. The other maid (whose name is unpronounceable for me but sounds a little like Nar) is just 18 and joined the staff earlier this year. They come from the same part of the Vietnamese countryside where they have large families with many siblings. Both girls send the larger part of their meager income homeeach month to help support their younger brothers and sisters. We study on the top floor of the hotel where the maids have their quarters. Teaching at elementary level is not my specialty but I have some good books and have devised some simple but effective teaching strategies. We are making steady progress. The goal is modest: to help them acquire a basic knowledge of English which would enable them to communicate with foreigners. This, in turn, might open the door to better job opportunities in the future ..............................................................
  
• "Chi (pronounced Tea) is a shy, kind and caring girl, aged 26,who desperately wants to improve her English. Her level is pre-intermediate. I met her originally in the park and she visited my old class in Nguyen Du Street on several occasions. She works with very young children (2-4 year-olds) in a kindergarten but finishes work at 4pm and comes to my hotel at 4.30pm for an English lesson four times a week.Because the hotel reception area is generally quiet around that time, it is easy to find a suitable place to sit and study. Sometimes she stays until the car from the Korean school comes to collect me. On other days, when it isn't raining, we go to the park to study. My immediate focus is to help her increase her English vocabulary which is currently quite limited.I am therefore teaching her from an excellent series of books called Vocabulary in Practice. Her approach to learning is very methodical. She needs to understand clearly the meaning of each new word before moving on to the next. A few months ago, Chi experienced a personal tragedy when her elder sister, who suffered from a congenital heart defect and learning difficulties, dropped dead suddenly on Vung Tau Beach when the family were on a Sunday outing to the seaside. Chi has told me (though I am of course paraphrasing her words) that she regards learning English as a kind of therapy in helping her come to terms with this traumatic event. .........................................................................
  
• "Greeny, Minh and Chau are 3 advanced students (20-22yo) whom I teach at their home 3 times a week. Greeny and Minh are sister and brother, and Chau is Greeny's friend. Unlike the other students mentioned here, they can afford a modest tuition fee s they study with me at a subsidized rate. They always pick me up at my Hotel by motorcycle. Greeny and Minh live in a ramshackle house in one of the most densely populated districts of the city with practically every inch of the sidewalk taken up by vendors. The congestion inside their house is even worse. 10 people live there, including their parents, 3 aunts and a cousin and her husband and young child. Greeny's father runs a 2nd hand shop with old bicycles of which there are 70 in the house competing with the humans for space. There is no evidence of beds. When it rains, water leaking through the roof is collected in strategically-positioned buckets. Despite this, it is a homely place and the walls are a shrine to Greeny and Minh's academic and sporting achievements. Greeny and Chau are full-time university students, although Chau (who is very pretty) earns a little money from occasional modeling work. Minh graduated last year and now teaches Tae Kwon Do. (Both he and sister are black belts.) All 3 have an extensive vocabulary and knowledge of grammar although Minh in particular struggles with his pronunciation. We study from a wide range of books (mine and theirs). I help them with their TOEFL reading and listening comprehension exercises and correct their written assignments, after which we play competitive word games. Our lessons are always full of noise and fun."
  

-- Nigel Veal, Siagon

Jesus Christ!!!

New Artwork in the Subway...yay!

I just ran into this brand new art installation in the Bleeker Street Subway Stop, located along the Canal Street Corridor by the orange line. The wall is tile, and is completely flat, and the artwork is a pasted flat onto the tile wall. The 3D effect is an illusion. There are maybe 7 or 8 different ones. This picture was taken with an iPhone. Cool, right?

My first post

Ok...so I have wanted to create a blog for a while, and the New Year seemed as good a time as any to begin. I spent the time between Christmas and New Years in a Zen Buddhist silent meditation retreat. The way I got to such a thing is that about 3 months ago I was looking for places to learn meditation. Through word of mouth I ended up at The Village Zendo in Soho, in NYC, sitting counting my breaths a couple evenings per week. My reason in doing this is to clear my mind of all the thoughts that are constantly banging around up there, in the hopes that it will help me get through some of the things that stop me from progressing with my vocal lessons.

So after a 2.5 hour train ride and a $45 taxi ride, I find myself in this beautiful area of rural Connecticut in a large dorm building run by Catholic nuns, that has been rented out by the Zendo for their week-long annual winter retreat. As a participant you are expected to remain silent, with your eyes at a downward 45 degrees the entire week. I was assigned a room on the 4th floor with a silent roommate, who I learned later was a 40-something Latin teacher for a charter school in MA. Over the next 5 days (I arrived 2 days into the retreat) I spent much of my waking hours (5:45am to 9:30pm) sitting on a round cushion on a 2 foot by 2 foot mat, staring at a heater vent and counting my breaths from 1 to 10 and then back again, trying not to become distracted by random thoughts. I found this extremely difficult because my back was sore from something I had done before I had arrived. The object of the seated meditation was to sit absolutely still, not to fidget, which was exactly what I was doing. I was frustrated.

And then there were all the Buddhist services and liturgy that I had never seen or expected. I wasn't too keen on all of the bowing and the chanting in Sanskrit and Japanese, but it was harmless and after speaking to one of the Zen teachers in "Interview" I found that even she wasn't all that keen on the ritual, but that the meditation took her where she needed to go and so she looked past all the other stuff. That sounded fair.

The food was all vegetarian, there was plenty of it, and mostly it was good. I was assigned to the daily task of washing dishes and cleaning the lunchroom every day after the mid-day meal, which was the only time I got to talk with other people, and so it was welcomed. They call it "work practice" which was an opportunity to practice a meditative state while wiping bean sprout tofu terriaki off of someone else's half eaten plate...but always in a "mindful" way. Sounds like Buddhist bullshit to me.

The countryside surrounding the retreat site was beautiful and between my long walks every day and the outside walking meditations that we did, I was able to fully appreciate the beauty of the snowy New England Countryside.

About 3 days into the retreat my back was less bothersome and I actually managed to sit through my meditations with less and less thoughts intruding, and when they did they intrude, they didn't really take hold. It was exciting because that has been my goal all along, to quiet the mind. My favorite "practice" time was the first meditation in the morning, at 5:45am when the world was still dark and quiet. It seemed a sacred time.

Finally on New Years Eve, a service involving the ringing of a very large bronze bowl, sounding somewhat like a sonorous gong, 108 times. This continuous ringing experienced by what was now a relatively quiet mind was quite pervading, with the sound surrounding you, going through you and being a part of you all at the same time. I think I achieved a Buddha moment listening to that ringing. After that service, all of the participants (about 60 of us) got to share for the first time that week. It was then that we got to look at everyone else and listen to their experiences and find out who we all were. I think that everyone was profoundly affected by their experience. I know I was.