Today we did not have any appointments with schools or work to do at the house. Vinh took us sightseeing all the way north to what was the demilitarized zone during our Vietnam War, their American War. We visited the Imperial City of Huế, also. Hue's city name is pronounced something like "hwhay." It was the seat of the Nguyen Dynasty and capital from 1802 until the emperor abdicated in 1945 and gave power to Ho Chi Minh's new communist government. We vis...

During the last few days, we have had lots of great experiences. Every morning we have a hot breakfast in the hotel and are ready by 8 a.m. to be picked up to start our activities for the day. We have been to several schools in the villages surrounding Hoi An, sometimes two in a day, and we've worked on a new project that we did not anticipate. A category 4 typhoon hit central Vietnam October 1, 2006. That is the same strength and type of storm as Hurricane Kat...

This morning we had breakfast in the hotel again and then got ready for Vinh to pick us up. We are ready for this volunteering experience, but still somewhat apprehensive not knowing what to expect. This trip is being funded for me by the Academy. About a year ago, they announced that the school would offer Global Travel Grants to faculty members to help expand everyone's experiences and in doing so make them better educators. I was definitely interested in that...

We started the day with breakfast in the hotel after getting up about 7 a.m. Remarkably rested, we both slept better on the over-the-ocean flight than we usually do. Food was good and most of the things were familiar. The tropical fruits and juices were great. This morning we expected a call from our host for the week, Vinh, a representative of Global Village Foundation. GlobeAware, which is the Dallas-based non-profit organization arranging our trip, works wit...

After a long, long time travelling, we finally made it to the hotel in Hoi An that we booked for one night before our volunteering is to begin. We will be picked up to move to another hotel of our host's choosing tomorrow. The trip has been full of surprises, both good and bad, but mostly good. The stops in Los Angeles and in Taipei were fine. We spent some time in the airports waiting for the next flights, but all was okay. I'd rather have extra time on layov...