A day of bicycling

Another lovely day with my mum. We went out early on bicycles so that Mum could see more of Phu My Hung, my local area. We went for coffees and then walked around the streets doing some window-shopping and some chatting. After lunch we headed to the Anh Linh school for me to teach my art class for the first time in two weeks. I'd missed the kids and it was doubly nice to introduce Mum to them. She sat in a corner next to a little boy called Dat, who is sweet-natured and slow-working. She encouraged him with his work while I led the class. Mum and I had decided that morning that the class would be to make little comic books. The kids took to this idea well and had some good ideas. It's lovely to see how the children who regularly attend my class have become competent at thinking for themselves and using their imaginations since the earlier classes. Several of the children, all girls, based their stories on a story that I was told by the school's English teacher is a Vietnamese folk story similar to Cinderella. Two peasant girls are told by their stepmother that the one of the pair who catches the most fish for her will receive new clothes to attend a festival. The heroine collects the most fish but her cruel sister steals them from her and becomes the recipient of a beautiful dress. The girl is so sad and cries, and a fairy appears by her side. On hearing the girl's predicament, the fairy tells her to check her bag again. Inside is a small fish. The girl feeds the fish every day and it grows bigger. But the wicked stepmother finds the fish and cooks it. So the fairy godmother makes the girl a new dress made from the bones of the fish and she goes to the festival and meets a prince and they marry... And then the girl returns to her village and climbs a tree to pick some fruit but her stepmother cuts the tree down and she falls... But she comes back as a bird and flies to the prince's castle and... "Well, it's a long story," the teacher told me.

Others came up with their own ideas. The most interesting came from one of the girls, who was the first to start her work and went at it with great enthusiasm. Her story told of a market trader bargaining with customers and battling with the dreaded tax man. I asked her, through the English teacher, to tell me why she wrote this story. She explained that her story was based on her own experiences of selling toys on the street with her sister (which she has ceased to do since one month ago). She also related this joke: A mathematics teacher asks his students- if an item at a market costs ten thousand dong, how much do ten of these items cost? The students reply- ninety thousand dong. The teacher is flabbergasted- but how? Because if you buy more you get a discount, say his students.

Mum had a soft spot for Dat

Tuyet at work

Meanwhile little Dat began a story about a chicken and a cat, which Mum followed with interest as she watched over his shoulder, until he became bored and began playing with the pencils with her. As I was Co Giao- teacher, I assigned Mum the task of drawing a colour wheel for me so that I could give a brief explanation of the primary colours and the results of mixing them to the class. I was quite satisfied with her work. After class we went for a rewarding iced coffee with sweet milk, followed by an even bigger treat of a massage at Jessica's fancy spa.

It has been a thoroughly enjoyable day from start to end. It's so sad that I will have to say goodbye to Mum tomorrow after such a lovely two weeks.