Every year, teachers come and go, and this year has been no different. However, the way they’ve arrived in ISHCMC this year is rather different from before. The coronavirus has affected the whole world and that has made travelling to a new country much harder, not to mention teaching new students. Mr Smith is one of the new teachers that has arrived in Vietnam during the pandemic. He’s had to develop new methods of teaching his students online to keep them engaged. This article details Mr Smith’s journey to Vietnam and the process of his arrival.
Arina Raphy
Photo of interviewee: Mr. Benjamin Smith (DP Business Management teacher)
Q: What grade do you teach? What do you teach?
A: Right now I am teaching grade eleven and twelve business management. I taught individual and societies in the beginning of the year.
Q: What was your journey like to Ho Chi Minh City?
A: Before living in Ho Chi Minh City, Ms Boyd and I were living in Dubai. We had accepted our jobs in ISHCMC. But as we were waiting to get permission to enter the country because of coronavirus, we couldn’t get flights so it was a bit stressful.
Finally, after waiting for weeks and weeks, we were able to get a flight to Vietnam and the airport was really empty which was felt very weird. We went on a huge big A380 plane, and there were only seven of us on the plane. When we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, the airport was empty and there were barely any lights on.
The airport looked quite closed and there were some people there. We finally got through the security and then of course because of Covid, they made us put on a full hazmat suit but unfortunately, mine didn’t fit. The hazmat suit is supposed to go on top of all your clothing but as I moved my suit popped.
The suit was too short and too tight. They gave me a small size instead of a large one, then they sprayed us along with our bags with these chemicals. Since there was no air conditioning, we were sweating because it was so hot. The suit kept falling off because as I bent down to pick up my bags and it split. Once we got into a car, all the inside of the car was wrapped in plastic like cling wrap similar to the ones you wrap food with.
When we were driving through the streets and they dumped my wife and myself at our quarantine hotel and for two weeks we had to be in separate rooms. The day after I arrived which was a Sunday, on Monday I had to start teaching online to the students at ISHCMC.
Q: Was the whole process stressful?
A: Very stressful, especially when we were in Dubai. Not knowing whether we able to get a flight here or whether we would be allowed in the country.
Q: How did you get the clearance to come to Vietnam?
A: I think the good people, the staff at ISHCMC, the human resource people, were very good and they worked very hard to make sure that we could get the approval to come and it wasn’t easy because the borders, the regulations and the government rules were changing, every day.
Q: How did you overcome the language barrier between you and the government?
A: The language barrier made it even more tricky for us to come to Vietnam but luckily we got lots of good help, lots of support from ISHCMC.
Q: What do you like about Vietnam?
A: There’s a great atmosphere here, lots of things to see and do. I love the food, the people, tons of great cafés and restaurants to see. I like the students here at ISHCMC. They’re great, they’re hard-working. Very respectful and kind to each other and I like that.
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