The school year is finished!! The last few days have been a hubub of activity, goodbyes, classroom cleaning, and grading. Today marked the official last day for students as it was graduation day. Now, graduation looks a little different in Vietnam than is does in the good ol' U.S.of.A. First of all, the ceremony is not held at some lousy high school stadium but rather in the most fancy venue of all of HCMC -- the Opera House. Second, not only do the seniors walk across the stage, but so do the grade 5 students (in full on regalia) to celebrate their transition to middle school. Also, the ceremony is not a well timed and abbreviated but is rather chaotic with everyone from parents to students to government officials to past graduates giving speeches and providing "words of wisdom." Yes, we got to spend 4.5 hours of our Saturday morning celebrating the accomplishments of students and wondering, "when the heck will we get lunch!"
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| No, no. The teachers are not graduating but we were still required to wear a cap and gown. |
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| Grade 5 graduates on the steps of the opera house. No expenses were spared for graduation (wish we could say the same about the rest of the school year)! |
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| Ms. Thuy, Mike (Minh) and Ms. Heidi. A happy trio. |
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| Luna and Mr. Adam posing for the camera. This graduate will be heading to school in London now. |
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| The elementary teachers lined up in their black robes, waiting in the hot Vietnamese sun for the show to start. We did not smell too hot for our processional in. |
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| Adam and Bethany after Beth got her "scholarship" for the next academic year. She makes it rain VND. |
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| Yes we are smiling but all we were thinking was "4.5 hours of our life - GONE!" We made ourselves feel better with rice lunches and beer. |
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