East Vs. West

After posting the video of the spider the other day I got countless emails from friends who were astonished at the size of the beast in my living room. I told my Upper Intermediate English students about the spider and they asked to see it. I thought it would be a great experiment to compare the reactions of people from home versus the reactions from locals:

A couple of my favorite moments:

1. Nearly everyone saying it is small. 

2. Mai (far right wearing a white shirt) asking, "Did you cry?"

3. Me saying, "My friend is teacher." Yeah, I'm starting to develop a bad habit of leaving out the "a" in sentences sometimes. 

4. Mai again commenting, "Two men one spider." 

5. Anh (far left) pointing out that I didn't even kill the spider.

6. The class prematurely clapping when they thought Ryan killed the spider.

7. Trung (back row white shirt) commenting that, "I think your friend is afraid too."

8. Phuong being the only one to think the spider was large.

9. Huan (back row blue shirt) explaining that spiders living in the house and nearby are "never big." 

Because of their lack of support for their teacher and my insect woes, I'm going to have them write an essay which will be 75% of their final grade. Here's the assignment: I want a 2,000 word essay about why I am the bravest person you have ever met.