Actually the Ngày nhà Giáo (Teacher’s Day) on November 20, is a very nice tradition. Unfortunately, today the character of this day has changed significantly since its inception in the year 1982. Even during my own schooldays in Hanoi (1998-2001) we have only competed to see who brought our class teacher the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. Today, however, it looks quite different. The day has gradually degenerated into a kind of competition between the parents, about who can hand over the most expensive gift or the best stuffed envelope. All this is done with the ulterior motive, to thereby get one or two better grades for their own children. Thanks to the lousy pay, unfortunately, many teachers have to rely on this type of perquisite. With us in the country this is certainly not as common as, for example, among the middle class in Hanoi. Being a newcomer last year I still had no own class and no important subjects to teach, now this year for me is the first time to aks myself the question how to deal with it. I have made my students and their parents the unequivocal announcement that I will donate all of these amounts to the class fundregardless of the sender. And now I’m very excited about what will happen on Friday. Best regards Cathrin Cathrin’s Blog: Zwischen Traditionen und Moderne