Author: tesolfran

Last night I had a nice glass of Bailey’s for a nightcap. And this is where I think the problem began. Before getting into my comfy bed, I looked out of the window to check that the world outside was as it should be. Which it was.

And so to bed. And the most horrendous end of the world nightmare possible. As there had been a terrible but unexplained disaster, I had to live in my car. Why did everyone else who survived still live in their cosy flats and houses, while I had to live in my car? And why was my car parked outside the house where I grew up? And why didn’t I just go inside and hang out with my family who were all inside? Who knows? But I didn’t. Instead I plotted and schemed for a way to get inside secretly and rescue my most important possession. All night.

And what possession did I want to rescue? My slippers. That’s it. They are great slippers – knee length Uggs. But seriously? When I finally woke up, I wondered why I hadn’t rescued something more important.  If I had the chance again, I’d rescue my passport. What would you rescue?

Last night I dreamed of Ho Chi Minh City. When I woke up I was surprised to be in Manchester. The dream was so real.

I immediately wanted to see my photos of the trip I made in 1994 but the photos are only in Australia – long story – stories actually – and in my head of course.

So I went to Google Images to find some, and – surprise, surprise- a lot has changed in 24 years and I could hardly recognise the place! The landmarks I remember are shadowed by towering buildings with pretty neon lights. All except one.

The Cao Dai Temple. The first time I saw it was with my sister in law Cathie who is a tireless adventurer, researcher of peoples and an incredible photographer – I must ask her for photos of that day.

It was a humid and heavy day but the building was glowing in colours impossible to describe or accurately capture in photos. It took my breath away. Seeing something like that makes me very emotional. But then we went inside.

And I was so stunned that I had to sit down a while. Inside was a riot of colour, ideas, chaos and order. In my travels before and since, no place has affected me in quite this way.

Cao Dai takes ideas and influences from a mix of sources and recognises prophets from a range of other religions as well as traditional ethical ideas from Vietnamese sources. In this context, every aspect of the architecture is completely logical and fit for purpose. What seems chaotic on first viewing makes complete sense – especially once the people come to worship. No part of the design is there by chance.

So you see you can go back. It just takes a dream and a bit of Googling to prompt you.

If you would like to know more, you could start here:

https://goo.gl/images/CbmhwJ

Taking a Future Learn Course is always good for professional development and confidence.

The Teaching English Online Course was designed and delivered by Cambridge Assessment. The mentors were highly experienced teacher trainers and there were hundreds of teachers from all over the world to interact and study with.

The course was three weeks long and there were lots of different practical tasks to complete. There were scripted videos, readings and links to useful tools and resources.

I’d recommend this course to teachers who are experienced face to face but who are novices to online teaching.