Since October 2018, BIS Hanoi invited all families to join the “Friends of BIS” with the purpose of building our BIS community, providing more opportunities for families to come together, take action and explore the culture of our host country. After an enthusiastic discussion at the inaugural meeting last year, some excellent ideas emerged and have been put into actions since then.
Vietnamese Lessons
Vietnam is the host nation for all foreign students and families at BIS Hanoi. Learning about Vietnamese culture and language adds to the sense of community and home one feels when living abroad. Ms Huyen, from the Primary Vietnamese Department, has been and will continue to run a sequence of Vietnamese lessons for parents. The group have met four times so far. In their first lesson, they learnt the names of different fruits in preparation to buy fruit in the local market. This lead nicely on to the second language lesson, learning about the 6 different tone marks in Vietnamese as well as numbers 1-10.
The group are also keen to visit different places in Hanoi to learn about local culture. Prior to the winter break, Ms Huyen and her students (the parents!) visited the Women’s Museum to learn all about the history of women in Vietnam. Afterwards, some parents took the opportunity to indulge in a spot of shopping in the Old Quarter.
Tet Cooking Class
Most recently, Ms Huyen led a Tet Cooking class. Everyone had a great time making fried spring rolls (which, I can confirm, were delicious!). They also tried the famous bánh chưng, a sticky rice cake with pork and dried Coconut candies (Mứt Dừa) which the students had made earlier in the week.
Lessons will continue after the Tet holiday and will start with a language lesson on Tuesday 19th February at 8:45. Please do come along if you would like to join the class.
Hanoi Old Quarter Tour
Today the parents were invited to join our Hanoi Old Quarter Tour from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm to see how Vietnamese people celebrate the Lunar New Year or TẾT! They enjoyed a pleasant morning walking around the old quarters of Hanoi, exploring the Hanoi Old House, Dong Xuan Market and Hang Ma Street where all traditional items for TẾT decoration are sold. After the tour, they had the chance to try many delicious Vietnamese dishes at Ngon Restaurant (Quán Ăn Ngon).
Community Litter Pick
January 20 (Sunday) saw our first Community Litter Pick with over 50 volunteers made up of parents, students and staff. We set off to a public area just outside VinHomes Riverside Long Bien to pick up litter, with the help of Keep Hanoi Clean, who generously provided re-usable gloves, grabbers and sacks for the rubbish. Our hard work certainly paid off, picking up over 220kg of rubbish in just over an hour. We will be organising another one in March so please keep an eye out for the date.
Music Lessons
Parents were invited to join our Individual Music Lesson Program which was previously offered for students only. Many parents have been taking lessons to learn different instruments like piano, guitar, saxophone and vocals. Some of them shared that learning a new musical instrument was an effective way to encourage their children to do so. We hope there will be more parents joining us next term!
Yoga & Zumba Classes
Ms Kaori Brooke-Smith, Japanese Liaison Officer, has been leading the Zumba and Yoga classes for the BIS parents & guardians. The Yoga class is happening every Wednesday from 9 am by the Yoga Master, Mrs Stephanie, while the Zumba class is going on every Friday same time by the Zumba teacher, Ms Ngoc.
“We are not only getting fitter but also making new friends and most importantly having lots of fun. Please don’t worry if you have never tried Yoga or Zumba, most people are beginners!”, Ms Kaori shared.
To sign up, please join our Friends of BIS Facebook Group and we are looking forward to seeing you here!
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