Would U Guys Go Swim With Me ??

diepbang wrote:

Tuesday I Off at School So I Want to go swimming . but if i go alone it's boring . i already told my friends but they all run always from this cause they scared water ... so .. some guys here who off at tuesday and come with me ? and i'll very glad to see you guys

I'll go swimming with you, if you're still interested.  I think it's good that you've learned how to swim.  Your friends should do the same.  There are TOO MANY drowning deaths in Vietnam, especially among children.  It sickens me every time I read about another death that could have been easily avoided.

I'll teach anyone how to swim and some basic survival techniques that a person can use in a water emergency.  If anyone is interested, please send me a message.

Teacher Mark,

It is great that you are taking the time to teach these young people to swim, something that the majority of them don't know how to do but desperate need.

I just hope that you don't have any tattoo on your body because, if you do, instead of worrying about the water, these kids will worry about you. 

Wild_1 wrote:

I just hope that you don't have any tattoo on your body because, if you do, instead of worrying about the water, these kids will worry about you. 

LOL haha interesting, but Mark don't worry small children can't tell the difference and older ones should be able to differ your tattoos from those of the Yakuza or Triads LOL, in case u don't have them all over your back T__T

Teacher Mark,

If my memory serves me right, it was you who had kids run away from earlier because of your blue eyes, correct?

Picture that, only this time (if you have tattoos), they will run much faster.  Some might even scream, as they run for cover. 

hi teacher mark ! it's great . !! so when you free ??

I only have one tattoo.  It's located on my rear section and it reads "Made in America, by Americans." 

No tattoos, no worries.

Great memory Wild_1.  I have green eyes though, and it's been years since I had a kid react like that!

For the record, I've only offered to teach people to swim! No takers, thus far.

My mother drowned in 1997 after an automobile accident.  Her van ended up in a river and she was unable to get out, even though she was uninjured.  She knew how to swim, but was terrified of open water, so she panicked.  Then we found out that the divers recovered her body floating in an air pocket.  She could have lived on that air alone, if she'd have known how. It would be my pleasure to teach anyone how to swim and how to get out of a situation like that.

My father taught me how to swim by throwing me in a lake and telling me to swim, which I did!

Diepbang, I've sent you a personal message.

Teacher Mark,

I am sorry to learn about your mother. 

I used to work as a Search-And-Rescue swimmer in the Navy.  It burns me everytime I hear such unfortunate stories.  It appalls me even more when I learn that there are so many Vietnamese who don't swim.  Can you imagine, all these bodies of water that they have and all those rinky-dink bridges?

But, unlike you, I like inks.  Therefore, I can't really get near a public pool here.     

So, keep pecking at it, bro.  Eventually, they will come around.  Where I live, the pool is too expensive for many; and it is the primary reason they don't show up.  You might want to look into that a little.

Best wishes,
Howie

my deepest condolence TeacherMark!

Teacher Mark wrote:

diepbang wrote:

Tuesday I Off at School So I Want to go swimming . but if i go alone it's boring . i already told my friends but they all run always from this cause they scared water ... so .. some guys here who off at tuesday and come with me ? and i'll very glad to see you guys

I'll go swimming with you, if you're still interested.  I think it's good that you've learned how to swim.  Your friends should do the same.  There are TOO MANY drowning deaths in Vietnam, especially among children.  It sickens me every time I read about another death that could have been easily avoided.

I'll teach anyone how to swim and some basic survival techniques that a person can use in a water emergency.  If anyone is interested, please send me a message.

Teacher Mark: I, too, am apalled at the drowning deaths I read in the VN news. I admire your volunteer spirit...who knows it may save a kid's life one day if he/she was educated in some of the basic survival techniques. Regards.

I also read about all the kids drowning in the mekong delta. I would love to help teach swimming classes, but worried about getting sick from the river water.. With a wet suit it should be safe enough for a weak westerner..?

Sharen,

In the river???  Don't do it, my friend, with or without the wet suit!!!  Do you know about the kind of things that go into these rivers?  Tell you what, everything.  If Vietnam had nukes, it too would have been in the rivers already.  So, for your sake and the kids', don't get into these nasty bodies of water.  Go find a pool.

Best wish,
Howie

Sure Howie, I know, But the kids don't have swimming pools. They swim and drown in the rivers.
Waiting for swimming pools to be built around the country side for this purpose will take years.

But the kids don't have swimming pools

That is the main reason why so many people don't swim here.  But, you live in HCMC, right?  There should be pools there, no?

Travel a little further, or even shell out a few more Dongs, but don't get into a Vietnamese river, Sharen.  The closer you are to the cities and the industrial zones, the more you should avoid getting into the nearby waters.

Sharen wrote:

With a wet suit it should be safe enough for a weak westerner..?
....
But the kids don't have swimming pools

Gotta love this Sharen's sense of humor. Either that or he has never been to Vietnam, or at least anyway where near a Vietnamese river and posts this from the safety of his Swedish home country.

There are pools around HCMC and I've seen kids swimming all over the Meknog Delta.  The problem would be allieviated with proper education and prevention programs.

Since I've been here there are 3 drowning stories that have occured that stick out in my mind.  I'll summarize them:

1.) 3 boys and 3 girls go for a walk along a river in the nortn.  The girls slip on the bank and fall in.  All 3 boys leap in to rescue them, manage to get the girls to shore, but are then swept away to theiur deaths.  That one was barely reported and still baffles me.

2.)  4 girls take a row boat out on a small lake.  The boat capsizes.  All 4 drown.

3.)  A family crosses a river in HCMC to visit a pagoda.  On the return trip 2 of the children become unruly and capsize the small boat.  2 adults, 2 young chuildren and 1 newborn drown.

and

4.)  A young man is on his way home from school in HCMC.  He takes a shortcut through a construction area and falls into a small retention pond, where he drowns.

Teacher Mark,

These incidents are only little tips of the iceberg.  They are often swept under the carpet because they are black eyes to the system and its leaderships.

It pisses me off every time I see money go into out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere industrial zones, while such needed public service facilities are ignored.

Just on drowning death itself, can you imagine how much of the future of this country is being sunk daily?

Coincidently we also need a coach here, Ecolake, Binh Duong. Wondering u could spend time teaching us?

swimvietnam.com