Being busy makes me a very lazy blogger. Ah well, we can't have everything.
Things that have happened in the last week and a half...
First, last night I was woken up at 11:30 with these words: 'Lizzie, the police are here'. Apparently, since we are still in the process of getting things together to register in our apartment with the police (something all foreigners must do), they came around for a 'routine check' at nearly midnight on a Wednesday. We gave the group of four men in various uniform dress our passports and visas, then waited around until they had finished marveling at the eagles and things decorating them. It was a very interesting encounter. I'd have taken a picture to commemorate the event, but it's illegal to photograph the police. Don't ask, i have no idea.
Speaking of irritating issues with the VN police, our sing-along night has to be delayed due to the shelter's inability to get a permit from them in time for the weekend. I am very confused about the way things work here, and have no idea why you would need a permit for a sing-along, though I suspect it has something to do with foreigners entering shelters. Who knows. The police/government are a complete mystery to me. They get stranger at every turn.
I got a (very) part time job doing voice over work for a financial and banking TV station. The pay is basically symbolic, as I don't know if it would even pay for a night out on the town, but I figure it sounds cool and why not? I've only done one session, but I now know all about VN gold bullion, plans for the national coffee trade, and all about old buildings in Hanoi that don't meet street codes. It's a very interesting experience, and really takes very little of my time. But, I get to spend a good half hour in a tiny studio reading from scripts into a microphone, then sit outside and wait for the producer to cut to satisfaction. At the end of my first session, she told me 'it wasn't that bad'. Still not used to Vietnamese bluntness. Hoping it will thicken my skin and not break my spirit. The people don't really seem to mind; during a game of 'change chairs' in one of my classes, one kid goes 'change chairs if you are fat'. A handful of admittedly fat kids stood up, including girls (10-12 year olds, mind you), and when one kid didn't stand up, everyone yelled at him until he did. The thing is, no one seemed bothered by it in the first place. Could you imagine a group of American kids being ok with that?
Heading to the US in 2 weeks, and I get to spend a whole day's layover in Japan. My first time in Japan, and I have already been advised by multiple people to not leave the airport. All I have to say is, I hope it's a freakin sweet airport. Maybe some interesting vending machines/those weird cubicle hotel room things. Who knows what I may find.
We bought a convection oven the other day, so can now make things like a normal western household. The other day Tracey made us a lovely roast pork with steamed veggies (so much better than boiling veg!) and even a nice english gravy. Sometimes living with Brits is quite nice. I now really feel like i live here.
We found a delightful market quite close to our building last week, and you can buy literally anything you want-clothes, fruit, shoes, kitchen supplies, towels, vegetables, meat, fish (located right next to the river, so in the morning they just unload from the river to the market), dry goods, etc. Having a lovely time exploring my new digs.
We got more TV channels, so I can now sit and get just as depressed watching the world news as I could back home in the good ol' USA.
Time to take a nap.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
An eventful week!
First off, can I just say how amazing it is having a maid? Think about all of the problems you've ever had with various roommates, and you will realize most of them have to do with cleanliness or picking up after oneself. With a maid, all of those problems are alleviated, and if anything goes missing, you have a built in scapegoat. That said, I don't know if I will ever fit in enough with the rich expats to actually be a bitch to my maid. Maybe if I stay here long enough.
This past week was one of firsts: I painted my first ceiling, took my first Vietnamese class and got my first 24-hour bug. Very exciting. In addition, I made my first household purchases, including a comforter (very thin, considering I live in the tropics), a pillow, hangers and a peeler. Also some candles, seeing as there are frequent power outages. Part of the whole developing-world package.
On Wednesday night I went to the monthly Future Shorts showing, the short film festival that is put on by Tracey's friend Sophie. It was held at this great cafe in District 2, which sounds close to the city center but is actually at the ass-end of nowhere. My xe om driver got lost, and the trip took a good 45 minutes. The cafe kind of looks like a hippie commune; there are furniture swaps in the front, and the back is a thatch-ish covered patio, complete with a sandy playground with a mini-hut and jungle gym. I was quite pleased sitting on the overstuffed couches and talking to new people from various places around the globe, each with their own history. All around a very nice night.
Thursday was a very busy day for me. It started out with my first Vietnamese lesson. Apollo has hired a Vietnamese woman named Mai to teach whichever staff would like to learn some VN. Mai is a hardass teacher is all I have to say. We felt a bit bad for her to begin with, as teaching a group of teachers can't be an easy task. She ended up schooling us, and now I've signed up for a class that makes me stay late if I don't do my homework or don't remember the material from the last class. If we fail our test, she tells our boss on us. On the bright side, hopefully it will make me learn enough Vietnamese to haggle over prices. After class, I went with a few other teachers to paint the house of a family in need. Their living quarters were really awful, so we cleaned them up and painted the house. The family is a grandmother taking care of her 3 granddaughters whose parents have both died of AIDS. The girls were at school while I was there, but the grandmother was present, and it was really nice to see how happy we made her. I got to paint the ceiling, which was a difficult job involving attaching a roller to a long bamboo stick and trying not to hit anyone in the process. The room is about 6x10 feet, so it was a bit hard to maneuver. I did feel pretty cool, though. Later in the evening, I met with my little sister and we made friendship bracelets. None of the little sisters had ever made them, so it was a good time. To finish off my charity-filled day, I went to a fundraising concert with some teachers at a coffee house. The music kind of sucked (think early 2000s soft rock), but we got some cake and a light beer thrown into the mix, which ended up being my only alcoholic beverage on St. Patricks Day. Since there are only 2 Irish pubs in the city, I wasn't looking forward to standing crammed into a tiny bar with various people throwing up on my shoes and not being able to hear anyone. I was also tired, so decided to be lame and went to bed early.
Speaking of St. Patricks day, I had a blast trying to explain the holiday to a bunch of 9 year olds. Since I didn't want to highlight the copious drinking associated with it, I focused on the wearing-green-or-being-pinched aspect. They found that to be really strange. Then again, considering it's perfectly acceptable in this society to pick your nose in public, I don't take much of what they say too seriously.
On Saturday night I fell ill with the plague that has been going around work, and spent the next 16 or so hours in agony and missing my Sunday classes. It was very dramatic and I took the opportunity to make people lavish sympathy on me. Got some quality time in with the couch and my roommate Lauren, not to mention my new bathroom. I made myself get up and teach my afternoon class (you don't get paid unless you actually teach; surprising how that affects my attendance at work), and felt well enough to go to my friend Tibor's going away party for an hour or 2 in the evening. There were copious amounts of good food, but I kept myself on a tight leash so as not to upset the precarious state of my stomach.
There's a massage place around the corner from our apartment which charges 80,000 VND for an hour's massage (roughly 4 dollars). It's pretty great. Plan on spending a lot of time there. And no, it isn't gross or creepy.
At some point I will get around to taking some pictures of my apartment. It's pretty great. If only we can get our maid to tow the line.
This past week was one of firsts: I painted my first ceiling, took my first Vietnamese class and got my first 24-hour bug. Very exciting. In addition, I made my first household purchases, including a comforter (very thin, considering I live in the tropics), a pillow, hangers and a peeler. Also some candles, seeing as there are frequent power outages. Part of the whole developing-world package.
On Wednesday night I went to the monthly Future Shorts showing, the short film festival that is put on by Tracey's friend Sophie. It was held at this great cafe in District 2, which sounds close to the city center but is actually at the ass-end of nowhere. My xe om driver got lost, and the trip took a good 45 minutes. The cafe kind of looks like a hippie commune; there are furniture swaps in the front, and the back is a thatch-ish covered patio, complete with a sandy playground with a mini-hut and jungle gym. I was quite pleased sitting on the overstuffed couches and talking to new people from various places around the globe, each with their own history. All around a very nice night.
Thursday was a very busy day for me. It started out with my first Vietnamese lesson. Apollo has hired a Vietnamese woman named Mai to teach whichever staff would like to learn some VN. Mai is a hardass teacher is all I have to say. We felt a bit bad for her to begin with, as teaching a group of teachers can't be an easy task. She ended up schooling us, and now I've signed up for a class that makes me stay late if I don't do my homework or don't remember the material from the last class. If we fail our test, she tells our boss on us. On the bright side, hopefully it will make me learn enough Vietnamese to haggle over prices. After class, I went with a few other teachers to paint the house of a family in need. Their living quarters were really awful, so we cleaned them up and painted the house. The family is a grandmother taking care of her 3 granddaughters whose parents have both died of AIDS. The girls were at school while I was there, but the grandmother was present, and it was really nice to see how happy we made her. I got to paint the ceiling, which was a difficult job involving attaching a roller to a long bamboo stick and trying not to hit anyone in the process. The room is about 6x10 feet, so it was a bit hard to maneuver. I did feel pretty cool, though. Later in the evening, I met with my little sister and we made friendship bracelets. None of the little sisters had ever made them, so it was a good time. To finish off my charity-filled day, I went to a fundraising concert with some teachers at a coffee house. The music kind of sucked (think early 2000s soft rock), but we got some cake and a light beer thrown into the mix, which ended up being my only alcoholic beverage on St. Patricks Day. Since there are only 2 Irish pubs in the city, I wasn't looking forward to standing crammed into a tiny bar with various people throwing up on my shoes and not being able to hear anyone. I was also tired, so decided to be lame and went to bed early.
Speaking of St. Patricks day, I had a blast trying to explain the holiday to a bunch of 9 year olds. Since I didn't want to highlight the copious drinking associated with it, I focused on the wearing-green-or-being-pinched aspect. They found that to be really strange. Then again, considering it's perfectly acceptable in this society to pick your nose in public, I don't take much of what they say too seriously.
On Saturday night I fell ill with the plague that has been going around work, and spent the next 16 or so hours in agony and missing my Sunday classes. It was very dramatic and I took the opportunity to make people lavish sympathy on me. Got some quality time in with the couch and my roommate Lauren, not to mention my new bathroom. I made myself get up and teach my afternoon class (you don't get paid unless you actually teach; surprising how that affects my attendance at work), and felt well enough to go to my friend Tibor's going away party for an hour or 2 in the evening. There were copious amounts of good food, but I kept myself on a tight leash so as not to upset the precarious state of my stomach.
There's a massage place around the corner from our apartment which charges 80,000 VND for an hour's massage (roughly 4 dollars). It's pretty great. Plan on spending a lot of time there. And no, it isn't gross or creepy.
At some point I will get around to taking some pictures of my apartment. It's pretty great. If only we can get our maid to tow the line.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Almost adjusted, but I'm no xe-om driver
I cannot believe it's halfway through March. I have no idea how the time has flown so quickly. Probably has something to do with the fact that I now have more to do every day than eat knockoff oreos in bed, watching really bad American TV and fiddling with the AC incessantly. At any rate, most of my time is spent in a classroom with crazy children, which is alternately super fun and the most exasperating thing you have ever encountered.
I moved last Tuesday, which started out very irritating, and ended up quite well. My previous digs were located down a very narrow alley, which would not allow for a taxi. So, I found myself dragging 5 bags in various shapes and sizes down a long and heavily populated alley. My next door neighbor took pity on me, and helped. It turned out fine, because my apartment is really quite nice, although not as nice as it could be, as our maid doesn't begin until tomorrow. Thats right, we have a maid. She comes 3 times a week, does cleaning and even laundry and ironing. Price tag: 1 million VND, or roughly $50 per month. Split 3 ways. I feel kind of guilty (thank you agnostic Catholic upbringing), but also TELL me you would not go for that if given the opportunity.
My roommates are great, the apartment is spacious and bright, and our fishtank is full of painted fish. Yes, we have a fishtank AND fish, and they are painted nonetheless. They keep dying; we think it might have to do with the paint. at any rate, it looks pretty badass. The kitchen is in existence, which in and of itself beats my past housing situation. It is quite attractive, and we may get a little toaster oven! NO one has ovens in this country, probably due to the insanely hot weather.
Doing some charity work, finally. Had my first meeting with my little sister, a disadvantaged teen I was matched with through the Apollo Little Sisters program. We will meet once a wee and do various things, giving us time to hang out. Trying to get involved in some other stuff; this Thursday a group of teachers will go paint and decorate the new house being built for a poor family afflicted with HIV. Small things, but glad I'm at least doing something.
Basically getting used to the new schedule, the strain on my voice, the new apartment. Legitimate social life to follow, though I have some plans to take VN cooking lessons, and we may be starting a music group at Apollo for some kids at a shelter. AND free VN lessons courtesy of Apollo start this Thursday. Added to my voice lesson-giving ( I have 2 students! and feel like a complete fraud, as I can't even play chopsticks. by a long shot.) I think I'll have a decently full schedule.
Pictures to come. Its pretty insane, we live in a really nice, almost western apartment, and literally a stone's throw away is a row of shoddy riverside shacks. Will make for some really depressing photographs. Tracey and I went exploring our neighborhood a bit today, and we found so many interesting things. It's just so Asian. Shop after shop of semi-outdoor stores, mostly selling mass produced knockoffs, but with knockoff prices. street vendors selling fruit or banh mi (VN sandwiches), cafes sprawling out into the streets, people on bicycles and motorbikes swerving around the pedestrians, though there are fewer of us than might be expected. Quick note on our stereotype of Asian drivers: after you've lived here for a bit, you see that though they technically have driving laws and regulations, they are very rarely enforced, with the exception of the occasional need for bribery. People just kind of move with the other fish in the sea, and take things like traffic lights more like guidelines rather than actual rules. At any rate, I totally get how one learning to drive in this environment would make just the worst driver in the history of the world. Not an excuse, just an observation.
We have a little grocery store on our ground floor. It's really tiny, but super cheap. Doesn't sell everything ( though I did buy supplies for my first-ever stir fry cooking in Vietnam), but I must say the selection of Asian ice cream bars is excellent. Those ice creams are enough for one of those 'sometimes I love Asia' moments. I have a lot of opposite moments as well, and several 'Whoa, I'm sitting in a traffic jam on a street swarming with motorbikes in the middle of Saigon' moments, which can lead to some really deep moments.
Alright, time to go to bed, as I teach partnership at 7:30 tomorrow. Thank god it's not my 1st graders, or someone might die.
I moved last Tuesday, which started out very irritating, and ended up quite well. My previous digs were located down a very narrow alley, which would not allow for a taxi. So, I found myself dragging 5 bags in various shapes and sizes down a long and heavily populated alley. My next door neighbor took pity on me, and helped. It turned out fine, because my apartment is really quite nice, although not as nice as it could be, as our maid doesn't begin until tomorrow. Thats right, we have a maid. She comes 3 times a week, does cleaning and even laundry and ironing. Price tag: 1 million VND, or roughly $50 per month. Split 3 ways. I feel kind of guilty (thank you agnostic Catholic upbringing), but also TELL me you would not go for that if given the opportunity.
My roommates are great, the apartment is spacious and bright, and our fishtank is full of painted fish. Yes, we have a fishtank AND fish, and they are painted nonetheless. They keep dying; we think it might have to do with the paint. at any rate, it looks pretty badass. The kitchen is in existence, which in and of itself beats my past housing situation. It is quite attractive, and we may get a little toaster oven! NO one has ovens in this country, probably due to the insanely hot weather.
Doing some charity work, finally. Had my first meeting with my little sister, a disadvantaged teen I was matched with through the Apollo Little Sisters program. We will meet once a wee and do various things, giving us time to hang out. Trying to get involved in some other stuff; this Thursday a group of teachers will go paint and decorate the new house being built for a poor family afflicted with HIV. Small things, but glad I'm at least doing something.
Basically getting used to the new schedule, the strain on my voice, the new apartment. Legitimate social life to follow, though I have some plans to take VN cooking lessons, and we may be starting a music group at Apollo for some kids at a shelter. AND free VN lessons courtesy of Apollo start this Thursday. Added to my voice lesson-giving ( I have 2 students! and feel like a complete fraud, as I can't even play chopsticks. by a long shot.) I think I'll have a decently full schedule.
Pictures to come. Its pretty insane, we live in a really nice, almost western apartment, and literally a stone's throw away is a row of shoddy riverside shacks. Will make for some really depressing photographs. Tracey and I went exploring our neighborhood a bit today, and we found so many interesting things. It's just so Asian. Shop after shop of semi-outdoor stores, mostly selling mass produced knockoffs, but with knockoff prices. street vendors selling fruit or banh mi (VN sandwiches), cafes sprawling out into the streets, people on bicycles and motorbikes swerving around the pedestrians, though there are fewer of us than might be expected. Quick note on our stereotype of Asian drivers: after you've lived here for a bit, you see that though they technically have driving laws and regulations, they are very rarely enforced, with the exception of the occasional need for bribery. People just kind of move with the other fish in the sea, and take things like traffic lights more like guidelines rather than actual rules. At any rate, I totally get how one learning to drive in this environment would make just the worst driver in the history of the world. Not an excuse, just an observation.
We have a little grocery store on our ground floor. It's really tiny, but super cheap. Doesn't sell everything ( though I did buy supplies for my first-ever stir fry cooking in Vietnam), but I must say the selection of Asian ice cream bars is excellent. Those ice creams are enough for one of those 'sometimes I love Asia' moments. I have a lot of opposite moments as well, and several 'Whoa, I'm sitting in a traffic jam on a street swarming with motorbikes in the middle of Saigon' moments, which can lead to some really deep moments.
Alright, time to go to bed, as I teach partnership at 7:30 tomorrow. Thank god it's not my 1st graders, or someone might die.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Ah, Vietnamese school
I move into my new apartment tomorrow! So excited to be a real person; what with living in a tiny room by myself, I feel like a squatter. Or like a college student in a dorm room. However you think of it, I'm basically not a real person yet. Finally realizing this is real life now. As much as it can be working esl in Vietnam, but I'm not a student anymore and apparently one should live somewhere larger than the size of a walk in closet.
This weekend was pandemonium, but not too bad. Already hating my 'flyer' class, which I have at 7:45 in the morning, and consists of sullen pre-teens who are probably pissed about having to go to school on the weekend. I don't really blame them for that, but I really do envy the Vietnamese teachers who can use corporal punishment on their students, instilling fear and thus creating a serene learning environment for the teacher.
Just found out some interesting and really depressing things about VN schools: you have to pay to go to even the public schools. In WHAT communist country do families have to pay for elementary education? Also, the children I teach in the 'public' schools have paid more money in order to take english lessons from foreign teachers. I just find the whole thing to be wrong, but its not like I'm gonna quit so I guess I'll just live with it. And really try to do as much charity work as I possibly can. Christ, this country.
I've had way less time to spend with my Vietnamese friends, which is a bummer. Chinh had a birthday party on Sunday, and Fran and I stopped by for a bit. The food buffet was amazing, and sadly we had to leave before the 3 cakes were cut. On the upside, there were about 100 people in attendance, most of whom were creepy middle-to-late-aged men who speak broken english but try to have a 20 minute conversation with you anyway, and end up inviting you to live in their apartment. Actually has happened to me.
To all the women out there, Happy Women's Day!!! It's quite a big deal here. One of my students brought me in a huge thing of flowers yesterday for the occasion. Seeing as she is only 8 I assume it was her mother's idea, but it made my day nonetheless. Ladies, do something nice for yourselves!
This weekend was pandemonium, but not too bad. Already hating my 'flyer' class, which I have at 7:45 in the morning, and consists of sullen pre-teens who are probably pissed about having to go to school on the weekend. I don't really blame them for that, but I really do envy the Vietnamese teachers who can use corporal punishment on their students, instilling fear and thus creating a serene learning environment for the teacher.
Just found out some interesting and really depressing things about VN schools: you have to pay to go to even the public schools. In WHAT communist country do families have to pay for elementary education? Also, the children I teach in the 'public' schools have paid more money in order to take english lessons from foreign teachers. I just find the whole thing to be wrong, but its not like I'm gonna quit so I guess I'll just live with it. And really try to do as much charity work as I possibly can. Christ, this country.
I've had way less time to spend with my Vietnamese friends, which is a bummer. Chinh had a birthday party on Sunday, and Fran and I stopped by for a bit. The food buffet was amazing, and sadly we had to leave before the 3 cakes were cut. On the upside, there were about 100 people in attendance, most of whom were creepy middle-to-late-aged men who speak broken english but try to have a 20 minute conversation with you anyway, and end up inviting you to live in their apartment. Actually has happened to me.
To all the women out there, Happy Women's Day!!! It's quite a big deal here. One of my students brought me in a huge thing of flowers yesterday for the occasion. Seeing as she is only 8 I assume it was her mother's idea, but it made my day nonetheless. Ladies, do something nice for yourselves!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
New developments
It has been a while since my last post. Which is good, actually, because I finally have some semblance of a real life and a full work schedule. I feel almost like a real person, but then I look at my schedule and realize how weird it is.
Taught my first weekend day on Sunday. It was intense, but not too bad. I inherited a terrorizing class of kids around age 11. I was advised to go in and be mean so they know they can't get away with anything. So, I was very strict, made one of the bad kids cry, then put him in the corner. I had to give a test, and told them if they cheated I would rip up their tests, and demonstrated for effect. It worked, and although I probably have a handful of preteen Vietnamese children who hate me, at least they wont walk all over me.
The weekends are insane, and although they are jam-packed with last-minute lesson planning, photocopying and VN coffee chugging, there is enough camaraderie to almost make up for the insanity. Since I'm not quite used to planning for 6 2-hr lessons in a 48 hr period, I've been spending most of my non-teaching time attempting to plan for the upcoming weekend marathon. Luckily, I'm liking my coworkers more and more each day. On Sunday we had a huge going-away party for 3 staff members who are leaving. It was held at a local bar, and most of the staff attended, including our Vietnamese TAs. Our charity organizer (and my new roomie Tracey) cooked up a slave-auction scheme, so we spent a good hour selling various employees to the highest bidder. They have to spend 1 hour doing whatever the buyer asks (minus lesson planning and teaching their classes). We raised 13 million VD, which is almost $700. People were pretty drunk, so I guess they bid higher than expected. It was really nice having a huge work party that was fun and easy. No pressure, no strange power dynamics, just a bunch of people getting drunk together. Apparently that's just how the ESL teachers are. I like it.
As previously hinted at, I found an apartment! Will finally be moving out of my one small room with no kitchen and a shared bathroom/wetroom. I'm living in a highrise apartment (not my first choice, but amazing security ensures we wont be robbed), in a great 3-bedroom close to downtown, for a really decent rate. Housing is SO reasonable here. Living with Tracey, with whom I work, and Lauren, fresh off the plane from New Jersey and working as an editor here. Very pleased. Now I just have to actually move. Not excited.
Starting next week, I will begin meeting with my little sister, an underprivileged teenage girl who wants a chance to practice english. It's a small time commitment, only a few hours once a week. I'm pleased to be finally starting some charity work. Tomorrow I will also help out with an Apollo-sponsored Ladies' night on Thurs/Fri, in honor of International Women's Day on March 8th. Apparently, most other countries in the world celebrate this holiday, but not America. Interesting. Definitely something I can get on board with. Looking forward to doing a lot more with the charity organizations. Since I will be living with the charity organizer, I feel like it might be an easy thing to accomplish.
It's funny how teaching so much is similar to singing all the time; I get a hoarse voice quite often. Will have to get into a rhythm so I'm not sick all the time. Don't think the pollution helps at all.
hmmmmm...what else?
-rich Asians have no problem eating endangered species. I was actually told that worrying about endangered species is a 'western' thing. It's really hard to not judge a culture that thinks in this manner, and I'm not even that into animals.
-still amazed at the number of meals you can get here for a dollar. Pho, meat/veg/rice combos with iced tea included, even mediterranean pitas that deliver for free.
-speaking of delivery, all restaurants deliver for free. Many also allow orders via text, which can be a godsend to those of us whose Vietnamese is less than stellar.
-obtained a VN language book. Now I just have to find the time and drive to study my own new language whilst teaching a new language to children 23 hours a week. BTW, I teach solely children between the ages of 6-12. Christ.
Will try my best to stay updated with the blog!
Taught my first weekend day on Sunday. It was intense, but not too bad. I inherited a terrorizing class of kids around age 11. I was advised to go in and be mean so they know they can't get away with anything. So, I was very strict, made one of the bad kids cry, then put him in the corner. I had to give a test, and told them if they cheated I would rip up their tests, and demonstrated for effect. It worked, and although I probably have a handful of preteen Vietnamese children who hate me, at least they wont walk all over me.
The weekends are insane, and although they are jam-packed with last-minute lesson planning, photocopying and VN coffee chugging, there is enough camaraderie to almost make up for the insanity. Since I'm not quite used to planning for 6 2-hr lessons in a 48 hr period, I've been spending most of my non-teaching time attempting to plan for the upcoming weekend marathon. Luckily, I'm liking my coworkers more and more each day. On Sunday we had a huge going-away party for 3 staff members who are leaving. It was held at a local bar, and most of the staff attended, including our Vietnamese TAs. Our charity organizer (and my new roomie Tracey) cooked up a slave-auction scheme, so we spent a good hour selling various employees to the highest bidder. They have to spend 1 hour doing whatever the buyer asks (minus lesson planning and teaching their classes). We raised 13 million VD, which is almost $700. People were pretty drunk, so I guess they bid higher than expected. It was really nice having a huge work party that was fun and easy. No pressure, no strange power dynamics, just a bunch of people getting drunk together. Apparently that's just how the ESL teachers are. I like it.
As previously hinted at, I found an apartment! Will finally be moving out of my one small room with no kitchen and a shared bathroom/wetroom. I'm living in a highrise apartment (not my first choice, but amazing security ensures we wont be robbed), in a great 3-bedroom close to downtown, for a really decent rate. Housing is SO reasonable here. Living with Tracey, with whom I work, and Lauren, fresh off the plane from New Jersey and working as an editor here. Very pleased. Now I just have to actually move. Not excited.
Starting next week, I will begin meeting with my little sister, an underprivileged teenage girl who wants a chance to practice english. It's a small time commitment, only a few hours once a week. I'm pleased to be finally starting some charity work. Tomorrow I will also help out with an Apollo-sponsored Ladies' night on Thurs/Fri, in honor of International Women's Day on March 8th. Apparently, most other countries in the world celebrate this holiday, but not America. Interesting. Definitely something I can get on board with. Looking forward to doing a lot more with the charity organizations. Since I will be living with the charity organizer, I feel like it might be an easy thing to accomplish.
It's funny how teaching so much is similar to singing all the time; I get a hoarse voice quite often. Will have to get into a rhythm so I'm not sick all the time. Don't think the pollution helps at all.
hmmmmm...what else?
-rich Asians have no problem eating endangered species. I was actually told that worrying about endangered species is a 'western' thing. It's really hard to not judge a culture that thinks in this manner, and I'm not even that into animals.
-still amazed at the number of meals you can get here for a dollar. Pho, meat/veg/rice combos with iced tea included, even mediterranean pitas that deliver for free.
-speaking of delivery, all restaurants deliver for free. Many also allow orders via text, which can be a godsend to those of us whose Vietnamese is less than stellar.
-obtained a VN language book. Now I just have to find the time and drive to study my own new language whilst teaching a new language to children 23 hours a week. BTW, I teach solely children between the ages of 6-12. Christ.
Will try my best to stay updated with the blog!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)