SeptemberWent on a day trip to Tam Dao with Steven. Last year when we went to the bear sanctuary, we saw a castle on the hill. Of course it's Vietnam so that was strange. Anyways, we finally went back to the actual town to check it out. The castle is still not open yet but it's there. Tam Dao is a nice little French-ish mountain village. We were the only two white people there (as far as we could tell) and so everyone liked to point that out. While walking to see the waterfall, we had at least a dozen exclamations of "Tây!" (westerner). I finally started responding "Vâng, Tây" (yes, westerner) ... got many shocked faces for that one. Walking through the park in town, a few of the kids wanted pictures with us too. I'm sure we're all over Vietnamese Instagram now ... The other "odd" thing about Tam Dao was the number of wedding photos being taken. No joke, we saw at least 15 different couples taking wedding pics. And at least 3 public costume changes. It's a gorgeous place to do it ... just why so many on one day? NovemberSchool Trip with Grade 11 to Hoa Binh Province: - Stayed one day at La Ferme Eco Resort outside of Hoa Binh city. Did an irrigation challenge using bamboo and orienteering challenge around the local countryside (only compass and written directions). Saw some beautiful countryside. Good team building exercises for the students. Next couple of days were spent in the village of Da Bia on the Hoa Binh Reservoir. Had to take a 3 hour ferry across the lake to get there. The village only has like 40 people. We took up 3 of their homestays and doubled the population while we were there. The students did an 11 km bike ride in the country side (promptly fell into napping puddles on the boat back to the village) and did a raft building challenge over the course of two days. We also enjoyed a traditional dance show (combined with our "talent" show). Lots of good food, not much cell phone signal so the kids actually had to talk to each other, more good team building. Overall a great trip.
Thanksgiving in Vietnam: As an American School, we had a half day, then long weekend. Our half day consisted of a 5k Turkey Trot. I was on water station duty with one of the parents. She brought me a Korean carrot juice. It was weird. (I do like fresh carrot juice, but this one was a) not fresh and b) just kind of odd tasting) Did Friendsgiving at Justin's with a few people. He and I were the only Americans then a Brit and 4 Vietnamese friends. Managed to get a turkey and stuffing. We made the rest of the traditional sides. Thanksgiving Long Weekend: Me, Liz, Justin, and Steven make the trip to Ban Gioc Waterfall on the border of Vietnam and China. This was the main reason I moved out of the house early - so I could go on this trip. Did the waterfall, local pagoda, and cave that Ho Chi Minh hid out in for a while on one day. Not pictured: the ponies at the waterfall. Not sure why this was decided as a photo op but there were 5 or 6 ponies that you could pay to have your picture taken on in front of the waterfall. The one Liz decided to do came with a cowboy hat and toy gun. Did the boat ride up to the waterfall. Temporarily in China on the way back to shore. We went local walking street night market which was cool. Lots of games to play including mancala on giant mats on the ground. I think we played differently than the Vietnamese do. They gathered around to watch us for a bit and I understood enough to know we weren't following their game rules. Massive jump ropes ... even the older people were joining in. If you've never seen a like 70 year old man jump rope with a giant grin on his face ... magical moment. Tried some local food on our host's recommendation. Some kind of duck meat in a thick rice flour batter and deep fried. Holy f***ing shit ... amazing. 10/10 would take the 6 hour twisty car ride to get back to Cao Bang for that dish alone. Also tried duck phở ... less impressed but still good. DecemberWinter Break trip to Phu Quoc Island Went with Sinead to Phu Quoc (south of Ho Chi Minh City) for 5 days. Spent every day on a different beach. Played a lot of monopoly deal and speed (card game). Tried lots of good food including Mi Quang (pictured below) and some random Korean dishes. Had the world's worst rum ... tasted like someone dumped a 5 lb bag of sugar into a normal bottle of rum. We mixed it with other stuff and drank it anyways. Facts we learned about starfish while at Starfish Beach: - they will suffocate to death within 3-5 minutes of being out of water - they often die of stress from too much handling ... so don't hold a starfish to get your pictures!! - starfish can eject their stomach outside of their bodies, envelop their food, digest it outside of their body, then pull their stomach back inside - gonads of starfish are housed on their legs ... starfish can have up to 40 legs Beaches: Sao Beach - Instagram-able swings in the water Sunset Santano Beach - sculptures and sunset Starfish Beach - starfish (obviously) Pineapple Island - part of the Sunworld resort on the other end of the cable car; hammocks Christmas in Hanoi: Good food, good friends. 3 day event. Had to make two trips to Hattie's house (hosting) to take pre-prepared food, ingredients for rest of dishes, and the oven to cook stuff in. Played "pass the parcel" for the first time. Card games, drinking games, lots of conversation. Overall success. Other Happenings:International New Year's: grilling party dinner at Justin's then back to my apartment. Looked at phone, it was 11:45. Looked at phone again, it was 12:15. Slept through midnight. I bought a bicycle off someone on Facebook. Great investment I'd say. Been biking to do my more local errands and just for fun/exercise. Still can't run or do Zumba yet (achilles/calf issues ... long story ... I'll be fine) so the bike has been helping.
Sometime in late December or early January, started going to language exchange meetups on Saturday afternoons. Reading and writing Vietnamese is easier for me but I knew I really need to work on my speaking and listening. Once I know someone, they can understand my pronunciation and I can understand theirs (usually) but conversing with new people has been frustrating in Vietnamese. So I decided to do something about it. It's been very educational and a great way to meet new people. Tet Celebrations - chúc mừng năm mới!
Tet, Lunar New Years, was couple days ago. In Vietnam, it's the biggest holiday of the year. Most people have at least 5 days off of work to go visit family (về quê) and celebrate. The city basically shuts down for a few days but some of the major chains and western owned businesses stay open. In the weeks leading up to Tet, it's super amusing ... pomelo, kumquat, and tangerine trees line the streets for sale, cherry blossom branches, banh chung, and live chickens must be purchased (all of these things can be (and are) transported by motorbike ... yes, even trees). New clothes as gifts for children, no sweeping the house for a few days (removes the luck), and washing of motorbikes. Beer, rice wine and lucky money. It truly a magical time in Vietnam. This year, it rained cats and dogs ... bordering on typhoon type weather on new years eve ... me, Sinead, and Renate braved the weather (during a lull of course) to go out and celebrate. We made it to the Old Quarter, had some drinks while waiting for the next wave of the storm to pass and gathered on the street with thousands of our closest friends to watch the fireworks at midnight. Luckily the weather cleared up in time for the fireworks. Returned home by 3:30 am and nursed our hangovers the next day. I'm now off for the next week. No big plans except some brunches and bike riding in the calmer version of Hanoi. Hence, time to update you all on my life. In case I haven't mentioned it to you personally, I have signed on to stay another year here in Hanoi. #theadventurecontinues
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ShannonMath Teacher living and working in Hanoi, Vietnam Archives
February 2022
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