"I've got a guy for that." ... "oh, they have that at _______." ... "I know how to get there." I can say that now about certain things and it's super exciting. Now that school is full swing, I've started developing a new "routine" and getting comfortable with my life and how things work here in Hanoi.
Thanks to my roommate, I now have a "juice guy." Also no English but he has a price chart and can kind of understand my bad pronunciation of the fruit juice I'm ordering. Chanh leo (passion fruit) juice is AMAZING! Though this afternoon, I thought I'd branch out and also get some tao (apple) juice . . . I don't think I said it right and ended up with, well, not apple juice . . . not sure what it was but it was alright I think. Imagine if celery and an apple had a baby . . . the taste was semi-familiar but no idea what it was. If you know, please share. Officially rented a motorbike yesterday from a guy named Quan (officially deemed my "motorbike guy"). Less than $50/month, maintenance included. I got up at like 5:30 this morning to drive it on mostly empty streets . . . I've shown you how bad traffic gets . . . I'm not ready for that yet. But feeling comfortable driving around the neighborhood (minimal traffic). Hopefully, I'll drive to school later this week and brave rush hour on the way back.
After my ride, I walked to meet our carpool group (we all got motorbikes from Quan ... he's a popular guy). Stopped by a lady with what I thought were banh bao (steamed buns/dumplings). I'd tried a bite of Laura's taro bun last week and it was pretty good so I thought I'd try to find it on my street . . . Doi Can has SO MUCH STUFF on it. Anyways ... it wasn't a banh bao as I had thought but just a steamed roll I guess. Still delicious. I also got chanh leo juice from her . . . not as good as my juice guy's unfortunately. Yes, I now have opinions on who has the better juice. But long story short, I got breakfast for super cheap (13,000 VND or about $0.56). Vietnamese lessons have started every Saturday. Some of us are doing small group lessons with a lady named Tram. Board game night is Tuesday at The Nest in Old Quarter with a Couchsurfing group so I'm meeting new people each time I go ... which has only been twice but I'm trying to make it a regular thing. There's only one place to do aerial silks in Hanoi but I've been going once or twice a week. Not as difficult/demanding as the classes in Atlanta but it's nice to still keep that routine. I've started talking with the teacher I see most (Trang) and had a conversation with another American expat who's been in all the same classes as me. So yea, I'm settling in, figuring things out. It's not as scary since I got over the "what if I go try it alone and they don't understand what I'm trying to ask/say?" . . . It'll be fine, whatever. Khong sao (no problem). Very excited for this adventure. Oh and Independence Day is next weekend (American Labor Day). Got a trip planned to Ninh Binh with some other teachers from work. Super excited!
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The last week and a half has been one very long blur. Teachers are back to school (kids next week) and we're all on information overload with mile long to-do lists. So these are just some ramblings I have: - I have now had Vietnamese street food. My roommate Sinead took us (all of us that live in the house) to a pho bo (beef pho) stall. No I did not eat beef. I had pho khong thit or pho chay (pho no meat or vegetarian pho) which was still pretty tasty. So I have now sat on the infamous tiny plastic stools on the sidewalk. It was great fun. - Second roommate outing was to chicken street. Yes, chicken street. The chicken was absolutely delicious as were the potatoes and honey banh mi. It probably would have taken me months (if ever) to get to these types of places. So glad I went with roommates instead of my own apartment. - Nap time is serious business here. I walked out of my classroom to go downstairs and see these guys just napping on the tile floor. *Disclaimer: I am in no way, shape, or form a good photographer ... please forgive the quality of the pictures in this post - The mattress and bed frame seen behind the mini-van . . . those are being transported via motorbike . . . I'm fully convinced that the Vietnamese can use a motorbike the way Americans use a U-haul truck. - That adorable face is Groot who belongs to one of my roommates. Super adorable as you can see and very friendly. I have 3 roommates by the way (Sinead - British, Axey - British, and Diana - French) who are all pretty cool people. Descriptions of school stuff as seen in pictures (top left -->bottom right)
1. Outside of the school. We've got 4 buildings, lots of stairs, AC in the classrooms but not the hallways. Each subject basically has a floor to themselves. 2-3. My classroom setup currently. Biggest class right now is 19. Smallest is 15. I can confidently pronounce about 4 of my student's names right now ... mostly because they're my non-Asian students ... nothing like international teaching to make you feel really dumb and a bit unintentionally racist :( 4. Wonderful anime-esque panda bear mural which came with my classroom. Hasn't haunted my dreams yet but we'll see. I'll keep him for now. 5-6. My "feel good" space by my desk. Various student, colleague, and friend gift trinkets. |
ShannonMath Teacher living and working in Hanoi, Vietnam Archives
February 2022
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