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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Airport ShenanigansNoi Bai International Airport Terminal: 140k VND for a bowl of phở . . . that's extortionate . . . you should be ashamed. . . For reference, expensive "meh" phở in the city is like 70k. Good street phở is like 30k. AirAsia: Cancelled original flight (this was a few weeks before the trip) and automatically rebooked us on the flight the day after we were supposed to leave . . . aka the day we were supposed to start rafting. 2 online support service sessions later, we're rebooked on the correct day but a longer flight going through Bangkok (not direct anymore). But never got the confirmation email . . . cue 3rd session where I was told that the email was sent to . . . well, not my email address . . . turns out is an autogenerated email from the website I booked the tickets through. And no, AirAsia won't change the email address. I can either confirm with the booking website (all in Vietnamese) or just trust that we're rebooked properly. It all worked out in the end. Primary Adventure: Rafting in Pai, Thailand
On the way back, we were stopped at inspection point. Apparently the max number of passengers in the back of a truck is 7 . . . seems like a weird number to me but whatever. The driver had to pay a 1000 baht (~$33 USD) fine (paid under the table because over the table is 5000 baht) then we continued on our way maybe 15 min later. It was during this stop that the catfish (still in a bag under the seat) decided to have its dying thrashes. It scared the shit out of the British girl who didn't know it was under her seat. Nice bit of comic relief while waiting for bribes to occur. We continued the windy roads back to Pai stopping to let guides off in/near their villages and arrived back in town around 7:30pm. Secondary Adventure: Elephants... by now it's January ... So quick version ... Elephant tongues feel super weird and slimy. How do I know? We fed them sticky rice balls and due to their sticky nature, it's best to directly deposit them in the elephant's mouth. Bathing elephants is largely an exercise in futility. As soon as they get out, they went to find a nice dusty place and throw dirt all over themselves again ... it acts as sunscreen so it's actually a good thing. Side AdventuresExplanations in captions. I've had a few people ask me when the next blog will be ... so I guess that means I should write another one. Here's some updates on life since coming back to Hanoi. #toohotforthatshitIn case you hadn't seen it yet ... I cut off most of my hair. It was always up anyways ... waste of shampoo ... annoying to move my ponytail down to put on my helmet then move back up after getting off the motorbike ... So it's gone now Pros: less shampoo, dries in 20 minutes instead of 10 hours, no hair ties or real brushing Cons: my head is now too small for my helmet. I have to wear a bandanna to make it fit right without jostling around #DisneyFortLifeGirls night in to watch Disney movies on Netflix. We turned our dining room into a giant fort. Our new housemate, Lauren, had never made one before. It was great fun. We watched Mulan, Moana, and ... I don't remember the 3rd (or higher?) movies as I fell asleep ... But it was a good night. Had fort snacks and everything. TravelsWe took a house trip to Hoi An over the Vietnamese Independence Day weekend (American Labor Day weekend) to visit our old housemate, Diana. Clare, Lauren, and I stayed in an AMAZING homestay (Loongboong Homestay). Unfortunately, I didn't think to get pictures... sorry. Go google it though. It was in the "vegetable village" and they were growing all sorts of things. Infinity pool, a cat named Coconut, two dogs who didn't really like people but whatevs ... it was really nice and run by a group of awesome women. School UpdatesNice things so far: - first and last period preps ... I don't have to take home as much (not that I do anyways) - most classes are 11 students so I have a lot of time to dedicate to individual students and answering questions Things that stress me out: - first period prep ... because then I teach 5 classes straight (with lunch tossed in) and also don't have time to properly adjust the lessons if they don't go well the first time - Most frustrating class ... 9 high energy boys, 2 quiet girls - 1st class of the day is my largest ... so very stressed about getting the lesson right the first time because if they fall behind, it's harder to catch up - English Only Policy ... because I understand the importance of it but it's so hard for me to enforce (I do fully support the idea though) ... I realize the list of stressors is longer than the nice things but really, I'm excited about this year and really love going to work each day. The second "nice thing" far outweighs the stress Vietnamese Language LearningStill taking Vietnamese classes twice per week with Steven and Justin. Tram (our teacher) has started doing half pronunciation and half content lessons or one of each per week. The pronunciation is absolutely brutal ... but something I greatly need to practice. We're a few lessons away from our Elementary level (level 2) test. Then on to Pre-Intermediate!! I got to have a full conversation with one of the beach seller ladies in Hoi An while we were there which was nice. Other Outings and General Updates
I've joined a gym with my housemate Clare. We've done some Zumba classes (great fun) and one class called "Sexy Dance" ... just to see what it was ... never again ... it was basically a hip hop dance class ... we are two VERY white women. Not for us.
She and I also went to the opening weekend of a new dance studio in town (free classes that weekend) and took a "Latin Ladies" dance class. We learned to do the cha cha. Also great fun. Not sure if I'll go back or not. Most of the adult classes are taught by one guy who did not make the best impression on me when we went. There's a new cafe near our house called "Highland Cacao" ... that shit is dangerous. As in it's super delicious and will very quickly make me fat if I let it. Most of their menu involves chocolate drinks. I got the "so co la dua da xay" ... aka iced coconut chocolate freeze. ... super rich and creamy with REAL thick whipped cream on top. Hot damn. So now I'm only allowed to go once a week maximum. The other times I need to go to cafes to plan, I usually just end up at the Gemini Coffee down the block. They're starting to realize that I can order all on my own in Vietnamese. It used to be that the staff member with the most English would rush up when I arrived ... I've just started ignoring them and ordering my "Tra chanh sa" (lemongrass tea). They finally asked "for here or to go?" in Vietnamese this week ... O day (here) ... thank you! ... Yes I realize I shouldn't judge people for assuming I don't speak Vietnamese. It's a logical assumption for them to make. I think that's all the important (and unimportant) updates on life for now. Going white water rafting in Pai, Thailand in October. Will update again then probably.
Disclaimer: I knew all of what I'm about to say before on an intellectual level but experiencing it was something different. So in the US, no one even blinks an eye when someone of a different ethnicity speaks English. As Americans, we generally expect the people in our country to speak English. Travelling throughout Europe, there are SO MANY languages being spoken all the time ... usually the masses of tourists. But what struck me was hearing Indians, or Africans, or Koreans speaking fluent Italian with one another. In my ever-expanding world view, it seemed odd at first; I wasn't expecting to hear Italian from them. But why not ... I was in Italy after all. It sounds silly I know but take some time to think about it. Would you be surprised if you heard an Indian person speaking German or a Korean person speaking Spanish? Same goes for little kids. My first thought at a little kid speaking German was "damn, that's impressive." ... followed 2 seconds later by "wait, that's what they learned to speak." it's easy to be impressed by people speaking a language you don't know. It's easy to assume people that look like you will speak your language. It's harder to realize or believe that the people that don't look like you can speak other languages than you might expect. I've given up being surprised by who speaks what language. It's all communication. The kids are still asking if they can have ice cream and how much longer this line is going to take ... you just can't understand their language. For some reason, these revelations didn't really hit me in Vietnam ... even though I'm a white person who can speak some conversational Vietnamese. Ironically, when I was in Spain and people assumed I spoke Spanish (I do ... just not well), it was flattering.
3. Children are assholes and parenting is hard. I cannot count the number of kids I wanted to kick in the face because they were doing stupid shit. And their parents are either just watching them or not even paying attention. I had a kid at the aquarium who was standing on my left with a good view of the tank but I guess he wanted to be where I was, so he walked to my right side and basically pushed me out of the way. I looked down at him like "WTF dude" ... parents just looked at me like "What?" 4. Many adults are either assholes, idiots, or just lack self awareness. Museums with signs at the start of EVERY room saying "No photography" ... in picture form too ... enter room and see people taking photographs. I feel sorry for the museum staff in charge of saying "no photos" 10984 times per day. People at the airport who think they can quietly merge into the front of the line for boarding without you noticing. People at the hostels who come in at 2am either from a late flight or from partying then proceed to turn on the lights and sound like a bull in a frickin' china shop. Do you even see the other 7 people in here already sleeping!?! And then there are the people who ask the front desk "do you know why my phone isn't working here?" --> "Well, where are you from?" --> "US" --> "Do you have an international plan?" --> *blank stare* ... or better yet "no, but can't I still use WhatsApp to call people?" --> "only if you're on Wifi" --> "Do they have Wifi in Rome?" . . . Bless your heart honey
I completely forgot to include this in the Greece post but thought it was so cool I should still share it. So as I was flying into Rhodes, we passed over many of the Greek islands. I had a window seat so I was looking out the window at a lot of them. Off the coast of a few of them (just offshore) were rows of circles, like very neatly organized, clearly man made. My first thought was pearl farming. In Vietnam some of the pearl farms near Cat Ba put baskets of oysters in the ocean to make pearls. It took a few islands before I realized that these circles are bigger than the houses that dot the islands... those would be some big baskets. So back to square 1, no idea what these things are. After a lot of creative Googling, I found out that they are for fish farming. The math puzzle from Vienna
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ShannonMath Teacher living and working in Hanoi, Vietnam Archives
February 2022
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