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Published: December 2nd 2005
Hey all!!
How are you all doing? This week has been a pretty funny week 😊 My first motorbike driving week!! And I have to say I am pretty good at weaving around traffic and balancing myself on the motorbike! I have yet to experience full on rush hour traffic but I'll wait until I feel more confident before that happens.
So I am still working loads and I have taken on another venture. I am tutoring a girl 3 times a week in the morning for an hour. The opportunity came up at ILA and I'm charging 15$ an hour so 45$ a week, which I felt really guilty about as we are in Vietnam and money is not thrown around that easily. So on Monday I went for my first lesson with her (after a night of heavy drinking - happens every Sunday; after a 16 hour weekend you need a drink or three...), I had to find her house, which was hard enough, a boiling hot day and I was so dehydrated I felt like passing out many a time. I got lost but knew I was in the area that I needed to be at
The view
from the restaurant at the top of my school! How big is the moon!?so I rang her mum who came to pick me up drom where I was. She is the most beautiful woman I have seen in Vietnam to date. She was immaculately dressed, looked young and has obviously got the money to look after herself. Mrs Thrang would not have looked out of place in Harrods in London or in the Caras magazine (Portuguese equivalent of Hello!). She is definately a MILF! So anyway, after the initial haze of amazement she drove back to her house where I parked my bike embarrasingly next to another 5 or 6 brand new Honda motorbikes (I have a Sanda which is a cheap Chinese immitation of a Honda) and next to a BMW. Now BMW are imressive but in Vietnam they are even more impressive than at home as in Vietnam they have topay the normal price of the car plus... wait for it... 200% tax on it. So the car costs 3 times as much as anywhere else in the world. Guys this family was MINTED!!!! I no longer felt guilty of charging 15$ an hour and wished I had charged more!! There was a dude in the garage that was talking care
My Elite class
These are the oldest kids I teach! I LOVE THIS CLASS! They are so cool!! of the bikes and the gardens - gardener come garage person, and he kept my motorbike keys. Mrs. Trang had bought me a new pair of house shoes to wear around the house whilst I was teaching her daughter Nhu. Seeing as I had never met her prior to this I felt touched, but it probably only meant she didn't want my dirty feet all over her beautiful house - fair enough! The lounge area was unbelievable. They have a huuuuuuge and beautiful aquarium that was probably 2 metres long and a metre wide and 3 women potting about cleaning the lounge. I travel up a rather sumptuous staircase to find a pond with palm trees and plenty of fish in it situated in between two rooms, one obviously the little girls' and the other where I have been teaching her - the study. The study is equipped with a big whiteboard and a laptop with projector which Mrs. Thrang encouraged me to use. I was gobsmacked at what I was seeing and experiencing but went about waht I was being paid to do which was to tutor little Nhu. Her parents want her to go to an International school
Boozy Bird and LIbby
Now how about this for a teacher appreciation day present!? but are aware that Nhu's English may not be up to scratch to start at the International School and to pass the required entrance examination. I went back for my second lesson today which went very well so we shall see what comes out of it. I haven't been paid yet (I'm used to being paid after every one-to-one) but maybe here they pay every month. I'll wait or maybe ask on Friday - the good thing is the money I earn in a month from teaching Nhu 3 times a week pays my house rent!!! 😊 And Mrs. Thrang wants to increase her timetable from 3 times a week to 5! I'm down! 300 bucks after a month! Woooobbedooooo 😊
Last Sunday was a big national holiday over here - Teacher Appreciation Day 😊 The children brought in presents and flowers. I wasn't expecting anythingas I have had my classes for 3-4 weeks and some for less than that so I really didn't think I would receive anything, however I was pleasantly surprised when I received a Louis Vuitton wallet that looks pretty real! It really doesn't look like a fake and some of these parents are RICH!!!
My 3 ceramic ladies
and my mobiole phone box... The wallet itself isn't my cup of tea but it definately was one of the better presents compared to some of my colleagues. Libby was shocked that she had been here for 2 months and her kids only got her flowers and I had received a LV wallet! I also got a big bar of Dairy milk and some flowers from this one girl which was by far my favourite present as I could eat it! The best (or not) was yet to come - I received this present, nicely wrapped and relatively heavy, took it upstairs to the staffroom to open during my break and lo and behold... it's a mobile phone!!! All of my colleagues, including Libby were in shock! I was in shock too! I thought it was amazing. It was a top of the range mobile too, no crappy shit! So I open the box as I am saying "I really do get the best presents" only to find that the box was just a form of packaging... oh yes! I had in fact been given 3 porcelain figurines of Vietnamese ladies.... it really couldn't be further from what I was expecting. It was hilarious!!! How
Football Pitch!
The dirty sand pitch where we play football! cruel and evil of this child and his parents to package something so kitsch and tacky in a mobile phone box.... that kid is going to fail the course!!!! It seems to be the done thing though giving pretty tacky presents - my friend Kit got a nodding doll that was black, had on one hand a pint of beer and on the other a bottle of some description and at the bottom the words Boozy Bird. You can see Libby with the boozy bird on her shoulder in one of the pictures! Clare (another English girl who is teaching at the same school) got a miniature cyclo in the morning and then another in the afternoon... very funny! The day was hilarious from morning to night and made the 8 hour shift bearable!
So today is Wednesday and I'm looking forward to taking 4 days off in 2 weeks time to travel to a place called Mui Ne. Mui Ne is famous for its sand dunes and kite surfing so should be an interesting 4 days. I might go with Kit, Derrick and see if Carleena is up for it too (these are people who I work with).
Our house
The entrance They've just gone to Phu Quoc for 4 days (an island by Cambodia) but I couldn't afford to go with them 😞 nevermind I will be rich soon!!! :D Things at home are going well but I don't get to spend much time at home as I am always in work. I don't start teaching until 17:40 but I am here usually by 14:00 planning and marking tests and I finish at 10ish so I grab some food go home and hit the sack. Should get out more I suppose but it will all change when I stop substituting teacher's classes! I might aswell keep subbing to get some money for Mui Ne and then have a chilled out timetable! 😊
Yesterday I went to get my hair cut at a hairdressers by my house. It cost 50,000 dong (which is 2 euros or 1 pound 50) but there was a huge language barrier!!! I pointed to some picture in a magazine but tried to explain that I didn't want it as short... to no avail... my hair is now short. The cut is great and I am happy with it but I went with one idea and now
Our house
My room with the nice damp patch on the wall... have to deal with a different reality! However I got a 40 minute head massage and facial included in the price so it's not all bad! You should, however, have seen the styling she gave me... let's just say she used half a can of hairspray and blew dry my hair into a 1950's roller look... not a good look at that. As soon as I got home I hit the shower and washed it all off! Let me know what you think of it anyway...
Hope you are all well and good and I would appreciate more comments next time dudes!!! Thanks to all the faithful bunch that keep posting!
Just another Happy Birthday shout to Rita!! Parabens Ritocas, tentei te ligar mas nao consegui. Quando ligaste ja eu dormia! Hope to speak to you soon!
Miss you all but not enough to come home... I am loving this place!
Take it easy
Rooj xxx
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bev benyon
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Wow, I want that house - not sure about the aquarium though! Glad you are well and are still loving the adventure. Things are going great here. I can't believe I'm almost a third of the way though my nqt year! It's hard work but nowhere near as crappy as last year. I'm loving reception- they're soooooooooooo ready to learn now! Do keep posting your blogs- I look forward to reading them. Love Bev x