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Published: October 22nd 2011
It all happened so suddenly! One day we were sat in our apartment in Tunisia when we saw a job advertised in Vietnam. Within 12 hours we had been offered the job. Yes, we deliberated a bit and did a lot of research, but eventually we accepted and here we are! It's all very, VERY different!!!
We decided to travel in relative comfort with Qatar Airways and can thoroughly recommend them if you need to travel for 17 hours! Immigration wasn't a huge problem despite one of us packing the required photos into checked in baggage. Luckily they are used to stupid travellers doing stupid things and have a digital camera at hand for just such emergencies!! We had pre-arranged a transfer to our hotel via
Viator which worked out much smoother than we expected. They were a little concerned that we had chosen a hotel in the middle of nowhere rather than in the centre of Saigon, but once we explained we were here to work, we were soon on our way through the hectic streets. Nothing can prepare you for your first sight of a street choc-a-bloc with motorbikes!!
The Lavender Hotel in Thu Dau Mot was to be
our temporary home on arrival. Thankfully, when we got there, the rooms did not look like the boudoirs on the website! It was actually quite a nice hotel, but a football team were in town for a tournament for most of our stay . Let's just say they were not the most considerate guests, especially as we had to be up at 6am for work! We had to stay there whilst we waited for our apartment to be ready. We were lucky, it only took 2 weeks. Some of the teachers had been there for over a year!! More about the apartments in a subsequent blog though.
TDM (well, you try typing Thu Dau Mot all the time!) was not in fact a small place in the middle of nowhere. It is a small but thriving city with some supermarkets, a football stadium (which, much to Russ' annoyance, we didn't really have time to visit while the tournament was on), some fabulous restaurants and an amazing market. Sadly, the camera didn't make it out of the hotel when we went out to eat - not sure why! You can eat like a (vegetarian) king for a couple of dollars
and even carnivores don't need to have deep pockets. The quality is pretty good too but we are thankful we had already mastered the art of chopsticks!!!
TDM and the province of Binh Duong are dominated by one company - Becamex. Their huge tower is a landmark in town and contains a good foodcourt and a decent supermarket as well as a few posh shops. It is clearly the flagship building of the area. Becamex are, in fact, our de-facto employers, as they appear to own the University. Luckily for the teachers, they also provide transport as work is 12km away.
Our first real full-on culture shock experience was our first visit to the fresh produce market. There were some amazing sights, sounds and smells! There are lots of fruit and vegetables that are alien to us but we will do our best to try some of them. The deep red "dragon fruit" was unusual but, whilst not unpleasant, won't be a regular part of our diet! Not sure about having frog though, especially after seeing the way they are treated and "prepared"!
Everyone here is so friendly and keen to help, even if the language barrier
Russ is a millionaire!
A million Vietnamese Dong are worth about £30!!!is insurmountable. TEFL teachers know how to use their hands and body language to get their point across!
A fine example of Vietnamese hospitality awaited us near the market. The skies became blacker and blacker and, as luck would have it, we spotted a small Buddhist pagoda (they're not temples, they're pagodas!) down an alleyway that looked worth a closer look. As we got there the heavens opened and we were invited inside. It was amazing. The monks and nuns were so accommodating and some even spoke enough English to answer some of our questions. We were then invited to stay for lunch. It was probably the best meal ever, and not a scrap of meat in sight. We have no idea what we ate, but we ate it in the company of the chef who was delighted to share his table and his food.
TDM is the nearest developed place to Binh Duong New City where we will be living so we will be out exploring it again a lot in the future. The younger (can't believe I'm saying that!) teachers have opted to stay in the hotel so they are closer to restaurants and bars so
we'll follow their lead when we venture into town for a night out!
So that's it, our first impressions of our new life. We are happy here already and think it's going to be a great year. Who knows, it could be more than a year!!!
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Donna and Neil
Donna and Neil
We remember you saying you might look to Asia for your next contract...now that was a fast move! Hope you enjoy settling into Vietnam and trying all the new things it has to offer. Good luck, and who knows maybe we'll bump into you at some point somewhere in Asia?!