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Published: January 2nd 2008
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Happy couple
Here we are at the Vancouver airport. Marc's happy because we secured emergency exit row seating on the plane -- we actually showed up four hours early to make sure. I'm happy that I don't have to listen to him complain about how small the seats are...oh, the plight of the big man. After a 24-hour journey (flight time included 9 hrs, 30 min to Tokyo; 3 hr layover; 6 hrs, 45 min to Ho Chi Minh City) and three unfulfilling airplane dinners, we—and our luggage—arrived in good order around 11 p.m. local time. After customs, we ran our luggage through a screener that no one was actually monitoring, and went outside, where Glen, a really nice British teacher from ILA (the school we will be studying and teaching at), was there to greet us and take a taxi with us to our hotel. At 24 degrees, it seems we showed up on one the colder days of the year (!), and the timing of our arrival spared us from the frenzy of traffic that occurs during the day. We peppered Glen with questions about the course, ILA, the students, living in Vietnam, etc., and we received very positive feedback.
At our new accommodations, the Kim Hotel, we were greeted by a sleepy Vietnamese girl, Hon, who spoke decent English and was generally quite friendly, despite our late arrival. The elevator was broken, so we had to lug our ridiculously heavy bags up five flights of stairs. With only three hours of sleep
Go fish
A large aquarium at the Vancouver airport distracted us for a while. (yeah, excuses, excuses), I struggled with my bag, while the girl, who is half my size, easily carried one of the heavier suitcases. I was slightly embarrassed this morning when I overheard her talking about us outside of our door, and she said “but she couldn’t do the stairs and I could,” with a bit of a laugh. Oh well.
Our room is quite small and clean, but the bed is much larger than expected, and provided us with a good night’s sleep. This morning, we went for a $2 breakfast consisting of pho (soup with chicken, herbs, noodles, and sprouts) and coffee down the alley before setting off to explore the neighbourhood for a couple hours. The traffic is ludicrous, with no real method to the madness, although they do generally try to avoid running us over when we cross the street. It’s the dry season, so the sky is relatively clear, but we can still tell that the air is polluted. On some streets, it smells kind of sweet; on others, it just smells bad, like burning rubber. Many people on their motorbikes tend to wear long sleeves, pants, and masks over their mouths, and there are
Long walk
After arriving in Tokyo, we had a bit of trek to get to our connecting flight, including this tunnel. Kind of reminds me of the sets used in Star Wars. a few locals who wear masks even just walking down the street. The people are remarkably friendly, with beautiful, genuine smiles that radiate in their eyes even behind the masks.
The vendors are set up according to what they are selling, so we got acquainted with stamp street, hat street, electronics street, scooter street, etc. While enjoying an iced Vietnamese coffee on a street corner, we fell prey to several people trying to push their wares (mostly D&G sunglasses and Zippo lighters), as well as men trying to give us tours around the city on their buggies (called xi oms, I believe). We quickly learned to say no—politely—and to stop making eye contact. ILA is about a 20-minute walk from the hotel, so we went to check it out, and were impressed with the modern facilities, at least what we saw from the outside and in the lobby area.
Obviously, we stand out, because we are foreigners and because of our size, but we are staying in the tourist district, so we saw many other ex-pats (non-Vietnamese), including one guy who was bigger than Marc. Just one, though. We are surprised at the general lack of culture shock
Local fare
During our three-hour layover in Tokyo, we each enjoyed an Asahi Black beer, which came with complimentary shrimp chips - think popcorn twists with a seafood flavour. Not so good. we are experiencing, perhaps it is because everything is so new and stimulating that it hasn’t set in, and perhaps it is because we have had some travel fiascos together in the past that have desensitized us to be outsiders. We feel safe and extremely excited about our adventure.
There is still much studying to do before starting school on January 7, and ILA is hosting a BBQ for all the new teacher trainees at a hotel on Saturday night, and then a four-hour orientation on Sunday afternoon. We plan to take a tour around the city at some point this week to see the various markets and attractions. Marc is itching to get a scooter, which is inexpensive to rent, so I imagine we’ll try it out by the end of the week. Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll hold on tight.
We will write again soon, with many more photos.
Take care,
Krysta
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Jamie
non-member comment
Hey, Smiths! LOVE THE PICS!!!! Looks like you're already having an amazing adventure. Glad to hear you made it safe and sound... Krysta, it's my first day back in the office today and I have to tell you we I already feel your absence... Sniff.. Sniff.. your office door has been closed all day .. sniff.. sniff ;) ... Anyways.. happy travels, guys! Stay safe and go camera crazzzzzy Krysta!