Advertisement
Published: October 25th 2005
Dave Hopkins
We have to endure 30+ hours of DVD's with this dude teaching us how to teach. This picture makes me laugh EVERY time.Ok guys, so this week started off badly as I was so ill, but luckily I was only seriously ill for 2-3 days and although I still have a sniffly nose and a tickly cough, at least I can get around without my head pounding every 2 seconds. Last Saturday I went for an interview at probably the best school in Ho Chi Minh City - ILA. The academic director had said that he would call me back on Sunday and I was still waiting for a damn phonecall by Tuesday. So I emailed him and he phoned back saying that I had been given the job and I could start next week after observing a few lessons first. I had heard that this school was pretty amazing but only really got a good idea of HOW amazing once I went in to observe lessons. They give the teachers free croisants in the morning (which let's face it.. is always a good sign) and a bag of sweets for each class you teach (which I have also heard the teachers get to eat most of the sweets... I can get used to that too). However, the best thing are the resources...
ILA
This is where I work there is an unlimited amount of resources to use! I won't know what to do with them all! So I've just been sitting in on a few lessons and will start work in ernest next week! YAY!! So that is the main good news! I've been given my schedule and for this week I have 12 hours racked up for the weekend (6 hours saturday and another 6 on sunday) and then next week I should get some evening classes too during the week. So, it's all good!!!
I want to write about things that occur on a daily basis here in HCMcity that make me crack up every time they happen but I haven't yet mentioned them on any of my blog entries! Every day we walk out of our guesthouse and are bombarded with about 10 different guys saying "motorbike, motorbike?" and doing the 'revving the throttle' hand gesture as they are saying it. They cannot understand that sometimes we want to walk to places! Another regular and daily occurence is the sound the cars make when reversing. It's not your average beep beep like anywhere else in the world... oh no... these guys go to town
Celine Dion measuring and weighing machine
I don't know if you can see it clearly but that round metal thing lowers down and smacks you on the head to measure your height! reversing their flipping cars with christmas carols (I find this particularly ironic seeing as they don't celebrate Christmas) or 'It's a small world after all'. You literally cannot walk down the street without either of these enjoyable annoyances happening!
At night time however, various dried squid carts appear and stink the city out. They have dried squid hanging from this cart, completely exposed to the smog and acidic air of Saigon and even though it reeks, the locals seem to enjoy it. Although Moira and I are quite adventurous when it comes to food, we were debating whether it would be unhealthy to ingest all the foulness that must come with the smelly squid! However, the other night when we returned to our guesthouse, our receptionist Lan (who has a crush on me... oh the fun!) was eating some and we tried it and it is amazingly tasty!!!! It tasted of clams, it was really, really nice, especially with the chilli auce they give you to go with it (so strong that its sole purpose must be to kill all of the bacteris on the quid...) Still unsure of buying it though... Another nocturnal beast here in HCMcity is
Xe may!!!
Moira looking sweet on the xe may! Can you see the injury on her elbow from her crash? this random, very bizarre maching that belts out a techno remix of Celine Dion's 'My heart will go on' and it measures your height and weighs you!
IT IS HILARIOUS!!!! It's all automatic and so yesterday, because I feel I have lost weight here I tried it out. It was the best 2,000 dong I have ever spent because it was such an ego boost!!! I HAVE GROWN!!!!! How amazing is that..? I am now officially 5'2 rather than just under I am a whole 1m60 rather than 1m58! That was the highlight of my week!!!
So these have been the remaining highlights of the week:
We have adhered to a new Vietnamese sport. It's quite hard to explain what it is but as you can see form the photo, it's a feather thing (we have aptly named it this) which you kick about in a group (not as easy as it sounds) and it travels in the air a little bit like a shuttlecock. It's pretty fun and I work up a pretty decent sweat when playing (although let's face it... that happens even when not playing). You should see the locals playing it though.. they
Joe and his xe may
Pretty funny picture are amazing! After a year here though.. we will be too!
At the beginning of the week we went to meet one of the barmen who works at our local bar to play football with him and his friends. We ended up not playing but he wants us to get a few more friends involved, get a team together and play in a semi-professional league. I think that the language barrier has stopped Hahn from understanding that we really are not that good footballers and we just wanted to kick a ball about. He has demanded that we buy football boots and has spoken to a local company to sponsor our shirts... oh dear...
So, you know how I told you it's all about the motorbikes over here? Well, Brian has already rented a xe may (motorbike) and has been doing pretty well in the traffic chaos here but he has driven motorbikes before which helps. I've ridden on the back of his motorbike and I feel quite comfortable with him driving it. Moira decided she needed to rent one out for the day to get some practice in as she is also thinking of getting one.
The feather thing
Endless hours of fun... and sweat I mean, I am too!! I don't like them that much but it is the best and only way to get around the city, and I don't want to be paying for my trips everywhere for a whole year! So Moira did pretty well until she crashed! She was on her own and decided to go past a red light (everyone does it here.. she was trying to blend in obviously) and 'ate shit' (american saying meaning crashed). She scraped her arm a little and bruised her hip but she's ok. She wants to rent another one out again! Joe rented a xe may too! His xe may is hilarious!!! When I am sat on it I can touch the floor with BOTH feet... so Joe looks pretty ridiculous on the motorbike because it looks like he's sat on a toy! And it's a rubbish bike.. his light only comes on when he revs the engine, his speedometer and petrol gauge don't work and he has to kickstart it every single time (he claims it's not every single time but it has been when I've been with him). It's all about the xe mays here... soon it will be my
Midnight Meal
Where we have our food after playing pool :) turn too!
I have found myself a pretty nice tailor where I have been getting clothes made which are fit for teaching (can't show shoulders, midriff or thigh - didn't think of that when packing.. all I thought about was the amount of sweating I was going to be doing...), and I have struck a pretty sweet deal with them. I am going to be tutoring 2 of the girls and they make me clothes for a lot cheaper! GET DOWN!!!! Better still would be if they did it for free... one can live in hope!!
Ok.. other minor happenings (I'm sure you're getting bored by now):
1) Moira saw two dogs joined at the hip... so is that one dog with two heads or two dogs with one tail...? Made me laugh when she sent me the text 😊
2) We went to a pagoda which was very relaxing and zen like. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't know whether or n ot it would have been rude or offensive.
3) Julie has been the first victim of food trouble. She wasn't well at all for a few days because of it. I think I
Flooded streets
Bearing in mind how disgusting the roads are, when it floods like this and you have to walk through so much crap, it leaves you feeling pretty queasy... have been very lucky so far and hopefully will keep it that way.
4) We all have jobs now so that's really cool.. we've all been busy sorting lessons and trying to finish our self access part of the course (involves watching 30+ hours of crappy DVD's telling us how to manage a class and write lesson plans.... (YAWN)
5) Most xe may drivers are out to rip you off so you can imagine how taken back I was when I offered a driver 10,000 dong to take me home and he said no, 7,000!!! Had to document that one in case I ever forget it, although I am sure I won't!
6) Moira and I are going to enter a beauty pageant... funny enough as it is but wait for it there is more.. we are entering a Miss ao dai competition. We will be competing with various Vietnamese girls wearing the traditional Vietnamese dress. I would seriously wet myself if we won! However, if we have to do a talent we're not doing it. We have no talent!
And that's it for this entry!! Phew! Enjoy the photos and keep your comments coming! 😊 I'm off to open a bank account.. let's get the millions of dong rolling in!!!!
Another classic Vietnamese saying... same, same. You won't find anyone just say 'same'.
Hope you are all good and doing well, keep in touch!!
Rooj xxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.061s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0326s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Beverley Benyon
non-member comment
Sounds like lots of fun! Well done on the job front- trust you to land a post with free edibles! Thought of you on Wednesday night as it was the Merseyside and Cheshire GTP celebration event. It was good to catch up with everyone- a few people missing. The food afterwards was amazing- now I know why we only got a few sandwiches and some over ripe fruit- they were saving the budget for Wednesday!!! Lots of free wine too. Forgtot to mention last time I posted, I saw your old GTP mentor (Paula?) at an NQT meeting. Didn't speak to her but got a very friendly wave. Keep having fun, good luck with the job. Love Bev x