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Published: November 16th 2005
View of the treetops
title speaks for itself - a peaceful haven from the cityOk, so apologies for the delay in news!!! I have been working loads and have been spending more time at work than at home!! 😞 However it is all good! I am loving my time at ILA. My classes are all funny (bar one which is driving me insane but I
will crack them! I have two jumpstart classes (4 - 11 year olds - Soooooo cute!), 2 Junior classes (6 - 11), 2 senior classes (11 - 15) and one Elite class (15 - 18). I thought that due to my training I would prefer the jumpstarts and the juniors a lot more than the seniors and elites but actually it's the other way around. The seniors are great fun and you can talk them and they understnad (ALWAYS a good thing...) whilst the Elites can actually be very humorous with the English that they know. I have one boy in my elite class who is sweeeeet! He is such a geek, I love him! He gives me word puzzles/riddles to do for homework and I find some equally challenging for him to do too. He wears thick glasses, is into science and reads comic books... dream date! Only thing
is he's 15! So on the work front everything is good, but weekends are very, very tiring. I start teaching at 7:30 am and finish at 7pm and overall I teach 16 hours. During the week it's slightly more chilled out as I start at 5:40 and finish at 9:40 and I work all days except Monday. However, I am waiting to get Wednesday and Friday off too so we shall see.
So let's rewind a couple of weeks back!!! After my last post Joe and I went to see the botanical gardens that had previously earned a reputation for the most beautiful gardens in Asia (when the French were here) and it also neighbours the city zoo. The gardens were nice but have lost a lot of their grandeur but the zoo was appauling. The cages were ridiculously small and as you would expect the animals looked dejected. The gardens were a good photo opportunity though and I was pretty impressed that I managed to get a photo or two of a butterfly - believe me they are hard to catch on film!
I have also moved out of our guesthouse and we are now renting a
house!! It is pretty sweet now as we are able to cook for ourselves and have our own space, so although I haven't had much time to clean and decorate my room I have bought the odd trinket and will use today (Monday - day off) to make it my own and make it feel a little like a peaceful haven away from the smog and smells of the city and the annoyances of lesson planning. I have a balcony in my room which is also really nice and we live by the river! However it's obviously not that glamorous as the river is atrociously polluted. We ocassionally catch the odd wiff in our house but nothing a hell of a lot of incense can't cure! I'm living with Moira, Joe and this other girl called Michelle who we met on our course. So I am living with three Americanos!!! Not good for my accent as you can all imagine! Brian decided to stay at his guesthouse but we see him regularly so it's all good. So we have 4 bedrooms, a huge open planned living room, dining room and kitchen, 4 bathrooms, and 2 roof terraces (which are really
Botanical Gardens butterfly
you might be able to see it if you zoom in. nice as they have some plants - we also want to get a hammock up there!). The owner has kept a shrine to his deceased parents by one of the roof terraces and has asked us to burn a stick of incense for them every night. I can't help but find this funny as really he could have taken the shrine with him to his new house... but all the same.. it's all in the name of the cultural experience! So you now have a place to stay here in Vietnam!! Get moving here!!
I also had my first motorbike crash!! That was pretty fun! Joe was driving and I was sitting on the back of his bike and we got swuasehed between 2 bikes. I leap-frogged over joe when we got hit and scrapped my leg and brusied it a little. It's all good guys though as I was beginning to feel left out. Everyone else has had incidents with their motorbikes and I wanted a piece of the action too!! We were both fine in the end 😊 and I am at this point in time just about to get my own motorbike!!! I am a little
Traffic Chaos
On the way back from the botanical gardens on Joe's bike scared, I'll be honest but it's the only way to get around and I am tired of paying for motorbike taxis to and from work. I crave the freedom my old car used to give me and I need to get that back. I hate being dependent on my housemates for lifts to places and lifts home so it's got to be done! Just don't tell my mother!!
UPDATE:
I now
have a motorbike! It is called the Amigo!!! It actually has amigo written on the side of it! 😊 And I am an ok driver! So let's hope I don't crash any time soon as that will dent my confidence. Need to get a helmet too!
My dad will also find this frustrating but I feel that the Vietnamese guys are becoming nicer looking every day that goes past. Now, it might be me that's getting desperate or it might be that I'm just getting used to them now. Either way this information should not be passed onto my dad who's only restriction he imposed on me before leaving was that I was under no circumstances to hook up with a native as he doesn't want half Vietnamese
Jumpstart 1
My first class on a Sat and Sun morning - little terrors!!! grandchildren. So keep schtum!
On this subject however this guy from work (Kit) took me out for some food the other day. Now, I like food and when anyone says do you want to go for some food, I generally do not turn the offer down. So he picked me up from work on his day off and took me to the nicest restaurant in town (or at least the nicest one I have been in since I've been here). I'm used to paying 10,000 dong per meal with drink (equivalent to 50 cents (half a Euro) or 30p) and my meal came up to 100,000 dong at this place which Kit duly paid (not being a gentleman as I now have to take him out for food and pay for his meal - no guesses as to where I am taking him.. hole in the wall where every meal is 7,000 dong...). Nothing happened between us and I felt a little awkward at times as I was unprepared. I didn't realise it was a date, I thought I was getting food with a friend.. so.. caught a little off guard. He's pretty cool though is Kit and he's
Jumpstart 2
My second class on a Sat and Sun morning. Aren't they cute? been a great help at work!!
So as it was halloween a couple of weekends ago the teachers at work dressed up to teach the kids and I got a clown outfit with a ridiculous hat to go with it. The kids were so impressed and as that was my first weekend at work I scored a few brownie points!! However after school this girl from work was having a house party and we, of course, made our appearance. Me dressed like a f***king clown walking through the streets of HCM with people stopping their motorbikes to stare... it was awesome! Moira dressed up as a dead movie star which the Vietnamese couldn't understand and Joe as a mummy and then a vampire... I don't know what he was but I covered his face in talcum powder so he looked kind of ill. It was a great night and it was good way to socialise with people from work. This other girl started with me on the same day called Michelle (not to be confused with my housemate) and she is irish and I've been getting along really well with her but she's leaving to go back today as
Juniors 1
These kids are the ones that are driving me insane! The one in the middle of the shot with the blue tshirt on is a pain in the a**!! her grandad has become seriously ill and she doesn't know whether she'll come back soon which is sad!!
A couple of weeks ago, the statue of the Virgin Mary that stands in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral here in HCMCity started to cry. Hundreds of people surrounded the statue, taking their ill relatives to the statue and touching it in the hope of a miraculous cure. I actually got a picture of her so let me know what you think. Whatever people believe in, the energy surrounding the statue was immense and tangible.
It was my brother's birthday last Friday so just wanted to wish him a blog HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I sent you a text Bruno but I didn't sign it from me.
Anyway kids I think I'm done for now.. can't think of any other random things to tell you as of yet. Will try to keep on top of the blog and at least post some news every week! Enjoy the photos and will speak to you all soon! Keep the comments coming! I miss you all and hope you all are doing good. Send me emails if you want and I will reply
to them! 😊 Rooj xxxx
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Lisa
non-member comment
Ice cream burger?!!!!
Never heard of one of those! I can't believe you actually saw the statue crying - amazing! I can't wait to come to Vietnam! When is it the rainy season - I'm def not coming then! Your kids look well cute and ignore your dad - half portugese half vietnam would be soooooooo cute! xxx