Happy Halloween

Tonight at KTV, my Bin Laden costume made its second appearance, and of course it was a hit. I taught class as the crafty Al-Qaeda fugitive. One thing you can't say about my classes is that they are boring!! The class got three lessons tonight: a review of past and future tense, Halloween history, and a lesson on American foreign policy. Fun times had by all.



My students tonight invited me for coffee and beer afterward, and we had a great time. Mr. Mark, little Michael, and Ms. Patsy came, too. Of course, Osama ordered beer. He's a tricky one! Today wasn't the most active of days, but it was a great day. Not a lot to report so good night :)

Thursday Again

I've kept up my blog for the past week. I told my buddy, Scott, that I would write in it every day. He said I wouldn't. Well, so far, I have! HA!!

Today was my EARLY day as are all Thursdays. After waking up at 5:30am, I headed off to my school at 6am. The classes today were all very good. They were attentive and vocal so it was a marvelous morning. I rapidly biked it back to my apartment and partook in a three-hour nap before teaching two classes tonight at KTV.

One of the classes at KTV, The Swans, invited me to karaoke and dinner tonight after work. They are dynamite, especially since 1. they don't go to KTV on Thursdays and 2. I haven't taught them all month. So I went to sing, drink beer, and eat phở bò with them after I finished work. They treated me to everything and even brought me home to make sure I arrived safely. How groovy! The Vietnamese people are so much kinder and have a hell of a lot more common sense than the Koreans. Truly, I'm happy to not be in Korea any longer and really could live here in Vietnam for the rest of my life. :) I think I'll write a blog in the future about the comparisons between Koreans and Vietnamese. Indeed, that is a thought I shall entertain.

Lazy Wednesday

I slept in today... until an amazing 9am. I guess I needed the sleep. My dad always (to this day, even though he's retired) wakes up at 4am and goes to sleep the night before by 8pm. I was always fascinated by his systematic schedule because I have always been the opposite. I'm a night owl. Usually (in the past), it was common for me to go to sleep at 3, 4am and wake up at 1 or sometimes 2pm... and maintain a life that way for many years. People always told me that the older I get, the earlier I would get up. That NEVER happened to me.. until I moved to Vietnam. What the hell? Now, I'm waking up at times when I used to go to bed. I wake up now at 7am so this paragraph is basically me talking to myself and thinking about how strange it is for me to say that I "slept in" until 9am. Weird. Indeed, old age has arrived.

I went to the "island" today with Long to have my bike repaired. The horn worked sporatically, and in Vietnam, a horn is a basic necessity. Also, I would have to kick start my bike because the starter on the handlebars wouldn't work. That wasn't a big problem because the kick starting of my bike was my daily exercise plan. So those two things were fixed today after Long's friend, Mr. Tu, put it a new fuse box. Now, if only my gas guage would work properly. However, my motorbike is much easier to maintain than the automobiles I've owned. If I ever return to the states on a permanent basis, I will own a bike - especially with gas prices now anyway.

Aside from having my bike fixed today, I taught a class at KTV tonight. It was a new class for me, and they were wonderful students. I'm learning this 'art' of shutting up and allowing the students to talk more. I'll get it.. eventually.

Tomorrow is my busy day. I will get up at 5:30am and teach four classes in the morning at the high school. I will surely nap before I teach two classes at KTV in the evening. As my friend, Toan, would say.. "A bientot! "

Tasty Crocodile Meat

I'm becoming adventurous in my old age.. as far as food is concerned, anyway. Since I've been here, I have eaten goat meat, and I must say that it is very delicious. My problem with a lot of food is that I am allergic to so many things. I am allergic to any seafood or freshwater fish or animals, etc., any poultry, peanuts, hazelnut, and now I can add crocodile meat to that list. Yes, I know they live in water, but I didn't think about that before I popped a morsel in my mouth this afternoon. My first thought was, "Hey! I am gonna try this!" My second thought was, "Hey! This is delicious!" My third thought was, "DAMN! I can't breathe!" So I immediately went home (I was at Mr. Mark and Ms. Patsy's home at the time) and downed a benadryl to combat the reaction. Luckily, that coupled with some therapy from Ms. Patsy did the trick. Unfortunately, the benadryl, as it is known to do, put me to sleep. Long came over, and we were supposed to go to lunch, but I passed out. We ended up eating an early dinner at Coopmart, where my helmet was stolen in the underground motorbike parking garage - ugh!! However, there are two positives from the allergic reaction situation: One, I only ate a tiny piece of meat so the reaction wasn't too painful and didn't last too long. Two, I only took one benadryl so I was able to make it (mostly of sound mind) to my class tonight at KTV. I'm still groggy from the benadryl I swallowed earlier so I am calling it an early night tonight - at 8pm. TTFN!

Dangerous Driving

Driving a motorcycle in Vietnam can often be a hazard. One of my students has had a bandage on his pinky finger for a few weeks now, and he informed me of an unfortunate accident in which he was involved. I assumed it was a scratch and playfully suggested that he was "babying" it. Insisting upon the severity of his mishap, he removed the bandage and OH... MY... GOD!! He lost half his finger in the accident. From what I gathered, the hospital would have attached the missing half successfully if only he could have located it. Apparently, when his finger was severed, it fell into some sort of draining contraption on the road and was never to be found again. I shall remember this lesson and in the future drive a good fifteen feet in proximity to/from the nearest driver. Yikes!!

Today was a very lazy .. but good day. I'm still feeling a bit under the weather so I took it easy again today. I had phở bò (a traditional Vietnamese soup with beef and noodles) this morning with Long. Afterward, I came home and stayed in bed all day. I taught my favorite class tonight at KTV and managed to get a picture or two of them. They are wonderful and love to talk, and I love to listen to what they have to say. I wish every class were the same :)

Now I am in my bed again and will turn in for the night. Tomorrow will be another busy day of lounging around and the teaching of one class. Oh what a difficult life this Vietnamese living is!! troi oi!!

Forty-year record

I understated the rain a bit. On Friday, the most rainfall in a day in forty years was recorded here in Biên Hòa, the city I live in. The water was waist deep near Coopmart, the local department store slash supermarket slash electronics' store. I didn't realize how much it rained due to my staying inside all day and resting. Indeed, a wise decision.

Today has been a good day. I taught a class this morning at KTV at 7:45 (yes, on Sunday). I picked up Ms. Patsy on the way to work. I must get a picture of us together on my motorbike before she leaves in a few weeks. We both need a visual reminder of our "fun" times together on that thing. I will miss her when she departs this wonderful third-world country.

At any rate, the class this morning was wonderful. I taught it with Sophia, who has been generous to me since I've arrived. Following that, I taught a Phonics class for forty-five minutes. After perusing for my keys for fifteen minutes before realizing that Mr. Duong at the front gate had found them, I along with my counterpart, Ms. Patsy, were off to her home. I dropped her off at hers, then cruised to mine. Andy called me and invited me to lunch. I haven't hung out with him in a long time so it was good to see him. We had a good talk about things, and he came back to my apartment to surf the internet and visit.

In the afternoon, we had a teachers' meeting at KTV, followed afterward with coffee and a light dinner. Trang was going to cook bò lúc lắc for me tonight, but it's raining again now so the plans have been canceled, sadly. I will settle for making noodles with my electric kettle.

Ah, the dvd player that Sophia's dad sold me broke last week, so today I gave it back to her and asked her if her dad could take a look at it. I am now watching my Will and Grace dvds on my laptop. Not the same, but it'll do. Also, there is this fantastic television station called Star World, and it has all American tv shows like Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, SNL, Ugly Betty, Ellen, Friends, etc. It's my saving grace here! So that's what I'll be doing for the rest of the evening, unless Long and Trang stop by IF it stops raining. Welcome to the tropics. Meh :/

Halloween Party and such

Tonight at KTV (my English academy) was our Halloween party. How can I explain this hoopla? Two words: Organized Chaos. Pictures to follow. I was a terrorist. How awesome am I!? Bin Ladin and the axis of evil have been found! Sidenote to George W. Bush and the FBI: Just kidding. I love America.. kind of.

After the party and afternoon/evening classes, Mr. Mark, Ms. Patsy, Long and his wife, Trang, and I went to eat and drink. I had a bit of a headache and was still recovering from being sick so I didn't eat or drink much. This coffee restaurant is very nice and quiet; however, after 8pm it transforms into a rave coffee bar with trance music blaring from multiple speakers strategically placed throughout the establishment. We went to what we thought was a quiet room. To our dismay, there were two big speakers bellowing music. Mr. Mark, cheeky as he may be (I'm British now!), decided to unplug the wires so that we could enjoy a peaceful cup of joe, beer, and dinner with friends.

Long will stay over tonight because I am not feeling well. I'm sure that will give Co Mai (the lady I rent from) something else to talk about. More about that in another blog. Anyway, Long's a good em trai (younger brother). I'm quite fortunate to have good people in my life wherever I go.

Until next time...

Dreary Day

It has rained.. and I mean rained heavily all day. For some reason, I have lost my voice today, which is not condusive to teaching, so I will stay home tonight and rest. Luckily, my most favorite person in the world, Ms. Patsy, will take my classes tonight. She's my heroine.. but not the drug. More like.. Supergirl.

Little Michael and I went shopping, finally, at Coopmart for the Halloween party tomorrow that I'm in charge of. Unbeknownst to me, Mrs. Khang decided to combine the birthday party and the Halloween party. She must not understand the difference in themes. So I'm a little miffed about that and the fact that I wasn't notified or even asked because it IS my responsibility. Such is life. I need a beer.

Off to sleep again now.. at 3:45pm.

Typical Thursday

So, I really should have started my blog when I moved here, but I've been here for over two months now... better late than never, perhaps.

Today is Thursday. On Thursdays, I get up at 5:30am and teach my first of four classes at Tran Dai Nghia High School at 7am. Anyone who knows me knows that I am NOT a morning person so of course I am not very enthusiastic about getting up that early, much less in any capacity to cheerfully teach classes. But I muddle through and get it done. I taught four English classes this morning at the high school. The classes average fifty students (yes, per class). I am entertaining and fun (in my mind) so the kids respond well. I do okay with classroom management. My method is to keep it fun and interesting - keep them talking so they don't have time to be bored. If that doesn't work, I outweigh them by about five tons so I can always just pick them up and throw them out of the window.

I finished teaching at the high school at 10:20am and made it back to my comfortable apartment by 11am. After a three-hour nap (no lie), it was time to go to my academy and teach two ninety-minute classes. Busy day, yes, but I'm still new here and need the money. I paid my motorbike off and have yet to pay my laptop in full. My first month here, my laptop was stolen out of the hotel room I was staying in. So I bought a new one on credit. It's not as big, but it gets the job done.

I love my apartment. It has everything I need, i.e. internet, cable tv, air conditioning (which is a MUST in Vietnam), etc. Below are some pics of my bedroom and computer area, which is essential, of course.

For now, I will go to bed. It is after 10:30pm, and I'm whipped. I will likely fall asleep watching the geckos in my bathroom devour the mosquitos and moths that foolishly fly through the window. It's nature. Indeed.