My Life in Vietnam: September 2011

New Job!

I've now been in Vietnam over three years, and I've had the same job since I've been here. I don't like change because I like to be stable and comfortable. Well, I'm stepping out. I've been hired at the first and only international school in my province, Asia Pacific College. This job offers MUCH more money, and it's salary pay. With my job now, I get paid by the classes I teach, and that greatly varies! At my new job, I'll get the same pay, a significant amount more, every month. I get paid holidays, sick days, and weekends off! There's also a Vietnamese TA in every class to grade papers, tests, and translate if need be (but I do just fine with my Vietnamese). This is an AMAZING opportunity, and I start on Monday.

This morning, I observed the high school class I'll be taking over. It's going to require A LOT of patience, but "Patience" is my middle name.

As for my language center, KTV, I'll continue to teach in the evenings until a replacement teacher is found and teach a couple of nights a week in the future. I don't want to stop working at my center because I really love it there. But for the next month, I'll be working two full-time positions - and THAT equals BEAUCOUP money!!

Change is good. So here's to change! Cheers!

My High School Best Friend

When I was in high school, I took a really bold step and became a cheerleader. The other male cheerleader at my super small backwoods Louisiana country town high school ended up being my best friend for many years. He - David - went on to be the mayor of our small town after graduation. This photo is from my junior year in high school.

High School Photo

Unintentionally, I went GINGER my junior year. I was 16 years old in this photo.

Looking Thinner

It's me!

Kevin Dacosta Moore

This is my old buddy, Kevin. I recently found out he passed away a few years ago. We were really close friends, having met in New Orleans in the mid 1990s while he was visiting for Mardi Gras. We kept in touch and remained friends into the early 2000s, but I lost track of him after I moved to South Florida. I visited his home in Marietta, GA, a couple of times, but that's the last I heard from him. Since that time, I've tried to reconnect with him. Finally, I googled his name (thank goodness I remembered his middle name as Kevin Moore is so common) and learned of his passing. I'm writing this blog in hopes that someone can tell me what happened to him so I can get some closure. The last time we talked, we had a small disagreement over my cell phone bill (which he set up for me). I guess I just want to know what happened to my friend. Please feel free to leave a comment here or email me at GymnastFAU@aol.com. Thanks!

Win, Lose, or Draw

For one of my class activities, I taught one of my classes how to play Win, Lose, or Draw. One of my students chose her word that was written down on a piece of paper and proceeded to draw THIS! I'll give you a dollar if you can guess what it is!!

September 11th

This day always wears me out mentally because of all the thinking and coverage on tv, but I think back to ten years ago and a week to the day when I was at the World Trade Center towers. My friend, Dennis, asked me if I wanted to eat pizza at Windows on the World, which was the restaurant at the top of one of the WTC towers. I had a really strange feeling about them -maybe because of the bombing in 1993 - so I declined going up to the top. Who knew that a week later I nor anyone would have that chance again? Here's a photo taken September 4, 2001.

Cheerleading in Vietnam: Ngo Quyen High Performance

So today was the cheerleaders' big performance. I'm happy to say they did an amazing job, and I'm so proud of them. Below are some photos from their routine.

Extensions

Walking preps

Lib pyramid

J-Lo: On the Floor!

Dancing!

More dancing!

Rolling around on the ground!

Boys coming to the front for their dance

Boys dance/motions

Boys motions

Girls dipping the boys = super cute!

Motion sequence

Prep for jumps

Toe touches

Number One!

Pike baskets (the one you see went up too late, but it was beautiful!)

And finished! Have a great school year!

Minus 30 lbs

Since I started my diet in late May, one of my top 3 goals was to once again fit into my favorite red-striped shirt that I hadn't been able to wear since early 2010 (nearly two years). So, my plan was to lose enough weight so that I could wear it for my cheerleaders' performance today as their school colors are red and white. After exercising this morning, I put my shirt on, and IT FIT!! Surprise! Surprise!

Shopping, American-style

Let me preface this entry by saying how much I truly love Vietnamese food. Having said that, I DO get a hankerin' for American food every now and then. My boss took me to just shy of the Saigon bridge to a Western area of town to do a bit of food shopping for things I just can't find here in Bien Hoa. Here's what I found:

My favorite in the whole, wide world: Hershey's Cookies N Creme!