My cute preschool class's ABCs

Granted, they're shouting and not singing.. but.. it's still a beautiful thing!

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ESL Teacher Needed in Binh Duong, Thu Dau Mot

So for a few months, I've been teaching preschoolers at Bambi Preschool in Thu Dau Mot in Binh Duong Province. It's about 800 meters from the big stadium there in the center of town. I love it, but I live in Bien Hoa. The drive wears me out, and it takes me away from my school once a week (Bambi Preschool is a sister school of my school, Asia Pacific College Dong Nai.).

The job is really easy as there are no expectations. Singing nursery rhymes is what I do. The hours are from 8am-10:30am with a 3.5 hour lunch break and teaching again from 2pm-4pm. 5 classes are 30 minutes, 3 classes are 20 minutes, and 3 classes are 10 minutes each. There's a villa with air con and free wifi should you choose to stay there on lunch break. There's also a sofa for sleeping. It's a good setup but a bit far away from home for my taste.

The pay is $15 and hour, and it's easy as pie. If anyone is interested, please leave a comment with your contact info, and I'll get back to you ASAP!

Best regards,
Michael

P.S. Sorry, I forgot to mention that the teacher must be a native speaker. Sorry for not putting that in the blog the first time.

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ESL Teacher Needed in Thu Dau Mot, Binh Duong

So for a few months, I've been teaching preschoolers at Bambi Preschool in Thu Dau Mot in Binh Duong Province. It's about 800 meters from the big stadium there in the center of town. I love it, but I live in Bien Hoa. The drive wears me out, and it takes me away from my school once a week (Bambi Preschool is a sister school of my school, Asia Pacific College Dong Nai.).

The job is really easy as there are no expectations. Singing nursery rhymes is what I do. The hours are from 8am-10:30am with a 3.5 hour lunch break and teaching again from 2pm-4pm. 5 classes are 30 minutes, 3 classes are 20 minutes, and 3 classes are 10 minutes each. There's a villa with air con and free wifi should you choose to stay there on lunch break. There's also a sofa for sleeping. It's a good setup but a bit far away from home for my taste.

The pay is $15 and hour, and it's easy as pie. If anyone is interested, please leave a comment with your contact info, and I'll get back to you ASAP!

Best regards,
Michael

P.S. Sorry, I forgot to mention that the teacher must be a native speaker. Sorry for not putting that in the blog the first time.

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Bad Thunderstorm

This morning at about 5am, I was awakened by heavy rain bombarding my roof. It didn't let up until a good two hours later. I've never seen anything like it since I evacuated for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Usually, I have to be at school at 6:45am, but there was no way my little scooter would have made it out of my flooded alley way at that time. It finally let up about 7:15, and I was able to go into work. I took a screen shot of the radar, and this thing looks like a huge thunderstorm that you'd see back in the states. Keep in mind that Vietnam doesn't have the best drainage infrastructure so everything floods when it rains a bit, not to mention from the kind of thunderstorm we had this morning. Did anyone else experience that? Wow!

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A Trip the the Dentist

It's been a couple of years since I've been to the dentist for a checkup, and I had also heard about this laser teeth bleaching treatment from my colleagues at school. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and do it all at the same time.

The dentist is the father of a student at our school. Today, I went in for an exam, cleaning, polishing, and three sessions of teeth bleaching (complete with a laser) for only $72. Woohoo! I love this country!! I wonder how much it would cost back in the states.

I have to go back for two more sessions (next appointment is scheduled for Saturday at 8am), and my teeth whitening will be complete. The downside: No wine, coke, chocolate, or coffee for three days. I'll just take out my withdrawals on my treadmill.

And it should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I took a photo while still in the dentist's chair. Those protective glasses are hot, eh?

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The Season of Lent

Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the church as a preparatory time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days.

With in mind…let us read a reflection by William Arthur Ward entitled Fasting and Feasting.

Lent should be more than a time of fasting. It should be a joyous season of feasting. Lent is a time to fast from certain things and to feast on others. It is a season in which we should:

Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling in them.
Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life.
Fast from thought of illness; feast on the healing power of God.
Fast from words that pollute; feast on the phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; feast on hope.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.
Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.
Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.
Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.
Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.

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I'm Going Home (for 3 weeks)

Since I've been living in Vietnam (almost four years now), I haven't been back to the states. I get a vacation in June, and I'm finally going back home to visit as I have a 20-year high school reunion to attend. I have a few hours' layover at LAX, where I'll meet up with my great friend, Holly, who now lives there. Then I'll fly into Houston where my other wonderful friend, Sasha, will pick me up. We'll hang out in Houston for the weekend before driving over to Louisiana, which is where I'm from. The last weekend in June, I'll go visit an old friend, Toan, in NYC before flying back to home sweet home in Vietnam. I KNOW I'll miss my friends and significant other in Vietnam for the three weeks I'm gone, but I absolutely can't WAIT to go back home and see my family and friends there.

I wonder if I'll have reverse culture shock. If anyone reading this had been away from home a few years before returning back, how was it? How did you deal with it? I'm kinda nervous that I've forgotten American culture and will just bow to everyone when I see them back home. That's not gonna go down well in the dirty South. ha!

Diet and weight loss regime begin... IMMEDIATELY!!

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Joke of the Year

One day in the future, George Bush has a heart-attack and dies. He immediately goes to Hell, where the devil is waiting for him.

"I don't know what to do here,"
says the devil. "You are on my
list, but I have no room for you.
You definitely have to stay here,
so I'll tell you what I'm going to
do. I've got a couple of folks here
who weren't quite as bad as you.
I'll let one of them go, but you
have to take their place. I'll even
let YOU decide who leaves."

George thought that sounded
pretty good, so the devil opened
the door to the first room.

In it was Ted Kennedy and a
large pool of water. Ted kept
diving in, and surfacing, empty
handed. Over, and over, and
over he dived in and surfaced
with nothing. Such was his fate
in hell.

"No," George said. "I don't think
so. I'm not a good swimmer, and
I don't think I could do that all
day long."

The devil led him to the door of
the next room.

In it was Al Gore with a sledge-
hammer and a room full of rocks.
All he did was swing that hammer,
time after time after time.

"No, this is no good; I've got
this problem with my shoulder.
I would be in constant agony if
all I could do was break rocks
all day," commented George.

The devil opened a third door.
Through it, George saw Bill
Clinton, lying on the bed, his
arms tied over his head, and his
legs restrained in a spread-eagle
pose. Bent over him was Monica
Lewinsky, doing what she does
best.

George looked at this in shocked
disbelief, and finally said, "Yeah
man, I can handle this."

The devil smiled and said...........

(This is priceless...)


"OK, Monica, you're free to go."

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My New Toy

I've definitely put on some weight since the holidays so I finally bought a treadmill so I can work out at home whenever I feel like it without the hassles of feeling obligated to have a conversation while walking around the neighborhood and without little kids following me around like little ducks. Besides, I've got a 20-year high school reunion coming up this summer. Geesh!!