Mui Ne

First off, I was wrong when I said Mui Ne is pronounced like "Monet." It's actually "muy nay" like "muy" bien in Spanish. And in English phonetics, it is /m:ɔi: neɪ/. (Just took the phonetics test in class today... ugh.)

Anyway, Mui Ne was awesome. The town is basically made up of just one road that spans along the coastline for maybe 10 or 15 kilometers. The town is pretty quiet and relaxing, and it's definitely very catered to foreigners on vacation. Which means prices were also catered to foreigners. It was hard to find a meal for under 50 or 60k dong, drinking cost from $1-$2 USD for a beer or $2.50-$6 for a cocktail, and touristy activities were upwards of $40. Mui Ne is famous for kite boarding and I really wanted to try, but I couldn't find anywhere to get a lesson for less than $50. And my new debit card STILL has yet to arrive, so kite boarding will have to wait.

Friday night we checked into the hotel around 8, went out for dinner, and then jumped into the ocean for a bit. The water is incredibly warm, the warmest sea water I've ever felt. Then Saturday during the day I got a massage (there are massage parlors everywhere in both Mui Ne and Saigon), went swimming a few times, explored, ate, and rented a bicycle to bike around the town.

And Saturday night was one of the craziest, spontaneous nights of my life! We started the night by getting a drink at Club Hollywood, an overpriced club with music that will literally blow out your ears. So we left, and on our way to another bar, we passed a few Vietnamese guys sitting in a circle playing guitar. As we walked by, they motioned for us to come play them some American music, and because I have not been able to play guitar in so long, I jumped at the opportunity. Not before long, an Irish "lad" named Steed (age 29), whom we had met briefly the previous night, walked by and decided to join the circle. Five minutes later, the German owner of a guest house across the street came over with two more guitars and a harmonica. I don't know his name, but he looked to be 55 or 60 years old. And finally, an expat from England (Abby, age 25) and a Swedish kid, Sam (age 21), had a seat as well. So.... Sweden, England, Ireland, Germany, Vietnam, and the US- that's six countries represented, and seven if you count that Ben is originally from Korea! After we sat around drinking a few beers and passing around the guitars for a while, two of the three Vietnamese decided to go to bed and the German man did the same soon after, leaving Sam, Abby, Steed, Ben, Evan (age 29), and I. (We nicknamed the Vietnamese boy Evan because, after several attempts, we just could not pronounce his name.)

Evan explained that he was a night watch for the resort we were sitting outside of, so we decided to get up from our nice little circle to go for a swim in the hot tub, pool, and ocean. The water was amazing, but we were being a bit too loud so Evan said he would walk with us along the beach and we could stop to swim at all of the other resorts. Since he was a night watch, he knew most other night watches and said it was no problem for us to drop in for a dip. So we walked along the beach from resort to resort, stopping at a few beach-side bars along the way as well. This resort/bar-hopping journey lasted us until nearly 4:30am when we decided to get a bite to eat.

Throughout the night, we compared countless stories about culture, food, traveling, and stereotypes, all while surrounded by the most beautiful natural and built environments. In fact, there were several moments when there would be a lull in conversation and someone would look around, pause, and mention, "holy crap, we're in VIETNAM!!!" Haha... (To which Evan would give a loud shrug.)

And finally, I crawled into my bed around 5:30 in the morning. It was a fun night.

The next day we didn't do much of anything. I woke up around 10, jumped in the ocean, got lunch, and caught the bus back to HCMC at 1:30. And to top it all off, when Ben and I arrived back at our guest house, the owner handed us each a piece of Vietnamese authentic, homemade birthday cake left over from her son's birthday party that day. YUM!

Vacation from a Vacation!

Right now its 7:55pm here, 8:55am for you, on Aug. 26. I just got back from dinner, a little shopping, and buying a bus ticket to Mui Ne!!! Mui Ne (pronounced "mo-nay" like Monet the painter) is a beach town up north from HCMC, about five hours on a bus. The ticket cost 102,000 VND, or about five bucks, for one way. And I'm expecting to pay about $10/ night for a hotel. Not sure how nice the bus will be, but it runs from a pretty reputable travel agency. Mui Ne is a really nice beach, we lucked out to find such cheap bus tickets. Here's some pics:



It's a bit more rural than I'm used to, however, so I'll be sure to bring my bug spray! I hear they have great snorkeling and sailboarding, so I'll have to try that.

Anyway, for dinner I had fried crab and shrimp with an asiany linguine-type pasta? It was really, really good! We ate at the Night Market, just outside Ben Thanh Market, which is crazy cheap. Err.. Reasonable. It was funny, though, cause the market is basically just a bunch of outdoor restaurants set up next to each other along the side of a wide street, and as any white person walks by a certain designated employee from each restaurant will bombard him or her with their menu, claiming that its sooooo much better than their neighbors'. (Although all the menus look identical...) Next time, we decided we'll have two restaurant solicitors rock, paper, scissors it out.

However, they're not as bad as the people selling counterfeit books, gum, shirts, etc. on the street. Last night when we were having dinner, we had someone come INTO the restaurant with a huge stack (at least 4 feet tall) of Vietnamese travel books, stand at the end of our table, and basically beg us to buy a book... on THREE separate occasions!! At least at home it's only a phone call...

Anyway, I have my sixth teaching practice tomorrow bright and early at 6:45am, so I'd better get some sleep. I'll fill you in on Mui Ne as soon as I return!

More teaching practice!

So this week I got to do a few more teaching practices; one more with Rich and Sam, and two more at an economics University in the city. Rich is by far the best English speaker I have encountered so far. He's only eight, has been speaking English for five years, and can speak, write, and read fluently. Before I left, I gave them a goody bag of candy, so I think I'm now their favorite teacher ever...

The university students were also a lot of fun to teach. The thing in Vietnam is, there is such minimal diversity (90 something percent of people in Vietnam are Vietnamese) that students consider it an honor to study from a white foreign teacher. So when I walked into class, everyone quickly stood from their seats and clapped, giving me a standing ovation as I walked up to the podium. That quickly made any butterflies in my stomach go away.

This week I am also planning on getting all of my stuff ready for applying to teaching jobs (resume, cover letter, etc). I'm going to apply for jobs all over Vietnam, southern Thailand, and Indonesia. Originally, I was planning on finding a job in Hanoi after taking the TEFL course in Ho Chi Minh City, but I've heard that Hanoi is very conservative and feels much more like its under communist control. I have one job lined up in Hue, Vietnam (pronounced "way") which is a city situated right next to a pretty nice beach, and only fifteen miles away from Denang, one of Vietnam's nicest beaches. The pay is a little below average ($800/ month) but they offer free housing and a great location. The usual starting salary for English teachers in Vietnam is around $1300-1500/ month. I'm looking into Thailand as well because of how nice the beaches are in the south. Again, pay is usually lower than in Vietnam, and cost of living is a bit more, so its not likely that I'll be going there. Indonesia is a possibility because its very cheap to live there and its in paradise! (Look at the picture below.)





Aunt Karen- I asked my instructor the other day about the "dong." Dong directly translated means copper. It was introduced into the country in the late 1970's, and at that time, the coins were apparently made from copper.

Uncle Steve- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_wine

Mom Mom- Happy 100th birthday!!!

Back to reality....

So... This weekend we had been planning on going to the beach to snorkel, but we decided to plan a trip to one of Vietnam's Southern islands instead (which you need to fly to). There, we will get to see, swim in, and snorkel some of the country's most beautiful waters!

Bad news first- my wallet has been stolen. A friend and I went out to a bar Friday night, and on our walk home a prostitute approached us. Before I could shoo her away, she was all over us, putting her arm around me, etc, etc. And when I woke up Saturday morning, I realized my wallet was no longer in my pocket. Shame on me for having it in my back pocket, this will NOT happen again. Anyway, right away I canceled my debit card (which had no charges on it) and called the US Consulate/ my Dad for help. A new debit card is on its way to my Mom's house, and I need to go into the consulate to get a new ID. At least my passport is safe :). But if I ever see that woman again....

And now for the good news- today was my first teaching practice day! Teaching practice, or "TP," is when I go into a local English school to practice teaching English. As this was our first visit, each teacher-in-training had to work with just one or two other students. I got two, Sam and Rich! They were a blast, I learned about their families, their favorite foods, animals, sports, movies, etc. One of their mother's names is apparently, "evil mom." Before leaving, they asked me if I was coming back tomorrow, and it killed me to have to say no... but they did ask me to take a picture of them with my phone so I wouldn't forget them.



I had to take a picture of my phone with my webcam, so the quality is bad, but you get the picture.


Uncle Bob- your case is on order.


Keep commenting!!!

Day 6

Thank you to everyone who is commenting!!! Almost makes me feel a little closer to home.

So I've been thinking about how to organize the blog... it might get a bit boring after a while if all I'm doing is using it as a journal to talk about what I've been doing. So I'm thinking that I'll switch it up regularly to talk about something specific about Vietnam (such as food, transportation, teaching, etc) in addition to things that have been happening from day to day. Let me know if you have any other ideas....

Also- if you have any questions, just ask me through comments and I'll reply in the next post.

So right now it's 5pm, or 6am at home. I am getting more and more used to being in this crazy city. I now know, when buying something, to never... EVER pay the vendor's asking price. They want you to leave having bought something no matter how low they have to go. Example: today I went to buy a pair of sunglasses in a shop. I picked out a pair of Ray Bans and asked, "how much?" She said 400,000 dong ($22 USD). I said no way, 200,000 ($11 USD). She said 380,000 and pointed to a pair of Oakleys and said I could have them for 300,000 if I "want cheaper." I said, no thank you and walked away. 2 seconds later she grabbed my arm and brought me back and said, ok ok 250,000. I said no, 200,000, and finally she agreed! Who knows if they're real, but they look close enough for me!

Here are some other things I or someone else has purchased with their respective costs in dong and dollars.

Pancho- 5,000 dong ($0.25)
All you can drink happy hour- 100,000 dong ($5)
Cafe Su Aga (Coffee with sweetened milk)- 15,000 dong ($0.75)
A dozen clams steamed with pineapple- 38,000 dong ($1.80)
Loaf of bread- 5,000 dong ($0.25)
Outlet converter- 40,000 dong ($2.00)
Beef salad (favorite meal so far)- 40,000 dong ($2.00)
Fried pastry- 3,000 dong ($0.15)
A liter of snake wine- 75,000 dong ($3.75)



Liter of Absolut Vodka- 80,000 dong ($4.00)
Stuffed squid dish- 25,000 dong ($1.25)


So yea, its quite cheap. They don't like you to say "cheap," here though. So we say, "reasonable" even though it's an understatement. Or overstatement? Depends on how you look at it.

First 2 Days in HCMC!

First off, sorry for not posting anything earlier. The government here bans certain websites, and this happens to be one of them (along with facebook). Finally, after a few hours I found out that I can access many blocked websites using free proxy servers that are easy to find after doing a simple google search.

So I arrived in HCMC at about 10:30pm. As soon as I walked out of the airport with my baggage looking for a taxi driver, the smell was very different and the heat was intense. During the flight I was a little stressed about having to find a ride from the airport to my room, but not 30 seconds after I walked outside, a taxi driver walked up to me, and asked me if I needed a taxi. I said yes, he took my bags for me, and piled them into his car. It took about 20 minutes to get to my place. My room does not completely live up to Western standards, but it definitely serves its purpose. It is very clean and comfortable, but small and with no windows :( The bathroom is a small open space with a toilet on the left, a shower spigot in the middle, and a sink on the right.

When I woke up the next morning (Sunday), I decided to explore the city a little. When I walked out to my street, it was MUCH different from the night before- tons of people, motor bikes, horns, and the sidewalks were completely crowded with vendors selling everything from hair products to live fish for cooking. Walking down the street was intense... I was the only white person and everyone was staring at me. I remember feeling like I was on a completely different planet, and at this point I began to start rethinking whether I would really be able to stay here for more than 1 or 2 months! After about 45 minutes of wandering, I needed to return to my room to read more of my Vietnam travel books... I was so unprepared! I am having trouble getting pictures on my computer, but watch this youtube video for small glimpse of what the traffic is like here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azxQx1tX-0o

Here is a picture I found online of the alley off Co Bac Street that leads to my hotel:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_RmQd_T2z78o/SdhiQRONyMI/AAAAAAAAA0c/_e3edTstdWI/Vietnam+218-edit.jpg

If you were standing right where this picture is taken looking straight ahead, you would turn directly around 180 degrees, walk 10 feet, and the entrance to the guesthouse is on your left. When I first arrived at the place, I was a little disturbed... a similar looking area in NYC would NOT be somewhere I want to be. I've learned since then, however, that this is one of the best areas to be in the city- near center city, in District 1, and it is favorable in HCMC to live down an ally way because it is much quieter. It seems most expatriates live either down an ally or in a tall apt building.

Anyway, after going back to my place, I made a game plan- to go to center city and find some food I feel safe eating (simple enough). So I left my place for the second time, mustered up the courage to take a $.50 motor bike taxi ride to center city (which I now know is only a 10 minute walk), and started walking around the area. Here I felt much more comfortable, there were a bunch more tourists and the sidewalk stands were replaced with small shops (selling everything from backpacks to cameras), big shops (I saw Gucci, internet cafes, coffee shops, etc), and very upscale-looking restaurants. I kept walking around until I found some other tourists who I felt comfortable talking to. I found two guys about my age and asked them if they knew of a good place for lunch. They pointed to a big red sign, "Pho 2000." Here is a picture:

http://www.foodgps.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/asia-2005-volume-2-214.jpg

Pho is Vietnam's famous dish- I knew this from my reading. So I went there and had Chicken Pho (basically chicken noodle soup, but MUCH better). Including two bottles of water, the meal cost me 30,000 Dong, or about $1.50 USD. And here is a picture of Pho for you:

http://www.pho2000.com/image/obj346geo368shd94pg10p2.jpg

After eating, I started getting pretty tired from jet lag and I decided to go back and rest. I was asleep by 6pm.

The next day was my first day of TEFL training. The course takes place from 8:30am-4pm Mon-Fri for four weeks. The first day was AMAZING. It restored my faith, reminding me why I want to be here! The instructors are very good at what they do, and the others in the class are so much fun. I met two guys, Ben and Ryan, both from North Western US. Ryan is living about 10 mins from me and at a friend's house whom he knew previously and has been here for over a year. Ryan has been showing me around and such, pointing out good restaurants and bars and telling me where I can go to get certain things, etc. Ben I found out is living below me in the same hotel. Him and I were exploring a little after class, which is MUCH easier than wondering alone. Tonight, we had dinner at a sidewalk stand outside our guesthouse (a huge plate of rice, chicken, herbs, sauces, iced tea, and a banana for $.75!!!) which was cooked to absolute perfection, and then got a drink at the top floor of the Sheraton! The view from the bar at the 23rd floor is breathtaking. I took a pic with my phone, but I can't get the picture message to send to my email!

After today, I am beginning to really like it here and get used to the extraordinary way of life. I would DEFINITELY recommend visiting! Anyone who does not have an experience like this is really missing out... I feel like a king here- the natives are so nice and cater to my every move. Even when I walk into restaurants people smile and open the door for me and say, "hello, nice to meet you."

Anyway, I think I've written enough.. time for bed! I'm planning on spending the weekend snorkeling at the beach outside of the city, so I'll keep you posted!

On my way to Saigon!

I'm sitting in the airport in Chicago, just less than an hour before I board onto a double-decker plane destined for Seoul, South Korea! I took a picture with my camera:

This is definitely the biggest plane I've ever been on. And I hear each passenger gets a personal TV and can choose their own movies.. I'm excited. The flight to Chicago from Newark was a breeze. I just ate what will likely be my last pizza for a very long time from the airport food court. Nothing like Sammy's in Ithaca, but whatever. Anyway, I'll catch you all on the flip side!