Got a job

Got a job on Thursday! Yesterday was my first day. It's an awesome job. I have my own desk, a brand new computer, a bus that takes me to work, and very.. very good pay! Not to mention they buy everyone lunch every day. And I have (sort of) a secretary. I'm going to call him a secretary just because it sounds cool, but what he really does is makes sure that I have all the materials to plan my classes for any given week, brings me to class, and sits in class in case any Vietnamese-English translating is needed. Oh, and not only am I an English teacher, but now I'm also a math teacher!! Poor kids...

Change of plans... again

Again, sorry for the delayed post. It's been a very busy week! Long story short- now I'm back in Saigon... I started working in Hue at an international school called Cilios. The school and the students were fantastic, and I was put in charge of an advanced speaking class that was a pleasure to teach. All of the kids (and some adults) were eager to learn and participate and were very friendly. One class actually took Ben and I out for coffee after school... so much fun!

UNFORTUNATELY, Cilios is a Vietnamese run school, has very little funding, and could only afford to pay us 13,000,000 Dong/ month (about $650 USD). That is just not enough... And since Ben and I were tired of looking for jobs and moving around from city to city, we decided to make it easy on ourselves by moving back to Saigon where you'll find a new job offering on every block. So, we arrived in the city last night (Monday night) after a really, really fun 28 hour bus trip from Hue. Actually it sucked. We went from Hue to Hoi An, stopped for dinner, Hoi An to Nha Trang, stopped for breakfast, Nha Trang to Mui Ne, stopped for lunch, and finally to Saigon.

I've applied to a bunch of jobs, have an interview tomorrow morning for a job I really want to get, and will apply to more tomorrow afternoon. I got an awesome deal on a motor bike today, fifty bucks/ month for a brand new, never been ridden Honda Wave. It get's stares, either that or people are just staring at me cause I'm white.. or both. I also got a new helmet, this time one that wraps around my ears as well, a bit more comfortable and much safer.

Anyway, I realized today that my 3 month visa is almost up. I can't believe I've been here for almost 90 days. It feels like much less. I do feel that Vietnamese life is becoming more normal to me now, though. The insane motor bike traffic no longer phases me as much, I have almost mastered the art of ordering a meal in a restaurant, and I've come to accept that nothing in this country is ever definite or guaranteed. You've really gotta learn to expect the unexpected.

That's all for now... keep commenting, and SOMEBODY please visit me!!!

Hue, Employment and Pictures

Sorry for not writing sooner. I've been in Hue now for about three days, and I have to say it's amazing- definitely my favorite place in 'Nam so far. It's a pretty small city/ big town, and feels a lot like a college town- Vietnamese style. Actually, I shouldn't say that. Hue has such a heavy French influence that it almost feels like a combining of the two cultures. Although I've never been anywhere in France, the layout of the whole town is much different from anything I've experienced in Vietnam so far- it looks and feels much like how I'd imagine an old French town.

But where you really notice the French influence is the food! Hue has many specialty foods that are seldom found elsewhere in the country, including crepes, special French-Vietnamese pastries, and best of all, Banh Khoai. Banh Khoai is a "pancake" pastry filled with bean sprouts, shrimp, pork, sometimes cheese, and usually a bunch of other delicious goodies. It is also served with homemade peanut sauce. MMMMMMMM.

Anyway, the job situation is looking pretty good. I've started working for a semi-boarding language school across the river called Cilios. It's a really great place to work. All of the teachers, along with the director, have been extremely helpful and friendly. Unfortunately, they are not allowed to provide us with accommodation until our work permits are official, but they are helping us find a cheap house to rent in the mean time, and they have been preparing us with a bounty of helpful links and resources for ESL teaching. I've also been told that Vietnam's "Teacher's Day" is just around the corner- November 22nd- wooo!

Alrighty, so, like the last entry, I figured I would put up a bunch of pictures for the remainder of the post. (Good news- I figured out that I can upload pictures from my camera without the USB chord simply by putting my SD-card into Ben's camera and uploading them from his.) Enjoy, and comment!

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A small bay in Da Nang where we swam and snorkeled



Restaurant/ bar built over a river in Hoi An



View of Da Nang while riding up Monkey Mountain



Da Nang from the very top of the mountain



Monkey Mountain



Doing a little thinking on the very top of Monkey Mt.... very, very high up!



One of over 300 Pagoda's in Hue



The first Christian Church we've seen in Vietnam (Hue)



A nice garden leading up to the previous Church



French Influence in Hue?



More to come!

Marble Mountain

Finally I have some pictures for you! I haven't been able to upload pictures from my camera because I don't have the USB chord and I can't get another one in Vietnam. But I just uploaded all of Ben's pictures from his camera, so I'll post some up for you!

Anyway, I went to marble mountain two days ago, located just ten minutes away from our house in Da Nang. As you might have guessed, Marble mountain is a mountain made entirely of marble. Throughout the mountain are a series of caves, temples, sculptures, and amazing views of the surrounding area. It is surrounded by five other mountains, and each of the six mountains represents an element: water, wood, fire, air, metal, and earth. Marble Mountain represents water. Here is are some views from the top:










Our Vietnamese tour guide and I touching the belly of "Happy Buddha":




The "Gate to Heaven":




A Pagoda on top of the mountain:




Another Pagoda built into the mountain:




"Sleeping Woman Buddha"




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I think I'll use the rest of this post to show you some other pictures from other parts of our journey in Vietnam. Enjoy!

My house in Da Nang:




The living room leading into the kitchen:




View from our roof:




Me driving my motor bike down Monkey Mountain:




Monkey Mountain:




The cable guy installing our wifi:




A view from a cafe built over a river in Hoi An:




Da Nang from the air:



A view of Da Nang city from Monkey Mountain with the Buddha statue in the bottom left:




View of HCMC from a bar at the top of the Sheraton:




Mui Ne beach:




And last but not least, me in the streets of Ho Chi Minh City!!




That's all for now.. keep posted!

Hi Hue, Hi Hue.....

... it's off to Hue we go!

Yep, I didn't get the job with ILA, so we're moving to Hue! Apparently ILA was just accredited by some stupid organization in Australia that requires all of their teachers to have a special TEFL certificate- one that I don't have. On top of that, our land lord wants to sell the house we're living in regardless of our 6 month contract. We could give them hell for it, but instead, since we've already been in Da Nang for about 3 weeks without finding a worth while job, we're taking this opportunity to get back our rent money and move 3 hours north up to Hue. Ben's friends, currently teaching in Hue, are leaving their job August 5th, so our plan is to walk into the school on the 6th and take their jobs! The plan seems flawless, but I've learned that nothing is for certain in Vietnam...

So the plan is to tell the English Academy, where I'm "working" now, next Monday that we're leaving in one week. I think they will understand, they seem pretty down to earth. Although I'm disappointed to leave the beautiful beaches in Da Nang, Hue has a beach 15 or 20 minutes away, plus it's known as the cultural "hub" of Vietnam (not to mention also as having the best and cheapest food in the country). So we'll see how that works out!

Still job searching

Hello everyone. So I've been frantically looking for more full time job, and it seems as if my search might be coming to an end. I do have that one job with Da Nang University, but its very part time and doesn't really pay that well. The job with the golf course is even less hours and wont start for a few weeks. BUT, the other day I had an interview with a language school downtown called ILA Vietnam. The boss wants to hire me, but because ILA is a big international language training company, they only accept certain TEFL certificates, and of course mine is not one of them. But they are still trying to convince upper management to allow me to teach for them.

If it all works out, I'll have an AWESOME full time job with great benefits like health insurance, 30 days of paid leave, and a contract completion bonus. WOOO! But I'm trying not to get my hopes up...

Everything else is going pretty well here. I miss everyone back home.. and yes I was serious when I said that any visitors can stay in my house!! My plans today are to do laundry, go to the beach, and go the food market to get some groceries. Catch you all later.

Update on Da Nang

Hey everyone. I'm sorry for not writing in the past week, but it's been pretty busy and I don't yet have internet where I'm staying. So here is a quick update until I have more time to write:

Da Nang is AWESOME! It's even nicer than Mui Ne was.. the ocean is a deep aqua color, and warmer than any pool I've ever swam in. The past week I've been looking for jobs and been getting acquainted to the area. So far I think I have a job lined up at Da Nang University teaching English to upper-level college students and possibly another part-time job at a golf course next to the beach training the staff and management to speak English to customers. Both seem like great jobs, but I'd like to find one or two more just to fill up my time. I'm currently renting a pretty nice house two blocks from the beach, the one I mentioned previously. It does have a pool on the roof, but it's not in operating condition. The bedrooms and kitchen are really nice though, and if anyone would like to visit, we have extra rooms that you can stay in! Anyway... I'm in an internet cafe at the moment cause we haven't gotten wifi set up in our house yet, so I gotta go. I'll try to catch you up more within the next few days. See ya.

Off to De Nang tomorrow

Last night I had the best crab dinner. We went to our favorite restaurant just down the road from our guest house, and since it was our last dinner there before leaving for Da Nang, they threw in some free beers, my favorite water spinach salad with beef, and Ben's favorite tamarind sauce with fresh bread. And for the first time, we saw some other foreigners there. I don't remember her name, but I met this woman from NYC who is here on business, she is an international communications consultant. And she took my contact info for when she starts a project developing English training for Vietnamese companies. Woo!

So yea, I just bought my plane ticket today for Da Nang. Da Nang is only about 10 miles from Hue, where I have a possible part-time job starting towards the end of September. So the plan is to find a job in Da Nang and take the part-time job in Hue as well. Ben's friend living in Da Nang moved out of his house today, so we will hopefully move in there. It's two blocks from the beach, has five bedrooms, and is 4 or 5 floors! Oh, and there's a pool on the roof. Hell yea! It's supposedly only 600/month and an extra 60 for a housekeeper/cook. Hopefully it's not too good to be true.

I hear Da Nang has nice beaches, islands you can take a ferry to and go snorkeling, and amazing seafood. Hue is apparently also very cultural, laid back, and less touristy than Saigon. Anyway, my flight leaves tomorrow at 4pm, and I have to pack. See ya!

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!