Beach Party Vietnam!
adventures in southeast asiaYou’ve Come to the Wrong Place!
Now I’m sailing on the good ship Blogger! Henceforth, keep up-to-date with my ramblings at: my shiny, new Blogspot address. Xin cảm ơn!
Can’t I Just be Healthy for a While!?
Just when I thought my (seemingly) never-ending cold was going to go away completely, I woke up this morning feeling like trash. It always seems to happen on a teaching week! Anyways, I was totally exhausted all morning, and by the end of the day I had such an awful headache. I usually prefer to let these sorts of things run their course — sleep lots, drink a bunch of water and OJ, etc. — but today I had to go buy some headache/fever pills. So now I’m taking Tiffy FU! Jeez… While browsing what the guy (calling him a pharmacist would certainly be a stretch!) had for sale, I almost bought some other pills. They were huge, like horse pills or something! But then I noticed that one of the main ingredients in them was codeine. Isn’t that, like, a really heavy-duty painkiller? Seemed like a bad idea, so it’s Tuffy FU for me! 
But as usual, my students are great, so I’m sure the week will go well overall. This afternoon we had to end class early because there was a craaaaazy thunderstorm that knocked the power out. These storms come out of nowhere; one minute it’s pleasant, the next it’s dark and super windy.. and then it pours. Fun!
A question for all you medical experts out there (I’m looking at your, Dr. Mum) — what is a migraine headache, and do I have one? I don’t often get headaches (just hangovers), and this headache is really something else. I hope I’ll feel okay in the morning.
Time to Dust of my Blog…
Gosh, I’ve really been neglecting this. The things a slow, unreliable internet connection will drive a person to do…! 
Anywho — what’s new, you’re wondering?
Let’s start with work:
- The fifth workshop went relatively well! We had to work around some power outages, but that was alright. The students were kinda.. boring, though. They always seemed interested in the lessons, but they had very few questions. Usually the teachers have all sorts of random, wacky questions; not last week, though!
- Next week we’ll start the sixth workshop, and there shouldn’t be anymore power outages to worry about. Yay! The school year doesn’t kick off until the beginning of September, but now there are a few summer classes at our school in the mornings, which means there are lots of wild, screaming children. We have to take breaks while they have recess, because it’s too loud for Hien and I to teach! So I wander around outside, and lots of kids gather around me like I’m somebody important or something
- My off-weeks are going to be way less boring from now on, as I’ll be getting some more work to do. I’ll be designing websites for some schools in Ninh Binh (I haven’t a clue why they would need them, though), fixing up the computers in the offices at my school, and teaching English to some of the primary teachers. Mr. Nam has decided that all teachers under the age of 40 ought to know English — that’s where Hien and I come into play! I hope it doesn’t go too awfully; I’m sure it’ll be fun, though.
And what else…?
I was in Hanoi for a couple days this week, which was fun. I met up with Kate, another volunteer who will also work in Ninh Binh. She’s just arrived in Vietnam. I hadn’t taken a bus to Hanoi before, but now I know that… Giap Bat bus station in Hanoi is crazy! When you arrive, swarms of xe om (motorbike taxi) drivers try to talk you into a ride, and when you’re leaving town guys from various buses try to get you to ride with them. I had five dudes around me, shouting “Ninh Binh! Ninh Binh!” and tugging at my arms to take me to their buses 
I suggested to Hien that next time I’d try taking the train to Hanoi, in hopes that it would be less stressful, but she said, “No, taking the train is even more difficult!” I’m not sure how that’s even possible. But at least now I know! Future trips to Giap Bat station will be easier to handle.
September 2nd is a holiday here, and Hien and I might be going with Hanh (from WUSC) and a few other friends to (I think) Bai Tu Long National Park for a 4-day weekend trip. But I might also need to be in Ninh Binh on the 1st, which would mean I can’t go. I’ll sort it out soon, and I hope I can go!
That’s all for now. Stay tuned, I’ll try to update more often.
Worst Week Ever!
Well, it wasn’t that bad, but… we had so many problems last week! Overall the workshop went fairly well, but the ward our school is in kept having power outages, which made it really difficult. We had to cancel class the whole day on Monday, and only were able to teach half-days on Tuesday and Thursday. On top of that, I woke up Tuesday morning with a cold which turned into a sinus infection. A cold in the summertime always sucks, but it was even worse here because it’s so hot everyday. Even just a few hours of teaching pretty well drained all my energy! But I’m almost back to normal now, so the cold didn’t last too long.
I had a quiet weekend; slept alot.
This week Hien and I will continue teaching English, I’m going to play some badminton, and I need to prepare the computer lab for next week. The remaining four workshops were originally going to be held at a different school, but that’s not the case anymore (fortunately!). We’ll have more power outages to work around, but at least I don’t have to re-install Windows on a bunch more computers, network them all, etc.
Weekend Recap
Hmm, what did I do…?
Friday I mostly hung around at Hien’s house. She invited me and one of her friends over for lunch, but I wound up sticking around all afternoon and then for dinner too! Deeeelicious food. Friday evening I was able to practice motorbike driving a bit more, which was fun. I’m getting more confident, but traffic is super unpredictable here. People go all over the road and don’t really bother to look before going (And of course I wear a helmet, mum!)
Saturday I visited a really big pagoda — I’m told it’s the largest in Southeast Asia. Parts of it are still being worked on, as it’s pretty new still. I learned how to light incense and do this little bow-kinda-thing in front of a really big buddha. Whenever I’m in these sorts of places I feel like I’m always about to accidentally do something silly/disrespectful, y’know being the dumb foreigner and all, but I made it out okay. After visiting the pagoda I went to a river/caves tour called Trang An. It’s similar to another place I’ve been twice before, Tam Coc, but more beautiful. there were some really long and dark caves that we rowed through. (Some mediocre pictures will be hitting my flickr gallery later this afternoon)
This morning I was invited by some folks who are somehow affiliated with my hotel (I’m probably supposed to remember how these people are all related, but I never can!) to go to a hot springs place, called Kenh Ga. It was basically just hot tubs, but it was really relaxing. We had to go by boat to get there, and the boat ride was really nice. After our soak in the hot tubs, we all went for lunch. Lately my meals have been pretty boring, except for dog meat every now and then, but today was something new. Yay! We ate chim, which means bird. First we had these tiny little birds, maybe not even old enough to fly, that had been fried. You eat the whole thing: little beak, legs, wings and all! And then we had some slightly larger birds. Lots of bird meat. I’m assuming it was pigeon, but I’m not 100% sure. Whenever I saw chim on the menu in restaurants in Hanoi, then English translation they had was always “pigeon.”
I’m back to work this week. Workshop #4, and more English teaching. Woo!
This is What’s New
Time for random updates:
- I learned how to drive a motorbike! I’ve been driving around on Hien’s Honda Wave (looks something like this, but red). It reminds me a bit of driving an ATV, in terms of changing gears and braking. I’d prefer a thumb throttle though, instead of this turn-the-handlebar-to-make-it-go business. But I’ll get used to it eventually.
- The English teaching is coming along fairly well. Last night one of our students came in a bit late, and when he opened the door he smiled big and said, “good bye!” Hien and I almost died of laughter! It’s probably bad to laugh at our students, but it was just too classic not to laugh — he’s a naturally (unintentionally) funny kinda guy. He’s never studied English before, but he’s quite determined to pronounce everything properly. Now he just needs to start remembering what everything means.
- I might be going fishing on the weekend with some of my English students. I’m not sure if there are any solid plans yet, but I assume that we will a) drink way too much beer, and b) go somewhere and not catch any fish. Just like back home!
- Hien and I will also be going sight-seeing somewhere, Saturday morning I think. Expect photos of some kinda wacky pagoda early next week!
Next week is also a teaching week. I’m looking forward to having work to do again.
I Can’t Think of a Clever Title Right Now…
Long time no post! Stupid wordpress.com. So sloooooooooooooooooooooooooow.
Last week Hien and I taught another workshop, and it was the best one so far. The students were super-punctual, paid close attention, and kept chatter to a minimum. And the guys never came back from lunch drunk, either! On the last day I was given a gift, so I have another shirt to add to my collection. I don’t even need the clothes I brought from Canada anymore!
I’ve also started teaching English a bit (with lots of help from Hien). There’s a group of 14 people all working on a project here in Ninh Binh that wanted us to teach them English, but we weren’t able to start until last week (I was too busy with my actual work to bother with much else during the first few weeks here). But anyways, we’re teaching them now! It’s an odd mix of people who can speak some English fairly well, and people who’ve never (ever!) studied (any!) English before. That’s making it difficult. I think originally their idea was something like: learning English from a foreigner will force them to learn and use more English, because of my limited ability to speak Vietnamese. And that’s okay for the guys who do know at least some English — but what about the dudes who don’t know any at all!? I’m still learning Vietnamese, so it’s really tough for me to communicate with them. I mean, I can have simple conversations and stuff, but I can’t teach something in Vietnamese. Thankfully, Hien is available to help me out. She’s better equipped than I am to do this anyways, having studied to be an English teacher at university in Hanoi. I’m just a computer nerd… with no training as a language teacher!
There’s no workshop this week, but we should be teaching English tonight, Wednesday, and Thursday night. I hope it turns out okay.
I Went to the Beach!
I was at Sầm Sơn beach with some friends on Tuesday and Wednesday, which was a blast! There are much more beautiful beaches in central and southern Vietnam, but while I’m in the north I guess places like Sầm Sơn will have to do. I didn’t take many pictures because I was too busy swimming in the ocean!
Next week is another teaching week, so I’ll be busy again Monday morning. I’m also supposed to be starting some English teaching Monday evening — yikes!!! I still don’t really know what I should do :S
Another Workshop is Over Already!
Seems like time went by a bit too quickly this week. The second workshop went pretty well, and we’ve had lots of fun in the past two days goofing around on the ‘net, learning about Email, Y!M, and other random web-related things. This morning the DOET brought in a photographer again to take a group picture, which turned out blurry.. but they went ahead and printed it anyways! So all of the students got to take home a super-blurry souvenir from the workshop. Argh! After we finished learning anything that was leftover from the days before, we went to the school’s meeting room downstairs to have a little party, say goodbyes, eat snacks, etc. This group also bought me a gift! I got a really nice shirt again — so now I’m building a collection of spiffy duds to wear while I’m teaching. My students will say, “thầy John rất đẹp trai!” (teacher John is very handsome!)
Fine, Just Fine
The second workshop is coming along pretty well. Mondays are difficult, as that’s the day I teach some MS Word related things — so boring! And I don’t quite have enough material to fill the afternoon on Mondays, which is a pain. It worked out in my favour this week, as we were having some issues in the lab (yet again) that I really needed to fix. So finishing early this Monday was okay.. but I don’t really want to make a habit of it.
In the first workshop I had a few students who were, sort of, Mr. Know-It-Alls; but this week, that’s not the case. Some of my students are really (like, really!) novice computer users. I might leave out some of the more advanced PowerPoint and Excel topics I taught last time around, but I haven’t decided yet. S’pose I’ll have to see how things go tomorrow.
I may not (actually, I hope I don’t) have an off-week next week. I think we’ll be accelerating the schedule a bit, which means I’d be teaching next week rather than having the week off to prepare for the next. Last week I found I didn’t really have much to do in the way of preparation.. and I was just bored! 
Maybe if I do wind up with the week off I’ll take a trip to Hanoi or something, but right now I’m happy to just stay in Ninh Binh and work.
Oh, and of course: Happy Canada Day to all the folks at home!
