Is it delicious?

I apparently only write in my blog when I'm in a good mood. In case I haven't complained to you yet: there are times when I'm not happy and comfortable. I was sick for a few days this week and being sick really makes me miss the comfort of home and friends. We had a goodbye party for Mathew and Chris, and the next morning I woke up and the first thing I thought was, "I want to go lie on the end of Marg's bed and recap the night and everything else that I'm thinking." In case you don't know, that sums up three years living with her in Boston. Ever since then I've been homesick and actually sick. But I got some rest, talked to a lot of people and generally feel better. I'm taking a vacation starting TOMORROW, so I'm just really excited right now. 

I talked to John Caprice the other day and it made me pretty happy. We shared very similar tales (I graduated with him and he's teaching English in Japan) Some things are pretty similar but some are very different. It was nice to share stories and hear that we aren't going crazy here - some things are really ridiculous. But its worth it. He said something that was worth remembering - "It's all about rolling with the punches. Because there is nothing to fall back on, but yourself." I couldn't have said it better myself. I would like to meet up with him somewhere in Asia.. we are both poor but its worth a shot. It would be nice to have some Boston in my life. 

Last weekend Julia and I did a dance at a welcoming for the English Department Freshman. 

Basically, we made fools of ourselves. We put together a "dance" to a Brittany Spears song. It included some hip shaking, the sprinkler, the shoulder dance, and the electric slide. Then we taught some of them the sprinkler, really really funny time. We also went to another gathering, for the school, and there were some really good dance / singing numbers. I'm really getting tired of sitting through things in Vietnamese. I know its nice to have us there, but they have to realize how a three hour long ceremony in another language is NOT appealing. Anyway, not a terrible time, just terribly boring. 

I was talking to Steve  Dixon about the boy who asked me about getting married (as i described last time) and I really enjoyed his response: 

haha thats a good line.

I wanna use that in a movie trailer.

one woman went halfway across the world, to escape her past.

"one ticket to vietnam please."

and to find her future.

"i can't stay here forever, I just can't"

"but what if you fall in love?"

"I won't, I'd miss my family"

"what if it happens.. accidentally?"

Cue dramatic music, scenes of hugging on the beach and laughing on sidewalks at carnivals. 

I miss sarcastic, quick witted humor. I told him he should pitch the idea to Kutsko, but he quickly said that he wouldn't be interested. 

I have class in the morning, then off to Saigon, then Hanoi for my orientation. A few pictures...

a tree on campus that reminded me of whitney.

performance at university ceremony

a few singers.

on campus.

Night music.

Monkeys.

I have always had a weird obsessions with monkeys. My interest sort of died in college, when I became fascinated with elephants. But I have always wanted to see a monkey in real life (not the zoo) I was so excited when I saw George, but it's so sad because he's always tied up to that tree and he looks miserable. He's just old, but still it was the first time I've seen something like that. Then I saw a monkey in a cage downtown. Well the other day Julia and I were biking home from class and there was a monkey IN MY YARD. I was so excited. I immediately got my camera. It was swinging from branch to branch between our two houses. It was so cute!!! Then it got a little too friendly and jumped right over to me and touched my leg! I screamed and ran into my house and slammed the door shut. I realllly wanted to play with him but decided it wasn't worth getting rabies. Then An came over and she stood in the yard and it jumped to her too! He was a feisty little guy. She said she had never seen one like this either, so it's not a common thing here. And he choose my house!!! Then he was just sitting on my sidewalk. I was actually terrified he was going to come into my house so I was standing in my doorway when I took these pictures. Probably the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me. Next, elephants.

In other news, I'm falling in love with this place, and with teaching. I gave my first grades this week, my classes are doing individual presentations and at the end of class I felt very nervous giving them their grades. All of the sudden I was like wow- I am a teacher. The whole week I had moments like that, and at the end of the week I just felt great about teaching, I feel like I'm finally figuring things out here. It is definitely a learning experience and my classes next semester should be a lot better. After one of those "wow" moments,  I pictured myself being here for longer then expected. Or coming back. Or going somewhere else. But I'm not sure of that, my heart is still in Boston, and there are a few other things I'm considering. But I am very comfortable here now.  And it's a lot easier to stay in touch with everyone then I thought it would be, so whenever I think of someone it's easy to see how they are doing. At least for the most part. And there are a lot more foreigners here then I imagined, so there is always something going on. The other day I went to one of my students house for dinner. It was so nice to meet her family and eat delicious food. We also watched Camp Rock, which I obviously loved haha. 

A few funny things that have happened:

-Julia, Alice, and I went for a full body massage. It felt great, but it was probably the funniest thing that has ever happened to me. There were six of us in one room and when we first lied down, the girls working there started giggling, so then we did. We were laughing through the whole thing. It's not as funny written down, but it was definitely a ridiculous experience. And then I got a pedicure. All for about $4. I am going to be spoiled when I come home.

-I started teaching a new class, and a male student of mine said, "So, are you going to me your number?" It was so funny the way that he said it. And then ten minutes later another male student said "Could you just write down your number here?" and handed me his notebook. They are so blunt, and I love it. While I learn Vietnamese, I understand my students a little more. Their literal English translations are a lot different from the "correct" way of saying things, which is why they say it. So the more I learn the more its helping me speak to them. For example, "Good Night" is literally translated to "Sleep Delicious" So it is not uncommon for someone to say "Have a delicious sleep" or something to that effect. It's really funny sometimes.

-I taught a new class at the private school I am also teaching at, and I was introducing myself to them and I usually have a question and answer session afterwards. One male student said to me, "Do you see yourself falling in love and getting married and staying in Vietnam forever?" I said something like "Oh well, I don't know.. I think I would miss my family too much." To which he responded, "Well what if it happened by accident?" I don't even remember my response, although I stuck with the family thing. I was teaching, so I had to pull myself together, but I couldn't stop smiling. I had trouble looking at him for the rest of class because every time I did he would smile and I had to try so hard not to laugh.  

I have some more pictures and a video of the monkey, but I'm having uploading problems.. not sure what to do about that! I'll work on it. Quote of the day: 

"The thing about our choices is that after we have made them, they turn around and make us."

updates.

Yesterday was Mid-Autumn festival. I know its a holiday for the children, and thats about all I know. I got two gifts - 1) a box of moon cakes. It was a really nice gift, but this is my least favorite thing in Vietnam. Think beans-and-meat-cake. 2) A bag of pasta, a bag of sugar, and a can of condensed milk. The other foreign teachers got this is well. We do not know what to do with it. 

Thi-Bay (another foreign English teacher) and I went last week to help some of the kids make lanterns. This was my favorite.

My roommates left today! I moved upstairs to the best room in the house and I'm very happy about it. Its brighter, bigger, everything about it is better and I've finally started decorating. I hope people move in, this house is too big to be alone in! Three more people are leaving these next two weeks, its weird. I really hope more foreigners come! I don't know how An does it! Constantly meeting new people is great, but when they leave, its a pretty permanent thing. 

An finished her final exams for school so she's done! And it was her birthday! So we've been celebrating An a lot. Which is okay, because she deserves it!!  We are going to Hanoi and Sapa Valley at the end of the month and I can't wait! I'm ready to travel. 

Pulling my life together for after this. There are quite a few ideas going through my head but once they get sorted out I'll fill you in. I'm also taking a survey of where I should move, if you'd like to contribute. But I do have it narrowed down to the top three, which you probably know.

People have been saying really random things to me lately through im's and email. (I've been stealing a good amount of free internet, I've apparently found the sweet spot in the apartment.) I would like to share some of them with you:

1) Hold on I have to Call Canada.

2) I'm going snorkeling, but I'll be in touch with you soon.

3) I'm going to walk a labyrinth tonight, I'll write more tomorrow.

You're all crazy, but I love you anyway. And I would like to add that Michelle and Chris are doing a really great job at making me laugh, but some things can't be posted for public view. 

I'm starting to teach a pronunciation class this week for first year students. I have no idea how to teach pronunciation, nor do I have experience teaching first year students who haven't practiced speaking at all, let alone with a foreigner who speaks too fast. (I'm working on it..) So I'm nervous about this. Luckily, I somehow scheduled presentations for my other classes for this week, so I must have known that I would need a break with doing course work. I've also corrected my first written assignments. I was warned that the kids have a small problem with plagiarism, but I have two big problems. One I googled and found the entire paper online - word for word. The other one I haven't found yet, but the vocabulary is at a higher level then mine, and I know something is wrong but I haven't figured out what it is yet. It is really frustrating. I definitely already have a higher respect for teachers in a lot of ways that you just don't think of as a student. My favorite thing is when I ask a question and everyone looks down at their paper like they are reading or writing something. I totally did that in class. But it is SO obvious. It is also funny how much you can see. I played a lot of sudoku in my college career, and I thought I was pretty good at hiding it, but its amazing how much you can see as a teacher..

I just finished reading The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama, and a guy who interviewed him. If you are interested in the basics of Buddhism, this could be a good book. I found it very boring and hard to get through, but maybe that means I'm still content? I can't say I don't recommend it, but its a very beginners guide to Buddism principles.

If you are unfamiliar with the soundtrack from Once, listen to it. They are amazing.