I taught my last private class with my boss’ daughter (thank God, it had been painful!!) and luckily it was only an hour so not too bad. She even began initiating play, repeating some of the things I said and singing the lyrics to songs, that she didn’t already know! Now, that is what I call progress.
At 10am all the Western teachers (Sean, Rory, George and I) went to the school and waited around for an hour and a half, we should have expected this, but it never fails to amaze us, before having a large meal with all the Vietnamese teachers as they were celebrating something- although entirely what I’m not sure! We then went around and toasted every table, taking shots and drinking beer. It was very amusing talking to the principals of the school, especially, when Sean thought the principle said one of the teachers was the mother of another. But when he asked, she said, “No, do I look like her mother??!” It was so awkward but very amusing listening to him trying to dig his way out of the situation.
I was also amused at the meal when every time I put a beer in front of me the women took my beers and gave them to Rory- because he is a man…. Give me my beer back!
While teaching my private class the heavens opened and there was a full on storm- quite common in Vietnam. I ran to my xe om driver and luckily he had a plastic coat for me. I say a plastic coat… it was a plastic bag with a whole for the head, but it was all stuck together and half way through trying to put it over my head I realised why Tesco carrier bags say “danger of death” on them, and come with air holes…
On Thursday night me and the other teachers who I lived with all went for dinner to celebrate Carla’s birthday and to wave bye to Sarah. Que(my Vietnamese contact) brought us all mugs with pictures of us on, and there’s some lovely photo’s of me and my new friends. What a lovely present.
The food was also gorgeous and so cheap, less than £35 for all of us, including drinks. However, I tried to order a salad and it came as a side order and was tiny so I then ordered “crispy potato with beef” because I was trying to have something authentic and it was the Vietnamese version of steak and chips! Possibly the most Western dish on the menu…
That night Carla and I headed for a few drinks and I text my boss politely requesting that I didn’t teach the next day, as I was only in for 1.5 hours from 9.00-10.30am. I then persuaded Carla to cancel her one hour class, so one drink quickly turned to rolling in the door at 4am… it was a great night!!!
The next day the girls and I went to this amazing little café with a stunning view of the lake and sat there for hours, just having girly chat, which was really nice. After dinner we met with an old friend of mine from home who was travelling through South East Asia and currently in Vietnam. It was…. Interesting….
He was about to finish travelling and the end was in sight, so he was psyching himself up for going home. Therefore, he moaned about the bike horns, and about the cheap as chips beer tasting “too cheap”, and about how unfriendly Hanoians are, and that they can’t be trusted. I have realised there is a massive difference between the impression you get of Hanoi as a backpacker and that of an ex-pat. He also confirmed my impression of Halong Bay, which is that it’s beautiful but ruined by thousands of people and tourist boats. I have found a tour for $150 that specialises in “off the beaten track” tourism and takes you away from Cat Ba and the main tourist areas. I am hoping to go in September.
Two nights out in a row is never a good way to prepare for a massive night out in Hanoi with a world class DJ… Here goes! The girls and I headed for the pool mid afternoon after trying to sleep off a hangover and then we headed for dinner, all eight of us met up at the pub. It was great, two Americans, a Maldivian, two Vietnamese, a Brit and two Irish guys all out together. We have a great group at the moment.
The gig was AMAZING. It was sponsored by Heineken, completely free, 98% Vietnamese audience and the music was insane. I literally had the best time of my life just dancing away and singing and the DJ was incredibly good looking which always helps! When we came out we were all so high, I hadn’t even drunk I was just high as a kite from the buzz of the music and we all had a mini rave in the taxi as the driver turned the music up for us. In the next club I literally danced, giving it 120%, to the point where I was so out of breath I thought I was going to pass out! I gave a group Vietnamese people some glow sticks and got them all up and dancing and we did the “Gangnam style” dance. I downed a whole bottle of water after this. Amazing night. Amazing people. Completely sober!
I felt like death but the weekend I’d just had was worth it. I’m slightly worried that I have made myself ill, my voice is gone and I’m shattered, but you only live once and for the next month I’m only working 3.5 hours a day (because of the summer holidays)… So I think I’ll be ok! I have decided to start up Vietnamese lessons again, starting on Tuesday, and am also taking my first Spanish class next Sunday because I have always wanted to be fluent in at least two languages and I want to travel to South America so why not?!
