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Posted By Sam on August 26, 2011
Hey, if you’re needing an invite to join Google+, and don’t know where to look? Holding your head thinking How do I get a google plus invite? Use mine! I have 150 invites sitting around doing nothing.
Sam
Posted By Sam on August 17, 2011
We have interesting stuff to write about, these days, so I’m re-opening the blog!
Rose and I are both studying at Curtin University. Rose is doing her Masters of Human Rights and I’m doing a Bachelor of Education: Early Childhood Education. Both fields lend themselves to noteworthy stuff, so watch this space!
It’s been a long time since posts. We’ll try to fill in the gaps the best we can!
Posted By Sam on January 29, 2011
Well, not the last post ever, but the last post for this Vietnam trip!
We’re leaving for the airport in an hour (10:00am VN Time) to fly back to warm, clean air and in terms of health, not a moment too soon. In terms of being satisfied with our trip to Vietnam, also well timed. The trip was a perfect amount of time, and we got to do everything we wanted, and Vietnam even squeezed in a few unexpected pleasantries which is always good.
I’m fairly certain that if Rose stays in here for another week, she will die. She’s coughing like a motherf*cker and can’t sleep because of it (I’m with her on that one) and is just generally sore from ass’ole to ear’ole from the exertion. Perth’s warm, balmy summer air will set her right in no time.
I called one of my favourite student’s Mum to ask where Ky Nam was. He’d been sick and I was keen to catch up with him before we left. Turns out he was better, but as there was only a couple of days to go before the Tet holiday, he was taking the end of the week off – until I told her we were in Vietnam and he was promptly shipped off to school the next day to meet us again.
I took a class in the afternoon and we horsed around and watched animal documentaries and played games that always surprise me that there’s no fatalities. Ky Nam’s Mum came to school and gave me this hanging picture frame with pics of Me and Ky Nam and the family. So fuckin cute.
We’ve said all goodbyes, pretty much all packed up and ready to roll. Ms Hanh from the Hanh Hotel was lovely to us and, even though she has a bad reputation (no idea how she earned this, honestly) she gave us a cheap daily rate on the room and didn’t charge us for the normal extras such as internet, bathroom consumables, power or even laundry which is an external service. Very nice – this place is awes, as the hipsters would say.
Right, I’m packing this laptop. See you kids soon.
Posted By Sam on January 27, 2011
Ok, been a couple of days so I’ll backtrack. *cue Wayne’s World Flashback Noise With Finger Rain* doilduyp, doilduyp, doilduyp, doilduyp.
Right, well I’ve fairly successfully avoided what local Vietnamese class as food since… approximately the same time I stepped foot on Vietnamese soil. All until a few nights ago, and I gotta tell ya, THAT’S SOME EATING! (ok, that’s a lie, I still think it’s utterly horrible and fairly sure it’s toxic, but I really want to like it.)
It was Mushroom hot-pot, which is actually pretty nice, if you like boiling string mushrooms, lettuce and corn in a communal soup and serving yourself. There’s a novelty to the food, there’s no doubt about that, and it goes well with the 30 Vietnamese girls huddled around a kindergarten table on kindergarten tables, squabbling over these meals like a hermit crabs to a bloated seal corpse.
We had a vegetarian hotpot, which was pretty rare in time and space, and shared it with Ms Ha. Was pretty fun, but it’s hard to count something as really vegetarian when you have three serving trays mounded with raw meat and offal resting against your bowl which you’re reaching over to get your morally well adjusted, ooh-so-smug boiled tofu.
Of course, I took photos and video of all this stuff, but the photos will have to wait to be uploaded upon my return. The night was great, and it was lovely to be the only westerners to be invited (except Chris K, who is a much better avoider of social stuff than I am, and didn’t show haha).
Yesterday, Ms Ha took us to Bát Tràng, which is a pottery village on the skirts of Hanoi. It was really nice to spend the day with Ms Ha, and we bought a whole bunch of stuff. A kick-ass tea warmer, tea set, couple of rice bowls and that kinda stuff. Fairly limited on what we can bring back, and I’m pretty sure I’ll have problems with the tea-warmed at customs as it’s bamboo and wood. We’ll see.
The traffic here is fucking mental and it just takes so long to get anywhere. We visited at an odd time, in retrospect. It’s the Tet windup which means, it’s the storm before the calm. Everyone is on their motorcycles riding to get supplies for Tet including strapping several 6ft trees to their motorcycles and buying various cakes, drinks and so forth. Unfortunately, we will be leaving just as the nice chilled part of Tet, the actual holiday begins!
One of my favourite students, Ky Nam, has been very sick and not at school. I called his Mum yesterday to enquire if he’ll be at school and I think she had just decided he didn’t have to go back, as there was only a few days of school left before holiday, which is fair enough because there’s fuck all happening at school. Aaanyway, he’s better and he’ll be at school today so I’ll see him, which is awesome. He’s an absolute dude.
I called Loan yesterday and asked if I can hijack their Vietnamese lesson to watch a fish documentary and play games, to which she heartily agreed with no protest hahaha. So I’m heading up there this afternoon to take their last class of the term. I foresee some gags.
We have a game where we ask what things can do, and ask stupid questions such as “Can an elephant fly?” and a favourite one is “can a fish fly?” which the kids think is hilarious and scream “NOOOOOOO!”. It’s going to completely fuck with their heads in 3 hours when they learn, yes, indeed fish can fly. There’s a section early on in the doco about flying fish and they’re in slo-mo-melt-your-5-year-old-mind-video.
Posted By Sam on January 23, 2011
Hey all,
This has been a great visit to Vietnam, simply because it’s been so realistic. Three days into it and we’re having problems breathing again and Rose is in bed with a cold! haha. It’s great though, we’re having a good time and all expectations have been exceeded.
Went down to the open markets near Pho Hue yesterday to get some spools of wire for a Mame Cabinet Chris and I are making as a belated birthday present. I’ll head back there later to pick up some motorcycle parts.
Went to dinner with our good friend, ex JK music teacher and my old Vietnamese teacher, Miss Mai. Went to Thai and ate heartily then bought cake and came back to the hotel and ate some more. Was great to catch up with her and get “the gossips”.
Kinda funny note – called up Oragano’s and placed an order, and they were like “aaah! Sam!” and just now, called Papa Joes and they were like “your name please” and I answered what I always answer “Mr Sam” (in vietnam, they call you Mr then your firstname) and she’s like “MISTER SAM!!! HOW ARE YOU? YOU’RE BACK IN VIETNAM?” lol. I got off the phone and just facepalmed so bad. I gotta stop ordering food so much.
Posted By Sam on January 21, 2011
Ok, I’ve got a bit of time to write this now.
Went into Just Kids yesterday. Both Rose and I were slightly concerned at how they would remember us (the kids), especially Rose as some of her kids were 2 y/old. We got in and it was great – teachers were briefed we were coming, so were the kids. There is only so much a single heart can take, and I think kids giving us presents that they’ve been bringing to school every day for 2 weeks, in the hope they see us, is about that limit.
Had a great reception from the teachers, hugs from all angles, and the kids, especially my class (White Rabbits 2) went apeshit. I stuck my head in the door, just a crack, and Gia Linh saw me first and had this weird look on her face, kinda like “that fuckin weirdo looks like Mr Sam” then the realisation that it was, indeed the royal douchebag himself. Was on from then on. Came into the class freezing, with multiple layers, within a few minutes I was boiling, and down to a t-shirt. Had mobile heaters hanging off me, screaming. I tried to leave the room about 10 minutes later and I now know how those mutant salmon feel up the stream. Forget about it.
Trang and Loan are lovely, as always – Loan albeit a little pregnant. Got some great photos.
We both had a class to ourselves this morning, which was hilarious. Roses teacher was sick, and Amanda, the woman who teaches White Rabbits 2 was filling in for another teacher who was sick. So basically, Rose and I had our old classes this morning. I think Ms Ha had something to do with organising this, as we’ve basically had an all access pass to Just Kids and whatever class we happen to bowl in on.
I’ve been invited to play games in my old Friday night class tonight (oldest kids of 12) with Mr Mick, so that should be interesting. Ms Ha is taking us out for dinner tonight with all the teachers, also. So tonight should be pretty fun – if I can only figure out how to extract oxygen from this shit they call air, I’ll be good. Seriously, Can this air buy a vowel? How’s about two O’s.
Posted By Sam on January 21, 2011
Went into Just Kids yesterday. Both Rose and I were slightly concerned at how they would remember us (the kids), especially Rose as some of her kids were 2 y/old. We got in and [...] To be continued. Got class again this morning, as conveniently, the teacher who teaches Roses ex-classes is sick. *gosh darn*. It’s horrible to be happy at someone being sick, but this works out pretty damn well for Rose!
Will post after class about yesterday’s reunion, and dinner with Ms Nga.
Posted By Sam on January 20, 2011
Here we are, back on our 2nd tour, and its like we never left.
To catch the blog up, we’re re-visiting Vietnam for 10 days, to visit friends and ex-students and buy wire.
Ms Ha, our lovely boss picked us up from the airport and took us to lunch, then we came back to the Hanh Hotel and was greeted by Ms Hanh and her lovely staff and promptly fell asleep and slept for 14+ hours.
It was INCREDIBLE fog yesterday, when landing I couldn’t see the start of the wing at one point. I don’t mean the tip, I mean any part of it, and I was seated right next to it. When we touched down, I didn’t see the ground until about half a second before we touched down. Was fun, that kinda “we’re gunna die” fun that’s never actually scary.
It’s fruzzy Mc Fruzzing as they say, and we’re rugged up to the 9’s and off to get breakfast and maybe hit Just Kids. We’ve not eaten, so we’re unable to think properly but we’ll take it as it comes. Crossing the roads isn’t like riding a bike, it seems – you do actually forget.
Posted By Sam on June 15, 2010
Well, the great RASEA has come to an end, for now. The adventure continues, in a more normal way back in Australia, but what I’m left with, is a heavy heart and a fairly harsh adjustment period from the energy and highs and lows of being a ESL Kindy teacher in Vietnam, to an IT “professional” in Perth.
It’s been extremely difficult, personally, getting back into the swing of Australian life, and leaving Vietnam, my students and my friends behind – to the point where it’s not easy to write about it yet. We’ve been back 2 weeks so far, and it seems to be getting worse, not better, in terms of missing everyone and some cool things we had going there.
Certainly, there were many difficult and frustrating things about living in Vietnam, espeically in the last 2 months, but the friendships we formed were very deep. A friendship formed overseas, when language is such a large barrier, seem to be much deeper as each small conversation, and each shared moment where both people understand and recognise something funny or a personal joke, seems to be an epic overcoming of barriers and obstacles. Because of the effort taken in learning each other’s language, a small conversation understood is a much more substantial offering than a casual throw-away conversation you have with a new workmate in Australia, to the level where it’s incomparable.
My co-teachers Trang Loan and Mai, the other assisstant teachers at JK and of course, my boss and friend, the gorgeous Ms Ha. My students, especially the ones I was very close to and had a special connection with like my White Rabbits 2 class. My workmates like Chris, whom I became quite close, and the many friends we’ve made including our landlord, Ms Hanh, and her family are on my mind a great portion of the day and give you that “missing” feeling in your chest when you think about them.
I miss you all and look forward to coming back next year and visiting you all and seeing White Rabbits 2 graduate.
I can’t thank you all enough for the mad experience that teaching at Just Kids was, and how much it taught me about myself and what I’m capable of doing. I won’t forget a single one of you!
- Sam
Posted By Sam on March 27, 2010
With mixed emotions, I hereby announce we have booked our tickets for our homecoming. We will arrive home on the night of the 28th, and will be fielding questions at a seminar the following afternoon at the Hyatt, in Perth, followed by a quick press conference in Munich, then off for a spot of bother at an undisclosed location.
It’s bee more than expected so far, and it will tear my heart in two to leave, but we both have things we’re looking forward to at home and we’re both excited to start the next adventure back in Oz, which includes, in no particular order, getting married, Rose starting her new job as John Curtin SHS Theatre manager (in the timeless words of Tism – (BWF, standing for “Big Fucking Whoopie”) “Teenagers are f*cking BFW Tai Bo, live theatre, all of which is f*cking crap” – but I digress…. Sam starting his job at FastHit again, with a decent promotion and promise of new, brain bending problems (if you want to get ahead in your career, move to Vietnam for a year), seeing friends and family, and most importantly, BUYING MY NEW MOTORCYCLE.
Onto important matters now, and let’s quick buggerising around… I’ve put a deposit down for a brand new, CT110P, which is the agricultural version of the Postie Bike. It’ll have <15klms on the clock. And for anyone who knows how rare this is, to be able to get a CT110 in Australia, brand new with dual range gear and an ADR plate, I don’t have to explain. The rest of you who don’t know… I pity tha fools.
There will be more posts before our return of course, to which I’ll accurately summarise our trip, from Broome to Ba Dinh and back, but for now, I’m singing off.
Keely will be arriving in Vietnam in approx 3 weeks, to which shall be epic. I’m looking forward to seeing him try to ride a Honda ‘67, which had MY knees knocking the handlebars. He’ll probably have his legs hanging over the headlight.
Until then, tam biet.