All I wanna do is Zoom A Zoom Zoom Zoom

Many personal triumphs were had this week. 

As we have begun to familiarize ourselves with the new living quarters, house guests who hadn’t previously introduced themselves have become quite comfortable doing so.  Our bathrooms (especially mine) have lately been a haven for the world’s most resilient super pest: cockroaches.  You would think that living in Chicago, I would've had my fair share of them, but I wasn't ever properly trained for roach combat.  The only pest that Chicago prepared me for were rats.  Although I don’t prefer to see rats running around everywhere, they don’t really bother me.

Pineapple and Dragon Fruit

Entrance to the Bodhisattva of Mercy

What a busy week!  I have a bit of a sporadic schedule with teaching, so it’s difficult to keep track of the days, but they whirl by anyway despite my constant efforts to slow them down.  I can’t believe I’ve been here for almost a month now, but many life components are thankfully getting settled.  I’m waiting for my “honeymooning” period with Da Nang to dissipate, but it is holding strong at the moment.  I’d say one of the only frustrating parts of living here is the immense red tape teachers have to slash through for work permits/visas/residency etc.  They don’t make it easy to start out, but I’m taking it one thing at a time, and hoping the paperwork and payments end soon.

So close, yet worlds away

Hoi An

One of the reasons I appreciate and love DaNang so much is the absence of tourism.  The “ugly tourist attitude” hasn’t totally tainted how these locals feel about seeing a westerner in their city, so there are many more smiles and gestures of warm acceptance than in other cities on the coastal circuit.  Seeing another westerner on a daily stroll in my neck of the woods is like seeing a two headed giraffe – it just doesn’t happen.  So it’s interesting how all of that will change 28km south in the bustling tourism hotspot of Hoi An. 

Week in Review

It feels like I have been in Da Nang for months after recounting the events that have taken place in the last seven days.  I am going to attempt posting once a week from here on out as I’m sure some aspects of life here will fall into new norms and there will be fewer sights and activities to recount.

I started teaching this week and although I was nervous to take over classes, I knew that after a class or two, my beloved teaching instincts would pop through and nerves would calm.  Teaching art previous to this job has definitely helped me relate and motivate.  The kids love watching me draw on the board as they dictate monster body parts and adjectives to describe images in their vocab studies.  I have had as much fun watching them draw about their interests and explain them to me.  Their intense competitive nature and natural good sportsmanship make our language games very enjoyable.  There was a funny moment yesterday with the teens - I wrote a letter on the board which they had to then connect with an animal, food, country, and past tense verb.  For the letter D, one student wrote “dog” under the animal column, and for the food column?  …“Dog.”

Whaaa?

Since there are many “whaaa?” moments in the first couple weeks living in a new country, I thought I would take a minute to describe some of my recent favorites.

Drinks

Coming from a girl who likes ice in her (skim) milk, having ice in my beer is like a dream come true.  Ordering beer in America is like a race between money, toxicity and temperature.  Personally, I don’t favor chugging beer because I like the taste, I don’t like spending tons of cash on booze, and I don’t want to get drunk too quickly.  Here, all of these things are solved with ice.  Not to mention, Tiger (Singapore) and Heineken (Netherlands) are the main beers served and they are a mere 14,000 and 19,000 dong respectively (.60 and .90 cents - Helloooo running schedule that I've been meaning to make happen.) 

In Da Nang

Views from the train.  Finally on the coast!

After my train companions departed in Hue, I had a few hours to enjoy the scenery and prepare for arrival into Da Nang. 

My hotel room is small, quaint, and adorned with essentials (and a tv).  The only stations in English are MTV, CNN, and National Geographic.  I’m grateful for two of those.  

My bathroom might come off as a tad strange to an unaccustomed American, but I love it.  As you can probably see in the picture, I have the biggest shower ever!   ….because its floor is composed of the entire room.  The sink, shower, and toilet are all under the same floor, which is awesome.  Talk about morning multi-tasking.

The Giant Hanoian Post

Since my stay in Hanoi was only three days long, I wanted to pack in as much as possible.  I have been learning the ways of Vietnam rather quickly which is good – fewer lessons learned the hard way.  I want to give no illusion of having it all together right from the get-go.  Every day I see things that are so unique from anything I’ve experienced, and to be sure that I improve my navigational skills, I walk to every destination in Hanoi – no taxis.