angkor wat...a race to remember

Part of my character is to inspire others to endure fitness adventures. I don' t know how this became part of my make up (I am guessing my mom has something to do with it) but I quite enjoy it.

It came to my attention in October that there was a half-marathon taking place in Angkor Wat in December. I knew that I wanted to do the half-marathon and I also knew that training for a half-marathon is more fun with a friend. This is when I mentioned the half-marathon to an unsuspecting Krista. Unfortunately for me, Krista seemed to think if there was a 5km distance, that it would be more to her liking. After a few more conversations and some encouragement Krista agreed that she would do the half-marathon with me (note: I knew that Krista had run distances of 10km for her own personal training back in Canada thus amping up her distance would not be detrimental to her health in any way). It was great to have a training partner and Krista was a real trooper, considering our long runs usually took place at 4am.

Finally the day arrived. We were leaving for the airport with our friend Kristi - a seasoned runner - to visit Angkor Wat, to run a half - marathon! We were to catch a flight at 7pm and left with ample time. In the cab by ten to 5, we figured the half an hour drive would leave us with plenty of time to spare. Strangely enough the cab ride took almost two hours! TWO HOURS! How is that possible? We arrived at the airport basically 15minutes before our plane was to take flight. Even the cab driver was stressed out! Good thing we had training for a half-marathon under our belts, we had a lot of running ahead.

We ran to check in, at which point we realized that we had first class tickets...but we had no time to enjoy the lounge, bollocks! We blasted on to through customs, at which point Kristi's new passport presented a problem. Her new passport didn't have her visa in it so she brought along her old passport with the visa in it but they guy at the counter didn't want to let her go through until her new passport had the visa transferred into it. No stress, the boarding call for our plane is binging in the background, we know we have ZERO minutes to spare...sure buddy, go ahead, transfer the visa...

Kristi told us to go ahead (and to hold the plane) while her over enthusiastic customs officer proceeded to take her down the back hallways of the airport to remedy the visa situation. Krista and I ran for the gate and then dawdled around, much to the chagrin of the boarding agents, until Kristi came flying down the stairs. We made it on the flight - thank heavens- and enjoyed our first class seats in our frazzled states.

When we arrived in Cambodia, by the time we gathered our gear and got in our tuk tuk we were tired and content to be arriving at our hotel. It was late enough that we didn't want to go off site to search for a restaurant so we decided that we would eat in the hotel restaurant. This was more challenging than it sounded and our server Wha (pronounced like you are saying "what?" in a flippant manner) was rather amusing in his 'I don't want to serve you but know that I have to because you are here' kind of way. We asked him what would be the easiest thing to order, realizing that we were a huge imposition to everyone at this point. His recommendation, lumpking soup, and there it was on the menu, 'Lumpkin soup'. Sure, I'll take the 'lumpkin soup', who doesn't enjoy a good bowl of lumpkin soup from time to time? Krista and Kristi ordered some other fare and we were all happy with our choices. Lumpkin soup, also known as pumpkin soup, was rather tasty I might add.

After dinner we quickly went to bed because, not only were we tired but, we had planned to do sunrise at Angkor Wat the next morning - which meant we needed to rise at 4am and be on our way before 5am. Good times. It felt like I closed my eyes and then the alarm went off.

Our tuk tuk driver had us on our way in good time to see the sun come up. Funny thing how freaking cold it is before the sun comes up. Too bad I didn't think of that before we left the hotel. Anyway, we all huddled together in a shivering heap, excited, despite how cold we were, to be on our way to Angkor Wat. When we arrived we could see that the crowd was going to be huge and were happy that we left so early. We stumbled along our way (it was pretty dark) and found a cozy spot (if a rock wall on a temple gate can be cozy) to sit and witness the sunrise over Angkor Wat. Beautiful is a good word to describe the events of the morning. It was pretty amazing to witness, my biggest frustration being my inability to capture it with my camera.

After sunrise we grabbed some breakfast on site and were entertained by the little urchins vending wares. These little children were amazing. They had memorized facts about all countries, capital cities, leaders, national flowers...it was crazy...and the scam was, if they could tell you all about your country, or a country of your choice, you would have to buy some trinket from their pile.It was hard to turn the little buddies down but we did.

Then we went on to tour the ruins of Angkor. I can't even begin to put to words how absolutely incredible the ruins are. Intricate was the word of the day because there are so many reliefs carved into the stone. We just couldn't believe our eyes. We wandered all day in an awestruck stupor (partially due to our early rise, but mostly due to the amazing sites we were seeing). When we were temple-ed out we headed for some food and then back to the hotel. It was another early night due to the fact that it was going to be another 4am rise...race day!

We all woke and readied ourselves in our own race day rituals (mine mainly consisting of quality time in the bathroom due to my nervous stomach). We headed back into Angkor Wat, in the dark and cold, this time with a bit more purpose. It was organized like a tornado at the race start. There were no washrooms, save the one ice cream shop/ souvenir shop (bless them), and there were several races on the go (per usual) except no one was really sure where which race was starting from. Needless to say it made for an entertaining set up.

When all was finally figured out and we were off it was quite incredible. The steady pace being pounded out by the runners, the mist rising off the lake, the forest and temples all around, the local children lining the streets to cheer us on. There is something pretty magical about running a half-marathon, I highly recommend it.

Kristi finished first of our trio, speedy and content with her time, Krista, the first timer, was second and can be very proud of her accomplishment (5km my ass), and me I was content to come in third of the gang...slow and steady...

The trip home was not so chaotic, which was fine by me. Our first class lounge adventure was funny to say the least, seeing as neither Krista or I had ever been in a first class lounge before..."you mean you just take food, like whatever you want?"...and probably never will be again.

I'm thinking of keeping my schedule clear for next years half in Angkor, it is usually the first Sunday in December...any takers?

Jem, Jem is my name, no one else is the same Jem is my name!

She stopped at the local dress shop to see if anything new had come in. There were a few new dresses that caught her eye and she decided that the pink one was just right. Little did she know when she bought the cute pink dress that soon her hair would be dyed to match...

Yup, you guessed it, I had a crazy hair experience...I finally gave in and went to a hair salon here. I made it abundantly clear that I wanted highlights and lowlights in the exact same colour that I already had. They didn't understand the concept of lowlights and that should have been my clue to quit while I was ahead...I forged on. I showed them the two colours that I already had, a blond and a brown, and then I explained how to use the foils and to stagger the colours, it was not an easy process. To confuse them even more, I had to show them what a half set would look like... and they still did that wrong. Needless to say it was an adventure from the start.

After I explained everything as clearly as I possibly could a team of three hairstylists (I use that term lightly) started working on my head. They were using the foils like it was the first time they had ever used them and I looked like a topiary tree with tinfoil balls on it by the time they were done. When they had finished their handy work they just disappeared, poof, off to work on other patrons, no timer was set...just me and my sparkly bush head.

A significant amount of time passed before someone came to check on me, and when the woman opened one of the foils she gasped and ran to the back room - never a good sign - she came running back with a towel and another 'hairstylist' and she proceeded to open the top foils and towel off the colour (which at this point was platinum blond, I am talking bad eighties frosted tips craziness!) as the other stylist looked on in horror. So as she frantically wipes my bleached blond locks off, he just stares...I'm thinking maybe I should suggest taking me to the sink to wash the chemicals that are frying my hair to oblivion out but, before I get a chance, they disappear again. At this point I started to get a bit antsy. I asked the 'manager' if maybe I should get the rest of the foils out - he said I needed 5 more minutes...hmm were they hoping that my hair would melt off so I wouldn't see that I looked like a reject from a Sun In commercial?

So, five minutes passed and no one was attending to me I asked again and one of the three stooges came to open my low light foils, a similar scene played out except this time it wasn't a gasp it was a distinct, "Oh!" and the colour was not blond, nor was it brown, it was MAGENTA!! I am talking bright purpley pink! All I could do was laugh.

Anyway, they took me back to the sink and you could tell that they were a bit freaked out. One person would come in and look and say something to the shampoo-er and then leave and someone else would come in. I felt like a new exhibit at the zoo - " And look what we have here folks, a fine specimen, we call here Western girl with freaky pink streaks!" I just lay there with my rock-n-roll hair, thinking about how I was going to have to find a way to tone it down a bit.

Finally, the zoo inspired shampoo session ended and I was unleashed back into the main salon. The main stylist took back over and blew my circa 1985 "Jem and the holograms" hair dry and I left the salon...with a whole new appreciation for the colour pink. Good thing I don't take myself too seriously.

kids day in ho chi minh

Volunteering with the children in Ben Tre is very rewarding and I really enjoy the time I spend with them. I was asked, along with Krista, to help with a kids day in the city. I thought that it would be a lot of fun - and it was- but it wasn't without its Vietnam charm.

Sixty children from the countryside were being brought in to Ho Chi Minh City for the first time ever. What an exciting event. The children were going to leave their community center at 04:30 to arrive in HCMC at around 09:00. A collection of volunteers including myself and Krista were to meet them at the zoo at that time. All volunteers were asked to bring something for the children that day (a snack, an activity etc...). We were asked to provide water bottles for all of the children (a seemingly small task). Krista and I arranged for water bottles to be brought to the zoo for all of the children. We wanted each child to have 5oomL of water to carry with them at the zoo. Simple, right? Nope. What was delivered to the park were two giant 10 L water jugs (Very portable - exactly what you want to walk around the zoo with). Needless to say, there was some sort of miss-communication and it wasn't going to be possible to walk around with the big jugs all day. This meant that we needed to send someone who spoke Vietnamese to get the type of water bottles that we wanted and we also needed a volunteer to babysit 20L of water while we walked around the park. Brilliant.

The zoo itself was hard for me because I have mixed feelings about creatures in captivity (I've been known to cry at marineland...) but I thought I would be a good sport and suck it up for the kids. It definitely wasn't a great experience for me but the kids seemed to like it. I will not get into the small ponds with too many crocodiles, or the elephants on chains...but I will discuss the barfing children because it brings a perplexing topic to the surface for me.

We are at the zoo and there are several children who are not feeling well, one of which is in my smaller group. As we round the bend to the 'petting zoo' (I think 'crazy-little-goats-running-around-in-an-enclosed-space' would be a better name) this little girl turns and barfs in the grass. I am concerned so I stop and ask her if she is okay - she stares at me blankly because she doesn't speak English. The other guide who speaks Vietnamese comes up and says, "She's fine, just go." Clearly she was not fine but I started to leave just as she started throwing up again. I suggested that maybe she take a rest and get some water but the other guide was bound and determined to get this poor child in the pen with the crazy goats. It took the child two more rounds of being sick in the grass before the other guide would take her to rest in the shade! I don't get it, talk about tough love! Anyway, I started to think about it and even at school the children come when they are sick...they never seem to stay at home...and then people walk around with face masks on...it just seems so bizarre to me. Anyway, she rested and got some water and joined the group again later in the morning.

We had a picnic lunch at the zoo (chicken, rice, vegetables and soup in a bag - yup, soup in a bag folks! They serve everything in a bag here! I've seen coffee in a bag, curry in a bag, soup in a bag, milk, tea, juice...you name it and you can get it in a bag. It is weird to see people drinking coffee through a straw from a clear plastic bag - I have yet to try it, but I have had soup from a bag and curry in a bag so I am not far off). Then we did a few activities with our groups and headed to the water park.

In my humble opinion combining mass groups of children and a water park is never a good idea. I am a teacher and my safety alarm goes into hyper space when I think that my students might even think about beeing near a possible safety hazard. You can just imagine how stressed I was about taking a large group of kids, who may or may not have ever been in the water before, to a water park in HCMC.

Now, I am not sure if anyone understands the difference in safety standards in Canada vs. Vietnam but I will admit they are vast. Gaping. Not even on the same spectrum. Coronary would be a good way to describe this phase of the day - BECAUSE I ALMOST HAD ONE!

I should also mention that most of the other volunteers on this trip don't manage large groups of children on a regular basis. There are only two of us teacher types and the rest are just kind souls.

First, unleash the kids into the change room to get changed (no one supervise this phase please, just let Cheratien panic because any child could be taken at anytime and short of counting every last one no one would really notice).

Second, tell the children to put their name lanyards around their necks before they go on the slides so we know who they are (watch Cheratien argue with other volunteers that this idea is insane because the kids might get the name tags caught on something and choke to death or get sucked into some sort of underwater filtration devise). (It was a hard battle but Krista and I finally convinced the supervisors this was a bad,bad,bad idea).

Third, tell the kids to take off the lanyards...and then go have fun! What the hell? No they can't just go off into the water park! You can't just let 60 kids, from the countryside, who might or might not know how to swim, go into the water park by themselves! AAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhh!
We need a buddy system! We need small groups! Make this nightmare stop!

Don't worry Folks, after some quick convincing the children were divided into small groups, put into the buddy system, given times to check in and then guided by their leaders into the water park! Phew!

The water park itself was an interesting place. Apparently there are no rule about what you wear at a water park here in HCMC. I saw people in jeans and hoodies, skirts, dress shirts, shorts and tops...you name it and they were wearing it (another safety hazard - but not my concern, all of our kids had appropriate attire which we provided for them). Now, there were some swim suits, but it definitely was not mandatory! I guess it is a good way to have fun and wash your clothes all at once. Multi-tasking in a whole new way. Also, there was live entertainment, think boy band feat cheesy karaoke, only entertaining because it is so bad you can't believe it is happening.

The day ended with a photo shoot. Now, we all have our idea of what a photo shoot is like but it is nothing like a photo shoot here. Add a tremendous amount of picture taking to what you are imagining and then add really silly posing now drag it out for an hour longer than necessary and you might be close to what it is like to be part of a photo shoot here in Saigon. After that the kids were on their way back home as happy as clams!

I am glad that I had a chance to be a part of this experience, although it was stressful at times, it was really rewarding and soooooo much fun to see the kids having fun.

Hoi An

So I am doing some back blog...

For October break I went to Hoi An with Krista and Jeremy. We, being the good Westerners that we are left for the airport in good time so we would be there at least an hour before our flight. When our crew of eager beavers arrived at the airport, it was closed. CLOSED. We actually had to sit outside and wait. I am not kidding. Who knew that airports close? Anyway, we were definitely on time for our flight and it went relatively smoothly.

Hoi An is a beautiful little town full of culture and tailors! If you want something made, this is your town! From shoes to suits, if you can draw it they can make it. I was not mentally prepared for the tailors - it was intense. They are like sharks in the street. They hover around waiting for the unsuspecting customer and if you make eye contact it is over. You may as well just surrender and go take a look at the store.

Now, I am not really a shopper at the best of times. First, I must have a need for something - for example, if the ass just blew out of my favorite pair of jeans I would NEED new jeans. Secondly, on top of the necessity I must also mix in desire - ie. if need new jeans and I want to go get them right now, I might just have a successful shopping mission. Finally, when it comes to shopping for clothes, I often can not make a decision to save my soul, even if the need and desire are there. My shopping pattern tends to be try on anything that looks like it might remotely fit/look okay and then pick one thing that works. Then try that one thing on again and again looking at all possible angles, do the mental math of how many times I must wear the item to make it worth spending the money, debate, debate, debate. Then I usually put the item back on the rack and leave, only to return a few days later to purchase the item if it is still on my mind. Needless to say, if you put me in a place where I need to imagine what will be made to perfectly fit my body, it induces sheer panic.

I think in some ways my shopping disability was an advantage. I only got a few items made and I was quite happy with all of them. Bonus, they were pretty cheap!


Now aside from tailors, Hoi An is very charming. My crew decided that we would mountain bike around the whole town. It was a good decision, and we all had a great time. I think the highlights were taking the ferry across the river (the ferry is for bikes and motorbikes and it was the most crowded, congested, dilapidated ferry I have ever been on), me almost being abducted by a drunken church goer because I stopped to take a picture, and Krista being hit on by our very short, very cute, tour guide.

After our day of biking we decided we should also go see marble mountain. It is a place where temples have been built and amazing sculptures have been carved (0ut of marble, of course) right inside of the mountain. I was astounded by the work that was done inside this mountain. The sculptures were huge, intricate, and looked like they belonged. It was amazing. Also, from the top of the mountain you could see 'China Beach'. Sometimes it is hard to imagine that all of the things I have only seen glorified on movies and TV shows actually took place... Being in the center of the country, near Denang, really brought that home. Also, having the chance to talk to people about the effects of the war and how the North vs. the South effected them is really interesting. The central region really tried to stay out of the war. It almost comes across as if they didn't really care either way who was in charge, as long as there was someone in charge and it was peaceful.

Two days of activity = one day at the beach. We decided it was time to hit the coast and off we went to play in the waves. We went to the more touristy beach and had an enjoyable day (for the most part- Krista and Jeremy had a disagreement, so to speak, and I thought that I might need to bunker down for another war...) playing in the waves and relaxing.

The next day, Krista and I headed for a cooking class. Now that was a treat. We went to the market to purchase our ingredients. The market was an amazing experience (as it always is in developing nation) and the Vietnamese fish market was something to behold. It was crowded, bustling, and crammed with every kind of produce you could imagine. For the most part the fish were still alive and flopping and the sales people were hustling their wares. After the market, we headed off down river, with an eclectic boatload of companions - including a 50 + woman with royal blue hair - to a culinary class run by a sharp witted Vietnamese chef. It was not beyond him to whack you one if you did something wrong, or for him to point out in a very overt way that you were a cooking disaster. Note to self, making rice paper is best left to the experts. Also, flipping Vietnamese pancakes is much more challenging than it looks (at least I did not flip mine on to the floor). Even though it was slightly stressful, and my cucumber garnish did not take on a fan like form, it was a great day and a great meal. YUM!

Our next adventure was to My Son. " My Son is the major site in Vietnam from the ancient Champa Kingdom which flourished between the 2nd and 15th centuries. The Kingdom at My Son dates back to the 4th century and remained fully occupied through until the 13th century which makes it the longest occupied of all the major monuments of SE Asia. It served as a religious and intellectual centre where Champa kings were crowned and buried. In 1999 it was named a UNESCO World Heritage site". I pulled that info, in case you were wondering...but it is all true, and probably better explained than I could have done without assistance. Anyway, getting to My Son was probably more of an adventure than seeing the ruins, so I will put that in my own words!

Krista and I decided that we would get to My Son on our own. We were assured by locals that it would be easy to find, so easy they drew us a map. Never, ever, ever, trust a Vietnamese map, ever! What looked like a straight line from A to B with one left turn was more like an adventure through the most complex labyrinth of rice fields ever. Some how, at a Y in the road, we ended up in rice paddies and although most people were startled to see two white westerners driving through their fields they were more than happy to point us in the direction of My Son...the world heritage site...that is not marked with any signage...at all!

We drove for a very long time, dodging cows and chickens along the way, stopping almost every fifteen minutes to ask some random farmer if we were still heading in the right direction. Good thing saying, "My Son" and pointing with a puzzled look on our faces translated well into Vietnamese! Finally, some Vietnamese bloke felt sorry for us and decided to show us the way. He was rather sweet, driving just far enough a head that we could follow him with out worry. He lead us right to the site (and I am not too sure we would have made it without his assistance because even after we entered the gate to the site we weren't sure if we actually arrived - see note on 'no signage' above).

The sight itself was really interesting. I find it hard to believe how intricate and well built the ruins are. Definitely worth the wild goose chase to get there. The site itself is not too expansive but impressive none the less. We were fortunate that it was rather quiet when we were there and we toured the ruins at our leisure.

It was kind of overcast and it started to drizzle as we left, we were not looking forward to the ride home in the rain, not only because riding in the rain sucks but because we didn't think we had a hope in hell of actually finding our way back...that is when the proverbial fates reminded Krista and me, no matter how bad you think it is, it can always be worse. As we were leaving we met up with a couple of guys that seemed to be having bike trouble...turns out they lost their motorcycle key in the Champa Ruins! They didn't have a spare key so they decided to hot wire the bike. Successful - yes - only problem was the steering wheel locked on them and they could only drive in a circle! Yes, yes, driving in the rain seems like a blessing when you could potentially be driving in a perpetual circle in the rain. Sorry guys, it really did suck to be you!

Fortunately for us, the rain was short lived and we were back to dodging cows and chickens with high hopes to find the trail back home. Along our country road, if you could call it that, we went. All of the sudden we came into traffic. Traffic? On a deserted stretch of country road? What is going on here? Wait a second...is that a funeral procession? Fantastic...a funeral! We tried to be inconspicuous (hmm, how can we try to look Vietnamese?) and pass all of the people but it didn't work so well.

Before we knew it Krista and I were adorned with funeral flowers and were part of the pack. How the hell were we graciously going to get out of this one? We drove slowly along taking our new station quite seriously, waving our flowers and looking grimly around, hoping that we would be able to get away, to where we weren't quite sure because we sure as hell had no idea where we were actually going but we also knew we didn't want to be driving at a snails pace in the wrong direction for a long time either. We'd rather get lost quickly. Fate was actually on our side for a second (or third, or fourth...possibly fifth time that day) and there was a turn that was taken by the mourners and we went straight. We ended up on a highway and managed to get home unscathed...a little bit giddy at all that had gone on...

Playing it safe, we headed to a less touristy beach with one of our new found local friends the next day. She was one of the young ladies that ran the hotel and was a lot of fun to chat with. She was very open and honest about cultural issues and even volunteered to take us to an orphanage which we had previously looked into due to mention from another friend. The day at the beach was really enjoyable because it was less touristy. The weather was perfect and I especially had fun playing in the waves. Krista and Jeremy remained allies and all in all it was a fantastic day.

Our final full day arrived and we arranged to go to the Hoi An Orphanage. It was an experience I wont soon forget. We were greeted in the playground by a handful of children, all with disabilities. They were very bright and full of life and knew that we were there to play. They pretty much dragged us in to the dorm and mauled us all. It was hard to see so many little munchkins, with so much love, in such a dismal place.

The children were well cared for (despite the fact that the building was terribly understaffed) and showed a lot of affection toward each other. We had purchased some snacks for the children, mostly milk, crackers, and cheese (stuff our students in HCMC enjoy). When we handed the food out, they were so sweet about making sure that every one got their fair share. One little guy, who couldn't speak, took me by the hand to another area where one of the girls was sleeping to make sure that she didn't miss out on the treats.

I was near tears most of the time we spent there but felt really happy to be able to donate my time. One little gapper decided he was a photographer and took my camera. He took his job quite seriously, I might add, making his friends pose, taking the shot, then setting them up again. I couldn't help but encourage him. It was one of my most memorable days for sure.

Before I left a little girl made me a beautiful paper flower and bashfully made one of her friends give it to me, while she giggled and hid in the doorway. I felt so honored by the gift. She finally got up the courage to tell me she had made the flower and that made it even more precious to me. I made sure it arrived back in Saigon unscathed and it rests on my bookshelf as a reminder. If only I could send hugs with my mind.

Danger...Durian fruit is available here!

I love fruit and I must say that I have been introduced to many new and delicious treats here in Vietnam. There are, of course, the normal staples: pineapples, dragon fruit, kiwi, grapes, passion fruit, bananas, etc and then there are the new fruit: rambutan (sp?), long long (?), to name a few. There is one fruit that I decidedly do not enjoy though and it is the Durian. I had never heard of Durian before I got to Vietnam and I think that my innocence was a blessing (see:mooncakes).

A durian is a fruit that looks like a porcupine, all covered in spiky projections and smells like Toronto during a garbage strike. I think that should probably be enough to discourage any sane person from eating it because clearly it should not be eaten. But it is a 'tasty treat' here so I decided that I would attempt to eat it (clearly I am insane).

It is rather challenging to open, you need to look for its weak spot - another red flag that you should not attempt to eat it (note to self, if you need to find it's weak spot do not eat it). Anyway, the weak spot is usually a line down one side where the spikes meet and if you carefully cut into it . . . which is not easy due to the spikes and the fruits thick skin and the horrendous stench...you should be able to pierce the skin. Then you need to pry it open and unearth the sac like pods. Did I mention that it smells like a restaurant dumpster on a hot summer day? Anyway, the sac like pods look like giant, yellow, naked mole rat fetuses...Why do I feel the need to eat this again?...

Krista and I purchased a durian at the local grocery store and brought it home to the apartment. We quickly decided to keep it out on the balcony - it smelled worse than I imagined but I felt up for the challenge. I set out to cut the sucker open and it was no easy feat...it kind of smelled like feet...I finally got it open and was almost alarmed at how much it looked like an unborn rodent. I had come this far though so I decided to follow through. I unearthed one of the pods and tasted the slimy fruit. I was no longer breathing through my nose because the smell was so disgusting. I think that is what saved me because it actually tasted okay...I wouldn't say it was fantastic but it was nothing near what the smell would have suggested. It was all fine until I breathed in through my nose. I was overcome with the most horrible aftertaste. Think fermented shrimp meets rotten fruit. I knew I had made a mistake. I ran for my toothbrush and I couldn't brush enough. It was a brush fest. I am lucky that I have a taste bud left on my tongue. (Krista actually gagged and spit her durian out - so I know that I am not a wimp, it is just a disgusting fruit that should not be eaten).

I now have three things on my list: fermented shrimp, moon cakes and durian. I have heard that durian flavored things are quite good but my taste aversion will not allow me to try anything related to a durian yet. Maybe next year.

Anyway, now when I go to the grocery store I can smell the durian and it kind of makes me feel sick. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to try it after all. I also hear it is against the law to eat durian in public places in some countries...I now know why.

Ben Tre

I had the opportunity to go to a countryside village to volunteer and it was one of my best days yet :)

I must admit that I am not posting this in a timely manner, but it is very hard to get everything done...

Anyway, it was on a Sunday about two weeks ago that I was invited to go to Ben Tre, which is South of HCMC and in the Mekong Delta area (at least that was my understanding). The drive was rather long ( I am thinking 3ish hours...but it felt longer). We stopped along the way for snacks. This was a very cool experience because it was just a local road side stop (ie: vendor cart on the side of the road with several small plastic tables and stools) . We were treated just like the locals - which was great. We ordered a coconut type fruit and sugar cane juice. The sugar cane juice was very interesting because we had to cut the sugar cane and juice it ourselves!

Sugar cane juice is made by pressing the sugar cane through a machine that looks almost like a paper roller, you just jam it in and it gets pressed. You keep doing this until the sugar cane pulp is dry. I am sure after having to do it a million times it loses its appeal but for me, I rather enjoyed it. After our snack we were on our way.

When we arrived at our destination, which was a church that facilitates a scholarship program to help underpriviledged children get an education, we were greeted by many excited but shy children. There were 70 children there in total and we were broken off into groups. Our group was about 20 students and we simply played games and sang songs that taught English vocabulary (Head and shoulders, anyone?). After the games were over, there was a regrouping, where we all got back together and some of the students were awarded prizes for participation and effort (this was done by the leader in hopes of inspiring the childrent to always try their best - not sure how I felt about it but...anyway), we then had cake together and the children sang some Vietnamese songs. They were very sweet and I look forward to working with them again.

Our final job was to have dinner. It was the best food I have had here, and I have had a lot (and I mean a lot) of great food. It was all traditional food prepared by the ladies as a thank you for our time with there children. I don't even think writing about it would be fair because words can not do justice to the flavours and combinations we were served. So, I will leave it at that.

We left after our meal and headed back to HCMC. Nothing really crazy or exciting, just a great day :). I am glad that I had the experience and I look forward to future excursions. Krista and I have started a clothing drive for another project and we are going to a remote village to deliver them in October. I am sure I will have a lot to write about after that experience! I'll keep you posted.

moon cakes, I'd rather be on the moon than eating this cake!

So it is starting into mid-autum festival here in Vietnam. Aparently students bring gifts for their teachers at this time. One of my students brought me some moon cakes. I was very touched by the gesture, I mean seriously I am the music teacher. Music teachers don't get gifts, do they?

Anyway, the gift was a box of moon cakes. They are traditional cakes that are eaten during this time and I had heard that we were going to have them at the school as part of our school celebration. We are having a paper lantern parade, and a dragon is coming, then we are having tea and moon cakes. I thought that sounded exciting. Moon cakes, don't they sound wonderful and who doesn't like cake? I thought that cake was cake, but clearly I was wrong.

Krista got some moon cakes too and she tried one at school - I, on the otherhand, did not, which I am glad I did not...Krista said it was terrible, I believed her but of course decided I would try it, just for the experience.

Now, these cakes come in packs of 4. They are all different flavours. They are about the size of one piece of cake, or a huge muffin and they are ornately shaped (like they are baked in a tin that is decorated), they look really nice, no frosting - just looks like a pretty little vanilla cake BUT when you break into them they are jam-packed with stuff and I use the term stuff because one of them had nuts and dried fruit and jelly and ham. Yes, I said ham. A vanilla cake with ham in it. What the hell? It was like a fruit cake for carnivores. Needless to say that was not my favorite one.

Anyway, I decided that since I took a bite out of one and it tasted like ass I should probably try all of them (at least a bite) just in case they got better (not so much). The one with dried fruit and ham was the worst I think...but then I had a bad experience with the second one I tried too. It looked more plain in the middle almost like it was just cake but there was something in the middle. I thought the something was an apricot. So I pulled a piece of it out and popped it in my mouth. It was not an apricot...It was an egg yolk. AN EGG YOLK! I popped an egg yolk into my mouth thinking it was an apricot. EWwww! Why, why is there a dried egg yolk in the center of the cake? I don't really like egg yolks when they are in eggs, I absolutely don't like egg yolks when I think they are apricots in a cake!!

The third one was more like the first, dried fruit, jelly, nuts, meat, an egg yolk...all things you would expect in an ornate baked good... (I know! I know! Lets bake random shit in pretty little cakes and watch what happens when people eat them...). The final cake was fluorescent green on the inside with an egg yolk in the middle. I tried it anyway. It was the least heinous of all the cakes. It actually had a hint of almond and I avoided the egg yolk completly. I won't say it was good, but it was clearly better then the barf in a bun version. I took note that the package read D-1 so when I am faced in public with eating a moon cake I will choose that one.

After all was said and done, I had four bites of yuck and a mouthful of experience. I now know what to expect when we have them for the celebration at the school...I can't really say that I am as excited about that now as I was when I was ignorant but at least I am prepared!

deodorant drama

On a daily basis I am learning several new things. One thing that I keep learning more about is the importance of customer service here in Vietnam. There is so much importance placed on customer service here that it is almost counterintuitive. Let me explain. When you go into a store you get instant attention and it is like you are being shadowed at all times. You know when you have that feeling you are being watched...it never goes away here. Anyway, I tend to like to look at items and not be bothered by clerks BUT here in Vietnam it would be poor customer service if there wasn't at least one, if not two people bothering you. This is where I get somewhat frustrated and decide to leave the store (not good for sales, thus counterintuitive). I guess I just need to adapt and, to my credit, I am starting to wait it out a bit. My exit time has lengthened...

I do have a story though. I brought two sticks of deodorant with me but it is coming to the time that I will need to get some new deodorant. Now, I have decided to start shopping for deodorant early due to the fact that I have issues with scented products and I know my selection here in Vietnam is going to be limited. You see, there is an obsession with being 'white' here. There are whitening creams, lotions, waxes and, you guessed it, deodorants. I don't know how I feel about whitening anything in the first place, second of all, we all know how deadly deodorant is supposed to be anyway, and finally I don't want white armpits! Seriously! So, I have two blatant obstacles to overcome...the sented factor and the whitening factor...but if you count customer service there are actually three obstacles to overcome, let me explain:

This is how my experience went. Went to store, picked out deodorant while being stalked by clerks. Got antsy. Decided to just grab something that was non-whitening and looked somewhat familiar (Dove deodorant). Took deodorant home, wore it next day to school, ended up with a scent headache. Dove deodorant is not my friend. Gave deodorant to Krista. Went to next store, only carried Dove deodorant and whitening deodorant (might have to be a Smelly Nelly... ). Decided to try store that is close to school. Get into store and I am immediatly flanked by two clerks. I try to shake them in the shampoo isle, but they are good. They eventually catch me in deodorant land. I am just trying to buy a non-whitening, non-super scented deodorant folks, it shouldn't be complicated. I am smelling the deodorant. I just want to smell the deodorant, find one that is not going to make my olfactory system overload and get the ****out of dodge. The one clerk pulls a ladder out of thin air, she's the magic clerk that can pull a ladder out of thin air - every store should have one. Anyway, she does this because she is too short to reach the top shelf of deodorant, she proceeds to take deodorant down off the shelf and rub it on my arm. She rubbed it on my arm. Now, clerk number two is on the other side working the lower shelf. I was not liking the smell of the first brand of deodorant that I was assaulted with so clerk number two got me with something equally unappealing on the other side. Brilliant. Now I have two types of deodorant on me that smell really bad, and as I am politely saying no thank you to one clerk I get plastered with a new brand of deodorant by the other clerk. Four different smells are on me before I can get out. Perfect, four smells that I don't like on my arms. I reek like a bad version of a Yardley London store. Needless to say, the 'customer service' scared me away without purchasing my intended product. At least my arms won't perspire?? :S

I guess I will have to have a better plan of attack if I am going to succeed at this mission. Perhaps some sleeves and maybe a decoy...

xe om...the ride of your life...

I went on my first xe om drive tonight. They are motorcycle taxis. It was pretty crazy. The driver drove really fast compared to most drivers and I felt, at times like I was in a movie. I know that I have explained how crazy traffic is to some people briefly - but there really are no rules here, I can't even truly put to words what it is like. I was actually driving down the middle of the road tonight with both lanes of traffic jam packed and flying by on either side...it was nuts.

To set the stage a bit it was raining, dark, and I was on the back of the motorcycle driving in rush hour traffic. The idea here is that you just drive, doesn't matter where, on the sidewalk, down the middle of the road, who cares - you just go where you can get through. Anyway, I was going to meet Kim (a friend) for dinner in District 1 (which is a half an hour away). She sent a xe om driver to come get me and I was not really prepared for what I was going to experience - think amusement park ride but in the real world. No seatbelt, no holy shit handles...just me on the back of a motorbike.

First of all, the driver was driving fast and it was raining. All I could think was if we slip we are dead but that isn't even half of the experience. Next, he was talking on the phone. It is against the law to talk on the phone when you are driving in Canada for good reason and this guy was driving a motorcycle with me on the back while chatting on the phone! Picture this, he is on the phone (it is still raining folks) and as we were turning a corner all of the sudden a bike and cart pulls in front of us (not to mention the 500 other motorcycles that were driving around us) I thought for sure we were toast but no. Then there was the magical moment when he decided that the motorbike lane was too slow so he zipped into the 'car' lane - IN BETWEEN A BUS AND A CAR that were driving parallel to one another in ONE FREAKING LANE! ... that was a bit close for my liking (seeing as I find it freaky sometimes when I drive between two trucks on the highway and we all have our own lanes!). I lived through that and was on a bit of an adrenaline high but was also kind of hoping that there weren't too many corners left until we got to our destination. Then we crossed through the traffic again and I was all cool and ready for the going between a bus and a car thing again (not really cool, but pretending I was) and he proceeded to go even further...we were driving down the center line. Full on traffic on both sides! Like playing chicken...seriously...Think Star Wars Folks - I lived it!

Obviously I survived...a little soggy and shell shocked...but I'll do it again.

Wires in the Water save the day

Signing up for touristy trips is not really my cup of tea, but I decided that I would do the 'Mekong Delta' with a group from the school. I was not overly excited to get up a 5:30am on a Saturday - although it was a bit of a sleep in from my regular 4:45-5:00 range during the week. After convincing myself that I would be fine once I got going, I went.

It was a bouncy bus ride and our tour guide was an ex-US army person who decided that yelling was the best way to communicate (of course this tends to be a theme when language barriers exist...If they don't understand just say it louder and slower and if they still don't understand say it even louder...) Anyway, I was not really excited that my day was starting off with Drill Sergeant McGee yelling on this bumpy bus. It did not get worse, but then again it did not get better...

The Mekong Delta is called the rice basket of Vietnam because most of the rice for the region is grown there. I had envisioned seeing many rice fields with workers, a bit of history perhaps, but it didn't really turn out that way (note to self, have no expectations and you will not be let down). Anyway, it was a nice day, not too hot and not too cold thus, despite the loud guide, it would be fine.

We set off on our boat tour to our first island where we were served local fruit in a covered eating area and were serenaded by local folk musicians at which point I decided that there is hope for me as a music instructor here in Vietnam. After the music was over we were shuttled back into the boat to go to our next destination, another island where they make coconut products. I must say that I was impressed by the coconut factory which consisted of three ladies, a grinder, and a fire pit with three pots...Holy crap were these women fast. The woman that was wrapping the candy deserved a metal of some sort for being capable of continuously covering coconut candy in a crazy fast way. I was impressed. After witnessing what I am guessing is close to slave labor, we were able to purchase candy or soap (hmm...) and were scuttled over to have tea with local honey and were offered, potentially, some of the strongest rice wine ever produced on the face of the planet (think nail polish remover in a shot glass).

What next... ah yes, off to see a water buffalo and to have lunch. The boat took us to the last island we were going to visit for the day and we were assured that we were going to love it. I am not so sure what might make someone get excited about seeing a water buffalo that has been tied by a giant rope through its nose, in a clearly un-humane fashion, to a small tree but... it takes all kinds to make the world go round. Much to my horror the poor water buffalo was there for our viewing pleasure. Lunch was not all it was cracked up to be either which was a bit of a surprise because short of the fermented shrimp incident...oh yeah, and the pig head...must write about that later... the food has been very good. Needless to say when it was time to go, I was not upset. I was glad to be back on a boat heading for home. But the story does not end there...

About half way home we were stopped by the police who informed the driver of the boat we weren't allowed to pass quite yet because a Hydro line had fallen into the river. Hmm... that sounds like a bad combination...Hydro and water. I think I will just do as I am told at this point. Anyway, this is actually where my day got better, believe it or not. Because we were stranded in a boat and were given a timeline of approximately and hour and a half to wait, our boat guide decided he would take us to a local market and let us wander at our leisure. Exactly what the doctor ordered for the tacky tourist weary traveler. I had had enough of being shuttled around and was more than happy to become like a zoo attraction in this market. Krista and I went on our own and just wandered. I kind of felt like the Pied piper because children just started following us around. It didn't take long before people were bringing their children to see us. Children on bicycles were creeping out of the woodwork. It was kind of funny. Nothing beats a shy hello and peels of laughter from a Vietnamese child after a day of silly souvenir shops.

Unfortunately our market visit was cut short. Aparently getting a Hydro wire out of a river doesn't take that long after all, who knew? The rest of the day was pretty uneventful (unless you count that some weeds got stuck in the propeller of the boat and one of the people that was helping to run the show just stripped down and jumped in the water to solve the problem...).

We made it back to HCMC with out getting electrocuted and Krista and I made it to our costume party on time :) (and that is another story too...)

Rain drops keep falling on my bed

I did it, I take full responsibility for my actions, I left my window ajar in the rainy season. It was a lesson well learned because the wind blew my window all the way open AND, lucky me it soaked my bed! Now, this wouldn't be such a problem if I had a DRYER but, no, there is no dryer here and humidity takes care of any hope of items drying quickly... wet sheets it is.

Not only did I end up with a wet bed, but I also had the pleasure of pooling water on the floor (which clearly = wet towels) and seepage into Krista's room which is directly below mine. I get it now, when they say rain, they mean it!

...and a Rat-a-tat-tat

Continuing on the theme of pests. I not only had an encounter with a cockroach but I also had a meet and greet with a rat. Once again I should quantify that rats are not small little things but rather large, almost cat like, creatures that seem to thrive in this neck of the woods...or should I say city...Anyway, I will set the stage.

After a long day of apartment shopping which, as you know from previous posts, was horrible, hot, humid, hunger inducing, and simply hateful, a group of us bewildered expats decided to go get something to eat. After wandering aimlessly looking for a place to eat, Krista and I decided that enough was enough and we were just going to stop at a nice looking restaurant, fitted with beautiful Chinese lanterns and a good sized patio. We left the others and took a seat. We initially thought it was a sushi place but once we were seated it became abundantly clear that it was not sushi after all. Being the adventurers that we are we decided to stay anyway and the waiter was hovering over us (the Vietnamese waiters and waitresses, I have learned, tend to think that as soon as you sit down you will be ready to order so they exhibit helicopter type behaviour until you actually do place your order). Clearly we were taking too long to decide and our waiter was getting a bit flustered. The problem was, we were trying to find something that we thought might be worth trying (remember we were extremely hungry and discouraged at this point). Finally, he decided that he would choose our meal for us. "You like this" (pointing at menu) "This very good and this, yes". So without really knowing it we ordered fermented shrimp rolls and rice. Exactly what you need after a super shitty day.

Anyway, our dinner was served and Krista and I both ate a piece of our fermented shrimp roll. Now, I have been known to use the expression "I am so hungry I could eat the South bound end of a North bound skunk" but I honestly think that skunk ass would have been better than this shrimp roll...I have never eaten anything like it before and I pray that I never have to again. Gross does not even come close to explaining what it tasted like and I believed at that moment that even if I sandblasted my palate I would never forget the taste. The frosting on the cake was as our dinner was being served I noticed a cat like creature on the sidewalk. "What is that?", I asked, but as it drew nearer I realized it was a rat, a very big rat, very, very,very big rat. I was fine with the rat actually, I mean clearly it is on the sidewalk, it is not going to bother us, right? WRONG! Next thing I know the fearless rodent is running along the patio right at us, and I mean right at us. It was so close I could have touched it. Krista actually shreaked and we both pulled our feet up on our chairs. Not the kind of dining experience we were hoping for after our awful day. Anyway, we took it upon ourselves to move to a table further away from the rat runway and ate rice in a highly alert state.

La Cucaracha

There had been talk of large cockroaches but after having them crawling all over my body in Africa I thought, "how bad can it be?" Clearly worse than I had figured.

I was in the school supply room signing out materials (you have to sign everything out and I mean EVERYTHING...I had to count paper...it is ridiculous - I digress). The school uniforms are also located in the supply room so there were a number of parents and students around trying things on and getting what they needed. Anyway, I reached into a box of student workbooks and a cockroach ran up my arm, this was not a small African cockroach, this was a GIANT cockroach, this cockroach was so big it could have carried my supplies for me, and the sucker should have seeing as I threw them in the air and screamed at the top of my lungs making a complete spectacle of myself in front of students and parents. Needless to say there was no recovering in a graceful way, the biggest cockroach on the face of the planet didn't flee it just skuttled about my pile of supplies...fantastic...So as I did the "I'm so grossed out Mexican Hat dance" this disease infested creature walked over my ever so carefully counted supplies. I clearly need to work on my pest control. Where is a gecko when you need one?

Loft Lust

So, after spending countless days looking at hideous apartments Krista and I finally found a place that we could live in. It is a 140 m2 Loft apartment in a giant complex called "Sky Garden". It is close to one of the main highways so when the windows are open it is a bit noisy, actually it is a lot noisy during the day, but there aren't many places that are quiet and nice. We opted for noisy nice...and I must say at night it isn't too bad (at least I haven't really had a problem sleeping at all), there is a beautiful view...and I think it is really nice.

Part of the process of getting an apartment here is meeting with the landlord to 'bargain' for things. The idea is for the landlord to meet you to see if they like you, and for you to try to get rid of the majority of the super tacky crap that has been won at the carnival and found its way into your prospective apartment (I know, I know, it wasn't really won at a carnival, it was purchased at a market. Why must people buy tacky shit to stick on every surface? Why?). It is also a chance for you to try to reduce the price of the rent... In our case, nothing doing. It was like bargaining with a brick wall. Our landlord= flexible like concrete. Great. Just my luck. Find the nice place with the not so nice landlord. In the end Krista and I decided that getting the place cleaned and painted would suffice because it is a great spot.

We moved in on Friday, which was a bit of a fiasco...carting suitcases the size of small countries around is never a fun task, add the heat, the language barriers...you get the picture...Anyway, we managed to get into the apartment. The place was cleaned but as you all know, my definition of clean is slightly different than most humans (thanks mom), so I had to scrub down my bedroom before I unpacked anything and, of course, there was a hint of mothballs in my closet - brilliant - just what I've always wanted clothes that smell like mothballs...talk about fitting in with society...
By the time I finished cleaning it was time to go to sleep that was when I discovered my pet. Apparently geckos can get into your apartment with out too much trouble - who knew. So I have a small lizard that has taken up residence under my bed. It isn't too big of a deal I guess, free bug control perhaps. The only issue is the little sucker makes a lot of noise. I tried to catch him to release him into the wild...clearly another story...

Anyway, the apartment is spacious and it has an extra bed for visitors...hint, hint...

Motor Cycle Makeout

Motorcycles, motor scooters, electric bikes, actually, anything on two wheels is the most common mode of transportation here in HCMC. I could probably talk for days about what I have seen so far being transported on these two wheels: coffins, toilets, dogs, pigs, chickens, a family of five, but, actually, I am going to talk about something I hadn't heard about, or even thought about before...Parking. How do you discretely go parking with your boyfriend on a motor bike? The answer:YOU DON'T! But here, in a city of two wheeled transport, 'parking' does happen.

My roommate and I were taking a stroll one night after dinner and happened upon 'Lover's Lane'. I must say it was kind of funny, there were about 10 motorbikes pulled over to the side of the road and there were people making out on all of them. I felt like I was being rude, like I was barging in on some private moments, but it was the only road we could take...and clearly they didn't even notice us walking by. . .

Sofas For Sitting and Showers With Stalls - Apartment Shopping in Saigon

Okay, I dont even really think I can put to words my first experience looking for an apartment. There are a few things that I should explain first (although, I am not really sure that I have it perfectly clear - language barrier and all...): Buildings are not owned by one landlord. Landlords buy the apartments and then rent them out. So, if you have one hundred apartments in one building, you could potentially have one hundred different landlords. On top of that, each landlord designs and decorates their own space - I use those terms loosely and I mean very loosely (will explain later) also they get to pick their fees, which as a landlord myself I understand, BUT I don't understand how random the prices are. I think the whole process could be like the mystery grab bag at a carnaval...I envision Vietnamese landlords at a carnaval, they go around at the carnival and the cautious ones just take the grab bag with the price in it and leave, the rest of them spend hours at the ring toss trying to win the giant purple parrot so they can put it into their apartment - because every one needs a purple parrot. Seriously, you just never know what you are going to get. Behind every door there is something new and exciting (often with a hint of mothballs).



It became abundantly clear that I will be adapting to my surroundings...because if I don't I will be sleeping under my mosquito net and ranger poncho for two years (hmm, that actually doesn't sound bad...). I decided to see if I could convince someone if they wanted to share an accommodation because more money SHOULD = better apartments, but not so much...It generally means you have a bigger space to clutter with weird stuff. At least now I have a partner to suffer through this daunting task.

There are many nice apartments in Saigon, don't get me wrong, they are just too far away from the school I will be working at. At this point I have no mode of transportation aside from the heel toe express and school starts at 8am. Most people know me well enough to be laughing at this point because I am not a morning person. Anyway, factor in the heat, a 20 minute walk, and I have a feeling things will not be pretty most days (mind you, I am loving the heat which is more than I can say for most people without broken internal thermostats - Raynauds Disease is good for something, who knew?). I digress... So nice apartments are anywhere from a 15 minute drive to a 40 minute drive away, add insane traffic, the potential for miscommunication and having to pay someone to drive me...ah the rub of it all...furthermore, I would be too far away from grocery stores etc. so clearly a close apartment is important.

Anyway, during orientation it was mentioned that you need to check many things like: water pressure, water heating, the beds and the sofa to make sure they are comfortable. Now, I was a little bit skeptical I mean, how bad can a sofa be? Clearly I wasn't taking this seriously enough. Most sofas were one step up from a bed of nails or so ugly you would get nightmares if you sat on them. Not exactly what you want to come home to. I, being the trooper that I am, decided that the sofa would not be the thing to hold me back from renting a potential apartment. There was another deal breaker for me, the shower situation. First, even though it is very hot here, there must be hot water in the shower. I can't take a cold shower everyday for two years, come on! Also, there should be a stall for the shower, and no, I am not joking. I don't know how many places I saw with a room that had a sink toilet and shower head with no stall. I guess it could potentially save time in the long run because you could shower while using the toilet...but maybe not...

To discuss decor would take far too long but I will share some highlights:
Behind door number one you get: A two bedroom apartment, with one bed (???)and it is an extra $50 a month if you want a second bed, a kitchen with giant plastic ants and butterflies on the wall, lattice work with grapes hanging from the ceiling in the bathroom, plastic starfish, decorative stones and sand in the living room all for $800.00 US ... Or, how about a purple sparkle butterfly light and a big molded red sparkly sink...quite the combo. Bathroom tiles with cartoon tigers anyone? And mint green paint, what is it with the mint green paint!? How about the bathroom kitchen combo - you can cook your eggs and take a crap at the same time (another time saver I guess). I could go on but I believe that I have taken far to long already.

Maybe that poncho was a good investment.

The Airport - going commando vs. bringing the books

Okay, I have to do a bit of back-blog because I arrived in HCMC almost a week ago. So, from the beginning then.



After awaking at 05:00 on Friday, August 7th, I adjusted my suitcase, ate a peach, talked to the 'rents, had a shower, drank some coffee, and said a tearful good bye to Deindre. Then Brent and I left Deindre's house at about 06:45 to head to the Pearson Airport and face my fate at the Cathay counter.

On the way to the airport I told Brent that if my suitcase was too heavy I was going to have a meltdown, and yes, my suitcase was too heavy. Not the too heavy that you can buy your way out of, of course, but the beyond the weight restriction kind of too heavy. I was advised to go over to the empty British Airways counter where I could begin to take things out of the suitcase and use the scale to weigh my bag. Brilliant. This is exactly what I want to be doing. I don't want to be spending time with my boyfriend who I am moving away from for two years, I want to root 'round in my ever so carefully packed bag and remove essential items that I can't live without.



Brent, being the rational person that he is, volunteered to go purchase another big suitcase so I could disperse the weight of my bags and take everything with me. Now, as some of you know, I have packed up my house, and packed up my bags and the last freaking thing I want to do is unpack and re-pack my bags AGAIN. So despite his knight like, valiant effort, I decide to just remove things from my bag. (So clearly, the issue that I have is completely my fault, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. If you choose to read no further that is fine, I do take full responsibilty now that I am 22hours away from my resourses that I really do need).

As a teacher I wanted to have resources with me, resourses = books = too heavy. Lovely. So I took out my teaching resourses (except the three kilogram binder, I put that in my carry-on just to make my journey complete) and left them with Brent. There's always the internet right? Besides, I couldn't leave the underwear behind...they don't make 'em big enough to cover my hiny here!

Needless to say, now that I am here in Saigon I am thinking going commando would be fine if only I could have my books...

Getting Started

I have taken the leap, as you all know, to live and work in Vietnam. Although it is not really anything remarkable (many people work abroad), I believe that there are many remarkable things here that I will be able to share with the rest of you... and, of course, most of you know me well enough to understand the likelyhood that I will create my own "remarkable" experiences.

Currently my body wants to sleep at 21:00 and awake at 04:00 so I am working around that to be able to produce something worth reading... Give me some time...