Update

An update to my previous blog post: one of my previous professors at Hobart and William Smith informed the Communications Department of the incorrect caption on my photo (as well as the address of my blog). They have since changed the caption and will be interviewing me for an article for the school website. Yay!

Another note: I'll be away in Hue this weekend (in the middle of the country) in order to help run a children's day for a small school in the mountains there. I'll post to the blog when I return on Sunday night. There'll be lots of photos and fun travel stories! Miss you all...

This Week in Photos!

Also, my photo is on Hobart and William Smith Colleges' "This Week in Photos." It can be found at http://www.hws.edu/experience/twip/photo122/

The caption says the photo is from my time studying abroad here, because nobody remembers I graduated. That's OK with me--just don't tell the loan company I graduated already! :)

It's Saturday again, so time for a blog post. This week has been full of teaching and going out at night, as usual. DiDi and I also saw the movies "Rachel Getting Married" and "W." We supposed that the former film was going to be a light comedy but instead was a downer. In fact, my mom would enjoy it, as it focused on family dynamics and addiction. The latter movie, "W," did a lot to quell my residual anger at said President of the United States. In fact, some of my anger was replaced with pity, as the film portrayed Bush's life as a joke, a constant need to impress his father (who had put all his money on his other son, Jeb).



DiDi and I also went on a midnight adventure to find buoi (giant, sweet grapefruit) and beer. That happened to be Valentine's Day and we sat by the side of the road and watched all of the men walk by. That outing culminated in one of the fastest motorbike taxi rides I've ever taken. You can't ride/drive like that all the time. Well you can, but you won't live for very long.







This week at work two of my classes started a new unit. The unit focuses on playing outside and the necessary vocabulary involved such as: baseball, helmet, bat, basketball, soccer ball, glove, etc. They're doing pretty well with it. I also saw a little boy sneeze almost point blank into a little girls' eye. It was difficult not to laugh, but the little girl frowned and began to rub her eye furiously. She was OK; don't worry. My substitution job at this particular school ends after this upcoming Tuesday, which is sad. I've been put on the substitute teacher list for this school and its other six locations, however. That's good news. I also had a meeting with one of my bosses about getting teaching hours on the weekends. As of today I work Saturday and Sunday mornings. Yay...

Monday and Tuesday night brought DiDi and I to two tailors to pick up skirts and dresses. I had a dress and two skirts made in order to expand my wardrobe of work clothes, and DiDi had a dress made before the Tet holiday that she hadn't picked up yet. After being told on Saturday that I needed a floor-length black dress for the Thusday night performance at the opera house, I had one made and picked it up on Tuesday.

On Wednesday night I attended the dress rehearsal for the Thursday night performance of Puccini's Messa di Gloria, which I sang with the Ho Chi Minh City Symphony Orchestra. The dress rehearsal went well, although there is always an underlying current of the Vietnamese attitude of "That's good enough." That bugged me a bit in this instance because singing is one of the few things in my life that truly can be near perfect. The concert was Thursday night and went pretty well. I got to be backstage and onstage at the city's Opera House, which was just renovated. It's really nice and comes complete with a giant gold statue of Uncle Ho Chi Minh backstage. Five of my friends came to support me too, which was really nice of them. After the concert we took photos and then moved to the closest bar and talked for a few hours. It was a really good time and I'm lucky to have made such good friends here already.














Wednesday night brought a meeting with some friends about going to Hue next weekend. We'll be organizing and participating in a children's day for these impoverished kids in the mountains. There is an organization of Vietnamese people who grew up outside Vietnam (called viet-quieu) who have built these schools for the kids. I'm really excited to go and play with them all day. That night I had a quick dinner of fried rice in the backpacker's district. I was talking to two men, one from Chicago and one from Melbourne. They're really cool and the Aussie actually works for Lonely Planet, a chain of books for tourists. I got him to try the dried squid (like squid jerky) and the fetal duck eggs. Mostly he just took photos and I ate. :)

As always, I've been out taking photos in my spare time. Here are my favorites...


























Wear your helmet, even in the bathtub.


Got coconuts?







And now for the bone progression:







That's it for this week! Off to some karaoke tonight :) Miss you all. Watch your mailboxes and keep emailing...

Same Awesome, Different Day

So I'm settled in here and life is now the same old stuff. I like routine, so this is good. The past week has brought outings to take photos, singing, and continuing to work with the kids. Of course the nights bring motorbike rides to get fetal duck eggs and watch movies.

I continue to enjoy working with my little kids. They are truly awesome. They're quick to hug and even quicker to scream "BRUSH YOUR TEETH!" when I act it out. The good thing is that they enjoy my many vocabulary review games and are really remembering what I taught the previous week. That's encouraging and I am truly enjoying myself as much as they are. I never thought I'd look forward to going to work every day but I do. And we have a lot of fun.

This week, DiDi taught me how to drive her motorbike. We started with a primer lesson late one night in our alley. There weren't any other motorbikes out and I learned about the gears, starting the motorbike, stopping, etc. It went well and the next night I successfully drove around the block with DiDi on the back. By Thursday night I drove for about 20 minutes in ligh traffic. It was a bit scary but I did well. I don't think I'll be driving a lot though. This is not to mention that I don't have a Vietnamese driver's license either. :)

On Monday night it was my German friend Katerina's birthday and a bunch of us went and hung out at Xu Bar. I arrived late after singing. We had drinks and cake, which was a lot of fun.





Almost every night, DiDi and I meet friends for some fetal duck eggs and snails. This week I met some Aussie guy and I got him to eat an egg. It's the Caitlin charm, you know. ;) Let's just say he didn't like the egg as much as I do. He could hardly swallow it because he couldn't stop thinking about the baby duck. Amateur.





When we arrived home from our outing on Wednesday night, which featured seeing the movie "The Secret Life of Bees," (which I HIGHLY recommend, Mom) I heard a sharp popping sound. The apartment across the alley was having some electrical problems and the power lines on their balcony were throwing sparks. I took a photo and then got DiDi so we could have a neighbor contact that house. Nothing burned down so it's all good. :)



In my spare time I'm sending postcards (everyone watch your mailboxes!) and going out to take photos. Here are some of my favorites from this week.






Don't attempt to pocket this lighter.








This was taken from between the legs of my little red road-side stool. Taking photos of these policemen is illegal. He was clueless--don't worry.









I guess that's it for this week. Miss you all terribly...

It's All Good

I've done it. I have effectively remade my life on the other side of the world. I wake up every day and go to bed every night feeling successful and fulfilled. Of course this is because I have managed to create a lifestyle that features working hard and playing hard; making a difference as well as having fun (which isn't necessarily mutually exclusive). I LOVE my job at the Vietnam Australia School where I teach first graders. They are fairly well-behaved and have lots of energy. They are quick to give hugs and yell my name, when they can finally get it right and remember it. The sounds in my name such as the hard ‘t’ are difficult for beginners. My co-teachers are young and dedicated and enjoy their jobs too. It's a good place to be and I have already spoken to the woman in charge of hiring about possibly having a full-time position at the school.

Other than loving my job, I have found some extra activities to aid in my happiness. After not singing for a whole month I decided to search for a place to sing. After spotting an ad in a magazine for ex-pats, I was in email contact with a Californian named Brian who runs the Ho Chi Minh City International Choir. On Monday I had a short audition and Brian was very happy to find a Soprano leader as he felt he needed one. He also asked if I would sing a Puccini mass with the Ho Chi Minh City Symphony Orchestra in a couple of weeks. Now I sing Monday and Wednesday nights (with a trip to Sherridan's Pub after rehearsals in order to make new friends) and Saturday afternoons. I'm really enjoying singing again, since I felt that was missing in my life.

There is also a touch rugby league that meets on Saturday afternoons. I will begin playing with them in a couple of weeks, when the Saturday singing rehearsals end after the concert. I'm excited about that as well. Don't worry Mom, they don't tackle and I'll be very careful. :) DiDi is also teaching me to drive a motorbike. So far we only practice late at night when there's no one else on the road. Don't worry about this either; I have a sick helmet.

In other news, Andy has decided to graduate from Northeastern a full year early. This is the best news I've heard all week. I'm also looking forward to some mail soon. ;)

Today I went and got some fabric and then went to a friend's tailor in order to get a dress and two skirts made. These are for work, of course. Since I work every day, I have to dress up every day. I appreciate my mesh shorts a lot more than before, when I could wear them every day. It's also getting really hot here, but the heat of the dry season will peak in April. Yesterday morning it was so hot that we had a brown out and lost power for a few hours. It hasn't rained since I arrived in the country a little over a month ago. But after May it will pour every day and I'll get to wear my awesome froggie boots! :)

That's all that's new for now! I know you guys have been waiting for new photos too. I aim to please...















I guess that's it! I'll keep the camera in my bag and the smile on my face. But you know what could help with the smile? Some snail mail. I have confirmed that I do indeed receive mail here at 79/8 Nguyen Huu Cau/Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. Hope all is well stateside...