Some information about Visas

Hey there, I thought that seeing as I'm writing this to help other people out, I might explain what I know of the Visa process for entering Vietnam (to work, at least). I'm getting a Landing Visa, which means I don't have to go to the Vietnamese consulate in London. I receive an Invitation Letter from the Vietnamese school I'll be teaching at, organised through TTV (Teach & Travel Vietnam - who run the internship). Once I land in Vietnam, I go to the Landing Visa desk before immigration, and produce my Invitation Letter, passport, and 2 passport pictures, as well as the fee (for me it's US$25 at the desk, and then US$175 dollars paid to TTV, as they will have paid that amount towards it beforehand). This will get me a 3-month Visa, that will be extended once I'm in the country. You can only get this type of Landing Visa if you are flying into the country. If you are planning on getting there through Cambodia or Laos, on foot or by bus/train, you will have to obtain a Visa from the consulate in your home country. And here, for your perusal, is a list of the Top 5 Vegetarian Vietnamese Dishes, courtesy of TTV =) Veggie Food Millie

Videos

So, my contact for the internship in Vietnam sent me a link to 10 videos. They're fantastic little snippets of life in Vietnam, from food to scenery to history, all compiled on http://comeandgovietnam.com/blog which is definitely worth a browse. Here's the link for the videos: http://comeandgovietnam.com/blog/youtubes-top-ten-vietnam-videos Enjoy! I know I did =)

Skype, flights and vaccinations.

I had my Skype interview with a lady who works on the internship in Vietnam today. It was more of a general chat about why I want to teach, why I chose Vietnam, and why I chose an internship instead of just heading out there alone. It went pretty well, and I'm now waiting for an acceptance letter to come through. Then I can go about booking flights. Turkish Airlines seem to be doing reasonably priced flights to Saigon, so I think that's the one I'm going to go with. Now I have to go to the doctor, and see what vaccinations I need. I've been told that taking malaria tablets is a good idea, as well as tablets for indigestion/diarrhea, and maybe even water-purifying tablets too. May possibly need to get a typhoid jab too (not looking forward to that, at all). Once I've booked my flights, I have to email my arrival details to the people running the internship, who will get me my 'Letter of Invitation' from Vietnamese immigration, and then email it to me. This I have to print out, and bring in my hand luggage on the flight, as it's what I need to get my visa once I land. I can't stop thinking about this awesome adventure I'm going on. I'm so excited, and can hardly concentrate on work. Only 10 more weeks to go! I hope they fly by.

The big adventure of 2012!

So I'm jetting off to Ho Chi Minh city (formally Saigon) on August 25th this year, to teach English for 5 months. I figured starting a blog would be a good idea, as I've been scouring the internet for other people's experiences teaching over there, and there doesn't seem to be much out there (or maybe I'm not looking hard enough). Maybe someone else thinking of doing the same thing will find this blog, and it could help them out =) It's also a space for me to splurge my thoughts, worries, triumphs and - let's face it, it's likely - failures. I'm at the end of my TEFL course now, currently struggling through a module entitled Teaching with Limited Resources. I'm submitting my written assignment this evening (although I've been distracted by The Simpsons Movie on TV). The whole 140-hour TEFL course has been a struggle in itself, and I've found some of it hard. But I've managed to pass every module's assignment on my first attempt, with great feedback too, so I must be doing something right! I have discovered, though, that grammar's a bitch. Seriously. So, this is the beginning of my first, big adventure. I'm excited and scared, nervous and impatient to get there. To anyone reading this: I'll update soon =) Millie