Some answers to some questions, and some pictures of some things...

Hellooooo girls and boys! Greetings from Ho Chi Minh City on this lovely Monday evening.I am currently feasting on Pocky and strawberry juice, whilst I watch k-pop music videos on Youtube. Oh, it's a hard life!
Anyway, enough about me and my dull evening down-time. And onto the main point of this blog post: questions you guys have been asking me.

On the i-to-i Chalkboard Forum, I told people they were more than welcome to inbox me any questions they have about Vietnam and to my surprise, people actually took me up on that offer. I've had quite a few messages from people, and a lot of them seem to ask similar things. So I decided to do this blog post, and see if I can answer some of them.

Today, I got a message from Annabelle (hi there!) with a few questions in, and so I'll use hers as an example =)

"1. Insurance? What did you do? and what would you recommend?"
As far as insurance goes, I got mine with FOGG, through i-to-i. I shopped around a bit before hand, but couldn't find any other policies that specifically covered you for travel and work at a reasonable price. It's also simple to sort out, with a quick phonecall to i-to-i.

"2. What would you recommend I prioritize in my 'requests' when applying? - Location/Number of people at placement/ Age of kids?"
When I applied for the internship, I didn't specify a location, or the number of people at my placement. I would rather not have been alone, and was told by TTV that I would be placed with at least one other person. My preferences for age were (in order from what I wanted most, to least): Primary, Kindergarten, High School, University. I ended up with High School, but I'm not disappointed. In fact, I'm ecstatic to be working with older kids. I think I actually like it better than teaching younger children.
The main thing to remember is: even if you put down specific preferences, it's not guaranteed that you'll get them. So head into it with an open mind. You may be surprised.

"3. What happens money-wise? Do I need to get organised with a cashcard...?"
I came to Vietnam with my debit card from the UK, and about US$300. Because things are so cheap, I barely spent any money! I bought my card for emergencies. When you withdraw cash from an ATM here, they usually charge you. And of course, your bank may charge you for using your card abroad as well, so keep that in mind.
As for paying for things here: everywhere deals in cash. It's very rare for people to use a card to pay for anything, and some places won't have the facilities to use a card. I get my wages paid to me in cash. I will be opening a Vietnamese bank account at some point, but only because I intend to stay here. I don't think it's a necessity if you are only staying 5-6 months.

"4. Is there anything I should be asking for for christmas - a wish list type thing!?"
Girls: stock up on makeup, like foundation and powder, because it will be hard to find stuff pale enough here (especially if you're stupidly white like me). I'd also recommend bringing tampons, as they can be hard to find.
If your family want to help you by buying you things for Vietnam for Christmas, ask them for practical stuff like: a mosquito net, smart clothes for teaching, maybe a travel hairdryer or iron.

"5. Are there any cultural taboos I should know about?"
The biggest things I can think of are as follows:
- When beckoning for someone to come towards you, do not do so with your palm facing upwards, as this is essentially telling that person you want to sleep with them. Instead, turn your palm downwards, and make a sweeping gesture towards yourself.
- Women don't smoke here, and it's seen as very rude for them to do so.
- Touching a child's head (when you don't know them) is seen as rude.
- Always take your shoes off when entering someone's house.
- Public displays of affection, or PDAs are kinda a no-no. Although you do see young, Vietnamese couples sneaking a few kisses in parks after dark.

"6. Are there any books I should read? Experiences I should try and get before arriving?""
Before I came here, I read:
- The Rough Guide to Vietnam: much better than the Lonely Planet's guide. Very informative and interesting. This is a must buy.
- The Quiet American by Graham Greene: "Into the intrigue and violence of Indochina (Vietnam) comes Pyle, a young idealistic American sent to promote democracy through a mysterious 'Third Force'. As his naive optimism starts to cause bloodshed, his friend Fowler, a cynical foreign correspondent, finds it hard to stand aside and watch. But even as he intervenes he wonders why: for the sake of politics, or for love?"
- The Lover by Marguerite Duras: "Two outcasts--an adolescent French girl and her Chinese lover--struggle to be together during the waning days of the colonial period in Indochina (Vietnam)."
I also watched these films:
- Indochine
- Apocalypse Now
- The Deer Hunter

As for experiences: Practice with chopsticks. See if you can find a Vietnamese restaurant near you, and try some of the food. Find out more about the American war. Get some knowledge of K-pop (your students will love you for it - focus on Big Bang and Super Junior).

I hope these answers have helped people. Let me know if you find them useful or not.

And to send you on your way, here are some pictures of my students at karaoke on Saturday night:

I know you're not meant to have favourite students, but on the right is Đạt, who is in my 12th grade class, and he is ADORABLE!

New school, new schedule, karaoke, painting.

It's been a week since my last update. Sorry, avid readers (if there even are any).

This week I started classes at a second school, and I've been settling into a new timetable. At the moment my schedule is this:
Monday - day off
Tuesday - One-to-one tutoring (the school Chairman's son, Ky-Danh)
Wednesday - 10A1 and 12A1 at Chu Văn An High School
Thursday - 4 10th Grade classes at Lý Tự Trọng High School
Friday - 10A2 at Chu Văn An High School
Saturday - 5 11th Grade classes at Lý Tự Trọng High School
Sunday - Young Learners class at Chu Văn An High School

It's not looking too bad, especially considering some interns are teaching 29 different classes a week! Schedules seem to vary from school to school, much the same with class sizes and quality of equipment.

Here are a few differences between my two schools (CVA & LTT):
- At CVA, the classes are air-conditioned, with great lighting, and are a nice, bright space. At LTT, the classes are more dingy, and only have fans.
- At LTT, you can use a microphone to teach, which is great because in some of my classes, I have up to 50 students. At CVA, classes are much smaller, so this isn't a problem.
- At CVA, the students took a while to come out of their shells and really open up in class. Of course, some students were always super confident, but now most of them speak up in lessons. At LTT, even in my first lessons with them, students were extremely confident and spoke up in class a lot, making me laugh and telling me they love me!
- I definitely felt like more of a celebrity at LTT, because the students went wild when they saw me, some of them actually screaming as I walked into the classroom. At CVA, it was a lot more subdued.

Overall, I love both the schools, and the students are really quite wonderful!

In order to keep my sanity, I must have a social life! And so, a few Vietnamese friends took me and Rasmus to karaoke last night. The only English song was We Wish You A Merry Christmas, which we had to sing not once, but twice. And we did attempt a few Vietnamese songs - kids ones, of course, so that it would be easy. We actually managed to get 100% on one of them, so I feel that was a definite achievement.

As you can see, there was a lot of bia 333 going around, as well as huge platters of fruit, and snacks.

The walk back to the school in the rain was pretty hilarious. I think one of my friends took pictures, so if I deem them appropriate they'll be up on the blog soon! Haha.

**EDIT** Some photos of us in the rain, and me singing karaoke, courtesy of my friend =)

Today, Rasmus didn't make it to the Young Learners' class. But I went along, because I love those stupidly adorable, badly behaved children. And I didn't want to leave my friend Binh - the main teacher - alone with them for another lesson (since our schedule changed, we can't attend the Saturday afternoon lessons anymore).
After that, I met some of my students for coffee, but sadly the cafe was closed. So we went to the supermarket, and painted some little statues... As you do!

The finished products:

Mine is the fish with chickenpox.

Birthdays & Mid-Autumn Festival

Oh, what a weekend!

It was Rasmus' 20th birthday on Friday (as well as two of the students' birthdays - 15th and 17th) and Mid-Autumn Festival too. And so the school threw a party for all the boarding students, any teachers that wanted to attend, and the birthday boys. They had the most fantastic hats made for them:

As well as a lovely cake:

The lovely cake didn't last long, though. Ooops!

There were also lanterns, and sparklers:

There were loads of party games, and some amazing fruit and sweets, too. As well as karaoke. Sadly, I didn't get many pictures of that, due to the amount of cake being thrown around - I didn't want to risk my phone!
It was so much fun, and I can't wait to celebrate my own birthday here!

This was a pretty photo-heavy post, and I will hopefully update again tomorrow or Tuesday with more details, but for now I'm signing off after an extremely busy weekend! Until next time! =)

Warning: Extremely cute pictures in this post...

Hey y'all,
Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I've actually had quite a busy few days, what with having an allergic reaction to washing powder and sporting a nasty looking rash on my hands, and then teaching all weekend (no time for socialising, boo).

My 10th Grade classes are going really well. The last two lessons I taught them were all about 'Making plans for the weekend', which prompted a lot of my students to add me on Facebook, and ask me in messages, "Teacher, what are your plans for the weekend? Drinks with 10A1? Yes!"

And then there's the Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning primary classes. Get ready for all-round adorable-ness (pretty sure that's not a word, but nothing else could describe these kids).

These two are absolute monsters. The one on the right managed to split his lip open on Saturday, and I had to sit there trying to stem the flow of blood. He chatted away at me in Vietnamese, patting my arm in a comforting way and saying "No problem - Không sao." I could hardly stand the cuteness.

And here are a few of the older kids with my placement buddy Rasmus:

Now, try telling me these photos don't make you want to hop on a plane right now, and get here? That is, of course, if you're not here already (hey fellow August interns! Thanks for stopping by).

Last night, our principal took us for dinner with him and his wife, to a lovely Vietnamese restaurant specialising in food from the middle region of Vietnam, specifically Huế. It was like a taste explosion in my mouth, so many fragrant spices; so much perfectly cooked shellfish. I was definitely in heaven.
Next time, he wants to take us for karaoke. I am so up for that, you wouldn't believe!
I also told him that after the 5 month internship, I want to stay in Vietnam. Probably forever. I made this decision almost as soon as I got here, and I'm sticking by it. Yes, sometimes I will be frustrated by things here - I got frustrated by things back home, too - and the language barrier will be difficult for a while. But I fully intend on learning Vietnamese, and making a life for myself in this wonderful country, which has already given me so many more opportunities and experiences than I ever had in England.
The principal and his wife said they were pleased I love their country so much, and want to help me in my efforts to stay here. Yet another example of the generosity and kindness of the Vietnamese people.

Until next time, xin chào!