Getting Around

Much to my parents’ despair, in the first week I arrived in Vietnam, I was presented with a motorbike. Having never actually been on one, and with no lessons given, I took my first ride into town. This was possibly the most terrifying experience of my life. I’m hardly the best of drivers in a car, let alone in a city where there are thousands of bike accidents each year.

For the first two months, everything was fine. I only drive about 30 mph anyway, just so if anything was to happen on my bike, I wouldn't get too hurt. The traffic here does what it wants, and I felt myself starting to drive like a bit of a local. Skipping a red light now and then seems pretty acceptable. I have also often been warned to put all my belongings under my seat, which foolishly I didn't do on every journey. However, you only follow advice like this until it actually happens to you…

Last week, I was driving home from town (about a 15 minute journey) at about 10pm by myself, which was a normal thing for me to do. I was about 5 minutes into my journey, driving across a bridge, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Within a blur of 2 seconds, my bag was ripped off my shoulders, and the two men on the passing motorbike sped off.

It was awful. I screamed a lot of pretty bad words, and then bought my attention back to what was in my bag. Two phones, an iPod, 400,000 dong (about £15) and my bank card, which I soon blocked. I arrived home in floods of tears and was very thankful for my Vietnamese housemates comfort.

I was very lucky that everything could be easily replaced, and that my passport was safely at home. I think the actual incident was the thing that really shook me up. I can’t express how lucky I was that my bag strap was so weak, and it was easily ripped off. If it was stronger I would have been pulled straight off and could have been seriously hurt.

It is safe to say my lesson has been truly learnt, and everything is put securely in my seat storage on every journey. I was so lucky. I have heard of horror stories where people are pulled off their bikes and dragged, just for the sake of a phone or an iPod.

The following day I was then knocked off my bike by a taxi. This was nothing to be honest and happens on a daily basis. It is safe to say I've had a pretty unlucky week, though I know it has made me a tougher lady! 

Vietnamese Food: I'm craving some cheesy beans on toast

Food in District 7 is disgustingly cheap. On a normal weekday evening after work I eat street food, often a rice noodle soup (“Pho”) costing a staggering 40p a bowl. This is good, as my monthly salary is pretty low. 

At weekends I often eat in the tourist areas, and am able to get western food. The first Maccy D’s opened in the month I arrived, which was bloody great!

On top of the different food I have to adjust to, I also have coeliac disease. This means I cannot eat wheat, barley and rye. Before travelling out here, I was sceptical about what I would be actually able to eat. My mum sent me off with some gluten free snacks, just to reassure her I’d be ok for my first week!

But everything has been fine and I have been eating rice for breakfast, lunch and tea sometimes. This can be pretty bland but it gives me reassurance that what I’m eating isn’t going to make me ill for a week.

Since being here I have developed some weird obsession with Snickers. I think because all the traditional Vietnamese food over here is so natural with little/no sugar, I’m craving it! Snickers is definitely not my chocolate of choice in England, so I have no idea where this has come from. I joke that when I eventually go home, it will be like that scene in Castaway when Tom Hanks looks at the lobster at his arrival home party, and feels weird. This is going to be me when I go into a supermarket and chose a Twirl over Snickers.

Unfortunately, there is a resident rat that lives on our kitchen worktop, so it’s safe to say I have never cooked and never will cook a meal whilst living here. The cheapness of meals out here means that this isn't an issue, but my god what I would do for some cheesy beans on toast. Oh life. 

My lovely parents also sent me a food parcel the other day, which included some gluten-free treats. Though it took roughly three weeks to arrive, it couldn't have come at a better time.

“Sorry, I live here”

Going to Bui Vien- the tourist hub of Ho Chi Minh City- has become a Friday and Saturday night ritual for my group of teacher friends. It gives us a chance to go out, have fun and forget about the weekday stresses. Often I get asked “So how long are you staying in Saigon for?” or “Where are you travelling to next?” to which my friends and I jokingly reply with “Sorry but we live here”. Sometimes I feel envious of those with the financial ability to do that; however I know that I am gaining a great experience and really discovering the “Real Vietnam”.

Having been living in Ho Chi Minh City for nearly three months now, I am finally starting to get used to my surroundings. I live in District 7 (originally I thought I was in the Hunger Games!), which is a distinct Vietnamese area. I often get looks, as it does feel like I’m the only white girl in the district, but locals here are so friendly so I never feel intimidated in my area.

I live with four other teachers (4 English and 1 Irish) and a Vietnamese family live on the ground floor. This includes a 70 year old part- blind, deaf and dumb lady, who we have developed a kind of sign language with. Often, we don’t have a clue what each other is saying, but it is nice to have a grandmother like figure who always greets you when you arrive home after a long day. I had an incident (see my “Getting Around” post), where somehow she could tell I was upset and gave me a hug. It was the best thing ever.

Although every aspect of life here is so different to the Norfolk country life I have been bought up with, I am trying to immerse myself in it as much possible. This keeps me on my toes and busy all day every day, and doesn't give me time to have any potential homesick feelings. I know that if I didn't keep busy each day, it could lead to this.

For those working in a completely different culture half way across the world, it can often feel like a very surreal feeling. Friends here who have been away for two years have told me that this feeling never really goes away. My parents often tell people in passing that their daughter is teaching English in Vietnam. This will always sounds bloody weird to me. 

“Miss Lizzie, you've spelt gorilla wrong”, said my 6 year old student….

Having just an 120-hour TEFL qualification and no teaching experience, it was safe to say I was pretty nervous about my first lesson. It was arranged that my first week would be spent observing other teachers and seeing what classes in Vietnam were like compared to the UK. This was all great until five minutes before one of these “observations”, I was told that the teacher had called in sick and that I had to teach two 1 and a half hour lessons with no preparation. WICKED.

It went bloody awful and the 17 year old students weren't very sympathetic. But I survived and being thrown in at the deep end was a good a way to start than any.

I still teach these 17-year olds as well as 13 different grade 1 and 2 classes- some of which are the cutest children you could ever meet! Before starting my job, I thought it was just primary school classes I would be teaching rather than secondary too. But teaching grumpy teens is giving me much needed experience and it is always good to have some challenges in any job.

The company I work for send teachers out to different schools all across the city. I work at three different schools, so it is a good way of visiting other areas.

When I finished my degree, teaching had never crossed my mind- let alone teaching abroad! It is giving me a great experience and the TEFL qualification has given me the chance to live and work abroad, build my confidence and meet a lot of new people. Although this job has allowed me to see I’m not a teacher at heart, it has given me the reassurance that I still want to do what I had originally set out to do after graduating last Summer. I truly want to work in PR and communications-particularly with charities, having carried out a health and media related dissertation. However, I will obviously never completely dismiss teaching, as I am having a great time. It is always good to keep your options open.

It’s only been two and a half months since I started teaching and I already have some very funny stories. One day I asked my 6 year old students to get their workbooks out. One boy pulled out two fish from his desk (see picture for proof). This same class also corrected my spelling of “gorilla”- this was obviously a test I had set them, which they had passed. So well done class 1D!

Both teachers and students at the schools are welcoming, shown through the abundant of drawings I receive from 6 year olds. One girl has drawn a picture of me every lesson without fail. Very cute. In March, Vietnam also celebrates “Women’s day”, where I was given flowers by my primary school students! It made my day, especially when I had to teach a very grumpy teenage class that afternoon. Obviously they had forgotten my flowers and left them at home. 

My First Week in South East Asia

Arriving at Saigon airport on 1^st February was a pretty daunting experience. Adding to that, I was left looking like the worlds stressed/sweatiest/terrified woman, after the person who was supposed to meet me wasn't there for four hours. FOUR HOURS. This was an ordeal and I was all for getting a taxi to the nearest hotel when I heard someone call out “Elizabeth?!”. I could have nearly kissed this small Asian man, however I resisted that urge. Just. It was a massive relief and after arriving at my new home, I slept for the next 24 hours.

It appeared I had arrived during the public “Tet” holiday, and all the other teachers were on holiday. This was pretty difficult, as one of the first things I wanted to do was make friends. I was told most people wouldn't be back for another week.

My new surroundings were daunting, but I made the decision to book a flight for the next night half way up the country to Hoi An. It was either doing this, or staying in my room for the next week on my own! I had to just go out and embrace it.

I spent three nights in Hoi An, relaxing on the beach and exploring a new town. I am so glad I did this, as I now know it is very hard to get time off from my job. Travelling by myself also built my confidence and I met some cool people whilst there.

Having only spent two days in Ho Chi Minh City before flying to Hoi An, I was very keen to get back and meet everyone. However, I was very oblivious to how booked up travel was during this national holiday. I soon found out that all planes, trains and sleeping buses to the city were booked up for the next three days! Being stranded half way up the country and also with no means of contact, I was stressing to say the least. I think the woman at the desk could see my distraught state, and as if by magic she booked me the last seat on a sitting bus.

This journey took just under 24 hours! But I was just glad to be on it. On the plus side, I was able to see most of the country (albeit I was asleep for half of it). I was very happy to be back in Ho Chi Minh City, and soon I was able to meet all the people who I would become great friends with.

It was an eventful first week, but it definitely helped me accustom to a new culture a lot quicker.

From Swaffham to Saigon: My first post

It was in a doctors waiting room when I realised something had to be done about my unemployed status. For the months after graduating in July 2013 with a degree in Journalism and English Language, I had been applying for work in my desired career of PR and communications. On two occasions I had got to the final two out of hundreds of applicants, and was unsuccessful. I was pretty devastated both times to say the least.

I was re-registering at the surgery in the rural Norfolk town I grew up in (living back with my parents, yes), and was given a form with the first question asking my occupation. Gone were the days I could put “student”. I wrote down unemployed and shiftily gave it back to the receptionist.

Within the next week I had luckily found a temping work with the Ministry of Defence, which turned out to be my job for the next six months. I made some great friends there, but couldn’t help but feel I needed to be doing something more I enjoy.

After speaking with a few people and doing some research, I signed on to a TEFL course which I finished alongside work in December. When approaching the end of university I was very much set on getting a graduate job. Teaching had never crossed my mind, let alone teaching abroad.

I finished the course and half-heartedly applied for a few jobs in the most random of places, not really thinking much of it. I found most of them on Daves ESL cafe (http://www.eslcafe.com/joblist/), and they feature hundreds of jobs all over the world. I had Skype interviews and at this stage was still not thinking much into it. It was actually an interview I had at 7 am after my work Christmas party that offered me a job! (I don’t know how that worked, I was one hungover woman). The job was based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and having not travelled to Asia, let alone the country, I was in two minds. Travelling alone was also something I needed to know if I could do.

However, within a week I had accepted the job, booked my flight for January 31st and applied for my visa. And here I am! Looking back on it, it feels like a bit of a whirlwind. This time last year, I would never have thought I would be sitting in Vietnam writing this blog.

I am going to try and update this blog as much as possible to let you know of my various stories on working and living in this very surreal city.