Roommate January

Reasons I am thankful for my roommate Jenni

• I believe I mentioned last month how easy Jenni is to buy for. I didn't really elaborate. She's easy to buy for because she's not picky, she's happy with just about anything (that's why she lives with me), and she's pretty predictable. It turns out that she's also really good at GIVING gifts. I wasn't even expecting anything from her for Christmas and she got me some great headphones, which I had been needing, a beautiful necklace, some candles and a card. Well done, Jenni


• Jenni doesn't eat the bottom of the cereal box. You know, the crumbs and the sugar (it's weird that she doesn't eat the extra sugar)? Well I really like that part.


• Jenni has so much energy. And no routine that is set in stone. She can do just about anything at anytime, if that's what is required of her. Especially if it's to help someone.


• I'm forgetting which pictures I've used before. This one is from conference in November. Above, is us with Oanh one day that she came to make lunch for us. And in the top picture we are with some of the girls from Biên Hoà and I'm trying (unsuccessfully) to make baby Jenny smile for the picture
• I only recently got my camera fixed, but before that, Jenni was letting me use her camera for months! I am so thankful for that!

pictures from VT

Vũng Tàu with Hong

I don't know how I was fortunate enough to get an invitation to go to the beach with Hong, but it was fantastic. She had a friend who offered an apartment for us to stay at for free. THEN, she had a friend from school who wanted to drive us there with his wife and daughter in their car (not quite as common in Vietnam as in America) and hang out at the beach with us for a while.
We had a fantastic time. We rested and took pictures. Played some frisbee and rested some more. Had some great food, rested, talked to a monkey, saved a horseshoe crab, took a boat home, and started (though never finished) popping some bubble wrap. Then we both took a nap.

A perfect escape. And I prolonged my vacation by spending the night with Janell and she made us delicious oatmeal pancakes. I love oatmeal pancakes.
Hong is just great. Wow, that is an understatement. She is a good friend of Janell who I met last year. She is now living in New York getting her PHD and not appreciating the snow as much as I would (ok that's a lie because I wouldn't know how to survive in the weather they've been having).

Besides being a huge blessing to me, a gifted translator and frisbee player, friendly to everyone, etc etc, Hong is also extremely hilarious. We had a great time.

Some favs

Let's highlight a few of my favorite students (right, right, teachers say they don't have em)...

These 3 boys are the most disobedient in my class probably. Sam, in front, constantly pulls on me, screams in my face, and disobeys what I ask him to do.
To his left, Benny only draws cars in my class. He does nothing else.
Huy, behind them, doesn't speak. English or Vietnamese. Or nothing that I've heard.
But gosh, I love them so.


I like these two boys a lot too. also, the worst in my class, they come in late, talk while I'm talking, and cheat during games. Here Sam is drawing a Harry Potter Lightning bolt on Owen's head. A lot of character in this class. I'll miss them when we finish next week.


These boys are from a class that I really love. I had them last year and they really know how to make me crazy and then make me love them so much I can never be mad long. Here is Simon, John, Jason, David (and Michael's back there somewhere) in an extra classroom where they go before class. They hook up a huge fan and turn it on full blast. This year, during class, as soon as it is 7:00, someone shouts and they all get out of their seats and go around shaking hands with each other. The first time it happened, I must have looked confused and Simon turned to me and said, "Teacher, we're very friendly."
These girls aren't the worst in my class, but I like them anyway (despite the pattern that you've been reading). In fact, I love them. I think I have a thing for level 6 classes, because I have ye to find one that I don't like. Lucy, Bell, Buf, and Mic are really really smart and they came over the other day for some Vietnamese monopoly. Good times.

An ANNOUNCEMENT

I GOT MY CAMERA FIXED!! WHOO!

So, in celebration of my 300,000vnd, that I deem well-spent, I went to district one of Ho Chi Minh City to spend a few hours, maybe buy some gifts to send home. After my first trip to the atm, I discovered that I hadn't received my salary yet (and we have as of 3pmish today); my balloon a little deflated. However, I now had nothing to do there but take pictures. How appropriate.

Also appropriately there were a lot of things to take pictures of.

First, a robot (a guy dressed as a robot) was walking down the street. I ran into him twice.Then there were ninjas in front of my bank advertising diapers.And here are some pictures of Christmas and New Years lights that I've wanted to get. I'm actually kind of proud of how some of them turned out. I mean, I took dozens, but the fact that any of them turned out ok is a wonderful way to rekindle my relationship with my camera.

I am so pleased to have my camera back and functioning.

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!

Happy New Year!

This year we had class and I played Happy New Year (by ABBA) (someone really should write a new new year song please) in my classes and had the more advanced class write new years resolutions. I bought some sparkling strawberry juice and then forgot about it in the fridge.

Around 11: 15 Phuong came and told me we were leaving. She said goodbye to Francois for me and called him Frank because it was easier.

Then we started off to District 1 to meet Jenni, who was with another Vietnamese teacher (who Phuong and I think totally probably has a crush on her), "Richard," and his student, Phi (Phi thinks that Americans all receive braces for free just for being citizens).

Jenni and Richard

Richard's shoes After Phuong and I almost ran out of gas, because we were driving her husband's motorbike, we met up with them just in time to all go to see the fireworks. Phuong is an aggressive and amazing driver in a ll the traffic and we lost them, because Richard and Phi could not keep up. When we got up to the round about in front of Ben Thanh Market, it was PACKED (capital packed). Maybe more motorbikes than I've ever seen out there, but I couldn't tell because most of them were parked.

We parked in the middle of the street and turned to look for them. In a matter of minutes, the whole street was bloacked from other motorbikes just parking the middle of the street and we took off our helmets and relaxed. All of a sudden, the fireworks started and they were low and behind a building. As if in unison, all of the Vietnamese people near me uttered a 'trời ơi' (an exclamation, oh no! good grief, are you kidding me, that's what I imagine them saying).

We put our helmets back on and started the engine, as did everyone else. We raced in the traffic to get to the fireworks, each street leading to yet another traffic jam. "Oh my god, oh my god..." Phuong would mutter as she drove, occasionally yelling to other drivers asking if it was clear ahead. I just laughed and occasionally remarked on what an incredible driver she is. We were filled with this sense of panic, racing against time. Those fireworks were going to be OVER SOON!

Well Phuong did her best, and I did my best as the back seat encourager, but we didn't make it. We didn't see a single firework, but we laughed a lot and yelled hello at a lot of foreigners. Phuong said that it was an experience together that we won't forget, and we talked about doing it again someday. Someday I'll have to come back and celebrate New Years here again.

Here we are cheersing to the New Year with our sugar cane juice. Phuong and I met up with the others after we got out of the traffic. They were already long gone because they weren't as deep in it as we were.

It's 2011 now!