Friday 26th Sept. 2008
After 33 days at the Sao Mai Hotel I’ve moved to an apartment at the same place as Michael. I saw it just yesterday when we helped him move his stuff and decided it would be much better than my box of a room at the noisy hotel with trains whistling by at all hours. So this morning, with the help of Mark, Judy and Michael to transport my belongings, I moved into a room on the property of a family who manufacture ceramic and ornamental garden ornaments. The apartment is only partly mine, as it also houses a Buddhist shrine in the entrance hall, where the lady of the house, Mrs Mai, comes to pray. That’s OK with me; I could do with some meditation. To hedge their bets, there is also a Catholic shrine at the side of their house just across the courtyard, so I have a choice of where to pray! Michael’s apartment is bigger and more private at the back of their house, surrounded by trees.
I have yet to meet the children, but the parents seem very nice people. It will certainly be more interesting than the dubious clientele of the hotel, where men and young women check in and out at all times of the day and night. I wasn’t sorry to leave.
Saturday 27th Sept. 2008
I’m very tired after a very long day; starting at 7.45am with my first toddlers’ class and ending at 9.30pm when Michael takes me home after our evening classes. During the day I went to the Supermarket with Mark to meet Judy, but he felt so ill he had to come back to rest. I spent the afternoon in his room preparing for tonight’s class of level 5 students that I’ve been teaching since it started two weeks ago.
I must say, I’m learning a lot from Mark about his teaching methods. Take it steady, let the students do the work and have a good time! I’m always worried that I’ve not prepared enough material, but tonight it took the whole lesson to do what I thought would take up the first half. So I’m saving my energy, not to mention my voice, which is still suffering the after effects of the flu.
The trip on Michael’s bike back to our new apartments last night was a bit hairy to say the least. After thunder and lightning that lit up the whole sky we ploughed through torrential rain and flooding back streets wondering if we’d done the right thing to move 4 Kilometres away from school.
I was so drenched that my clothes had to be hung up in the bathroom to dry after I took a long warm shower. I prepared my bed with the mosquito netting that Co Mai, the lady of the house, advised me to use at night while having the windows open, tucking the net under the mattress, which is on the floor. I felt very comfortable in my tent, with the fan blowing across me as I gradually cooled down. The air smelt good with the faint aroma of incense from the Buddhist shrine; much better than the closed in atmosphere of the hotel, where my room smelt of an old ladies’ wardrobe. Actually that was because the place was infested with tiny mites and I’d bought ‘lavender-scented’ balls to put in the drawers, but which smelt more like mothballs.
I thought that the incessant drumming of rain on the roof would soon send me to sleep, but by 1.0am I was still wide awake so I was still very tired when I had to get up early for morning classes.
Thursday 2nd Oct. 2008-10-02
I’m finally online at my apartment. There’s an Ethernet cable at the computer desk in the entrance hall that the secretary sometimes uses, so I’m plugged into that, replying to all my emails. I’ve not been able to connect for a few days, what with to-ing and fro-ing between here and school. The only drawback with being here is that I have to get a lift on someone’s bike to get anywhere. It’s now 11.30 am and my stomach is grumbling about the absence of breakfast. Michael isn’t here and I’m getting frustrated waiting for Mark, who’s not answering his phone.
When we moved, Michael had announced to all and sundry that we’d be having a ‘new apartment’ housewarming party on Sunday night, but what we didn’t expect was a full blown festivity with food and drinks supplied by our new landlords. Well actually it was their daughter’s 9th Birthday and we were welcomed together with our own guests; students and teachers from KTV and a great time was had by all. See pictures, with Michael showing off his new girlfriend! And Mark enjoying himself playing the piano in Mike's room.
Yesterday four of us took the train to Saigon. When I mentioned our intention, people said, “Why go by train? Why not take a car?” as if travelling by train was such a ridiculous suggestion. When asked if they’ve ever travelled by train they’d look at us and say, “Of course not”. So we did wonder what the experience would be like. It was much more pleasant riding smoothly through countryside that we don’t see from the road rather than honking our way through heavy traffic! The train was only what could be expected, and not dissimilar to some trains in the UK; not too clean but OK. As we approached Ho Chi Minh City, which most people still refer to by its old name of Saigon, we were regaled through loudspeaker by song and speech extolling the virtues of their city and the great Revolution.
Our main purpose was to visit the HSBC International Bank where Mark deposited a large amount of cash about a month ago. We were told at that time to return in about 10 days to collect our ATM cards and set up internet banking passwords etc. However, after queuing for some time we were told that the cards are being printed in Hong Kong and they apparently have a backlog, so could we please come back in a couple of weeks! I tell you, everything takes so long here! Patience is not only a virtue, but a necessity!
Young Michael, to distinguish him from big Michael from Louisiana, is a Vietnamese young man who works in the office of KTV. If anything goes wrong, or needs to be fixed, you call Michael. He is the most pleasant and accommodating young man I think I’ve ever met; always cheerful although he’s had much hardship in his young life by all accounts. He’s of small stature, wears glasses and a permanent smile. He lives alone, having been brought up in an orphanage and is too shy to get a girlfriend. I think I’m now his adopted mother! So he came with us to make sure we arrived at our destination and show Mark where to buy quality DVD’s. Actually DVD’s are prohibited from being imported; it’s in the list if items you can’t bring in, so the place is awash with copies. The important thing is to get quality copies or you’re likely to be engrossed in a film until it dies halfway through.
Mark’s looking for good films to show at his Cinema club every other Sunday at KTV. Since I arrived, we’ve seen ‘The Green Mile’ and ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, both riveting films. The next one to be shown this Sunday is ‘The Twelve Monkeys’, an intriguing story of time travel. So till my next time online... watch this space!
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