A perfect cup of coffee

My first morning in Hanoi. I am determined to find a good local breakfast with some hot coffee - coffee is widely farmed in Vietnam.

I walk around in the area near my hotel practicing the little Vietnamese I already know. It is a beautiful, peaceful Sunday morning in busy Hanoi. I find a cafe, I am determined that I can handle my order in Vietnamese. I order a coffee with milk. The waitress brings me the most adorable, curious cup that has another cup on top with a lit. I open this lit and discover that the coffee is as freshly brewed as it can be - the second cup is a filter, dripping my coffee into the bottom cup. I am amazed, this is genius. I have missed great coffee for a while now, I don't do well with instant coffee.

As I wait for my coffee to filter two Vietnamese ladies come sit with me and ask for pictures with me. They were such sweethearts, and even though we didn't share a language, we understood each other perfectly.

My cup has brewed. I remove the top, but I can't find milk anywhere. I believe my order wasn't clear and continue to taste my coffee. The taste is fantastic, tho it feels like I have three strong espressos in one cup. I proceed to drink my coffee slowly. Half way through it, I place my spoon in it to give it a stir. That's when I find the milk. Not even the milk is ordinary here, it is a delicious vanilla flavored cream at the bottom of my cup. I stir the coffee properly and find out that it is actually possible for the coffee to get even better.

My first day of this adventure started of better than I thought.

Yours sincerely,

Mira
The coffee lover

Bangkok adventures

Happy Sunday to everyone,

Now it is time to talk about my Bangkok adventures.

The flight there went great, Koh Samui airport is very small and has barely any air con so I would recommend very early or late flights. Otherwise, plenty of water and light clothing.

Bangkok was fantastic. It is a very big and vibrant city, plenty of time wasted in public transport, unfortunately. We stayed at my friends house north of central, the apartment had a roof top pool and a gym. We napped most of first day and then spent the evening by the pool, Bangkok looks even better when you look at the lights in the dark from the 25th floor.

Next day we spent walking around central and meeting up with other friends. We planned to climb this very high abandoned building in central but unfortunately, it wasn't possible at the time. In the evening we got caught in a rain storm, but we fought through in a pursuit to find a karaoke bar. With no success in that, we found a fantastic Korean buffet with hot stoves on the tables so that we could cook our own food. Amazing food, great company and all flushed down with Korean dinner wine.

I spent Thursday and Friday organising my visa for Vietnam. It all actually came through on Friday and I managed to get my visa through an express service! It cost me 400 bath more but I imagined that I would spent that coming to the Embassy one more time. Everything started rolling very quickly from receiving my visa, I immediately booked my flight to Hanoi and organised my departure. An advice: be careful of taxi drivers in Bangkok. I took a tuk tuk from the train station towards the apartment. The driver spoke no English and dropped me completely off route in a middle of some market area. From there I found a taxi driver to drive me home, he left me sitting in a car in a petrol station and took all the small alleys to make the journey longer. Half way I had to speak to someone who knew English on his phone to discover that the driver went to the toilet. At the end I had to mime to him that I cannot pay for time spent  sitting in a car at the petrol station. I took me two and a half hours all together to get home ! We spent my final evening at the rooftop again followed by home delivered pizza.

I wish I could say that my flight went smoothly but it was everything but that. At the check in my cabin bag was three kilos too heavy. The worker was having none of it even though I tried my best to explain to him that I'll just put in hand bag and then it won't make a difference. After a hassle I removed my stuff from the cabin bag just to get it weighted and moved it back straight after getting it labelled light enough... This was the least of my problems, at the immigration the officer thought I had overstayed my visa because I had stamps on my passport from the visit to Thailand last year. So I have removed from the scene to some side room to get it all sorted. After all this I managed to find my way to the correct gate. The flight was quite bumpy and very uncomfortable.

Due to obvious reasons, I was very happy once we landed to Hanoi. I had a car service waiting for me to take me to my hotel room. Hanoi is extremely beautiful and the hour ride towards central and my hotel was so calming. I arrived quite late so it was already getting dark, I went to get some sushi for dinner and walked around a little bit. My area is very lively and the traffic is crazy. The Youtube videos on how to cross the street are quite accurate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiwMQPZQvsg I had an opportunity to do this once, it was more like a need, and I am quite surprised how well it went ! I was looking around in desperation at first but once I hopped onto the road there was no way but forward. 

Alive and well I returned to my room to enjoy my sushi. My bed has neither mattress nor a blanket. Luckily, I have a small blanket with me. The air con and the bed were making plenty of sounds all night. Other than that, I slept well and am now going to go for a little adventure out in the streets of Hanoi ! 

Wish me luck, 

Mira 

The rooftop pool

Final day at the beach in Koh Samui

Rooftop gym, I do Kayla Itsines' bikini body guide programme #bbggirls 

The contrast visible from a shopping centre in Bangkok

The abandoned building we wanted to climb 

Stranded in the rain behind 7eleven 

Street food 

Smoothies are the best in Bangkok

My first meal in Hanoi from a sushi bar called Mizu 

Airport life

Hello everyone,

I'm just at the airport on my way to my new adventure in Vietnam ! Little hassle with my bag and with immigration, but everything should go smoothly now.

Last week in Bangkok was amazing !! More details on that a little bit later. We did a lot of touring around and had plenty of paper work to organise.

I am very excited for Vietnam and in a way quite happy to leave Thailand. I'll get back to you from the other side !

Have a lovely weekend,

Mira

Final day at Koh Samui

Happy Monday everyone,


Greetings from Koh Samui. Today is my last day on this island, I am flying out tomorrow morning with one of my new friends. The course finished officially on Friday, though I barely had any work during the final week. We had a little graduation ceremony Friday afternoon where we received our certificates. I was actually quite shocked to find out that I received an A+ as one of best students on the course along with a glowing recommendation. Very happy about this !

One of our favorite restaurants had promised us to make us a farewell dinner, it was absolutely amazing. They had prepared us a massive, beautiful buffet with delicious food. Some of us were leaving early Saturday morning so we had some sad goodbyes after dinner. The rest of us headed to Chaweng for a celebratory night out. Chaweng is great during the weekend: we bar hopped and at the end went to watch a fire show at the beach!

Saturday was full of goodbyes. Most of our group headed to Bangkok in the afternoon. I and my New Yorker found the course newbies so we headed back to Chaweng with them for the day. We spent the day at the beach and had some lovely lunch. It always feels good to be able to provide some advice and help, the newbies were full of questions. Saturday night was quite chilled, we went for dinner and a swim.

Sunday started with a lovely continental breakfast and the beach, followed by some packing and more goodbyes. In the evening my local bar owner friends provided me with a goodbye bottle of wine and a lovely chat. I headed to Chaweng with a friend on a scooter, a good night drive.

The purpose of my trip to Bangkok is to go collect my invitation and visa to enter Vietnam from the Vietnamese Embassy. I believe that I am flying out to Hanoi around Friday, it takes about five working days for the invitation to come through, mine was sent last week. We will be staying at our friend's house in central.

What you need to start working / to go to Vietnam; you should have your original degree papers with you, a police background check from your home country, your TEFL certificate and a copy of your passport data page. I highly recommend having a paper and an online copy of all of these documents. Just to be safe, I would also send copies of these documents to your emergency contact. I also have certified copies of all of these papers, however, it is likely that the Embassies and your boss will wish to certify their own copy. It might save you some money if you leave the certification for them. It will help you enormously in your job hunt if you have all your papers ready and set. You also need an updated CV and a cover letter directed to teaching jobs. In order to get a visa to enter Vietnam you need an invitation letter sent by your boss, this is the same for China for example. Usually companies provide their employees with all the necessary paper work for a work permit and a visa.

That's all for now, I am headed to the beach for my final day !

Best wishes,


Mira

Finised my course and landed a job

Morning,

A quick update  while my course friends are finishing our last test.

I have just finished the last test, I finished my practical part of the course on Monday and have now handed in all my work. So technically I am now done with the training course ! Monday's practical went very well, feedback shows a good improvement throughout the course.

I had a job interview with a Vietnamese firm on Monday afternoon. The interviews here seem quite laid back, one of the reasons behind this is the lack of employees, especially western. I was offered a great contract; eight months with six weeks of paid holiday ! Of course I accepted. The job is based in the beautiful city at Ha Long Bay. It will take approximately a week for them to process my papers and send me the official invitation to enter the country. This invitation works as my starting visa to enter Vietnam.

I personally chose to apply for Vietnam over Thailand for many reasons. Firstly, I have traveled in Thailand before and have now been here for a while; I got greedy and decided that I wish to see more of the Far East Asia. Secondly, especially with the issue of being non native English speaker, I found the application process for Vietnam much easier (I only made a FB post and got a lot of interest). The pay in Vietnam is mostly the same as in Thailand but the cost of living is a lot less. Vietnam is a beautiful, fascinating country that, for me, seems quite undiscovered yet and I cannot wait to explore it.

The last couple of days have been quite rainy and cloudy at Koh Samui, but I am hoping it will brighten up now. I have the rest of the week off so I am hoping to do some hiking and maybe rent a scooter to go around the island. One of my friends from to course is headed to Cambodia tomorrow, he took a job at an orphan village where all the students are infected with HIV, so we are having a good bye party tonight ; food market and some chilling.

Looking forward to officially finishing the course, our graduation ceremony is on Friday. I cannot believe how quickly a month has gone by ! I have found this course very useful, I am much more prepared for my job and have enjoyed my time here. I recommend this course to all of those who wish to come work anywhere in the Far East Asia ! I have not agreed with everything or understood the reasoning behind some things but overall my experience has been very positive.

Loads of love,

Mira

Sun sun sun

Dear readers,

This past week has been amazing. My teaching has gone very well, weather has been great, I've been 

exploring around and I think I have landed a job.

Teaching was good, I had middle school on Friday. It went really well, however, I am swayed that that's not the age I wish to teach. Friday afternoon I had a Skype interview with a school in China. They offered me the job - rent, flights and daily meals included. I am unsure whether to take this job, I am quite set on going to work in Vietnam. After posting on Hanoi teaching page in Vietnam, I have received plenty of interest in hiring me. I found a few companies I would like to work for and have been in contact with them. I did have to give good reasons to most places why they should hire a non native but I feel that I did get my points through really well. Looking forward to hearing back from the companies next week now that I have sent my paper work through.

For future workers; be positive and persistent- you will get a job as long as you are smiley person.  Remember to have all your papers ready and set - you will need your diploma papers, copy of your passport, criminal background check and a CV. Some schools require you to write a cover letter, lesson plan or a video introduction.

Friday night we headed out to Chaweng (central) for a little celebration ! It was a great night out, something different and very fun and lively.

On Saturday morning we were planning on heading to Koh Tao, unfortunately, we discovered that it is not possible to go for just one day. The boat ride takes nearly two hours and the last ones leave by sunset. If you would like to do a day trip you would have to book a set tour, they might seem pricey but what I have seen they are good value for money.
We ended up heading back to Koh Phangan instead to see what else is on this famous full moon party island. It proved to be amazing. We were very lucky with the weather, one of the most beautiful days so far. Everything was turquoise. We went swimming, climbed mountains, ate tasty food, found a great smoothie stall. Pictures to come. 

By the time we wanted to head back no public boats were going any more so we had to hunt a speed boat. Most boat owners were asking about 5000-7000 bath. We had met this Rastafarian earlier in the day who happened to own a speedboat so we were looking for him with a picture of him in our phones ! We managed to find him and he promised to drive us back to Koh Samui ! 3000 for the ride including the taxi ride back to our hotel for the two of us. 

The ride back was fantastic !! It was pitch black dark, I could not see a thing (so I understand the night fare). Half way to Koh Samui we hit a storm. What an experience to be in a speedboat in the dark when there's water splashing from all sides. We were loving life !

Sunday morning we headed to the beach for breakfast. We were going to rent scooters to drive around the island but my friend had never rode one before and we were advised against it so we decided not to risk it. Keep in mind the amount of people who die in scooter accidents. I spent the evening catching up with work and finishing the last lesson plan for tomorrow. I am 99% done with the course !

Talk to you soon,

Mira

Floating market

Dear readers,


Today is a good day ! I am finally feeling quite the bit better - could not be closer to the eleventh hour; I had two teaching practices today.

First, I taught a fifth grade. The kids were extremely sweet and quite organised. I and my partner, unfortunately, mishear our instructor and were under the impression that we had 20 mins left when in fact we were only 20 mins into our hour. This caused a little hassle but I fully enjoy the lesson anyway and I believe that the kids did too. I must say that the lessons are slowly starting to feel more natural and require a lot less trying. After the fifth grade we moved onto the local International School to teach adults. I was quite excited for this already beforehand because I am swaying to the direction that I wish to work with adults during my adventure. The lesson went amazing. I was a natural with them (I don't even say so myself, it's in my report haha). The International School is a very nice, modern place, like most private schools in Thailand.

I am just busy booking a group tour for our training team for the weekend - any suggestions are welcome. We are planning on doing some island hopping, apparently there are 42 islands in the area and I have only been on two. We are also looking to do some kayaking and snorkeling, we actually went kayaking at Koh Samui last night already. We aimed it perfectly to the sunset, the view was straight from a postcard, no filters needed (check my instagram; _miramaria).

Tonight we are headed to the local floating market in hopes of finding amazing street food and fresh fruits ! The others went last week already and said that it was amazing so expectations are high.

Till next time.

Loads of love,

Mira

Still ill

Evening,


Unfortunately, I am still feeling quite weak so there isn't much to update on the adventure side of things.  However, I can now happily say that I have sent my first job applications ! As everyone who has ever sent applications knows it is a very time consuming activity. I mainly sent mine through these two pages; https://www.teachaway.co and http://www.ajarn.com/recruitment/browse_jobs/

It is also possible to apply through agencies which usually guarantees you a third party contact, often one that speaks English very well, who has more knowledge on possible jobs. One of the trainees in my group just received a job offer today ! I think the rest of us are just slowly moving onto the application process. In my understanding, once you have sent your applications the interview process in Thailand is pretty quick. It is rather normal to receive an offer already in the first interview.

The sites I used for my applications allowed me to upload my CV online and to create an online profile that I could use for direct applications. I personally found this system very good for me and actually ended up sending applications to jobs all over Asia ! I am quite excited just to hear back and see what they thought of my application, maybe I will even get an offer..

Now preparing for my teachings on Wednesday ! Have a lovely start of the week.

Best wishes,


Mira


ps. we are attempting to organise an island hopping tour for this weekend so hopefully more amazing pictures to come soon !

PICS

Some amazing coconut art 

It is impossible to even describe how monsoon looks or feels like but I love it ! 

Some reading in the sun at Choeng Mon beach

You might find interesting things in menus, keep your eyes open !

Way excited for some German food we found 

Fried banana for lunch, local delicacy 

Cooked pumpkin with custard inside, interesting taste

Grilled oysters with way too much garlic even for my taste

Thai are up to date on the latest songs and sayings 

Secret beach we found on our hike

Interesting adverts everywhere 

Home sweet home

Some Italian food; salmon, feta salad 

Hmmm.. Did not cross my mind but thanks !

Coconuts and sunset, oh yeah 

This local miracle, merimies is Finnish and stands for a sailor. Even the sales assistant didn't know.. so not too patriotic !

First bad experience

Hello,


I have just suffered in bed for three days after a nice Thai bug that caused me fever and nausea.. So much fun. I must just say, remember to hydrate and do not eat anything that seems dodgy. I think in my case my immune system was just not having the climate change and decided to start an open rebellion. I am feeling a lot better now, all set for next week !

I had two teaching practices this past week, I enjoyed them both and received some great feedback ! The coming week I have three teaching practices, I will teach in middle school and in  the international school. I am quite excited for this, though not yet fully prepared, because the content of the classes will be quite different to teaching the little children. For the past week we have mainly focused on our teaching practices and grammar. I find learning grammar fun and semi easy which was a good ego boost after being put down for not being a native English speaker.

I feel happy after week two of training. I felt a little bit more alive today so I actually ended up going for a two hour hike, followed by eating some light western food (I wasn't too sure what I could handle after two days of fasting) and fruit shopping. There are a lot of smaller food stores around Thailand, such as 7 eleven, however, these places rarely sell fresh fruits or western food. Fruits are often sold in stalls by the road and you can only find a good selection of food in bigger supermarkets. I fully enjoy Thai food but I must say that I need something light and non-spicy once in a while.

Because I don't have much to tell from the week just gone I shall be posting more pictures. I do really understand the pros of a progo camera in here !

Anyways, till I have something further to add,


Mira

Fisherman's Village, Full Moon Party and My First Teaching

Dear Readers,

My apologies for the absence. I shall bring you up to speed now.

I went to the Fisherman's Village on Friday, they have a huge market on Fridays with plenty of food and clothes. I had an amazing time ! For all the travelers, I highly  recommend walking around first and seeing what you would like and how much are the asking prices. You can easily haggle the prices down to about half from the asking price. Do not be afraid to do this. Also, in this specific market (and I would imagine in general as well) many people sell the exact same products and the prices are about double or even triple by the main gate compared to the furthest shops. Definitely worth walking all the way through at first ! A word of a warning; the drinks sold at the market are very strong ! Also, the locals get quite angry when you end up now buying their product after you have haggled over it for some time.

Then we traveled to Koh Phangan for the full moon party on Saturday. Never take anything with you to a full moon party that you are not willing to loose. None of us had anything else on us but some money (you will not need a lot, but check the boat prices first). Everyone from my group put their keys into my bedroom and I was the only one taking care of a key at the party. It was very refreshing to have a night where no one has any photographic evidence from ! All things sold at the party are the cheapest right by the gate into the beach strip. Sellers tend ask ridiculous prices from drunken tourists so keep a count of your money. The party was fantastic. There was 11 of us going together and we managed to get quite a lot of attention as we created our own dance floor as soon as we got there ! During the night we had a swim (watch out for men pissing in the sea), climbed a 'mountain', I did rope jumping with a burning rope and tasted all sorts of weird local food (cannot name any of them any more). On the way back I met a sweet UK couple who paid for my speedboat journey back (thank you!). I was in the boat with another couple who were very busy with each other. The boat journey to Koh Samui takes nearly an hour and is lot of fun especially in a speed boat! I managed to hitchhike a ride with a Dutch group to my residence. I was under the impression that I had spent all my money at the party but to my amusement when I got back home I noticed that I had barely spent any !

Monday was spent preparing for my first teaching, I also went to observe a third grade lesson with my New Yorker. Thai kids are extremely cute and they love their teachers ! Teaching is a very highly valued profession in Thailand, especially foreign teachers. Tuesday morning I had my first teaching with my Irish friend. We were appointed to a class of 30 four-year-olds. So cute, so excited about everything. It is very hard work to keep the class organised and to get them to learn any English. Our first lesson was about the weather, I feel like we did a great job and the kids really enjoyed it ! We received very good feedback afterwards.

Now I am busy preparing to teach 7-year-olds tomorrow with my lady from Bristol. We are also starting to look for jobs this week. I am a little bit upset about how little the fact that non-English speakers will have a harder time to look for a job is advertised by the TEFL agencies. Before the course, I was made aware of the fact that majority of the people on m y training course would be native English speakers. I am currently the only one who is not. In my 'job interview' my employer said that my English is great and because of that I will not face any difficulties in finding a job. Today I was informed that I might be obligated to take a language test in order to get a working permit and that I might be paid less than the native English speakers. It makes me quite sad and a little bit annoyed  that I was not made fully aware of this fact before putting a lot of money into my training. I just wish all the non-natives are aware of this so that it won't put them down later. I do want to also encourage you to go after your dreams regardless as, in the end, it all comes down to your personality and skills!

I hope you all have a fantastic first week of September ! Speak to you soon.

Best wishes,


Mira