One week down..

Good evening,


Now it has been exactly a week since I got invited to teach in Hai Phong, I am still here and have agreed to stay for at least two more weeks.

Hai Phong has nearly 2 million people, compare that with the just over 200 000 that live in Ha Long - the cities are obviously very different. Hai Phong is fun, lively, noisy, big and exciting. There are much more foreign people, bigger variety of foods and drinks, busier traffic and the feeling of living in a big city. Ha Long is beautiful, peaceful, cozy and tiny, it has a lot less variety than Hai Phong, but it is sweet in its own way.

During the last week I have had some amazing sushi, much needed Mexican food, and loads of Vietnamese street food. I have been taken to the movies, live music clubs, work meetings, pool halls and dinner parties. I have met so many exciting and awesome people from all over the world. I have felt close to home surrounded by South African and English people. I have had the pleasure to get to know a different side of the Vietnamese culture. I have smashed coconuts at 4 am after drinking coconut wine from them.

I have been teaching in various of public  high schools, I would like to think that most of that has gone very well. I have definitely been testing around and trying different techniques, done my best to get to know my students, and to make them excited to learn English. It really is a privilege to have knowledge that might change someone's life, and to be able to pass it on. Some of the students are really a joy to teach, very bright and active. In two of my classes, I have been held back to give autographs to my students. They were so adorable. So many class selfies as well.

I do miss Ha Long, I miss my gym and my bed (if my flatmate is reading this, she is probably laughing). I miss the people, Ha Long feels like a small community, and it is great to be part of it.


We will see what happens. One week down, many to go..? At least I find my life very exciting.


Have a great week !



Mira



Ps. Pictures coming up !

Vietnam pictures

Some pictures from my first days in Vietnam. An entry below to explain further backgrounds.

A special egg yolk coffee - lunch today 

What I eventually managed to get after pointing at different products in a restaurants - water spinach with garlic is my absolute favorite 

Today's dessert : peach pudding with caramel 

A graveyard for ships with no names 

I could film these fishermen's boats all day, this is a two min walk away from my flat 

What the bay looks like from the above 

The local way of eating chips or french fries : they are sugar coated and dipped into salsa 

Our beach strip

A little aid: Hanoi is the capital, three hours away, and Ha Long is a coastal city 

More boats.. 

From our welcome meal. There was noodles, mussels, water spinach, tofu, oysters, squid. Also, in Vietnam every time someone cheers with drinks you have to drink half of your drink. They tend to bring a whole crate of beer to the end of the table and just count at the end how many you had. 

Two sides of a coin

Good morning from Ha Long City,

After settling into Hanoi I met up with my boss. It was full moon and a mid Autumn festival so he took me out for a scooter ride to see the city and the festival. Hanoi is a beautiful city, the French history is clearly visible from the buildings, and apparently the bread. Due to the festival everyone was on the move, there were millions of people driving around town with scooters (there are 7 million people in Hanoi). The festival mainly constituted from plenty of different types of street food and decorations, especially lights and lanterns. Hanoi used to be a swamp so there are many man made lakes in the city. It seems like the Vietnamese are taking down all the French buildings attempting to erase all the signs of the era of French rule in their country. It is fascinating to see a city where the old ways meets the new; there is plenty of construction going on but it is not overtaking the beautiful, peaceful culture.

I was surprised to find out that most Vietnamese people are not religious at all. Still the kind of worship and respect is strong in the culture. There are some shrines and catholic churches around Hanoi but I don't think they are used as much for religious services.

On Monday we were traveling around Hanoi on a scooter again, this time we were paying some visits for different Embassies. It is necessary to get all the documents stamped in the country you will work in, in an Embassy of the country authorising the document. I had no problems with the UK and Finnish Embassies, however, the Thai Embassy was very reluctant to certify my TEFL because it is not an official government programme. Receiving your work permit might take a couple of week which is why it is important to take care of all the paper work, it is not possible to start your new job until all the paper work is processed.

On Tuesday it was time to move onto Ha Long City, I and my future colleague took the bus from Hanoi Opera House towards Ha Long Bay. The drive to Ha Long takes anything between two and a half hours to three and a half. The buses are quite dodgy and they get packed to the max. The ride cost 100 000 dongs which makes it about 4 euros. One thing is sure: there are two sets of prices: for locals and for foreigners. 

We were welcomed to our long stay hotel and after settling in we headed out for dinner with our manager. Ha Long City is a very long, narrow city that surrounds Ha Long Bay. Everything in Ha Long is close to the coastal line which is full of fishermen boats and thousands of small islands. Only a few people understand any English in Ha Long so all my restaurant experiences have been an adventure so far. One night I was running around a restaurant trying to point at stuff on left over plates to explain what I actually wanted to eat !

During this week we have walked around Ha Long trying our best to get to know our surroundings. We had a fantastic welcome meal where we met most of our colleagues. All of us met by the sea side, during the evenings the locals bring out chairs and tables to the shore to start up a few hour restaurants. The food is brought to you straight from the ocean and it is so yummy. I met the director of our company, he is obviously a very good business man but also a very pleasant gentleman. The dinner was plenty of fun.

This morning/ afternoon we all went for a lunch together and met a few new people joining our company.

Love,

Mira

Ps. More in the pictures

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