Greetings from Nam!

Hello Friends and Family alike,

I hope all is well with you, I feel like it’s been far too long since I have blogged! A lot has happened since then and I am in a super wonderful mood, so what a good time to get to typin’!!(Please note I typed this blog on Thursday, but have been with no internet since, so now it is Sunday and I'm finally able to post it... woo hoo!)

We will start with last weekend. Friday night I grabbed a few FAC (Friday after class for those of you who aren’t good with acronyms!) at one of my favorite places here in HCMC, Patcharans. After heading home for a bit after drinks I went back out with some of the other teachers to watch the Bears, Packers game. Though I’m not a very big NFL fan, it was like a little piece of home which is always a welcome feeling here :) While Friday night was pretty low key, Saturday was jam packed with fun! My roommates, Alex, and I spent the day being ‘tourists’ in Saigon. We headed down to district one on the motorbikes (I am still just a passenger, but I loooove riding on the back, so fun!) We went to the Reunification Palace and the War Museum. It was fun and I took a TON of pictures of the things I see everyday. Since moving here my mom’s number one complaint has been my lack of pictures here in the city, with the exception of my friends and I out and about. While the Reunification Palace was a neat place I am a bit embarrassed to admit I have not a clue what it is. I know, this is a terrible thing to admit, but I really have no clue. I am saving a trip back for when mi familia comes so we can take a tour and I can then by oh so full of knowledge. The War Museum was a crazy experience. I am very glad I went, but I can promise that I will never go back. It was incredibly sad and extremely disturbing… especially for those with a weak stomach. I would recommend anyone who is Nam going to the museum, I am certainly never going to forget going!

Saturday night we celebrated one of our fellow teachers birthday. We ate at an Italian restaurant called Chao Bella and holy cow was it AMAZING! To start off we were given glasses of champagne with strawberries and bread with freshly cooked garlic, humus and pesto. Then after our fab meal we were served lemon shots and the ladies were given real flower bracelets. It was such a fun experience Then one of our other friends who teaches guitar at the high school was playing jazz music at a German bar/restaurant so we went to see him play. This only added to the awesomeness of our night. They played great music and it was fun seeing people we knew playing music in Vietnam!

The next awesome thing I have to share is that on Monday I began tutoring. I am tutoring a fourth grade girl twice a week and helping her younger brother (a kinder student) with things like his ABC’s. The kids are amazing and their mom, even though she doesn’t speak much English, is so nice! So here is how the gig works: At four I ride home with the mom, two kids and their nanny in their private car. Might I mention, their private car is pretty swag-a-licious and even has Chanel floor mats. We then go to their three story, huge house and for an hour we do homework and work on Suri’s English, which is pretty amazing. While Suri and I do homework, Hung works on ABC sheets I give him and then play reading and letter games on my iPhone. Thank goodness for free educational apps! After an hour their driver takes me home and I am in good mood! Today was pay day and on top of my cash, I was given a HUGE bag of cherries, ramaton, and mangoes…. Pretty much made my whole week!

And as always I am loving being a teacher and adoring my class! Their newest way to make me smiling is by giving me a MILION hugs a day! Every time I see them after lunch or specials or break I get at least three hugs, what could seriously be better? My TA also made my day by telling me what a great teacher I am today. It was so sweet and a great compliment coming from her. She has worked with some great teachers so it was a great feeling to have her compliment me like that. She told me how she can tell how much the kids loves me and how I have really great ideas. I almost cried! As a first year teacher it is really great to hear positive feedback from coworkers. Today I also had my first parent/teacher conference and while I was super nervous, it ended up being totally good and it is now done and in the past! Bring on the parents! (Haha… not really, but they are a lot more on your side here!)

Whew…. Okay now that I have gone on and on and on I will stop! I promise to post my pictures soon, but the internet is sketchy and that will take much too long! Hope you all had a good weekend back home, sending lots of love!

Michelle