Saigon Take Two

linkHello, hello, hello!

I am back in Vietnam and back to blogging! I've been back for two months now, so I figure it's time to update everyone back home what I am up to!

Since I got back to Vietnam I have been keeping more than busy at school and I am loving every second of it... well almost every second of it! I am back in second grade with ten gorgeous kids in my class. I feel extremely lucky to only have such a small class this year, but they are still keeping me on my toes.

 

The sweet babies of 2C who make every day at work fun!

I am very happy to be teaching grade two again this year. It has been such a growing experience reflecting on the things that went well and didn't go well last year. My goals this year to make my classroom look awesome with fun and inviting decorations and anchor charts (If my kids are looking at me, hopefully they'll still be learning something!), improve how I teach my English language arts block, and teach more vocabulary. Right away I set up my classroom just how I had imagined it to look. The pictures below are from before my kiddos came, now I have anchor charts EVERYWHERE and the reading pool is filled to the brim with pillows and stuffed friends to read with.

 

The Reading Cove. Two kids get to read in the pool each day, they love it!

 

My word wall where our weekly vocabulary words go. The kids are so good at using all the new words they've been using. I promise it's no longer empty :)

 

And finally, our library. It is organized by categories and not levels.

One of my personal goals this year was to improve my ELA block, especially writing, which leads me to the past weekend I spent at a professional development in Bangkok where I learned about the 6 +1 traits of writing. Call me a nerd, but I absolutely love going to PD's.. and it doesn't hurt that I get to travel like to places like Thailand and Indonesia to learn! I learned a ton on improving how I teach writing with the program my school is using this year. Since most of my friends reading this aren't teachers, I won't bore you with all the details of the traits, but I will tell you what they are: Ideas, organization, sentence fluency, word choice, voice, conventions, and the plus one, presentation. I love teaching writing and even more than that, I love reading student writing. They are so creative! I learned how to integrate writing into all subjects using focused writing prompts, how to score writing using one trait at a time, and of course ideas and activities on how to teach each trait. I am so excited to start implimenting what I learned into my everyday routines in class! 

Besides my own goals, this year our school wide goal is to improve our students' vocabulary since almost all of our kiddos are English language learners. Each week we pick four vocabulary words out of a book we are reading. The kids record them in a vocab journal along with a picture, a definition in their own words and other things they know about the word like how to say it in their mother tongue, synonyms, antonyms, or a sentence using the word. We encourage them to use them in their writing and speaking every day. Some of the favorite new words so far are murmured, clever, and exclaimed. It's been so fun and rewarding watching the kids use their new words and it has really improved their writing already.

While things are going awesome at school, things are going just as great outside of school! This year I am in a new apartment, in a new part of town, and with new roommates. I left my high rise apartment in China Town for a nice town house down a quiet alley in district 7. I have three new roommates who have been a lot of fun to live with and I am loving our quiet neighborhood.  However, I think the coolest difference in my living situation this year is the fact that our house has rooftop pool! I feel pretty spoiled when I get home on a hot day and jump into our private pool! It has also made for a few nice gatherings this year! 

Another reason I am loving our house is the location. We are a ten minute walk from a really nice grocery store and about five minutes from a huge local market. It is so cheap to walk down and get eggs, veggies, tofu and lot of other goodies! Our house is located off a super busy street, but we are in a really quiet alley and a couple little corner stores owned by really nice Vietnamese people. We are also right across the street from some of our other friends from school. One thing I have yet to do is take pictures of our house, so, if I ever get around to it, I will be sure to post a few!

Besides my awesome house and roommates, I have been some great new friends in the new teacher that we hired. I am always wondering how I ended up so lucky to be working with such awesome people! This fall we have had a lot exploring the city, going out and even a nice long weekend on the beach. Instead of boring you with all the details, here are a few pictures that sum up the last two months....

 

In my attempt to not bore you and to keep this blog short, I will end with an awesome video that is circulating on Facebook and gives a little insight to this crazy city I call home. (Click on the word "video," the clip is linked there) Thanks for continuing to read my blog even after I go on a four+ month hiatus, you are amazing!

Until next time,

Mich

A Little Bit of Home: Part One

Well hello there,

Once again I've been slacking on the blog front, so it's time to get you up to date! Since the last time I blogged I've had a couple awesome trips and even better, two AMAZING visitors.

Last month mom and Lindsey came to Vietnam to visit. It was so nice having them here for the week, and by the end I was no where ready for them to leave! They flew in late on a Friday night and picking them up from the airport alone was unreal. It was so great to see people from home, I was in serious need of a pick-me-up and seeing them was perfect! My mom is also amazing and brought me lots of goodies from home including clothes, food, toiletries, and goodies for my classroom. After unpacking all my stuff we didn't get to bed until nearly three in the morning and had to be up bright and early (5:30) to catch a flight down to Phu Quoc. When we arrived at our gorgeous hotel we were greeted with ginger iced tea and an assortment of yummy fruits before being shown to our room. Did I mention how amazing our room was? Because it was pretty spectacular! We had the biggest, most comfortable bed I've slept in since being in Nam, and that's just the beginning. We also had a huge, private outdoor area with a sunbathing area, a jacuzzi, an outdoor shower, and a big hangout area. The bathroom was also amazing with a big tub and another amazing shower. I think I could have stayed in the room the whole four days and I would have been completely content. The pool and beach at our resort were also gorgeous. The pool was a lovely infinity pool surrounded by super comfy lounge chairs that we made even more comfy when drinking yummy cocktails.

Our first two days on the island were spent lounging by the pool and catching up. Poor Lindsey was sick with sinus issues and a horrible ear infection, so we did leave on an adventure to a local Vietnamese doctor, which was a wild experience. An employee from the hotel accompanied us down to the local fish market, which is also where the "German" doctor was located. I thought he was simply being nice and taking us so we wouldn't get lost, however he was really there acting as the translator since the doctor, who was not German, spoke no English. Lindsey was examined in an open room with about six other Vietnamese people there to see the doctor as well, or with their children who were seeing doctor. After Lindsey was done, she was given a few baggies of about ten pills each and we were sent on our way. Not at all the typical doctor experience we are used to. But all is well that ends well, and eventually Lindsey got to feeling better before we had to fly back to the city.

On the second day we hired a car to drive us around the island to see all the sites. Michelle and her boyfriend Nate had also just arrived on the island and came with us. It was a lot of fun. We saw everything from a pepper farm, to a white sand beach, to a dried up waterfall and an old war camp. This was all for the low cost of $50 for eight full hours. Not too shabby! Our third day we spent snorkeling off of one the smaller islands about an hour by boat south of the main island. It was really fun and pretty cool that it was just the three of us and two tour guides. Sadly most of the coral was dead, but we did see some really beautifully colored coral. Our tour guide was pretty interesting in the sense that he some how kept finding pieces of coral that had "broken off," and then kept offering the coral to us as a gift. I use quotes there because I clearly watched him break the coral off on a couple of occasions. After seeing that I understood why so much of the coral was dead. While snorkeling was fun, the best part was stopping at a floating fish farm on the way back. We had driven by tons of what looked like floating shacks, but they were all fish farms.

It was really cool floating right up next to them, but it got even better when they invited us on to look. There were tons of Vietnamese locals digging through nets to get out tiny fish they had caught. They were getting small fish to feed the bigger fish that they were 'farming.' Many of the shacks are connected by planks and between the planks are huge nets deep in the water holding HUGE, scary looking fish. The fish are held there for up to a year because right now they aren't worth much in the markets, so they are catching smaller fish to keep feeding the bigger fish. It was super intimidating walking along the planks trying to keep your balance so you don't become fish food. It really was a special, once in a life time experience and the people on the boat were extremely friendly to let us 'on board.' I even got to feed a small fish to the bigger ones... that's right I touched a dead fish with my own bare hands. (Pause for reaction)

 

Our last day on Phu Quoc was a spa day for Lindsey and I. We spent a relaxing three hours at the spa being pampered and relaxing. Lindsey really enjoyed it, as it was her first time in a spa! Not a bad first experience, being pampered right on the beach while listening to the waves crash....

Late Wednesday afternoon we arrived back in Saigon and shortly after getting back to my apartment hopped back in a cab to meet up with Anh for some yummy Indian food at one of my favorite restaurants, Baba's (I should mention that I just finished eating Baba's for din din, so good. Thank goodness for Vietnammm.com food delivery on lazy Monday nights!). I am so excited my family got to meet Anh and vise-verse. After dinner we headed down to the Bin Than night market for some souvenir shopping. I think mom and Lindsey were a bit intimidated by all the bartering, but it was fun to have Anh to help with negotiating in Vietnamese... mine is still extremely rusty. 

On Thursday we enjoyed an early lunch with my co-worker Hannah and her mom and then I dropped mom and Lindsey off at the War Remnants Museum. I had already been, and once was enough! While they were at the museum I went and booked tickets to the Cu Chi tunnels. A couple of hours later we met up at L'Usine for some yummy cup cakes and then headed back out for more shopping. This time, we shopped at the Tax Center, a big mall in district one where the top level is a market with all the same goodies as Bin Than. The Tax Center, however, is much less crowded, cheaper, and best of all, it has air con! This time it was my turn to show off my bartering skills.... which have gotten pretty good since moving here. I'm proud to say I saved Denise lots of mula! After we were all shopped out, we came home to change quick and then headed to Red Room for dinner with friends and some other parentals who were in town. It was another great chance for my real family to meet some of my Vietnam/AIS family who have become such a large part of my life.

On Friday the Miossi ladies head to the Cu Chi war tunnels. It was a hot, hot, hot day which was new for mom and Lindsey who had just left the cold, midwest weather, but we still had a great day. It was crazy seeing how tiny the old war tunnels were... especially after finding out the already small tunnels had been widened for tourists. It was amazing to think how so many people lived underground for such extended periods of time! After the tunnels I took the fam to see the school. I really wish they could have come to work with me on a day the kids were there, but it was still really fun to give them a tour and show them where I spend a great deal of my time here. For lunch we walked down to an awesome pork place down the street from school. It was yummy as always and it was fun eating more traditional Vietnamese food. 

After a nice nap, I took mom and Lindsey to yet another favorite food spot, BBQ Garden. It is a an outdoor restaurant with tons of ferry lights hanging from all the trees and you order your food then cook it yourself at your table. It's a great atmosphere and the food is awesome. Lindsey and I dropped mom off at my apartment after eating and then headed down to the backpackers district for a night out with friends. It was fun going out with Lindsey and showing her the young night life in the city! However, it did result in a slow moving Saturday morning! 

On Saturday we ordered breakfast in and vegged out for a while before heading back to Bin Than to get some last minute gifts. The day market is way different from the night market. Tons more people and it is SUPER stinky!!! Lots of fun is made there and tons of durian is sold. Durian, I should mention is the most foul smelling, gross tasting fruit in the world. You can smell it coming meters away! We did some more walking around, hung out at my apartment and had a lazy day after shopping and before heading out to our last dinner together at Jaspas, another Saigon favorite. 

It was so great having my family here. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have dad here! It was a sad goodbye, but knowing that I'd see them again in June made things a bit easier. 

Well this is only part one... I also need to tell you all about my trip to Singapore last weekend, which was like a short trip back to America! Hope all is well wherever you are in the world. I'll now leave you with some more pics from our time together!

 

We hike for a good 20 minutes to see a waterfall... the actual waterfall was dried up (since it's dry season) but we did stumble upon this bad boy. Not bad for Lindsey's first waterfall! ;)

 

First time at a pagoda

 

Tunnels!

 

So small!

 

What are you doing, Denise??

xx

Michelle

Bandung!

Greetings from Bandung, Indonesia!

As I write this blog I am sitting in a nice squishy, soft bed in a lovely hotel in Bandung... I had to throw in squishy and soft because the beds in Viet Nam are hard as rock! This weekend I came to Bandung for a reading conference, with the amazing Susan Zimmerman, on reading comprehension and it has been a wonderful couple of days!

A few months ago my coworker, Lena, and I found this great looking conference on the EARCOS website. We were very excited to have found a reading comprehension workshop because it is our school's biggest focus this year. I was personally excited because it is something that my class struggles with, and that I could learn to teach in a much more affective way. My excitement about the conference quickly evaporated when we found out only EARCOS member were allowed to attend unless the conference still had room five days before, and it sounded like the chances of that happening were slim. On Monday, Lena received an email saying there was still room and we were invited to attend. We were obviously thrilled until we found our school would only allow one of us to attend due to the short notice. I was very happy to take that spot, however I was also extremely stressed as this was my first time traveling internationally alone and I had all of three days to find flights and accommodation! So on Tuesday I spent a LOT of time searching flights and finding out that I would be missing the afternoon of school on Friday and all day Monday. This added even more stress in prepping for a sub for the first time! However, after a few hours I was all set to go and extremely excited!

I arrived in Bandung, a small town in Indonesia, late Friday night and headed to a whole day of learning at 7:30 Saturday morning. From the beginning of Saturday morning I knew it was going to be an amazing conference. Susan was a wonderful presenter. She was easy to listen to and her passion for helping children was prominent. Throughout the weekend we learned about the 7 Keys to Comprehension by using them in adult texts and picture books. The 7 Keys seem simple and are things I have learned about before; background knowledge (schema), creating mental images, questioning, inferring, determining importance, synthesizing, and monitoring for meaning ("fix-ups"). It was remarkable the way Susan presented these simple concepts. She made us delve into our own minds and think about the strategies we use while reading. I learned so much about how I need to slow my teaching down and allow more time for thinking, writing and questioning while reading aloud. I learned how to model my thinking as I read for my students. I learned so many things that seem so obvious, yet I don't do enough of! I am so excited to get back to my class on Tuesday and apply all of the things I have learned! Not only do I think this conference will help me as a teacher, but also as a reader; which seems silly saying as an adult, but it's true!

I also met some amazing teachers at the conference. It was really nice to network with new people from various parts of Asia. I am so thankful to have other people to turn to for ideas. This weekend has, again, shown me how amazing it is teaching abroad. To have a paid for trip to Indonesia and to meet teachers from schools in so many different countries is something that I never would have experienced if I had been in the states. I am so grateful to have had this experience and to have this life right now, I hope to never take any of these experiences for granted!

I wish I would have had more time to explore Bandung, however it was a very fast weekend! Last night one of the teachers from the school took us to an awesome Indonesian restaurant. Walking in felt like what I imagine being on the set of survivor at tribal council would feel like. We walked down a long side walk past fire and waterfalls underneath heaps greenery. The whole time I was waiting for Jeff Probst to tell me, "The tribe has spoken," and extinguish the flame on my torch. Besides the amazing ambiance of the restaurant, the food was also wonderful. I love traveling to new places and trying the food, and so far Asia has yet to disappoint me! We ordered a smorgasbord of dishes including fish, veggies, chicken and tofu. My favorite was the tofu with this yummy, spicy peanut sauce.... it makes me hungry just thinking of it!

I was absolutely pooped after the conference today, and getting around Bandung is not the simplest of tasks due to traffic, so I decided to indulge in some r&r at my hotel. I was happy to lay in my SOFT bed and watch the Golden Globs (I really miss award show season and my comfy bed!!). Now I am off to get some more Indonesian food before heading to bed nice and early. Tomorrow will be a long day of traveling with a lovely five hour layover in a rather small and boring airport in Kuala Lumpur. I am excited to hear how my kiddos do with their sub tomorrow. I have good faith they will be charming students and show her why I love them so much, but you never know!

I hope you all had fun filled weekends, and to my friends and family in Iowa, I hope you are staying warm and safe with all the snow you've gotten!

xoxo,
Michelle

Oh, Happy Day!

Hello friends,

Well today has been quite the exciting day! To start, it is BOOK WEEK at AIS! My kids were also hilarious today and I found out I am going to Indonesia.. in three days! Yippee!

To start off book week this morning a bunch of the teacher participated in a flash mob! If you know me, you know I love to dance. If you really know me, you know that I have always wanted to be in a flash mob. Well a few weeks ago our awesome librarian came to me and asked if I would help her organize a flash mob to a remake of the Black Eyed Peas song, I got a Feeling, called Gotta Keep Reading. Yesterday after school about 20 teachers came to my room and I taught them the moves (that I stole from youtube) and we practiced for about 20 minutes. It was a lot of fun and very humors watching all of us try to learn this dance. This morning we all gathered around in the foyer and pretended to be reading. Then after a few a minutes the song started playing over the speakers. I started dancing around and soon several other teachers started dancing with me. The looks on the kids faces' were priceless! They didn't have a clue what was going on! After the song we all just walked away and kept 'reading' our books. It was so much fun seeing their reactions!

After such a great start to my day, I was already in a great mood when my principal came to my room during lunch to tell me I had been approved to attend a reading comprehension conference in Bandung, Indonesia this weekend. I am so excited to be going, it seems like it will be a great learning opportunity, plus it's in Indonesia! It was a very long day of finding flights and what not, but I finally got everything figured out and booked. I'll be headed there by myself, which is a bit unfortunate, but I am sure it will still be a lot of fun!

Finally my kids were really on top it with making me laugh today. The first thing that had me rolling was right after I had picked up the kiddos from Vietnamese class. Vietnamese is held in building B, which means after I pick them up we have to walk outside and then up the stairs to our class. When we got back to the room some of the kids were looking rather exhausted, so I asked them if they were tired. This is when one student informed me, "I'm so tired! I had to walk up the stairs!" At this point I am trying extremely hard not to laugh as several other kiddos join in saying how exhausted the stairs had made them! This is the first complaint I have heard of the stairs which they climb at least three times a day. Today, thought, they were so tired that a request for an elevator was put in.... hmmm I don't think that one is going to happen! After having a chuckle at this we got on with our day which was pretty normal until my little darlings were leaving at the end of the day. As they leave they all say goodbye and give me a hug, high five, or handshake. I love this part of the day, sometimes they are rushing out the door, other times they can't decide which to do, and everyday I get a least a few big hugs. Well today one of my little boys gave me a hug, a high five, and a hand shake. He was feeling pretty proud of himself as he walked past and then quickly turned around, and in a very loud voice said, "Ms. Michelle! I wear underpant today!!!" Once again it took everything I had not to die laughing! In the Vietnamese culture it is sometimes common for little boys to not wear underwear.. I'll let you use your imagination to guess why. Well apparently he was very proud because he had worn some today. Just another reason why I adore my students!

There you have it, I can only hope the rest of my week is as awesome as today! Hope you are all off to a great week as well!

Love always,
Michelle

Thailand!

Hello friends!

Well, I just got back from Thailand and it was an amazing way to spend the Tet holiday! Last Thursday I took off for Thailand with six other teachers. We stayed in Bangkok for two nights then headed off the not-so-small island, Koh Chang.

I suppose I should start with Bangkok. Our flight arrived pretty late and by the time we got our bags and Thai SIMs for our phones, it was around one in the morning before we arrived at our hotel on Khaosan road. This street is absolutely crazy. It is the main backpacker area in Bangkok. It's packed full of people, bars, food vendors, and people selling things like clothes and fake ID's. It's loud and dirty and a good place to drink. After settling in we decided to hit up the night life for a bit. It was a mild night for me as I was still feeling the aftermath of the night before, but it was fun going out none the less. On Friday Michelle and I were up bright and early and ready to do some shopping. We were told a good market to go to, so we hopped in a tut-tut and away we went. This market was interesting to say the least. There really wasn't much to buy at all. We both got some shoes and Michelle found a couple of other things. We then headed back to Khaosan after nearly getting lost within the market for some more shopping. The best thing to buy on Khaosan are dresses. They have tons and tons of dresses, many are the same, but they are so cheap! I think I bought about 8 dresses between the various times we were on Khaosan. After a day of attempted shopping I was pretty pooped so I took a cat nap before heading out to meet up with a friend of Michelle's who is teaching in Bangkok. We took the sky train to a completely different party of the city and ate an outdoor grill place. We then went to a street that was filled with Vans that turned into bars at night. The roofs pop up and there are places to sit along the street. It was another fun place to hang out. However, it was an early morning for me as we had a bus to catch to Koh Chang at 7:30 the following morning.

Saturday was a long day of traveling. We had a seven hour bus ride, a 45 minute ferry ride, then about a half an hour in the bed of a truck, or as they call it, a taxi. It was a very boring day on the bus, however once we got on the ferry we started to have a bit of fun as you could buy beer. So we did. This also made the ride in the back of the truck very entertaining. This would be a good time to mention that your not just sitting the back of some truck. It has benches along both sides and is covered. On top of the cover is where you put your luggage. There were quite a few of us, so a couple of Brits had to stand on the 'tailgate' and hold on the whole ride. I'm glad it wasn't me who had to do that! The ride to our hotel was gorgeous and a lot of fun. The middle of the island is a big mountain, so the roads are very windy and hilly. Our hotel was gorgeous! We had our own little porch and a whole wall of windows looking out to the pool and ocean. The very first thing I did was put on my swim suit and dove into the ocean. Then my towel got stolen. Sad day. After taking a dip we all got dressed and went out to dinner. We went to an amazing restaurant where you sat on pillows on the floor on your feet dangled over the ocean. They also had amazing Thai food! After din din I went out with Darren and Krystal. It was a lot of fun, we went out on Lonely Beach, near where were staying, which is a big party place on Koh Chang.

Most of my days consisted on being pretty lazy. Laying on the beach and swimming. I was semi-active though. We kayaked and went zip lining. Michelle and I stayed with everyone on Lonely Beach for three nights and then we moved to a more secluded part of the island, White Sand Beach. Here we stayed in a little bungalow with our own private beach access. It was quite the romantic resort mainly occupied by older Russian couples, but it was amazing none the less. We were again quite lazy. We did rent a motor bike one day and ventured out to one of the waterfalls on the island. It was very pretty, but I must say, the waterfalls in New Zealand were definitely better! This one was cool though because you could swim there. The water looked extremely dark until you jumped in. Then you realized how perfectly clear it was. You could see all the way down to your toes. It makes me curious as to how deep the water really was. On our way home we stopped and got to pet a baby elephant. There were a couple of places where you could ride elephants on the island, but they all just looked so sad, so we skipped that part! After that was more reading and relaxation.

On Thursday morning Mich-Mich and I made our way back to Bangkok. It was another day painful day of traveling, but quite entertaining. Michelle had a few Hulky moments while waiting for our 'bus' which was really a large van. However, we eventually made it back to the city. Michelle found us an amazing hotel that was still pretty cheap. We spend our Valentine's night eating Burger King, reading, and going to be super early. Friday we met up with Sara and did some more shopping. We went to a huge mall that was really just terrible so after an hour or so we headed back to Khaosan for more shopping! Friday night we ate a place called Cabbages and Condoms. It was a restaurant with a great atmosphere and not so great food and at the end of the meal they gave you condoms instead of dinner mints. Unfortunately I didn't get the whole background story on the restaurant, but I believe it started in the UK and is affiliated with some organization to help with the prevention of HIV and AIDS.

Bangkok was a nice city, but it's got nothing on Ho Chi Minh! It's much hotter there, or at least it felt like it because of the humidity. I was constantly sweating. The traffic there is also terrible. It literally just stops for 20 minutes at a time. You don't even move an inch. So getting around wasn't that great. I did, however, love the tuk-tuks, they were a fun and cheap way of getting around. Before going to Bangkok I was told it was super dirty and there was a lot of sex. It was definitely dirty, but I didn't see a lot of sex, though there were quite a few 'lady-boys'. Outside of Bangkok was also much different from outside of Ho Chi Minh City. On the island we saw tons of monkeys along side the road. There were also tons and tons of stray dogs who were all very friendly! There were also a lot more bugs. My legs are covered in bug bites and they are itchy!!

Overall it was an amazing trip. My goal was to relax and read which I more than accomplished. I read three books and made it half way through another. When we first got there I finished One Day by David Nicholls. I then read The Act of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, which I highly recommend, and then The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I am still reading the Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, another very good book thus far. I also am nice and tan now, so hopefully it lasts five weeks until the next time I am on the beach!

Our next break is only five weeks away and that is when my mom and sister will be here at the end of March. We will be staying in Vietnam and going to Phu Quoc, an island just south of the country. I am more than excited for them to come and see my life here. While I am sad this vacation is over I am ready to back into the swing of things and see my kiddos again!

Until next time,
Michelle

Finally February!

Happy February!

I am so excited and can hardly believe it is finally February! I have officially been in Nam for six months and am over half way through the school year. It still feels like I got here only yesterday, I'm not sure where the time has gone!

So here is a quick update on why I am so excited it is February... First off, in one week I will be headed off to Thailand with some of my favorite AIS friends. Our plan is to spend a couple of nights in Bangkok and then head down to Koh Chang island for a few days. I am more than ready for some relaxation and beach time!!! I realize this sounds a bit pathetic (and spoiled) since I've only just gotten back from winter break, but the kids are definitely ready for Tet, which has an odd way of rubbing off on us teachers! After Koh Chang we have a few days that are unplanned. I am excited to play the trip by ear. No matter where we end up, I am sure it will be more than amazing!

The next thing I am super excited for is spring break at the end of March because I will finally get to see Lindsey and my momma again! I adore my family and this is the longest I have gone without seeing them. Eight months is long enough, I am ready to see them again! When they come we will be heading down to Phu Quoc, an island just south of Vietnam, for a few days and then I'll be showing them around the city! I am so excited to see their reactions to this crazy, amazing place!

After February and March I have a feeling fourth quarter will fly by! In April we have a few days off and then it's May and a couple weeks in June before I head back home for three weeks.

So there you have it, everything is peachy keen over here! Although I must say, I am a little jealous of all the snow days you Iowa folks are getting... not the snow, just the days you are getting off school! I am still loving every bit of Nam and my students are still the most amazing kids ever!

xoxo
Michelle

New Zealand: Round Two!

Hello all!

Looks like I have been slacking on the blog front, I think I could write a book about everything that has happened over the last three months! Not to fret though, I will try to keep this blog as short and sweet as possible!!

It's been a few weeks since I arrived back in Saigon after two and a half weeks traveling around New Zealand. I was so happy to go back, I loved it even more the second time around! New Zealand is a place I will always continue to visit (or live...) for the rest of my life! I went back with Krystal and we started up north in Auckland, rented a car and drove all the way down to Queenstown on the south island. It was a fast trip to cover so much ground, but we accomplished a lot!

It was really fun to see the north island since last year we only saw the south. On our first day we drove up past Auckland to a town called Whangarei (the wh is pronounced like an f). It was a fun town, we did some short hikes, but the weather was not in our favor! We then stopped in Auckland and met up with a couple of mutual friends of one of our co-workers. Auckland was fun, but again the weather was not the best, and it was a Monday so going out was pretty calm. My favorite parts of the north island were Lake Taupo, Rotorua, the Waitomo Caves, and Wellington. First after Auckland were the caves. Krystal and I went black water rafting which was so fun! Basically we got into wetsuits, grabbed some donut-tubes and headed underground. We crawled and floated through the caves and jumped off waterfalls into the pitch black! The best part though was the glow worms! Glow worms are beautiful little 'lights' that you find on the roofs of the caves. They sound quite glamorous, but really they are larva or larva poop, so really nothing glamorous at all. Floating underneath them is just like looking up at the sky on a clear night, they look like hundreds of tiny stars!

After black water rafting we headed to Rotorua to Zorb. What is Zorbing, you might ask? Well it is basically rolling down a huge hill in a ginormous, inflatable hamster ball filled with water. It's hilarious and awesome! After a few rolls down the hill we headed down to Lake Taupo for a night. I really wish we would have had more time in this town. The lake was huge and absolutely gorgeous, much like mostly every place in New Zealand. In the morning I was happy to relax and try to even out my tan on the beach before heading to Wellington. In Wellington we met up we met up with a friend we had met last year, Claire, and hit up the town to celebrate the "end of the world." Wellington was a really cute down and it was gorgeous driving in along the coast. It was also a really fun place to go out! There were a ton of great restaurants and bars as well. It was yet another place I wish we could have stayed a bit longer!

After the world didn't end it was time for us to head south, so Friday evening we took the ferry across to Picton. The Ferry was quite flash, but grew rather boring after three hours. On board they had a movie theater, food court, and bar. Krystal and I didn't partake in any fun activities though, we were quite boring! On Saturday morning we drove down to Christchurch to meet up with our friends Matt and Alastair. It was so much fun to see them again! We went out for dinner and drinks and did a lot of catching up! The next day Matt showed us around Chirstchurch a bit and we continued our journey south by heading to Mount Cook. Mount Cook is one of my favorite places in New Zealand. It is absolutely gorgeous and we were lucky enough to have another day with perfectly clear skies. It was also wonderful waking my Christmas morning and seeing the hanging glaciers out our windows, it was like waking up to a White Christmas!

After a day of hiking around Mt. Cook we drove back to our old stomping grounds, Alexandra. We didn't arrive until late in the afternoon so we checked into our campsite then enjoyed a bit of wine.... maybe a little too much wine. It was so fun being back in Alex. It's a small town, but it holds so many great memories. It was fun having drinks, just the two of us and reminiscing! It did make me miss Alex and Ellen though! On Christmas morning we woke up and headed to an old colleague's home for a family Christmas. It was nice being with a family especially when I was missing mine! It was crazy to be celebrating Christmas outside and being so hot!! It reached about 34 degrees Celsius I believe, which if I am doing my math right, is about 100 degrees back home! I think the best part about Christmas day was having such a nice home cooked meal! Ann is an amazing cook, and it was the first real home-cooked meal I have had in 5 months!! (I REALLY miss having an oven!) It was so nice to be welcomed to a family Christmas, I imagine I would have been a lot more sad if we wouldn't have celebrated properly! On the day after Christmas Krystal and I did a bit of shopping and walked around The Terrace, which really made me miss teaching there! Student teaching in Alex was such an amazing experience that I still feel so blessed to have experienced! After leaving the school we met up with some more colleagues and had a really nice time just chatting and catching up! It is really nice to be able to stay in touch with everyone from school in Alex, they are all such great people!

After Alexandra we were excited to head off to Milford Sound. Last year we spent a weekend at Doubtful Sound and it was amazing, but we never got to Kayak which was pretty high on our list. So the night of the 26th we stayed in Te Anau and the morning of the 27th we headed to Milford for a day of Kayaking. I was a bit nervous about the weather, right after Christmas the weather turned on us and it got quite chilly, but we were in luck. We had gorgeous weather and clear skies on the day we kayaked. The fiords (misnamed sounds) in New Zealand are breathtaking! It is amazing how huge they are and how small they make you feel. The best part of the day was when dolphins swan right under our kayaks! We also got to paddle right up to sea lions sun bathing on some rocks. It was so much fun! I would highly recommend kayaking in Milford or Doubtful to anyone who visits New Zealand! The only thing that was missing that day was penguins... sad!

After Kayaking we stayed another night in Te Anau before heading to our final destination, Queenstown. Queenstown was a fantastic way to end our trip.. and expensive. I am absolutely in love with Queenstown, it is such a cute town! Lots of fun shopping, great restaurants and the night life is off the hook! Not to mention it has quite a few activities to get your adrenaline pumping! Last year in Queenstown I bugy jumped twice and absolutely loved it even though it was extremely terrifying. Krystal wasn't able to do the Nevis last year, the highest bungy, and was not going to leave without doing it this time. I wasn't going to join at first, I thought I'd save some money, but I couldn't resist! The second time around was equally as scary.. I don't think I would ever not be scared jumping from 134 meters! And although the second time around was equally as scary, it was also equally as fun! Krystal and I were feeling extra adventurous after the bungy so we decided to do the swing as well. It is exactly what it sounds like... a huge swing, in fact the highest in the world! It also proved to be super awesome and super terrifying!

After doing the bungy and swing we met up with a new friend, a guy whose couch we were going to be crashing on for New Year's eve. Queenstown is absolutely packed on New Year's Eve, so when we tired to book a place to stay in November, there was nothing left! That is when we were introduced to the wonderful world of couchsurfing. A free online network where you meet people and sleep on their couch for free, pretty awesome when you are homeless! Anywho, we met up our new friend, Ricky, and went out for a night on the town!

Most of the time we were in Queenstown was spent shopping and experiencing the nightlife, no exciting details to share there! However, we did have one more exciting adventure while we were there.. Skydiving! On our last day in QT, Krystal and I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at 15,000 feet! It was such a rush! It is something I have always wanted to do and I am so glad to have finally had the chance. I was very surprised that skydiving wasn't as scary for me as bungy. I think it's because you have no time to think.... also because you are hooked up to someone who doesn't give you an option.. once you are up, you're going out that plane while it's high above the clouds! The scariest part about jumping out of a plane so high, was how hard it was to breath! At first I couldn't focus on anything because I was so panicked about being short of breath. Looking back it makes sense... one, I was 15,000 feet in the air... two, I was falling at over 120 miles/hour. Once I stopped freaking out it was amazing to be free falling for so long! Our parachute opened at 5,000 feet. I am not sure on the actual amount of time, but it was 10,000 feet of free falling!

Ahhhhhh so that pretty much sums it up! I can't think of a more perfect vacation (given that we only had a little over two weeks)! If you have made it through and read my entire blog, thank you! Also, I am sorry for any spelling/grammatical errors, and I am sure there are plenty. It may be a poor excuse, especially as a teacher, but this blog took too long to write to go back and edit now! I also promise to get back into blogging. In about 10 days I'll be off to Thailand for another great vacation so I am sure I will have plenty to write about in the near future!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday season and are staying warm and safe! I am enjoying 90 degree weather everyday so there isn't much to complain about here!

Hugs and kisses,
Michelle