Cheking In!

Hola!

It is hard to believe I have been here in Nam for more than two months now! It is officially the longest I have been away from home and while I have my days, I haven't been too homesick yet. I definitely miss my family and friends a ton. Our internet has been down at home (yes, that means I am at school on a Sunday) so it has been hard not being able to Skype. I have missed a few Skype dates which is always pretty disappointing!

I am really starting to feel at home here. I feel like I know my way around a little bit better, that being said, I am still the most directionally challenged person I know! I think after our break in October I will be ready to finally get my own motorbike! I am also starting to explore more. Last Monday Krystal and I went to a tailor and got clothes made. I had two shirts made, a dress, and a CASHMERE skirt. I am so excited to see how they turn out when we pick them up tomorrow. The grand total for all these custom made clothes? $85! At home I was a huge shopper and living here I haven't done any shopping so buying these clothes was a lot of fun and very overdue! I wanted to get more and more made, I think I will be a regular! After getting measured and picking our fabrics we went to eat and got mani/pedis. Getting your nails done in Nam is extremely cheap. For both a manicure and pedicure it costs use $5 (100,000VND). The place we went to was a bit sketchy though and they tried to make us tip them 200,000... 200%, no way! After all was said and done it was a pretty exciting Monday night!

On Wednesday after school clubs started. I am doing a dance club and absolutely loving it! I have 12 kiddos from 2nd-4th grade in my club and half of them are boys! I think it's great how the boys want to dance and there isn't any stigma against it. I think I am going to teach a dance to Stereo Heart and they will get to preform it at one of our Friday assemblies. They are very excited! On Thursday I got paid for tutoring and this week along with my 1.5 mil (haha I love saying I get paid millions!) I got four dragon fruits and a box of Ferrero Roche chocolate!

Saturday was another fun day. Michelle came over and we died her hair using a $5 box of hair color. It was quite the experience, her hair turned out great, but the process was hilarious! There was purple hair dye everywhere! After her hair was done we went to district one with Sara and Ben and met up with Krystal and Kyle at the Tiger street football (soccer) tournament and did some day drinking. It was a lot of fun and kind of felt like I was back home tailgating! We stayed there for a while then went to Amber's before coming back for the championship game. Being there at night was super fun! We made a dance circle and made some Vietnamese friends. We Gangnam Styled with a huge crowd and I turned a horn into a beer bong.... I haven't done one since New Zealand and now I remember why!!

Now it's Sunday afternoon and instead of planning and writing report card comments like I came here to do, I am blogging and reminiscing with Krystal about New Zealand and getting super excited to go back for Christmas!! So with that being said, it is time to get productive! Hope y'all have a great Sunday back home, I am miss you all lots!

With much-o love!
Michelle

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