mood rings and fortune cookies

Ok look, I’m sorry. It’s true that my intention was to actually write in this blog about the exciting, getting here stuff but as a famous person once said life is what happens when you’re making other plans. Turns out I like writing emails more than blog entries, more likely to get feedback :P. Also turns out that computers are dodgy and won’t let me onto wordpress (and it also appears I keep forgetting my password). So you’ve missed that bit. I sent emails to pretty much anyone reading this anyway. 

So let’s skip forward. My new favourite game appears to be “Getting lost in the old Quarter of Hanoi” pick up a lonely planet guide and you can play along. It should come as no surprise to those who know me that I’m rather good at this game. I just tend to get distracted and miss road signs. then i have to get out the trusty LPG and consult it and do the well known “ok still have no idea where I am I’ll just keep walking this way” move. Other favourites include the “I don’t want to drive in your dratted cyclo/motorbike or eat in your cafe” determined shake of head and the “try not to laugh at other westerners carrying the same LPG” serious face. This afternoon I ended up in a whole lot of streets called “hang”. That’s right, whip out the LPG and play at home folks! One of these was called “Hang manh” which being the western neocolonialist I am i shortened to “hangman” and almost got run over by a motorbike while laughing. 

What’s the joke you may well ask. Well it turns out that as a teacher of english in Vietnam you play a lot of hangman. I played many a game today. No one mentions that in the blurb do they? My basic role as an english teacher is to work on pronunciation. My kids (as I have been told I must call them:P) have pretty good grammer/vocab (apart from the dreaded Co1+Co3, but less said about them the better) but they have pretty heavy accents. Working on pronunciation sounds pretty easy, right? You could just drill words right? Well not when two thirds of the class refuses to repeat and the rest aren’t even listening. Or you could do conversation, right? If you talk individually to people the chances are the rest of the class will just sit and yak, in Vietnamese, which really isn’t the point. If you get people to go in groups they will basically sit and talk in Vietnamese and giggle at you when you walk past. A good technique is group work and then presentation to the class but then the problem of getting everyone to shut up and listen remains. So that is where hangman comes in. It is a good way to get people to talk to you and not amongst themselves. I have run out of words though! There is an art to finding ones hard enough to keep things going but not too hard. This is making it sound horrible. It is fine really. This morning I taught my class what a puppet was, quite a feat I thought and this afternoon i taught the word volunteer (try and explain it, go on!). 

In other news… well there is so much to talk about it. So many things are different here. I heart motorbike taxis. I did get lost on one before. The driver took me to the ANZ bank via the uni (in the completely opposite direction). But it was cool because we had already agreed on a price so i got an extra long ride for nothing. I also like riding my bike, everyone thinks we’re mad. Westeners= money, bike= poor. They get rather confused. also I do look like a complete idiot as I’m about the only person (apart from Hannah (my roommate)) wearing a helmet and I’m basically uncoordinated. Fun times in Hanoi. 

I have been feeling homesick but then I remind myself how bored I was at home and that it will pass but I have to stick it out (ok that phrase is tres dumb but it’s basically what I mean).