Ms. Money Bags

i don't think i've ever blogged about the currency here in vietnam but it is time people. the currency here is called vietnam dong (go ahead - laugh!) and it is worth approx. 19 000 VND for 1 USD right now.

so, this means that coming to vietnam makes you a MILLIONAIRE! literally! at any given time i have over a million in my wallet and it's nothing out of the ordinary to go to the bank and take out 2 or 3 million. it's pretty exciting actually!

the reason i bring this up is that with art for action taking place yesterday and teachers still purchasing "the goods" i am carrying around MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dong. it's kind of scary to think of it. "i'm pretty much the most important person i know" (please catch the napolean dynamite reference there lol).

who decides??

i just had a moment. only for the second or third time in my career that i can remember...
i am sitting here watching my class having free time and listening to their ALL ENGLISH conversations. and i wonder "who decided that I could be in charge of the lives of these young, wonderful children?? when did i become "adult" enough for this to happen each and every day?? i love my job (inside the classroom)!! i'm going to miss these little rugrats next year! and then again, who decided i could teach grade 5?! i'm kinda scared.

i remember my first day of teaching ever. in wawa. in the room i went to kindergarten in. all FOUR of my students had arrived and everyone else was gone. it was just us. and i wondered...who decided i can do this? what is going on here???

art for action

on may 31, our school will be holding the first annual "art for action" art exhibition. it is a project that i started last year at my school in egypt and with the help of the wonderful kathleen and many others, it was a wonderful success. we raised tons of money for the childrens cancer hospital in cairo. so of course, i want to try it here. ill let you know how it goes....

so the reason for this post?? to tell you about my weekend...glue, glue, glue, cut, cut, cut, glue, glue, glue! i have been matting the art that i have so far and it is taking a long time! yeesh! but, the show must go on!

oh and don't worry - i took a break to go get a pedicure and manicure :)

looking for adventure

i have to tell you. yesterday (for the first time this year) i rode on the back of kelly's motor scooter and we went all the way down town to district 1. i ride the bike everyday, but this was the furthest i have ever gone. it was super fun though! i was a little nervous i must admit. there are so many bikes on the road and my knees kinda stick out from the bike so it is a little scary. but it was fun. and way quicker than taking a taxi! anyway, i just wanted to tell you that because it was lots of fun and one of those little moments that remind me that i really do like it here! of course then we got home and had to shower cause we had sweaty hair from our helmets and smelt of exhaust...but it was worth it! and i wanted to share it with you!

Vietnam News

it's that time again.
if you're interested, check out a more detailed account of our most recent adventures at:
http://www.wawa-news.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6131&Itemid=134
enjoy :)

les oeufs

i love eggs. random i know. but i do. i love a "dippy" egg. i love an "egg mcmuffin". i love omelets and western sandwiches and scrambled eggs.

do you know what i don't love?

ROTTEN eggs. have you ever smelt a rotten egg?? it first happened to me when i was living with tami in thunder bay. we started cooking the eggs and that was a big mistake! i will never forget that smell. however, i hadn't smelt it again since then...until this year.

tonight i encountered my 4th rotten egg of this school year and it ruined yet another meal. i wanted to have an egg mcmuffin...instead i had just muffin. the smell is SO bad!!! why oh why does this keep happening?! and want to know the worst part, kelly then went to cook his omelet for dinner, cracked two eggs, BOTH FINE!

i might be off eggs for a while...i think we're in a fight!

Wawaites Reunite!

This past week, fellow Wawaite Whitney and her boyfriend Russell were staying with us. They are traveling through South East Asia and stopped for a few days as a vacation from their vacation. They have been backpacking and staying in hostels so they were very greatful for a clean bed, shower and place to do laundry. They also enjoyed some relaxation while watching movies, catching up on sleep and playing Wii! I was really happy to have them here and glad they felt comfortable here.

Anyway, although Whitney is a lot younger than me so I never really got to know her at home, it still felt like a piece of home was here. We were talking about it on her last night here and they were just great guests to have. We didn't have to do anything different or special, I didn't worry that they were not enjoying themselves or that they would get lost. I just let them do their thing and they enjoyed the comforts of our home. We went to work everyday and they did their thing during the day then we met back up for dinner everyday and enjoyed listening to stories about each others travels and all that fun stuff.

Now they are off to see the rest of Vietnam before they head for home on June 10.

Anyway, I guess it really is a small world as Wawaites Reunite in Vietnam!

sleep. sleep.

My "to do" list for this weekend:

• sleep. a lot.
• catch up on some of my tv shows. one week of holidays = many shows missed.
• learn how to use my camera.
• prepare flat justin for his journey home.
• write some post cards since i will have to go to the mail to send FJ home.
• say "aurevoir" to our gusts whitney and russell. it's been fun having you here!
• do laundry. loads and loads of laundry.
• sleep. more. i am getting tired just making this list.

Coming up:

• prepare for Art for Action. awesome fundraiser. to be held june 1. pray for me. lol.
• report cards.
• SK graduation. yuck.
• learn more about grade 5.
• pack up classroom. without my TA...she's quitting :(

*yawn* weekend in t-1.25 hours. hope you have a good one!

halong bay

it's so hard to describe the beauty of halong bay. so i will let the pictures do the talking. clearly one of the most beautiful sights in vietnam. i will be submitting an article to my local news soon where you can read about our adventures if you are interested. otherwise...enjoy the pictures!









if you want to see more, check out my facebook.

in a perfect world

According to Wikipedia, queue areas are places in which people in line (first-come, first-served) wait for goods or services. Examples include checking out groceries or other goods that have been collected in a self service shop, in a shop without self service, at an ATM, at a ticket desk, a city bus, or in a taxi stand.

So why, why, why can't I just live in a country where people know how to line up?! I am so annoyed with the fact that both in Egypt and here in Vietnam, NO ONE knows how to make a line! How is it possible?? We went to Hanoi and Halong Bay this weekend and I was losing my patience VERY quickly with the lack of lines.

It happens all the time here and soon I am going to start to freak out when it happens. I'm going to make a sign in Vietnamese to carry around with me that says GET IN LINE!!!!!!!

That's my vent for the day. I'm going to work on teaching my class to line up. Changing the country one line up at a time! :)

Happy King Hung Day!

If you need me this weekend, this is where I'll be.
Halong Bay.

See you on Monday!

a long time coming

I have been wanting to write this post and thinking about this post since Christa was here and we traveled to Hue for the weekend. I know, I know, I haven't even blogged about Hue yet but this is even more important. So, we were in Hue for all of an hour, and after breakfast we were off on our first walk of the day. In the elevator, I proclaim, "this is a NO SHOPPING weekend people!" Because after all, I had spent far too much the previous weekend in Hoi An. And my "friends" (yes that is right, the term is being used loosely here) are less than supportive in my attempt to save some money!

Anyway, we are walking along for about four minutes when we find it. The place that is sure to make me spend money! How convenient?! But when you hear about this place, you'll understand why I was quick to spend.

It's called "Healing the Wounded Heart Shop" - part of the SPIRAL foundation. And everything that is made at this shop is WONDERFUL. Why? You ask. Well let me tell you why:

1. Everything is made from recycled materials. We're talking chip bags, noodle packages, telephone wires, and more!
2. Everything is hand made in Hue, Vietnam or Nepal by disabled artisans. We met some of the Vietnamese artisans who are young adults who are mutes and are now able to be contributing members of society when ordinarily, their country would see them as a burden.
3. All proceeds go to fair salaries for the artisans, social and medical insurance for the artisans, and heart surgeries for poor children in Vietnam!

See?? Told you it was wonderful! So, here we are, learning about this wonderful organization and browsing the goods when the founder of the p0roject, Marichia, comes to tell us her story. She is Italian but lives in the U.S. and funded this project to give back after seeing the devastation of the was in Vietnam when she was a teenager. She was so passionate and wonderful that it made our shopping experience even more memorable. And needless to say, it was definitely not a NO SHOPPING weekend! I bought table runners, napkins and napkin rings, bags, bowls...all kinds of great things! And, all throughout the store there are pictures of famous actors, actresses, etc. that have also bought some of these wonderful goods. Even Johnny shops SPIRAL foundation ;) P.S. the bowl he is holding is made by this really cute Vietnamese guy, I would say early 20's who is a mute. He was very proud of his stuff! And it's made entirely of old telephone wires!


Anyway, if you want more information on this fantastic foundation, please check out their website: http://www.spiralfoundation.org

rain, rain, go away!

my class really is fantastic. i've been thinking more and more lately, just how lucky i am. and i really have nothing to complain about that's for sure!! people often come into my class and are so impressed with how well they are working and with what they have accomplished this year. other teachers come in and comment on how quietly they work or how independent they are and sometimes i wonder what the heck they see that i don't see. but if i take a moment and look at the big picture, it's true. they are amazing. and i guess it's because of my high expectations of them that i don't see it as often as i should, but my kids rock!

so that brings me to today's story. well actually it happened yesterday. we have swimming on friday at 1:35 so we are ready to go around 1:25. they had their swimsuits on, towels over their shoulders, goggles in hand by about 1:22. at approximately 1:23 it started to POUR! like we are talking full-fledged, rainy season is BACK, pouring cats and dogs, RAIN. this is of course followed by thunder and lightning. so i had to make the "bad guy decision". sorry boys and girls, no swimming today!

but it's been such a long time since it rained here and they were all so interested in the rain so i took them outside under the shelter of the covered sidewalk and we watched the rain. at first it was raining really hard and they were squealing with delight. then there was a huge crack of thunder and few of the timid ones took a step closer to the building. some were building up their courage to step up and stick their hands out into the refreshing rain. and i had an urge. i really, really wanted to take them out to play in the rain. imagine how fun it would have been to take 16 five year olds out into the POURING rain in their bathing suits!! however, my logical side kicked in to remind me that the parents here would NOT love that. they are big on the "change in weather causes colds". i am more on the "germs cause colds" belief but who am i to say?! anyway, i was sad that we couldn't play but there wasn't much i could do.

i was just about to take them inside when they had a moment. a "man i love these kids" moment. they all started singing together, "rain, rain, go away, come again another day!". over and over. and they were so happy and hopeful that their chanting would make the sun come out so that they could go swimming. it just reminded me how cool they are and even though it didn't work, and it kept raining, they gave it a shot!

as we went back inside and i had them change back into their uniforms, one boy asked me, "ms. emily, is it raining because the sky is crying?" "yes, it is!" i replied. how could i say no to that?

my weekend

it's the weekend. thank goodness. i've been sick this week and thanks to my cold, i have a very sexy man voice these days. awesome. ha ha. so this weekend i have big plans! they include going to bed early (check), sleeping in (check), relaxing, drinking tea, watching "little mosque on the prairie" season 1 (thank you sean), and maybe even going out to a movie tonight.

i'll let you know how everything goes.

i have to relax this weekend though because the next few weekends are booked solid. next weekend we have a long weekend and are going to halong bay and hanoi. then the week after that we have another short week at school and then a week off. kelly and i are hoping to go somewhere but don't have anything planned yet. it seems that the end of the year exhaustion and lack of money has changed our usual pre-planned selves.

anyway, hope you all have a good weekend! only 71 days until the summer holidays!

two major pains.

ok so i have been thinking about this post for a while but due to the "complaint free" thing, i have resisted. until now. i can't hold back any longer!

there are two things that have been making me crazy lately. and both have to do with living in an apartment. in asia. what could possibly make me so crazy you ask? please allow me to explain.

first, is the smell. big deal right? well, yes, in fact it is a big deal! it seems that all of the vents above the stoves are connected because when someone is cooking something very fishy, we get to enjoy it too! YUCK! i hate it! at 6 in the morning when the smells of fish and sesame oil come wafting into the room, there is something to complain about, let me tell you! i'm pretty sure that at any given time of the day, someone in this building is eating fish. luckily our apartment doesn't smell like fish all day and night but when someone decides to turn on their fan, we get to enjoy the fish too. (i hope you can sense the sarcasm here because both kelly and i HATE fish!)

secondly, the man upstairs. i know that living in an apartment often comes with the perks of being able to hear the people upstairs or downstairs when they drop something or make a loud noise. in thunder bay the woman who lived about tami and i really liked to vacuum and take a bath at 3 am. i get that. however, the man who lives above me in 1-9, makes me ill! he is constantly horking and choking and coughing and gagging and spitting up and soon, i will be doing the same!!! like honestly, every morning as i am using the bathroom, showering, etc., i can hear him and today, SUNDAY, i was trying so hard to sleep in and he was all i could hear!! honestly people, it isn't right! the noises that come from this man are unnatural!!!

ok that's it. that's all i'm saying. no more complaining. i've changed the bracelet to my other arm. i'm going to go enjoy my sunday now. hopefully it will be free of smell and terrible noises!

"and i'm going to miss you like a child misses their blanket..."

well, as you know, sean and christa were here for a visit, what you don't know is that i tried to kid nap them so that they couldn't leave but it didn't work :(. i really stand by my earlier statement that when i have visitors, i should get to decide when they leave! but for some reason, no one is following my new rule. apparently sean has this OPP thing to get back to and then has a trip planned across canada and the states. who would choose that over being here with me?! and then there's christa. something about that rock (newfoundland) that she lives on i tell ya...once you leave there, apparently it is not so easy to get back! she tried to change her flight but then she wouldn't have been able to get back home until the end of april! seriously newfies, let's work on this! the good news is that i will be home for about 7 weeks in the summer and christa has planned to come visit. i had mentioned to sean that he should come visit too and as we were saying goodbye and i was crying, he said he would come to wawa this summer. therefore, i will make sure he stays true to that little promise :).

so, how about some highlights of our time together?!

• me, kel, c and sean all in my bed, having story time. definitely good for a laugh!
• on sean's last night, we had a "fruit platter" picnic in the courtyard at our apartment. it included pomello, dragon fruit, star fruit, mango, asian pears and the ever stinking durian. the first bunch of fruits were fine....the durian was so smelly!!! even outside. kelly claimed to like the smell up close. and kel and sean both claimed to like the first bite of durian. i think it was when they went back for seconds that they both decided their time with the durian was over.

• dinners and drinks at the tavern. our local "watering hole" if you will. sharing stories and drinks with old friend and school friends. lots of laughs.
• our trip to hoi an of course, which you have already read about.
• our trip to hue with christa which you will read more about soon.
• my afternoon of girl time with christa. we went shopping at Ben Than market and the Tax Centre, then had manicures, pedicures, and had our hair washed, blow dried and straightened! (all for the low, low price of about $20!)

of course, these are only the highlights and all the time that we had together, although it wasn't enough, was great! i'm probably forgetting some funny stories but you'll have to forgive me, it's late (almost 9 pm!) and i'm still trying to catch up on my sleep!
anyway, the thing is, i am so glad that my two super, fantastic friends were able to come to vietnam and share in the craziness with us. it's a really great place and i want others to experience it with us. it's strange because you never know how people from your "home life" will fit in to your "away life" but it was great. i was so happy that they were happy. sean said that on a scale of 1 to 10, egypt was a 6.5 and vietnam was a 9.9! so if that doesn't make you want to come and visit, i don't know what will!

NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

after explaining a complaint free world to you yesterday, i feel like this blog is poorly timed. but as i rethink that, i have decided that none of this is complaining, it's merely stating the facts. i am not complaining, just telling you facts about my feelings. please see below:

fact: i don't want sean to leave tomorrow.

fact: i don't want christa to leave next wednesday.

fact: i am going to be really sad when they leave.

fact: having guests from home is really fun and once they come, i should be able to decide when they leave.

fact: christa should move to vietnam to teach.

fact: sean should cancel his road trip, call in sick for his next shifts and stay here extra long.

fact: i don't know when i will see sean next and that is also sad.

fact: christa is supposed to come to wawa this summer...sean should come too! yup.

ok well i think you know how i feel now. just facts, not complaints.

p.s. this reminds me of something that happened last year and lindsay had a really good idea. "hey sean and christa. let's play hide and seek. you go hide. i'll find you!"
(what they don't know is i am going to find them AFTER their scheduled flights. shhhh......)

A great little town to get lost in...

As you know, we have guests from home visiting and so for their first weekend in the nam we were off to Hoi An. I had been there once before but it is an amazing little place. Now, when I say "A great little town to get lost in..." I don't mean that literally. I mean you sort of get lost in it's beauty. Lost in it's charm. Lost in it's history. Just look at the pictures, you'll see what I mean.

So we left Friday after school and arrived in Hoi An just in time to have a drink and hit the sack. The next morning we were up early and off to the tailor. Hoi An is known for it's millions of tailors that produce clothing for tourist in a matter of HOURS! It's crazy. Anything you want tailor made, you can get it there. In a weekend. And for a very reasonable price. So of course we spent some time picking out designs and fabric and having our measurments taken. When we finished there, we walked all over and I mean ALL OVER Hoi An. There wasn't a road left unvisited. The old city is great because all of the streets there are blocked off so only pedestrians are allowed. We also ventured out of the touristy area for a bit to find a "cache" with Sean. He is a Geo Caching enthusiast...I'm not sure what they call themselves... anyway, it was really cool and I can see Kelly and I getting hooked too!

What else? Oh yes. The shopping. On both Saturday and Sunday, it is safe to say that we made a few shopkeepers' days! We bought jewlery, art work, pottery, and clothes of course! We also ate in some fantastic restaurants along the river and at "Good Morning Vietnam" for a delicious Italian dinner! YUMMY!

Sunday brought us back to the tailor for fittings but it was kind of rainy and dull outside so we just continued to do what we do best - SHOP! Then, in the late afternoon, Sean and Christa were off for Hanoi and Kelly, Kristi, Tammy and I were headed back to Saigon for work on Monday morning. Overall, a great weekend. Lots of fun in a super little town. I can't wait to go back...but my wallet is hesitant!

4 sleeps!!!!!

yes you read correctly, in only 4 sleeps we will be hosting our first house guests/visitors from home!!! sean and christa will be here on wednesday night and i can't wait to see them! i've been cleaning up the house and washing bedding. tomorrow we have to go buy some dishes and more towels. i hope everything is just right. i want them to have an amazing vacation! i don't think i'll get much sleep this week cause i'm too excited!!!! EEEEK!!!