Getting Back to Normal

5:30am on Wednesday my alarm went off so I got up and dressed ready to go for a walk, looking forward to meeting Tuyền on Cầu Rào bridge, then realised it was raining!  I know I probably should have gone up and down the stairs a few times for exercise, but I must admit I went back to bed instead...

Then at 8am Tùng came and picked me up and took me to the Nam Phap Church class. Yesterday while at Quán Nam Hotel, I met Josie - an Aussie teacher who has been here for 10 weeks and is teaching at VAIE. She invited me to come and take the class this morning, so when I arrived unannounced there was much surprise.  Tuấn Anh is the monitor now, since Xuân now has a job. Since I jumped in as teacher, I didn't take any photos... but of the 34 students present, I recognised a dozen faces from last year.

After the class it was pouring rain, so we waited a while for it to ease a bit, then a bunch of us went to The Loving Hut for a vegetarian lunch.

Tarzan, Tran Anh, Tùng, Nguyệt, Công, Tuấn Anh, Trung Ho, Du Anh , and Lan.

It was still raining heavily when we left the restaurant... just as well I bought a rain cape yesterday when Khánh and I walked around the block. Tùng brought me home again and I had a bit of a nap and a quiet afternoon. 

When it finally stopped raining, I phoned Mr Cường and surprised him. When he arrived to take me to Big C he gave me a big hug! Although I have a big room with a big fridge, there is space for a kitchen area, but no facilities. So far they have provided me with a single gas burner and a marble top table, but nothing else. I needed to buy at least some plates and cutlery for even though I don't plan on cooking much, I still need to be able to fix something to eat occasionally. The hotel is a bit out of the way and I haven't explored the nearest eating places yet.

Even though I didn't buy much food-wise, I had plenty of bags to hang off the motorbike on the ride home. Mr Cường asked me if the hotel is "your how?" (your house) and when I said yes he shook his head and said "Number 5, number 5..."  Hmmm.

Dawn this morning was clear skies, so this time I set out for my walk and met Tuyền on Cầu Rào bridge. It was just like old times ... brisk walk, hot and sweaty, great conversation...

Later on, Khánh picked me up and we dropped in on Jutta's Nam Phap Church Class.. many of the same students from yesterday..

... and Madame Tra as well!  Jutta is looking very fit, obviously enjoying life in Việt Nam. She is a great teacher.  

I had an appointment with Ann at VAIE at 10am, so  Khánh dropped me off. What a lovely warm welcome... starting with the security guard, the receptionist and then the teachers in the staff room...  Frank, Trung, Sun, Josie and Ann. John and Melissa and Graham are still on staff, but away at the moment (in China and Australia), and there are 3 newbies - Josie, and 2 I have yet to meet. It was so lovely to see them. Lina has just started back from maternity leave, so it will be lovely to see her... can't wait to meet her new baby!

Ann is happy to give me some classes during the week, which is wonderful, since I will only be available for teaching for 2 months this year. She suggested that I should plan to return next year in May ... hmmm - that's just in time for summer - hmmm...  Mr Cường came and gave me a ride home - just like old times. And I had a luxurious nap for 2 hours!! 

Khánh came over and we went to our regular restaurant on Văn Cao for dinner. I had phở bò ... first time this year. And I actually remembered to stop talking long enough to pull out my camera this time  LOL

After dinner he dropped me home to wait for Hà and Thảo to come over. they went to the wrong hotel at first, so we had to rush to get to the theatre to see a movie from the German Film Festival. I don't know what it was called, but it was an enjoyable movie. This year they had English as well as Vietnamese sub-titles, so i didn't have to guess what was going on...

We stopped off for Chè on the way home. We don't have anything remotely like Chè in Australia - it's just delicious. Tomorrow the girls will graduate. Both of them are working now, so I may not see them as often as I'd like. We must get together again soon and just sit and chat!

A friend of Jutta's, Hà, Jutta, Thảo, Ban and Khánh.

Heartache

Up at 5.30am as usual to go walking with my faithful crew... and today we had breakfast together as well -  bánh chưng. Tiên bought it on his way here  ... delicious served with sweetened milk!

Thảo selected some stationery from my pile, so Tuyền gave her a ride home.

Tiên is holding his copy of an English Grammar Book I gave some of my students as a farewell gift.

Then at 8.30am it was time for our last Nam Phap Church class.  We had planned to have a party near the lake, but it had been raining and would have been too wet underfoot, so we met at the church as usual.

   

There were games...

... and songs

   

... and dancing...

Hannah B presented me with  a wonderful book of photos of this Nam Phap Church class and some of the great times we've had. Best of all, many of my dear friends had written messages in it ... a gift I will always treasure.

Then Madame Tra, "my youngest student" gave me these beautiful flowers with a speech that made me cry... it is so hard to say goodbye to these dear, dear friends.  Then she surprised the girls with the presentation of tobacco bongs... complete with detailed instructions on how to use them!!!

It is most unusual in Vietnam for women to smoke these pipes... actually, it is very unusual for women in Vietnam to smoke at all!! But Katie and Hannah were delighted with their gifts  LOL

With the party over, it was time for photos... but I found it harder and harder to keep smiling as the tears kept welling up.

And this was when I lost it.  I just couldn't smile any more. It was just too hard. Somehow I don't think I was the only one in tears as I struggled to get it together. But nevertheless my dear, dear friends gathered for a group photo... and I was not the only one struggling to smile.

Of course, it wasn't all about missing just me, either. Katie and Hanny have made many lovely friends here too and they were having a hard time saying goodbyes as well...  eg. Katie and her new buddy, Hannah Banks

Graham will carry on the classes here, along with Hannah Banks, Mel and Jutta and whoever else they can recruit so that is a blessing. 

But he needed some distractions today. It is the anniversary of his son's disappearance at sea several years ago. I cannot even begin to imagine how dreadful that must be for him and his family. I am glad he could laugh and relax at our party.

After the class party, a bunch of us headed for Sunflower Cafe again. Here's Mười playing for Mel.  This is the guitar that Xuân lent me several months ago and Tùng was using this morning.  Turns out it was Mười's guitar and he had given it to Xuân !!  

Our crowd thinned somewhat as we headed for Bún Chả for lunch.  Very tasty, but too many heavy hearts to really enjoy it. 

Khánh and I picked up the rest of the grammar books. We were going to ride over and see his house, which is in the middle of a complete re-build, but we ran out of time.  I had to finish packing, and write messages in the rest of the books... and have dinner etc etc.

For our last night in Hải Phòng we went to  German Rock Concert!!! (Like you do... LOL). About 20 of us rocked up and handed the stunned doorman about a dozen free tickets and while he was trying to count them we bundled on through.  Ehh ... there were lots of empty seats, so it was OK.  The tickets had come to us from Jutta and Khánh, sponsored by the the Goethe Institute.

It was cool. The band was really good even if the venue wasn't very atmospheric. All the songs were in German, but that didn't matter.

By the time we got home I'd had it, so I headed for bed, but Katie, Hannah, Hannah, Khánh and Xuân decided to have a few more drinks and settled in for an all-nighter. At some stage during the wee small hours they went waking and introduced Hannah B to street food. She's been living here for a couple of years but hadn't ever sat on those tiny blue stools with a bunch of local friends and eaten street food!  So I Imagine tonight will be the ice-breaker and she'll enjoy that side of life in VN from now on! 

Good thing Hannah W. had her camera in her bag to record the event for posterity.

Photo Shoot at Nam Phap Church

This morning Hannah arrived at Nam Phap church class with her camera and we had a photo shoot - she took hundreds of photos!  I've selected just some of the best to include here:

The Tuesday Class of 2012

   

Some early morning walkers...

     

Mười  .....................................................................   Tuấn Anh

  

Sáng   .......................................................................   Hoàng

 

Nhung   ..........................................................................   Thoa

  

Jutta    ..............................................................................  Tu  

   

   

   

Thảo and Xuân  .............................................................   Tuyền

... and another group shot ...

  

All this time young Sam was toddling around under the watchful eyes of many minders.

He is a favourite around here. 

Hannah took the last hundred or so photos sitting on the ground!

   

And finally we were done.  Back to the classroom for a game and discussion.

 

I love this pic of the front row girls...

After the class finished, a bunch of us went out for lunch...

Going round the table, it's Diep, Xuân, me, Jutta, Ủy, Sáng, Khánh and Khánh.

 Xuân likes to pose...

 

This last pic is a random photo of the street fruit peddlers ...

Those little mandarines are a favourite!!