Khánh's farewell party

Tonight, Hùng picked me up to take me to Khánh's farewell party. He had picked up prints of the photos we took last night to add to the photos from last year I had copied for Khánh to take with him for memories of home. (I know how much I enjoy my family photos when I am here ... they are on the wall above my desk).

By the time we arrived, the party was well under way - many family and friends had gathered. The house is quite small now - the road was widened, and half their block was compulsarily acquired last year, so they had to rebuild. Now they have a lovely new house, but there's not a lot of room for a large gathering of people, like tonight.

At first we went upstairs to the third level, but there is no insulation under the metal roof so it was pretty hot. Jutta arrived, but by then some of the people downstairs started leaving, so we waited a bit. While we were waiting, Khánh's mother came up to say hello. I gave my camera to Hùng to take our photo and immediately we both reached for our hair. It was very funny - and while we were fussing, Hùng took this shot - classic!

Then we got the posed photo like demure mothers should look   LOL

Once downstairs, I took photos of the family and friends gathered to wish Khánh farewell. I will get them printed and give them to his Mum. With his sister studying in Hanoi, and Khánh in Germany for at least 4 years, she'll find it pretty quiet at home on her own.

He will go to Hà Nội tomorrow and fly out early on Tuesday... and he still hasn't packed yet. His aunt in Germany has asked him to bring a huge quantity of vegetables and food... not clothes. She has assured him they have all the clothes he'll need. Apparently it's a lort easier to bring food into Germany than it is into Australia!!

It wasn't a late night, but a relaxed, low key affair and I was home before the end of the big football match between VN and Indonesia. Only God knows when I will see Khánh again. He has been such a huge part of my life in Hải Phòng I will surely miss him, but he has worked hard to achieve this dream and I  know he will succeed in building a great life for himself and his family.

An Lão

This morning, Khánh and I went to An Lão to visit Vinh and his family. First stop was to talk to his English class. This beautiful girl and her friend had made me these presents - a picture of children celebrating Tet, and some hearts, all wonderfully decorated, with messages in perfect English.

Then we followeed Vinh home to have lunch with him and his precious family..

  

The baby is growing fast. She is nearly one year old now

And this little boy is Bich's sister's son... another absolute cutie!

There are a few changes at Vinh's place. He has demolished the tumble-down old out-houses and spread the rubble to create adequate drainage for future vegie gardens. This is common practice here where the rainfall is so high, and adequate drainage is critical to prevent the soil going sour. At home we truck building waste off to the tip. Here the bricks and concrete are broken up and used for gardens. I do not think the bricks are as strong as those at home. These can be broken with a sharp tap from a trowel - no cutting machines necessary, so it's feasible that the rubble breaks down in a few years.

Week Two - Classes at VAIE, and a quick trip to Hanoi !

Huge frustrations... I have been trying unsuccessfully now for 2 weeks to upload photos to my blog!  Finally, tonight (29/9/13) the problem has resolved, but I'm so far behind now!!!... but here goes for last week...

Back into a routine already!  Early morning walks with Tuyền, classes at VAIE and Nam Phap Church and spending time with dear friends in between.

After our walk on Monday morning I went into work and prepared my lessons for the evening, organised photocopying etc. Not much has changed... except that there is a new photocopier now.  Josie and I had bánh đa cua for lunch at a little street restaurant - first time she had experienced that. We sat on a low wooden bench and enjoyed our bowls of crab noodle soup, happily trying to communicate with the lady who made it.  It was past 1pm and very hot by the time I walked home... So grateful for air-conditioning! 

My first classes were very enjoyable. First up, some teenagers, then a small Level 6 class. On the way home I sat and chatted with Josie and some other Western teachers from other schools. Time gets away...it was after 11 by the time I walked home!  Nevertheless, I was up at 5:30am for my walk as usual. A young local girl named Thương has started walking with me too. She is studying to become a Tour Guide and is very keen get to know Tuyền and to practice her English.

On Wednesday, Khánh wanted to buy a German-Vietnamese dictionary, so we went to a couple of bookshops and he came away with an enormous tome - 150,000 words and it weights 3 Kgs!! It will definitely have to be packed in his cabin luggage! We stopped off on the way back for Chè Thái...  

  

  

It was Mid-Autumn Festival this week and the streets are getting clogged with throngs of people every night as the crowds gather to watch the Lion Dancing teams perform. This is typical of the festivities...

On Wednesday Khánh and I went to Mỳ Vằn Thắn one last time for lunch, delicious as usual. I am so not looking forward to next week when he leaves for Germany.  

I had 2 Level One classes on both Wednesday and Thursday... new students, familiar lessons. That was fun. (I do actually work occasionally ...  LOL)

On Thursday Khánh took me to Nam Phap Church class and we had a good time discussing the Mid-Autumn Festival. During the discussion time I sat with this delightful group of students who are new to me... 

Tùng, Thái, Huệ, Đạt, Hữu and Sơn

On Friday, Khánh called from Hà Nội and suggested I come for one last dinner and night out with him and Will, so I caught a bus in the afternoon and did just that! I hung out at Jomas for a while till Khánh picked me up and we headed out to Westlake to meet Will and some of his colleagues who were enjoying Friday night drinks. I took this pic of these dragonflies made from grasses as we rode past them... 

Of course it was lovely to catch up with Will again... we were pretty late because of peak hour traffic, so shortly after we arrived, Will and his friends (who had already eaten) decided to go to karaoke, so that's what we did...

Karaoke was followed by some dancing at a nightclub, then duck noodle just before the curfew... everything shuts down in Hà Nội at 11pm!

So it wasn't a really late night, but it was a very early start in the morning! Khánh wanted to catch the 6am train, which meant getting to the station by 5:30, so I was up, waiting for him by 4:45am. Hà Nội streets are deserted at that hour! 

 ...but not so the station.  It was crowded with people and taxis. We were in plenty of time to catch the train, so all went smoothly and I was home again by 9:30 - less than 24 hours away!

That afternoon, Hùng picked me up and we went shopping for a going away present for Khánh - a pair of Converse shoes. 

Then we had Bún Chả for dinner

 

Later on, Khánh joined us and we played Tenzi for a while

then took some photos.......

And that was how Saturday panned out.

PEEP English Club at Vimaru

Sunday morning... and it was raining again!

... no problem - there's always plenty to do over the internet ... 

By midday the rain had gone, so I went for a walk to get some lunch. Even though it was only 12:30 most of the street food vendors had shut down, so I went to the market down on Lạch Tray and bought tomatoes, cucumbers, mangosteens and bananas. The banana lady was really friendly and we laughed a lot as her neighbour tried to sell me pomellos and I protested that they were too expensive "Đắt quá !!"   I will revisit her, and we will become friends, I think. It was very hot and humid as I carried my purchases home.

In the afternoon, Tuấn Anh picked me up and we went out for coffee to this absolutely delightful courtyard garden... Such a beautiful place to sit and chat. He is now the monitor for the Nam Phap Church Class and is doing an excellent job keeping things flowing smoothly. We had the place all to ourselves as we laughed our way through an hour and a half. as they say: time flies when you're having fun! 

Tuấn Anh dropped me off in time for Tuyền to pick me up and take me back to his place for dinner. His room is down the lane behind my dentist's place. He is on the third floor, and he shares this room with two others - Trường and Trưởng, who cooked for us tonight. Tiên joined us too, and we had a delicious meal. I never would have imagined that green beans and liver could be so delicious!!! I must find out how he cooks it because it tasted so good. 

Theirs is a luxury room because they have a kitchen and bathroom across the hallway which they don't have to share with anyone else... but with no hot water, Tuyền said taking a shower in winter is a noisy affair  LOL.

We didn't want to rush dinner, so we were a little late to the next event for the evening - the Freshmen Welcome Party at PEEP Vimaru English Club. I joined in here a few times last year, and several of the leaders are students from NP Church class, so there were more familiar faces among the sea of new-comers. I don't know how many were there, but I reckon over a hundred. There were some speeches of welcome. The Deputy Chancellor of the university was speaking as I arrived (in fluent English...). I was invited to say a little too and then they played some games, sang songs and did a break dance demo... then the Macarena ...

After that the party started... with lots of photos!

 Haianh, Linh, Hoàng and Hà have all graduated and are working now.

   Hà

   Tuyền   

  Khang (Tiny) 

 Hiệp  (Tarzan)

   Trung Ho

  

 Huy  (Kevin)

     Nhung 

Group photos!!

When I got home there were many more photos on my camera, (taken by lots of different people) but in all the excitement, many of them were too blurry to use. No problem... I hope to enjoy Sunday nights at this English Club many times while I am here.

After all the excitement died down,  Hà invited me to join her and her friends and go for a drink.  I had nước mía - fresh squeezed sugarcane juice - so refreshing on a hot night!! 

Haianh, Linh, Minh, Hà, me, Hùng, and Hoàng.

We had been there for about 15 minutes when a rowdy crowd of bikes drove up...  and it was a mob from the English Club, celebrating a successful evening. They were still partying when Haianh took me home ...fun and laughter...

And so ended my first weekend back in here in my second home ... Aaah, it is so good to be back here!