Category: Uncategorized

Today was the first day of school. I’m back in Kindergarten (or KG as they call it here) and I couldn’t be happier. I have a TA named Linh, who has been wonderful! After my fantastic aides in San Diego (shout outs to Lydia and Anette) I was a little nervous when I found out I’d be getting an aide. Nervous and happy. Having an extra person in the room is always a blessing but can be hard some times.  I’m pretty lucky Linh has a Kindergarten background and is so willing to work together!

Orientation threw a lot of information at me so I’ve been little nervous about going from the Kindergarten I was used to teaching (very structures) to  a play-based approach.  I’ve also been in Special Ed the last three years so going back to being a classroom teacher had me worry. But, I had nothing to worry.

Today went so well! 

My students were great! I have a small class, 18 kiddos, and three didn’t start today. I’m digging the amount of “Specials” times I have through-out the week. It allows for the Kinder team to plan together and the students really benefit from having so much, Art, PE, Library, Music, and Host Country Studies!

Below are some pictures of the inside of my classroom and our wonderful outdoor space. The outdoor space is not our playground, we also have one of those!

The outside space that kids can use through-out the day. It stretches the length of what would be about four classrooms. There are sand and water tables, big plexiglass easels to paint on, a kitchen, blocks, a full stage with seating, costumes, chalk walls, a huge wall xylophone, plants, and a variety of toys. I feel like these pictures don’t do it justice. It’s awesome!

And this is what will be our library. It’s still under constructions and obviously has no books in it yet, but just imagine what it will look like. It was designed for kids to play in. There is a huge square cubby in the middle that kids can go in to read and lots nooks and crannies that allow for an “adventure playground” type of feel.

I completely forgot to take a picture of the cafeteria. Two words… smoothie bar! my breakfasts are set for the next two years! There is also a sandwhich bar, a variety of hot foods, and a salad bar.

To celebrate a job well done, I finally ordered take-out. Ha ha! I laugh because I feel like I’m the only person who hasn’t. It’s what you do here in Vietnam because it’s so cheap!

So what did this California girl order? Mexican food! Enchiladas with rice and beans. It’s no Roberto’s but it wasn’t too bad. 😉

Side note/ celebration- part of the dirt road between my apartment and school was paved yesterday! This is exciting because when it rains (almost ever day) this road floods and/or has big muddle puddles. Here’s hoping they pave the rest of it!

Blogging is not something I’m necessarily good at and autocorrect and I have a love/hate relationship, so please ignore any typos, misspelled words, or all together wrong words. 😉

(***because I’ve mentioned the school where I’ll be teaching I should probably mention that everything on this blog will be my thoughts, not those of my employer***)

When I think about the word community it invokes a warm fuzzy feeling inside of me. It’s the comfort of knowing you have people. People to call, people to laugh with, people to cry with, people to sit and watch T.V. with, people you speak to everyday or ones you don’t but you still know their your people. I’ve always been grateful for the community of people in my life. I’m more of a quality over quantities person and my community of people are spread out all over the world. Most days I wish I could move them all to one place because I can be horrible at keeping in touch, but there is nothing better than talking to a friend and pick-up right where you left off.

Community is a word that’s been on my mind a lot since I’ve moved to Vietnam. Let’s be honest, it’s scary moving somewhere new and not knowing anyone. Will I make friends? Will people get me? Will there be other singles people or just couples? What if I don’t make friends? Why am I moving away from all my loved ones again? Oh man, I hope people are nice! These are the types of things that circled my mind in the days before I left California. Making friends once you get past a certain age can be hard. You can’t just go to a bar and walk up to a random person and be like “you look nice, likes be friends!” It’s a conversation my Gals that Brunch ladies and I had often. (Shameless plug…. if you’re a lady in your 20s-30s looking for a community of women, look to see if there is a  Gals that Brunch   chapter in your city. You won’t regret it!) But since I got here I have felt like part of a community. My school is striving for this, and it’s wonderful! I have never had a school or work setting be so welcoming and genuinely nice. For example, just yesterday a member of our senior leadership team checked in with me to make sure I’ve been able to contact home since I got here. It’s the little things that make such a big impact. They have provided us with so many opportunities to get together and just grow our relationships with each other. We’ve had happy hours, shopping trips, scavenger hunts, dinners, and lunches. I’m not sure what I expected my first few weeks to be like but it wasn’t this. I’m so looking forward to getting to grow my relationships with the people here more in the days, months, and years to come. So don’t worry mom, I’m being well looked after and making friends 😉

(I’m going to try to post more about my Vietnam this weekend. I’ve had some funny moments over the last week and a half.)

Blogging is not something I’m necessarily good at and autocorrect and I have a love/hate relationship, so please ignore any typos, misspelled words, or all together wrong words. 😉

(***because I’ve mentioned the school where I’ll be teaching I should probably mention that everything on this blog will be my thoughts, not those of my employer***)

“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
(A not so subtle hit that I want people to come visit and I hope I can entice you by my apartment 😉 )

I found an apartment! The whole process was so much easier than I thought it was going to be.

Sunday: I emailed an agent who was posting apartments on a Facebook page and asked to see two of them.
Monday: My agent, Linh who was fantastic, showed me 8 apartments in 4 different buildings.
Tuesday: 9 am- Went and re-looked at my favorite apartment. 7pm- Signed a lease (after having someone from my HR double-check it for me)
Wednesday: Paid deposit and 1st months rent. It all had to be in cash which was new to me because I’ve always had to give deposits in the form of money orders or certified bank checks. Carrying around millions of VND was a little unnerving.
Thursday: Moved all my bags in.
I still have a couple of days in my temporary housing so I’m still there because it’s convenient and right next door to the school.

My apartment is in a building that is one of 5 new high rises. It’s less than a 10 minute walk to work, which will be even shorter when I get a bicycle. The apartment itself is a new fully furnished (don’t judge the art or linens. I will be replacing those) 2 bedroom/2 bath and is almost 800 sq feet. It’s on the 22nd floor and I have a view of the city.  The building has a gym, swimming pool, and security.

Below are pictures:

View when you first walk in

View looking at the door

City view

Balcony
I can’t want to grow some veggies out here.  The sliding glass door is cool and can open on either side which was a little confusing at first.

View looking up from the balcony

View looking down from the balcony

View off to the left of the balcony

View looking at the kitchen

Kitchen

Kitchen
That door leads to my laundry area

Stove which has a lock button.
There is no oven but my landlord took the price of a convection oven of my first months rent so I can go buy one.

Laundry area
I’m calling it an area because the left wall (sorry no picture) is only a half wall and lets air in so clothing can dry. The American in me is very sad I do not have a drier, but I’m excited about having my own washing machine!

View from where the bedrooms are

My bedroom

Guest bedroom

Both bathrooms look like this

Every toilet (except the one in my temporary housing) I have seen has had a bidet.

Let’s talk storage

My apartment in San Diego had very limited storage. I do not have the problem here.
Both bedrooms have large wardrobes

Both beds have storage

Shoe cabinet when you first walk in

Keys….

I have a key for everything! A key card for the building and elevator, a front door key, a key for each bedroom, a key for each bathroom, a key for the balcony, a key for the laundry area, and a key for the safe in each wardrobe. For a country that has doesn’t have a lot of house theft, I sure have a lot of keys.

Wardrobe safe

Why this apartment?

While I was looking at apartments I judged them on two things; colors on the walls/kitchen back splash (I saw a lot of BRIGHT colors) and the most important things…..the couch.

I can’t wait to lounge on this baby and read a good book which drinking a cup of tea. (Relaxation goals)

I’ve put a few of my own things out, but excited for my home goods to arrive because then this apartment will really start to feel like it’s mine.

As I walked around taking pictures I had a moment of feeling really grateful. (And I’m hopefully this doesn’t come off at too first world privileged). This apartment is so nice! If it was set in San Diego it would have been way out of my reach. I’m grateful for an opportunity that is allowing me to live a lifestyle I may not have been able to back in the state.  I get to live in this lovely apartment and not stress about if it’s going to kill my budget. I get to feel safe and secure in a new country and don’t have to stress about buying all new things. I get a pool and a gym at no extra cost! But most of all I’m grateful that I have such a nice space to welcome friends and family who want to come visit.

This week has been kinda crazy with house hunting, orientation, and just trying to stay awake so I’ll post again soon about all the other things that have been going on.

Blogging is not something I’m necessarily good at and autocorrect and I have a love/hate relationship, so please ignore any typos, misspelled words, or all together wrong words. 😉

My bags are packed, I’m all checked-in, and currently waiting to board my flight.  Yes, three checked bags… no shame here. I packed food I knew I wouldn’t be able to get, clothing to hold me over until my home goods arrive, and things I didn’t want to get lost or broken. Thankful all of my bags were under 50 pounds! 🙌🏼 I also made sure to call United three days ago to make sure I had gluten free meals. I did not want my Virgin Australia fiasco (they didn’t have my requested meals on my flights to/from Australia) to be repeated.

It’ll take three flights and roughly 24 hours to get to Vietnam. I’ll try and update my blog in the next few days (depending on when I get Internet) and let everyone know that I’ve made it.

Blogging is not something I’m necessarily good at and autocorrect and I have a love/hate relationship, so please ignore any typos, misspelled words, or all together wrong words. 😉