Hello everyone,
I've been in Danang for a little over a month now. Crazy huh!? It's been a great month and I'm still loving every day here. This is such an amazing and beautiful country. I feel so lucky to call this city my home.
Last week I substitute taught for two other English teachers. It was my first time teaching alone and surprisingly it went really well! The kids in my classes are great and we have a lot of fun together. I've never realized how crazy little kids are! Picking your nose is socially acceptable here so I'll have a kid in my class diggin deep in his nose for half the class or I'll be in the middle of a lesson and some kid will just stand up and start dancing haha. I'm just glad that I have the older kids because I hear crazy stories about what the younger ones do during class haha.
Next week I begin teaching my first class. Then in two weeks I take over another class. I'm really excited to begin teaching consistently. I've been observing other teachers for so long. It will be nice to start working and apply what I've learned.
When I'm not teaching I usually hang out with my Vietnamese friends. I've made a pretty close group of friends here and we hang out almost everyday. We usually go around Danang and check out new places to eat and drink coffee. We've gone bowling, been to a Danang soccer game, sung karaoke, and seen a few movies. They're all really great! My closest friend is probably my friend Phoung (Jay is his English name). Jay's really into taking me around Danang to eat "something weird." He calls me everyday and says "ok I'm going to pick you up to eat something weird then we're going to get coffee" haha. Usually it's a type of noodle soup, frog legs, or some kind of milk drink. I haven't had anything that weird yet but Jay is definitely bent on me trying dog, eel, bees, and duck embryo. And since I pretty much do and eat whatever Jay tells me to, I will probably end up trying all of those things haha.
Two days ago there was actually surf! I couldn't believe it. My first real day of surf in Vietnam. It felt so good to get in the water and ride some actual waves. The rainy season is only a month away so there should be more swell on the way!
I'm still studying Vietnamese. I have a group Vietnamese class every week as well as a few private tutoring sessions. It's actually a pretty simple language aside from the tones. I'm pretty sure I'm tone deaf so I have a little trouble communicating here and there haha.
Well other then that I have just been hanging out with other English teachers, making lesson plans, and relaxing at my house. My days are pretty simple. Since it is so hot though a simple day can leave me feeling really tired.
Thanks for reading my blog! Enjoy the pictures, one is the view from my balcony when the sun was setting and three are of my recent trip to Monkey Mountain.
Peace!
