So with M sealing the housing deal, I was busy preparing for my lesson with the year 11s. Then we had a coffee, and after more prep some lunch, and then it was off to work.
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| My new vice - cafe sua da (ice coffee made with condensed milk) . |
I got to the school about 40 minutes early, and having located my classroom and the whereabouts of a whiteboard marker, sat down in the staffroom to go over my notes. And I met a few of the teachers. Who are all male, and seemingly disenchanted with the general VN state of affairs. In between questions to me (where did you last teach, why Vietnam etc etc ) I heard about molotov cocktails being thrown in Nha Trang, shootings, murders, disappearances, eyeless corpses and those true stories? urban myths? of expats marrying VN women and buying real estate, then coming home to a house where wife has gone and sold the house for $1... at least it took my mind off any last minute nerves I may have had about my lesson!!! And all this in 10 minutes! I did for a moment wonder if I'd slipped into some sort of Tarantino-inspired coma. But despite the flavour of the conversation, they didn't seem unfriendly.
My class had a lot of energy, and it was fun. Not sure if I taught them anything, and may have bored them at times, but it was good. I had difficulty getting them to shut up!
And tonight we went walking to find a barbecue restaurant that M had seen. In searching we happened upon Sea Song. We could see it had seafood, with a bbq out the front - sold. So we sat down and contemplated the menu. The only words (besides the beer menu - universal) that we were sure of were washabi, beef sirloin, cơm(rice) , tôm (prawns), cá (fish) and mực (squid). One waiter could speak some English, and helped us to select a salad, and M selected some prawns and catfish. In many restaurants here, the seafood is live until they weigh it for you. So our catfish was half a kilo - which we said yes to, but then tried to say no prawns afterall. However, an amazing dish of barbecued prawns turned up soon after.
We weren't quite sure how much it was going to cost (we couldn't tell how much the catfish was per 100g - 22,000 dong ($1), 50,000 dong ($2.50) or maybe 140,000 dong ($7). Anyhow, it was ordered, it was cooked - and all the food was fantastic. Really excellent service too. We ate the prawns wrongly (you're supposed to crunch the shells, but I just don't like the texture yet). Anyhow, a fab meal - and it ended up costing us $22 total. Amazing.
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| Our BBQ chef - on the street |
We're pleased that we'll be staying around district 3 - even though we've heard it's 'tourist prices' here, we like it. I want to buy something from this basket bike stall once we are renters.
And maybe a new outfit once I'm earning.
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| Ao Dai shop on Pasteur Street |
Tomorrow I have 2 job interviews. It's all happening!
