Tan An and a change of plans

In this blog update I'm going to give a small update to add to what Claire has already said on her blog - which best describes the details and feelings of what we've been through this week so rather than repeat, I'll just add a few touches of my own.

Monday 17th March 2014

We were supposed to be picked up to go to Tan An at 8am, was only told at 7:55am that it would then be the afternoon (could've done with a lie in!). Eventually arrived at 4pm. New 'permanent' digs were seemingly nicer than the last but were lacking anything to cook with as well as many other basic amenities.... Wasn't happy! 

Went to the town (it's officially a city but I refuse to call it that) and saw there were plenty of cafés but nowhere to eat (here a cafe rarely does food, they just do coffee and juices - which are awesome, but you kinda want both). We thought then river view might cheer us up, but the stench of urine put us off.

Our favourite cafe in Tan An - the only highlight to speak of!

Tuesday 18th

Headed to the main district to see if this place we were meant to live in for the next few months had anything else to offer.... We found a post office and that was it. Later on we taught our first lessons on the payroll and were hoping that things would be better than the training last week.

The guy who came to pick us up to go to Ben Luc to teach was over 30 minutes late so by the time we arrived the class had been sat there waiting for half an hour. Just to make it worse the only lesson preparation we were given once again was shoved into our hands as we were quickly ushered into the classroom and then forgotten about.

Although already short on time, my first class went well with a few bright students making up for those that were shy. I started to feel really I'll during the class feeling dizzy - which was ironic given the topic was "health and wellbeing"!

The next class was completely different and possibly the worst 90 minutes of my life (and being a Southampton fan, I've experienced some painful 90 minute sequences in my time). The topic was " introducing yourself " which at first glance I thought might be quite good seeing as every class so far I've spent the first 5-15 minutes introducing myself, so I was well drilled and knew exactly what I would take them through topic wise. The big problem I had was the language we were supposed to be 'revising' had clearly not been taught - and this was stuff that for a class of their supposed level they should really know - and then when I tried to explain using even simpler terms they still didn't know. As well as all of this I had felt worse and worse so by the time I tediously dragged the class out I was a physical and emotional wreck.

As I walked out of the building I felt I'll, I felt like I'd failed and I felt furious with the school. As Claire saw me approach she took one look at me and said "there's a face of thunder!" And I threw the lesson folder on the desk and stormed out. With all of the stress that we'd faced recently, the poor preparation and lack of professionalism from the school, being constantly messed about with locations and timings, I was ready to not only quit the job, I wanted to jump on the first plane home.

On our way home in the car we were able to speak honestly as the driver spoke no English and I said "I just can't do this, I hate where we live, I hate the school and none of this is going to get any better no matter how long we stay".  Claire felt the same. We'd been fighting the urge to quit the job for a few days, each time holding on in the hope that it would get better when we start for real, but although we only taught one night we knew that there was just no way we could carry on here with so many factors out of whack.

We had no other native speakers to socialise with, our promised contract hours had been reduced by the school (not because of us, just because the school could no longer guarantee the same amount of hours) and the reduced hours meant we weren't earning enough to save towards our travels (which is the whole reason we are teaching). If any one of those factors was drastically different, we might've been able to stick it out but we finally took the decision that we can't carry on here.

I hate the feeling that I'm "giving up" as I've long prided myself on seeing things through, all of which made the decision to quit even harder. But we made up our minds and decided that enough was enough - it isn't the career, it's just THIS job.

Wednesday 19th & Thursday 20th

We've decided that in quitting we are going to travel the whole of Vietnam (as we are in the south), so we're heading all the way north to Hanoi. In doing so we're hopeful we can find more places we like and would be more willing to take a job, and if we don't find anything we're gonna carry on travelling anyway. Travelling was the whole part of this journey and all that's happened now is that the time to go has arrived earlier than expected!

We spoke to family about our decision on skype and they reinforced that if we weren't happy then leaving to travel was the right thing to do, after all we didn't give up our lives I'm England to travel half way around the world and be unhappy.

These two days have been spent sorting out our resignation and beginning the process of planning where to go next - so a lot of time researching! We hate that things haven't worked out here but these first two weeks of our "adventure" have so far sapped away at our enthusiasm and energy so for the first time since we arrived we are taking back control of our lives (much the way I prefer it) and we're going to do things our way.

Next up: back to Ho Chi Minh City for a couple of days before we head to the beach resort of Mui Ne for some much needed R&R.

So I'll catch you all after I've hit the road and soaked up some rays!

Our first classes teaching in My Tho

Thursday 13th March 2014

We were picked up at 5:30am to get onto a bus to Tan An and finally meet with our school. We arrived at 9am in the outskirts of Tan An, which was much quieter than what we'd seen so far. We were introduced to the school's director and straight away we were given a lesson topic and just 15 minutes to prepare an example 45 minute lesson to perform to other staff members - no pressure!

I feel it went well, and afterwards the feedback I was given was that I'll fit in well but I just need to talk slower so the students could understand (I'll put my fast speech down to nerves!). Claire had pretty much the same feedback.

After the class we were told that we would have a few days of teaching classes assisted to ease us in (thank god!), but we would have to go stay in My Tho to do it because a teacher there is sick. So our plans changed once again and we headed half an hours drive away to My Tho...

We got there and were shown to our accommodation: the teachers house directly behind the school (but down a nice quiet lane - quiet hasn't been part of the vocabulary so far!). The inside was a bit basic and lacking charm but had all the things you'd need - shower, bed, WiFi etc. Later on we were given our schedule  for whilst we were here: 1 class each on Friday evening and a full schedule on Saturday and Sunday of 4 classes each day with 1.5 hour lessons.

The teacher's house in My Tho 

After all that we just wanted to relax at home but the owner of our house insisted on inviting us out for dinner and wouldn't take no for an answer. We really wanted to say no but our sense of adventure told us to go with it so we agreed.

So our landlord and another man arrived at 8 to pick us up on their motorbikes, we both jumped on the back and were whisked away to a street food seller a few roads over (streetfood sellers also have little chairs and tables outside so they double as little restaurants). We sat down and soon after 6 others joined our table. Everyone was friendly but one person in particular was the best English speaker - his name was Hai.

After getting to know each other and tucking into some vegetarian pho, Hai explained why we were here. He had told these people there were 2 native English teachers in My Tho and no one believed him - it turns out that everyone here was actually learning English themselves and Hai was their leader, they were the seniors community! (They looked a bit older, but apart from one with grey hair I'd never had guessed they were all over 65!). They wanted to get to know us and practice speaking English with them, to which we were glad to.

In the group, many of them were actually war veterans - Claire and I instantly looked to change the subject as whatever side they were on, we would've been uncomfortable talking about the war - and one of them was even a high state chief of the area we were staying in (kind of like a mayor).

After eating (we knew they would insist on paying as it is custom here if someone invites you out) we headed for a drink (to be polite we just had lemonade rather than beer) and carried on conversation and practicing English. We continued the conversation and Hai said if we came back to My Tho he would love us to join the local tennis club and another invited us to come visit his large gardens for a free tour. Eventually Hai said to us "you must be tired" - at which point we took our cue to leave, our research before leaving home had told us when this phrase is used it's a polite way of requesting you to leave (and for everyone to do the same), our research on customs paying off!

The whole experience was so humbling, it was like I was watching some documentary with Michael Palin, except there were no cameras and this was real. This sort of thing can actually happen!

Friday 14th March 2014

We had all day off until our first lesson at 5:30pm, so we went for coffee at a cafe nearby which was really nice, with water features and fountains, and then before we headed to class we filled up on pho at a nearby street seller before heading to school. We hadn't been given any lesson plan and didn't know if we would be leading the class or not, so the lack of information only served to heighten our nerves.

We both sat in on a teacher's class - ages being roughly 10-13 - and he called us up at certain points to introduce ourselves, ask questions, drill pronunciation and correct pronunciation. The same teacher had two classes back to back so it was a 3 hour stint in one room.

We had both been incredibly nervous, but as we didn't have to do too much in this first class we came out happier to have gotten over the hurdle of the first class and we both had more confidence.

We headed across the road to a restaurant for celebratory beers and a large plate of Singapore noodles (only thing on the menu we knew to order here!).

Saturday 15th March 2014

Woke up early and ready for a long day, with our first lessons at 7:30am. At weekends the lessons here are mostly for much younger kids and we experienced that was the case throughout.
Most of my classes didn't go like they had the night before, in fact I lead nearly all of them. As before, I was given no preparation as to what to teach, so I just frantically whispered with the teachers when they arrived to ask what to cover before they all nonchalantly sat at the back and watched.

Most of my classes followed the same pattern: introduce myself, get them to ask me questions to learn about me, then use those topics to ask the same questions to them, practice the words I elicited, drill the words chorally and individually, correct students and then cover a small bit of a textbook before spending the last 20 minutes playing a game (my 'go to' being hangman, which they love).

We had a couple of hours off for lunch which whizzed by, before more classes until 5:15. Afterwards we headed back over the road and wanted to eat something other than Singapore noodles but due to lack of knowledge of Vietnamese we caved and had them again (they are lovely though!).

Sunday 16th March 2014

Up early again for classes at 7:30am, we break for 5 hours at 11am, and we eat pho at a street seller, get coffee and then doze at home before another shift until 7pm.

Classes were almost an exact replica of yesterday's with some of the same subjects being taught too, which isn't motivating but did allow us to start to hone our techniques. Once again we go for beer and Singapore noodles before returning home to Skype family.

Tomorrow we are finally supposed to head to Tan An and at the time of writing our 8am pick up is now delayed by over 6 hours... Lovely.

At this point we haven't been enamoured with our surroundings, and we are clearly the only Westerners here which does mean a lot of eyes on us when we walk around, but generally people are friendly and say hello.

The only real sight we've seen in My Tho - lovely Buddhist temple near our house.

We hope when we get to Tan An we can settle into life there and into life with our classes because so far the truth is we haven't fallen in love here with the locations. There are some good points such as the food and coffee and nice people, but other things are lacking. We came on this adventure perhaps too focused on the travelling and beaches, which does make being somewhere not of our specific choosing harder, so much so that Claire and I are already looking to when we next get a couple of days off and where we can go!

Acclimatising in Can Tho City

Monday 10th March 2014

Went to the British consulate in the morning in Ho Chi Minh to sort out all of the documents we needed to get our work permit and after the shock to the system that Ho Chi Minh gave us, it felt quite nice to speak full English with someone and be on home soil! (Never thought I would say that, let alone this early!) The whole process was quick, easy and we even got some of our money refunded - rule Brittania!

We met an employee of the company we are here to work for and she accompanied us to the bus station and to Can Tho City - which was about 3 hours journey. As we approached the buses in the terminal I saw a nice orange one and said "please let that be ours".... It was! Phew, the others didn't look appealing! The coach ride was comfortable; air con blowing, complimentary water and wet wipes, vietnamese comedy on tv, in fact it was better service than you'd get on national express!

We arrived to the hotel of our employers choosing, "it'll be comfortable" he said. In our tired state (still a bit jet lagged) we just said "yeah it'll do" and flopped on the bed to rest. Then we realised when the tiredness wore off that it was a right dump. Shower only pointed straight down off the wall with barely any pressure so we had to sit in the tub and use the showerhead sat down. Towels were so thin i could blow my nose in them and they would disintegrate. After Claire had a nap we headed out to check our surroundings and we could see we were quite a walk from the riverside - which is Can Tho's main attraction and where everything tourist happens - and the 30 minute walk down felt barely dissimilar to walking around Ho Chi Minh albeit with bigger streets.

The waterfront itself looked OK but it was dark and we were starved so we went to a restaurant that turned out to be the most expensive meal we've had so far along with tiny portions. To make matters worse Claire chose her meals well while I made terrible choices and to compound my misery my $2 ice cream I ordered to cheer me up consisted of one scoop. ONE SCOOP. We plodded off back to the hotel less than enamoured with our first impression of Can Tho.

Tuesday 11th March 2014

We spoke to our employer and she wanted to meet us around 4pm that day so we both decided to do something touristy to cheer ourselves up and headed out to get ourselves on a boat trip to the rivers of the Mekong delta. I must say though that the riverside looked remarkably better in the daylight, lovely views of the river and flowers and trees all around us but by the time we'd grabbed an ice coffee, eaten and walked down it was too late to go to the floating market and we only had a couple of hours available before having to head back and meet our employer. The place was deserted too - we'd expected to be bombarded with offers and hasslers trying to get us to go onto a tour boat but there wasn't a soul in sight - turns out you have to be here at pretty much dawn! We went up to a big sign and tried the tactic of looking around inquisitively and eventually a couple of women came running over and offered us a private tour boat. As we only had 2 hours we negotiated 2 hours hire for $15 which I didn't think was that bad.

The tour itself was fantastic and by far the best thing to do here. We headed down tiny little rivers with beautiful scenery and little houses either side where children would often see the westerners and shout hello and wave their little hands off - it was so cute. There were gentle breezes, dragonflies dancing around and the driver even made us little souvenir bracelets from the reeds, as well as a beautiful flower 'thing' from the reeds and little flower buds. The driver was so nice too, which made the whole experience the most relaxing thing we'd done so far.

After that we didn't actually meet our employer until after we ate dinner (found a place that did the best crispy spring rolls), and she then gave us details of where we will be going to be teach etc, which put a few questions to rest in our heads. She then said we had a choice of either going straight to the place of work tomorrow or we could have another day off.....we chose the day off obviously!

Wednesday 12th March 2014

We intended to make full use of this day of holiday and as we had such a rubbish shower we decided to head to the water park that the lonely planet guide had suggested as while we don't mind the heat we usually handle the heat by having a dip. We walked about 40 minutes to the place to find it completely deserted, our hearts sank. I formulated a plan B and used the lonely planet guide (which we are finding out is quite frustratingly out of date now) to see if any hotels in this city had a pool we might be able to persuade access to - there was just one that did and by some karmic act it was the closest one to us, in fact it was just one road over!

We got there at the Victoria resort and it seemed really posh - so much so that I was certain they wouldn't allow us to use their pool - but the receptionist was really nice and allowed us to for a fee (I was willing to pay nearly anything at this point) and we had a chat with him about the water park, to which he told us that it only opens at weekends at certain times of year as not enough locals use it so therefore it doesn't make any money. Even though we thought the entrance fee was cheap (£1) this is just far more than the locals can really afford and therefore they usually just jump in the river for free.

So we had a day pass to use the pool at this lovely resort and we spent the day just swimming in the pool, drying off, reading a book before repeating the sequence again. The setting was fantastic - French architecture clearly present. Another thing present were the people who could afford to stay at this $150 a night resort - old Americans. Nothing wrong with them per se, just reminds me how the other half live (plus these lot had those really annoying nasal-y accents that grinds on you). We lapped up every minute being here though as it finally felt how we had wanted it to feel - like a paradise.

We knew setting off on this adventure that it wouldn't all be bumming around and we definitely knew plush hotels aren't in our price range but perhaps we'd kidded ourselves so far that it might be a little more "holiday-like" than it had been, so these two days were just what we needed to help us acclimatise to this strange environment.

We then headed back to town and stopped at the same bar\restaurant we went to the night before (as the price was great) and we both felt that we had been mainly eating noodles, meat and bread since we arrived so we were in need of some fruit, so we both ordered mango smoothies and they were like heaven through a straw! Sweet, thick, cool and downright delicious. I've since gone back for more!

Later we met one of our employers called Callie - if you thought Claire was small, then just imagine Claire standing tall over Callie! - her frame and demeanour are very welcoming though so it was great to have a friendly face to get to know. She told us more about the school we'd be teaching in and that the next day we'd have to wake up at 5 and travel 2 hours to Long An to meet the school, give a teaching demonstration and check out the house we'll be living in, realising this me and Claire sharply said goodbye to get some sleep!

In all, Can Tho IS more laid back than Ho Chi Minh city, especially by the waterfront, but the further away you get, the more it begins to resemble it's bigger counterpart (pollution, noise and all). I get the sense that most cities in Asia will be similar to this, so the idea of us working and living in a smaller province seems very welcome right now. Nonetheless, we both really enjoyed our stay in Can Tho and feel we must return at least for the floating markets. But Claire and I are adjusting to the lifestyle of being here and being on the road with more ease with every passing day, albeit we perhaps underestimated how difficult it might be at first but these days in Can Tho have certainly helped and we now feel that it will get easier with each passing day.

Now just the small task of travelling to meet the school and starting work! Out of the frying pan and into the fire eh?