Life Update: 2018 in Pics and So Much Text

Saigon at night, with Landmark 81, the newest, tallest building in Vietnam.

Hello folks!

It's been a crazy 2018 over here!

(To be fair, it's been an even crazier year for the rest of the globe - man, am I glad to be outside of America right now. What a dumpster fire my country is right now! As I tell my students, half-jokingly "We're just going through some things right now... we'll get better... I hope...!")

So I guess I'm typing again, and communicating with the rest of the world from Vietnam. Like I said, it's been a year of big changes on the Vietnamese homefront. Let me get down to business with what's happening in my world!

Lots and lots of text today, so please enjoy some photos from the last year as well!

Click through for all the news!

Domestic Happenings:

Vietnam is continuing to develop at a ridiculous pace. I've said it before, but consider a few statistics: The average (AVERAGE!) annual GDP growth rate from 2000-2018 is 6.51%. AVERAGE. Meanwhile the US is chugging along at 2-3% growth and we're super happy that everything's just literally not on fire at any given moment. Also consider that Vietnam largely weathered the global economic meltdown in 2007-2008, with the rate of growth in 2007 reaching an all-time high of 8.48%, and a low (low!!) of 3.12% in the first quarter of 2009.

Coconut ice cream with sticky rice, corn, peanuts, toasted coconut flakes.

In short, the market reforms enacted in the 1980's have been a dream for the country.

This has a couple huge consequences for those of us pulled along in the wake. One of the most obvious (and vexing) is the resultant traffic. With all this new money powering society, city traffic is getting steadily more gnarly.

As of August 2018, VNexpress reports that "Nearly 4,200 cars and 9,000 motorbikes are registered every month, while public transport is limited to buses." For context, Saigon has nowhere near enough road capacity to handle that kind of deluge - there are only 4,000 km of road in HCMC, which is a much lower percentage of total city space than is recommended. Traffic is visibly, upsettingly, and totally not-surprisingly becoming worse with each passing day.

Mi Ga Da Gion Kho - Deep fried crispy skinned chicken over dry noodles and steamed bok choy.

Vietnam is also dealing with the fallout of Trump's trade war with China. China is a hugely controversial issue in this country. You know, after the Chinese annexed and controlled this country for 1000 years, feelings are complicated! As China moves away from manual labor factories a lot of this production demand is being absorbed by Vietnam, which in turn is investing in places like Myanmar (as anyone who is living in VN can see that it's only a matter of time before Vietnam reaches developed-world status, and market forces will push production away from Vietnam, just like happened in China).

There's my table-setting. And in the middle of this insanity, there's me.

So what am I doing?!?

Housing and Friends:

At least I have a little bathroom garden!

My friends and I had our house sold out from under us last April and decided to move together to a brand new building (which still isn't actually finished, 6 months later). That's going well, but my kitties think my room is a bit small, and they are correct.

Brownies with coconut flakes, because Game Night! Hi Rachel P!

PET US. LOVE US. June (left) and Oreo (right) wait for cuddles after work. Don't judge my bed.

We've gotten into a rhythm with Game Night at our house (although I've been a hermit for a month now, sorry guys).

Our new neighborhood is bollocks, though - not a lot within walking distance, and we're on a main thoroughfare that goes to the airport, so traffic is always a hot mess. Still, it's nice to be living with people I like and trust.

At the bride's house in District 8.

Goodbye, Joao! One last meal together with Claire and Alessio.

My best friend in Vietnam, who I've known for 4 years, was Joao. This year he got married to a Vietnamese woman and moved away to Germany for work. I had the pleasure of helping them in their wedding! In VN culture, the groom has a group of men who bring certain things to the house of the bride, whose parents will check and accept the gifts. I carried a thing full of big-ass chicken carcasses, and I got to wear this hot 'n' sweaty getup in the sun! Needless to say, I sweat through that hat in about 5 minutes - nothing left but a damp towel when I finished with it, haha.

SO HOT RIGHT NOW.

Work:

I'm still out at the shoe factory in the neighboring province, teaching English to adults willing to learn. Two years into this job, I've feel I've finally gotten some things right. There were about a million failed ideas along the way, but classes and attendance are fairly regular and students are more or less committed. I'm proud of that - it's not easy to convince rural students that they can benefit wildly from learning another language, even if you rarely get opportunities to use it.

No pics of my Presentation class yet, but look for a post soon!

I also am very proud of designing a Presentation/Public Speaking class for my low- to mid-intermediate students. We're three lessons in and working with our bodies and voices in a way that they have never experienced before, and it's very empowering. The key (and I can't believe I'm saying this, again!) is those damn acting lessons in university. All that voice and body prep is essential for warming up your musical instrument - your body - and students studying who have problems with pronunciation are eating it up like a fat kid on cake mountain.

Trips:

I've taken a number of trips this year!

Bri and I in Da Lat! Yes, it's hat weather (must have been a cool 70 degrees F - basically freezing!!)

Last December my little sister Bri joined me! We went to Da Lat, and she learned to ride a motorbike! We ate Japanese food and did not eat snails (because you have to pull them out of their house to eat them, this is a Bri thing. I am personally very pro-homewrecker when it comes to eating snails).

Glenda, I'm so sorry Peter and I snore like a walrus drowning in oatmeal!

I also had the chance to meet up with my friend Glenda in Cambodia over a national holiday in the spring, which was lovely! She was spending time in Thailand caring for elephants (because of course she was, she is ridiculously cool) and we were lucky to have a few days to hang out in the capital city and eat around.

Adam and I near the Laos border. Excellent weather!

It was cool on our moto trip, but the scenery was something else!

And we shall love him and pet him and call him George.

For Lunar New Year, Tet Viet Nam, my best friend from HS, Adam, and I did a lovely motorbike trip around the central region of Vietnam, nicknamed The Golden Loop. In three days we traveled from Da Nang through the Hai Van Pass into the imperial city of Hue, climbed high into the mountains near Laos, and sailed through the winding, sunlight-dappled winding roads to the coast, where we relaxed in the ancient village of Hoi An, enjoyed New Year's fireworks and so, so much food.

WORST. DAY. EVER.

Then there was Brandon and Dani. We traveled to Lak Lake in Dak Lak province and stayed in a 'glamping' hotel. It was absolutely lovely, with the best hotel restaurant I've ever experienced. Then there was the 24 hours of hell where the boats were all broken, we missed 2 flights and my rental bike irreparably broke down in the countryside on the way back to Da Lat - I've almost completely erased that day from my mind, so I will spare you the bloody details.

Rolling out of the Tented Camp Hotel, a mere 4 hours behind schedule. The beginning of our day from hell.

However, next morning, after missing 2 more flights we were on our way to Phu Quoc Island! Two days of beach and seafood market cleaned that up reasonably well. I was so happy to see both of my old friends here in my adopted country, even though that one day was arguably the worst day I've ever had in this country, and I'm 110% positive they will never, ever return to Vietnam again!

I also took a four day holiday to Da Lat with my boyfriend, which was lovely (would have been more lovely if it didn't rain the entire time, but oh well). Da Lat is my absolute favorite place in Vietnam, and I think someday I want to settle down there and open some businesses. We will see what the future holds.

Dating:

Sieu and I visited Da Lat for 4 rainy but relaxing days.

Yes, I'm dating! I'm in a relationship that's about 8 months old, and it's going well. My Vietnamese is improving slowly and things are generally going well. It's a lot of work (which I guess I should have expected, but it's humbling nonetheless), but it's worth it.

I am a doofus. It will probably never change.

Seeing the Future:

So what's next for our hero?

Great question.

General feels, demonstrated by Claire and Rachel.

So the world is basically screwed, right? I can't stop internally freaking out about the IPCC UN report on climate change that says we've basically got 12 years to unfuck our global power and economic systems in order to survive the future. I consider myself to be basically an optimist, but I am deeply uncertain (to put it lightly) that humans will be able to accomplish this monumental task. I see no evidence that Vietnam, despite government reports that the Mekong Delta is sinking into the ocean at an alarming rate and that Saigon will likely be a swamp by 2050 if swift action isn't taken, is anywhere near ready to deal with the inevitable changes that will soon manifest.

Sieu and I in Can Gio (the souther reaches of HCMC) for a weekend getaway.

As a nation with an exceptionally long coast and an agricultural economy that depends heavily on both the sea and the land remaining in stable condition, these challenges are paramount from the perspectives of both feeding the nation and producing revenue from tourism and exports - all those beautiful beaches are going to be shifting, coffee production will move farther north, and new technologies will be necessary to help the population with shifting agri- and aquacultural businesses as certain growing areas will no longer be able to be used in the traditional manner.

But Bao will live forever. Deep fried soft shell crab in a tamarind sauce on a bao bun. YUM.

In that context, I'm aiming for a future where I have skills to help people. I'd like to continue my education at some point, probably outside of the US (costs are TOO HIGH back home!). I'll stay at my current company until January 2020 or so (barring some outrageous pay raise) and then move on from Vietnam. So if you're looking to visit me while I'm here, please hit me up!

Things are looking up going into the final month of the rainy season and into the last two months of 2018 (God, where did this year go??).

Anyway, that's my basic update. A basic, very long update! I hope you've enjoyed reading this, and I hope to be writing more and more as my time in Vietnam comes to an end. :)

See you soon! As always, comments are welcome in the section or you can contact me via email.