Happy Thanksgiving 2014!

It's that time in America - Thanksgiving!

Time to celebrate what we have in our relationships and to reconnect with friends and family... and eat slowly and surely until we're so full we hate ourselves. But that's what the after-dinner nap is for, dontcha know?

In this way, it's the perfect time to visit my home country and the friendly Midwest in particular (so, thanks Alex, for having your wedding during this time, or I probably wouldn't be here right now, because BRRR). There's something about a little snow on the ground and a warm, food-scented kitchen that activates all the Peace hormones in my brain. Provided, of course, that I'm in said kitchen, and not out shoveling or something. And wearing many, many layers.

In the spirit of recognizing how much I love about BOTH of my current homes - Vietnam and the US - here are a couple lists for you.

Da Lat 2014: Scarf & Fireplace Weather

Erin, I adore this picture.

One of the best and most relaxing adventures of my summer was my return trip to Da Lat, in the Central Highlands of Vietnam - Land of 1000 Pines and Former French Colonial Playground.

Not only is the weather here just ridiculously comfortable (a mild 70's during our visit in July), but it was an excellent last hurrah with my friend Erin and a great experience for my friend Lisa visiting from NYC.

It's truly a must-see if you're looking to experience a few of the sheer variety of climates and environments in Vietnam.

Some of the great things we did included: staying at one of the world's most unique guesthouses, visiting pagodas and flower parks, discovering secret trails into the hills originating in the cemetery, frolicking among lush jungle waterfalls, doing the central Market on a Sunday, and generally wandering around this picture-perfect painting of a town, far away from the sweltering heat of Ho Chi Minh City to the south.

It was SO COLD... seriously,
like at least down to 70 F.
Scarf and fire weather.

True, I was brutally sick with a stomach bug for the first day and a half (including a really, really precarious sleeping bus trek. Sorry about your bathroom, Da Lat bus station - but seriously, you should be sorry about it too: thank god I carry toilet paper with me).

(BTW: Hello Erin's Family - this post is for you!!)

Not a lot of reading today, it's been a long week and I'm tired of looking at these summer posts stuck in Draft Purgatory. Plus, I pretty much detailed everything I liked about Da Lat in my 2013 post, which you can find here if you haven't memorized everything I've ever posted.

Check out a photo album of my Last Vietnam Hurrah with Friend Erin, and the beginning of my Vietnam Adventure with Lisa, below!

Saigon Survival: Regulating Your Body Temperature in the Tropics

Our family cabin in Northern Wisconsin, Winter 2013-14 - A DOOZY.

 You know it's hot here.

I pretty much can't shut up about how hot (or, alternately, how rainy/humid/flooded) it is, every single day - if there are two things Westerners like to talk about, it's politics and the weather... and you can't talk about either here.

I'm still not entirely sure how I got here, weather-wise.

I'm a generally warm person descended from people that originated in northern Europe (Norway, Sweden, Germany, etc), and I've lived all my formative years in places that usually received a pretty decent load of snow and freezing cold crap for several months a year - Wisconsin and Chicago can be very cold places.

So, naturally... Vietnam! ...Huh?? But it was new, different, the development pace was right, and the challenges they were facing as a people/city/country were fascinating... so here I am in the tropics, sweating my butt off and playing fast and loose with body odor.

I've had to find ways to survive the heat.

Hạ Long Bay: Natural and Economic Marvel of North Vietnam

'Tornado Light' - all afternoon!

"Twisters!" is an unexpected thing to hear where I live - not just because I immediately wonder what Helen Hunt is doing these days, but because I don't read much weather news here in Vietnam (why bother... it's either Hot and Dry or Hot and Rainy).

So when my mom and I did hear it, it only lent another interesting layer to our overnight daytrip to Hạ Long Bay, Vietnam, one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, in June 2014.

This is an ancient place, one of the first cradles of humanity in the Vietnam region, and a huge, interesting business built on the fickle whims of Mother Nature. Read on...

Fall Open House: 14 Weeks of Teaching and Counting

Two Mondays ago I took my job to the Nth level - it was open house time. Time to preen and show off!

Several times a year, my class will come down to the courtyard and 'perform' for parents and invited guests. With many resources available to us that we don't have in the regular classrooms (including projector, computer, and speaker system - the ubiquitous microphone does NOT count), it's a great way to plan something that's a little out of the ordinary.

A native English teacher is considered an asset to public schools here. Most teachers teaching English grammar, reading, and writing are communicating in Vietnamese, not English, and many are not very proficient in speaking/listening. Luckily, my teacher at this particular primary school is a great listener and speaker, and her kids are usually ok.

It should have been a disaster. Leading up to the moment I started, it certainly had all the characteristics of a disaster. I was nervous but, breaking it down, it was just acting - and that I had done before.

Why Did I Choose Vietnam?

I waffled (fun word!) for several months before finally picking a place to go teach English, and even then I was unsure and lacked confidence in my decision. It was only once I'd been here for a while that I could say for sure that I made the correct choice - this is an amazing, electric city in a rapidly modernizing & developing country, and, in 2013, it's a fascinating place to live and work.

If you haven't heard me tell it, there was a specific string of events and planning that led me to take the concrete steps to go abroad to teach. Here's how I eventually settled on Vietnam!

Vietnam is special in a lot of ways. Here's what I was thinking when I finally made my choice:

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

I've been here in Ho Chi Minh City now for 4 months, and, while that's not a very long time, it's long enough for me to develop some favorite things and some not so favorite things. Usually, it takes me a couple times before I decide, definitively, NO THANK YOU. And, ranked, here they are.

Have you been to Saigon? What are some of your favorites/not at all favorites? I'm curious if these are typical culture shock things or if I'm just developing personal tastes. Leave me notes in the comments!

Read on for a listicle (ugh, hate that word... but it's applicable):

Dà Lạt: Central Highlands Playground of the French & Fabulous

Two months ago (!) I joined a number of people from my housing association and took a memorable trip (so memorable, in fact, that I'm about to recount it all to you, right now, two months late!) to Vietnam's central highlands, the most prominent city of which is Dà Lạt.

It is situated anywhere from 6-9 hours north of HCMC, and we were told to wear pants and long sleeves because it gets cold there. HA! It was shorts weather if I've ever seen any - a perfect 76F and mostly sunny all weekend. It's known for pine trees, strawberries, milk, and its abundant lakes and tree covered foothills. It provides temperate vegetables, flowers, and fruits to the rest of Vietnam and is particularly famous for a jam made from rose, strawberries, sweet potato, and mulberry.

It is the capital of Lâm Đồng Province, home to the Dà Lạt people, and is a popular tourist destination due to its mild climate and colonial past. During our stay we rented motorbikes, I learned how to drive, we toured the city, visited a temple, took a roller coaster around waterfalls, ate amazing food, and saw some incredible sights.

Hit the jump for a long post, and so, so many pictures!

What is This 'Rainy Season' You Speak Of?

Honestly, it's not as rainy as I expected to find - it's not like we're getting monsoons every day, all day. Lately they seem to come around 4pm, but there are no rules (just like Saigon traffic, weather here does what it wants, when it wants, for however long it feels like it, and damn the consequences!) - when it rains, it rains. Sometimes it sprinkles. Sometimes it's a total downpour, sheets of rain, look-out-or-it'll-bruise-you stuff. And all of it is fun - the wind and rain are making me miss Chicago a little less.

September has been much rainier than June, and it's been lovely - except for all those times I'm caught on my bike two blocks from home in a crazy-ass downpour. And even those are ok - usually it's so hot that to get soaking wet at 40km/hr is actually a little refreshing! Only when I'm going home though - I hate showing up to work looking like a soaking wet cat.

Rooftop Garden Update

Itty Bitty Baby Star Fruits! Thanks, bees!

Can I get a huzzah for gardens and how much psychic gravity they bring to an abode?

Recently I was watering the star fruit trees (yes, we actually have two! Surprise) and realized that I wasn't really very happy with the rooftop. I mean, I'm going to be here until at least the beginning of November, and to be honest, I'll probably re-sign my lease. I like the neighborhood. I know the streets and am getting to know my neighbors. I like the house. But right now, it's just that: a house. It's not a home. Yet.

Obviously, step one is to replace that bangin' patio garden I had in Chicago... this time with fewer spider plants (although I did find some for sale at a nursery not far away, so perhaps... for nostalgia's sake...).

A 360 Degree Panorama From the Top of My House

It's overcast and dark, and it doesn't quiiiiiiite match up at the seams... but enjoy it anyway! This is from the very top of my flatshare, or the equivalent of the 6th floor, about 2 in the afternoon in an afternoon in July. It started raining about an hour later.

And After the Alley It's the Hotel Lobby

Behind me is a busy main street. Start Here...

I live in an alley. Well... sort of. I sort of live in an alley.

I guess technically I live off a series of alleys, in a guesthouse. In fact, most of the population of Ho Chi Minh lives on the insides of these giant gridded blocks, where you enter through an alley or tiny-looking sidestreet (often with banners flying above them, but just as often completely non-descript - like my entrance to the left) and all of a sudden it's like you're in an asian Neil Gaiman's mind - they're full of twists and turns, neon lights advertising bun cha or banh mi, tiny stores selling necessities, fried food, and newspapers, and small, hidden temples where the local faithful maintain shrines full of incense.

Slowly, the unbelievable noise of the streets of HCMC fades away and is replaced with the sounds of a community. The roosters you already know about (I sleep with earplugs in now, no joke), and they're not going away. In fact... I've come to like them a little bit! Stockholm syndrom much? Maybe. It's nice to get up so early and start my day. And in that respect, I'm just about on my host-people's timetable. People are up and going before 6am every day of the week, trying to beat the coming showers, humidity, and heat.

And, oh, the people... lots and lots of people!

Reminder to Self: You're a Sweaty Bastard

Dear Diary,

7:30am: I leave my hotel.

• I walk 3/4 mile with my messenger bag.
• I spend 30 minutes perusing the air-conditioned supermarket* (post to follow!).
• I walk 3/4 mile home with my purchases - carrying one bag and another in my messenger bag.

8:45am: I return to my hotel.

RESULTS:

NEVER FORGET HOW SWEATY YOU ARE, BEN.

School of Walk

Yesterday was my first foray into the wild n' crazy streets of HCMC, and I think it turned out pretty good. A couple things I'll have to remember:

1. BRING WATER EVERYWHERE
2. And maybe that map I bought
3. Also, be more like Luke Skywalker in Episode IV

I live at the red flag. I wanted a
bucket of water at the green marker.

As for Number 1, Captain Hindsight here. Of course I should have brought water. I explored my neighborhood, District 3, going about 3.75 miles in 1:45. It was a leisurely stroll and there was no lack of things to see and wonder about. This city is ELECTRIC! It's an assault on the senses, and it's awesome. I think I could really get used to it. But.