I have definitely settled in much more and have started making my apartment more of a home. I am still working on pictures, decorations and just having "stuff" that makes the place look lived in. The guest bedroom is currently just storage, so eventually I will have to actually make it into a bedroom. But, I need guests to make that happen.
I have been to Hong Kong a few times, which is a nice break from being in a small little area here in Nansha. It's also nice to go into grocery stores and actually be able to get anything you want. Living here, in China, definitely gives you a deep level of appreciation for living in the States where anything and everything is soooo easily accessible. You don't really realize what you want or need until you are in a store, or somewhere and you are looking for something, that you come to realize you just aren't going to get. I think everyone should experience that at least once in their life. After having spent so much time over here, it still takes some getting used to, but we all learn to adjust and adapt and learn to live without.
Life is never dull or boring here. There is always something to do with people or places to see. You have to have an eye or want for adventure, but if you do, you will always be highly entertained and intrigued by the differences in people, culture, environment, food, etc. There are low-key and less entertaining nights when you want to sit at home and watch a movie or read a book, which I often do, but at least I have a place to come to that I feel comfortable in and can call home. Living on school grounds and being very well treated by the school, I could be anywhere in the world and not know it because I have a nice home.
That is definitely one of the benefits to working in an international school. The benefits, the time off, the amount of money you save, the places you can see. It's a very cushy life, if you can get past not being around family or in your home country.
The first benefit of being an overseas teacher that I took advantage of, was the vacation time and the close proximity to Vietnam.
Hanoi was definitely a culture shock. The city moves very quickly and is constantly noisy. There are endless amounts of mopeds whizzing through the streets at all hours of the day and night. You are definitely risking your life by trying to cross the road as most traffic lights are not used properly.
The shopping was amazing and definitely a highlight for me. I loved all of the different knick knacks and art I could by. The food was even better. By far, some of the best food I have ever had. We went on a food tour one night. We went to different side stalls and little restaurants around the city and tried the street food and most famous dishes that Vietnamese and people from Hanoi eat. We had three deserts, iced tea, Vietnamese coffee, Pho, fried snacks, soup, noodles... amazing!!! I highly recommend it.
I also went to the Ethnology museum and saw the lifestyles and homes of various ethnicities across Vietnam and South East Asia. It was very educational and interesting. I went to the Temple of Literature as well, which was also very interesting to see how education was thousands of years ago.
Olivia and I took a junk boat across Halong Bay and slept on the boat one night and then in a Bungalow on the water one night. We made new friends and saw gorgeous scenery along the way. The whole three days, two nights was planned for us with kayaking, cooking lessons, karaoke, visiting a pearl farm, games and other fun activities. We climbed through a cave and came out over-looking part of the bay. We swam in the unfortunately, very dirty, water. (We were not aware of how dirty it was until we saw that our bungalows' plumbing was being dumped into the water...eew).
I did reach some bumps along the way with the trip. To begin, our friend Carly was unable to leave HK and come into Hanoi because they had messed up her visa paperwork flipping two numbers of her passport...inevitably she has to stay back home. We messed around with getting a new visa and new flight, but they were all sold out. The first hostel I stayed in was a hole! I did realize that at $7/night I shouldn't expect much, but the doors wouldn't lock on the balcony and I only had a knob lock on the front door. I didn't feel like my stuff was very safe in there and I didn't want to carry everything with me. I did the first night and thought I'd just tough it out, but with the balcony door not closing, it was as if I was trying to sleep on the street outside with all of the mopeds whizzing by and the constant, incessant honking. No bueno. I woke up at 6 am and researched the nearest and more expensive hotel... walked there first thing begging for a room. They were so unbelievably nice. Held the room for me so I could check-out and come back, and then upgraded me twice. When we came back after Halong Bay, we stayed there again, and regretted to inform us that our previous upgraded room was no longer available, so they upgraded us to the Paradise Suite. It was amazing!!
I would definitely return to Hanoi just for the food and for the generosity of the people. And for the insanely cheap prices. It took us a while to wrap our brain around the fact that $5USD was 100,000 Vietnamese Deng. Or if we had changed $100 we would have 2,000,000 Vietnamese Deng. I must have spent millions while there.
My next trip will be back home for Christmas... but before that, we are taking a school trip to a city in China Xiamen. We will be spending about 6 days around that city and to smaller cities around there in the province of Fujian. We are in the process of planning the trip with the school and students. All High School students will be traveling to a different city in China. I am definitely looking forward to it, but know it will be exhausting.
This weekend is girls weekend in HK. A few of us are also going to see Mamma Mia as well. It should be fun and a good break away from NanSha.
