An Amercian teacher Sally (I miss my own Celly!) had a rocking party where I got “pretty happy” and it was where the foreigners were. I met some awesome ppl and be sure to check the pics (but they’re slow to get here — sorry!). Normally, this is not a special day in VN but that night made me smile.

Imagine jack o’ lanterns, apple bobbing, and pizza in VN! Yes! And rum! And smiranoff! And BIERE LA RUE!

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Mission accomplished: I went out with Mr. Hotness on Sunday.

Too many stories and outings that I’m going crazy. I slept just 1 hour yesterday cuz I am way too busy to sleep and no coffee needed, I’m high on life esp. my WONDERful one here!

Let’s make this “brief”:

Sat: I was lonely and drank rum at 10am. Thank God, Dorian (see jokes) was able to cheer me up

At nite, went to a Western Halloween party and proceeded to get smashed! It was awful….awfully good! I drank like there was no tomorrow but then I ended up needing very masculine Nam had to whisk me away like Romeo did to Juliet. I slept over at my new friend’s house (Mimi = fabulous!). It was another disaster similar to New Year’s 2000 = worst, most humiliating event of my life!

But I met Mimi and she’s trilingual in my (ouais!!!) languages and works for East Meets West Foundation, a VN-US non profit. And Nam is her coworker and potentially mine (?) after my stint w/the uni is done.

Back to the date: I got Mr. Hotness (real name: Quyen) to join me on a mountain adventure. I know one of his coworkers (and all the cute ones anyway) and so they came along w/one of my coworkers to the Marble Mountains. ( I have to find the history on this place, but till then, check the pics.)

It was sooooooooo fun and the place is really adventurous cuz it’s all caves and dark, wet holes filled w/snakes and marble. And near the beach too. I think I did a pretty good job of charming my company so let’s see what happens next. Quyen invited me to visit his hometown, Hue, so let’s see what I can do in this week. Go Cathy!

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So where do I write my posts from anyway? Yes, sometimes I write while at work but I try to avoid that…SWIVEL…so I go to coffee bars and use my laptop. But coffee bars here are pretty different.

-People (all the guys) smoke!
-They are pretty “shi-shi” (sp.!) if they have a wireless connection.
-There are no groups of girls here alone (’cept me) and it’s about 95% male!)
-Music is either raver, cheesy old American pop, or VNese pop. At the moment, “I’m a genie in a bottle.” Seriously, that’s me, in a bottle of smoke! Ugh!
-The coffee is VN style and very cute..I have to remember to take pics.
-The drinks w/alcohol are only $1!
-The boys are cuter! And there’s a lot of staff and they give you free, delicious, cold tea.

“If you wanna be with me, there’s a price to pay. I’m a genie in a bottle…” Seriously, one can get pretty brainwashed here!

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Hi again and again and again,
Mann, I do love it here! Today was an exciting day at work where I gave a speech and was a VIP. For all the details from work from now on, please see www.profcathy.theblog.ca.

This time, I wore traditional dress but fit in! Yipee!

Rain is a good thing: I’m so used to it from Vancouver so I actually like it even when it’s (usually) pouring! And you know what, when it rains, there’s no need for face masks and the like. All you need is a waterproof covering and umbrella and you’re set

And today, I even got a ride from my favourite Wonder Boy home b/c he saw me walking in the rain! SCORE!

So I’m totally into living here. Milkshakes are a highlight of my life here so when I bought a blender, my units of happiness were instantly increased by a tenfold! In fact, in my kitchenless apartment, I now have a rice cooker, water boiler, BLENDER, juice press and fan. All this for under $40 CAN and so I’m rolling in pure bliss! Whoever visits gets a free milkshake made by yours truly.

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Yesterday was the graduation ceremony for University of Queensland (UQ in Australia) graduates of the UD–UQ Masters Program. It was held at the Furama Hotel (swankiest in the city) but honestly, the Furama looks like any other big beach resort you’d find anywhere else in the world = it has no Vietnamese charm or FOOD! There was moussaka and I had plain potato chips at the bar, but the only inkling of VN food was the jellyfish salad (but it was GOOD).

I made the best of the situation and so that meant drinking lots of Aussie wine! Yeah! Problem was that ppl were slow to get to the food so I was feeling it as I participated in the grad ceremony on the stage. Good thing I wasn’t really tipsy but mmmm it was good.

And I spoke English, lotsa English w/ Aussies and met doctors and accountants and MAs and PhD candidates etc. Twas quite good! And one of the Aussie ladies wants to hook me up with a Viet Kieu (overseas VNese) who works at the East Meets West Foundation (non profit started by an VN-American woman — her book’s on my list). And this lady sounds just like Boomerang (Kylie) Kwan from the Food Network. I networked lots and really, I am a natural at this!

Sooooooooooo fun not soooooooo drunk and soooooooo great to have finally burst on the expat academic scene. I’ll prob observe some of their classes at the new English Institute on campus and have cycling partners now. yah!

As for the official report of this “work event” look out for my professional blog which will be ready shortly.

CIAO!

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I think they’re like the Hardy Boys and they work at WONDER Cafe which is a hip n chic place where Vietnamese go for coffee, shakes, smokes, and wireless internet! At least, that’s MOSTLY the reason why I go there.

They wear red button up tops and red baseball caps and khakis I think. The first time I went there, I met this super cute Wonder Boy (or Boy Wonder) and I’ve been trying to strike up conversation ever since. But how does a girl who’s supposed to be demure and shy (typical VN style) do this? I cycle by on my way to work and today he gave me a wink! My goal is to get a picture b/c I can’t just ask him for his name and number. Too bad for me living in this different culture.

Ahhh the Wonder Boys and my Boy Wonder

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I am sorry, but I like having LOTS of clothes. Perhaps, I’m just used to it, but leaving my precious pieces at home wasn’t difficult when I left, but now, I have clothing nostalgia. (When I was in France, I had food nostalgia.) There are a few items I haven’t wore yet, but they’re mostly athletic and not work appropriate.

Speaking of work clothes, here the office attire is quite interesting. At the moment, I am wearing jeans and a top that I would consider more “modest clubwear” than office style. This is the first time I’ve worn jeans b/c it’s usually so hot but today it’s pouring. Usually, the ladies don’t wear skirts b/c that will make them darker faster. Too bad no one clued me in during my first couple of weeks so my legs are DARK below the knee.

I am close to cracking on buying some “HAWT” shoes and a slinky top that is just so cool but somewhat similar to all my other thin, precious tops at home. If I can bargain it down to $5, I may go for it. Oh my shoes! I miss them even though I couldn’t wear all of them over here. I only have one pair of dressy sandals here and it’s just not enough.

Maybe I should put this post in the Girls, girls, girls section…

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Oh man, yesterday I killed a medium sized cockroach in my apartment and left its nasty smashed body parts up on the wall, in hopes that the cleaning staff would remove it (mean, I know). Then a couple hours later, I returned home only to see a massive group of black ants hovering round the cockroach. It was Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo disgusting (akin to Lily’s rat story) and so I had to kill all the creepy crawlies although I usually let them be. But I had a party to go to so I had to get changed and go. This morning, I was so tired so when I got up, the last thing I wanted to see was this wall of death which is so nasty (imagine a large insect mess with ant polka dots splattered around). I have to clean it up tonight, but alas, I have a shopping date. It will nonetheless be done. EW!

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garbage can! It was only 5cm long but it freaked me out b/c I’m just not used to seeing geckos in my house!!!! Yikes but today, I don’t see it anymore. I’ll have to get a picture for you b/c they are really quite cute.

Here’s my family legend (actually it’s a true story): at my gramma’s house, there’s usually lots of geckos crawling up the walls, but there weren’t when my American cousins came to visit. Apparently, one of them has asthma and geckos are supposedly a great cure so they would shoot them down with rubber bands and my aunt would crisp ‘em up like gecko flavoured chips…Yum! And who said Americans like junk food? Does this confirm the fact?

Anyway, the traditional way to eat geckos (according to VNese neighbours) is to hold them up to your mouth and pinch their tail. This causes it to break off and then they run down your throat into to bubbly acidwash waiting for them. Which way would you prefer?

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Mann, on my street, there’s two movie theatres and so I mentioned that on the weekend, I went to see “The Break Up” and seriously, Vince Vaughn ain’t cute…

Anyway, the seats are double seaters which makes it extra nice when you’re with someone special. It’s even nicer when you’re alone so you can cross your legs and stretch out…However, what if you go to the movies with a friend? For girls it’s okay but I can’t imagine two guys who want to occupy a dbl seater together. Am I wrong? There’s also no popcorn but they do have other snacks.

About the language, the movies are dubbed into Vietnamese but by concentrating hard, I was able to zero in on the English which was still audible and tune out the Vietnamese. You should try it sometime, but then you have to visit first : ) Oh and the price is 20 000 VND = $1.35 Can!!! I guess that makes it worth it : )

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