Salut les amis
Honestly, friends are good to have. So far, I’m met mostly the good in Danang and surprisingly don’t have to worry about much. When you’re a foreigner, sometimes you take risks that you wouldn’t when at home. Most of my “decisions” have not gotten me into any trouble……

Until now! I have just been booted out of my house and am now homeless and staying with friends for the rest of the month. What a story: basically, the land “girl” asked for 6 months rent on Monday and on Wednesday, she asked for her house back. Then on Wednesday night, I see a rat in the house and am ready to leave anyway. I spend the next couple nights with the lights on and fans whirling, hoping to scare away the mouse/rat/monster.

Unfortunately, I had to wait until Monday to make the move. All seems pretty good until the actual money transaction and the physical moving of my stuff. My land “girl” (young and with issues) semi-stalks me on the weekend and asks when I’m leaving. I was just waiting for keys to a friend’s house and trust me, I was happy to leave.

But then when we discuss money, she wants to withhold $50 for electricity and water when I only stayed in her place for 12 days, and in Vietnam, that’s more than enough for an entire month. She should’ve actually refunded my entire fee, but that was just not meant to be. After 4 hours of drama and negotiations with my colleages, she agrees to return the money. My colleagues say that it is likely that she spent the money already or does not want to give it back to me. (I just don’t understand this, but this kind of thing happens I hear.) Three of my colleagues go home with me to pack and wait for her. She then asks to delay payment, but when I refuse, she says she’ll come. An hour later, she arrives and of course has to check the house for damages etc. (I was the only thing damaged in the house at this point.) Then we count out the money and finally, it’s in my hands. Then her sister and one of my gentle and very polite colleagues get into a shouting match. It was ugly and so I just want to get out of there. We finally go and when I get to my friend’s house, there’s no ants and hardly any place for bugs or mice to climb in. Ahhhhhhhhhh peace at last!

So at the end of the day, it was a blessing in disguise b/c of the mouse, ants, and other creepy crawlies (once, fruit flies filled the entire rice cooker!) and scary business that came along with that place. So I had to say goodbye to the fish and the karaoke machine (pretty sad), but the tradeoff is worth it. Now I have a potential safer and cheaper place to go in December (convenient location and no rats) and I get to housesit in a house near the beach for awhile. One day, I’ll be able to settle in my own bed and relax, but for now, I’m just happy to be far away from that drama. I know I’ll never get my deposit back but whatever, I’m free at last and have not see ants or mice near me for two whole days

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OH Abe san! Basically I’ve been wanted to study Vietnamese but couldn’t find a teacher believe it or not. Yes, I work at the UNI with many professors but no, I could not find one to teach me VNese! Anyway, why didn’t I think of this earlier: just ask the JPese guy who speaks VNese better than you do and surely, he’ll be able to help! Yup, that’s right: he has a VNese prof who also teaches Russian — how cool is that?

So we went to class together yesterday, Sunday, and it was sooooooooooo fun! I know some ppl think I’m rather geeky in class, but Abe is a uber nerd but sooooooooo good (and cute too) in VNese and can write so much better than I can. It was awesome!

The only bad news is that Abe san is soon going to move to Saigon so I won’t be able to hang out with him anymore. Boo hoo! I guess I just need to find another even cooler boy friend rite? Go Cathy!

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Boom boom boom cackle crack flash flash…..That’s me imitating the thunder and lightening that accompanies the rain.

THE RAINY SEASON HAS STARTED! Let me tell ya, when it rains here, it goes on and floods the streets. I had to walk 50m from my door in about 6 inches of dirty rain water and by the time I got out of it, my pants were soaked. I didn’t ride my bike to work that day b/c I just can’t ride in conditions like that but ppl here say that cycling is beter than motorbiking in that weather b/c the rain can get in the engine and stop the motorbike altogether! What’s nice though, is that after a couple hours, it stops and everything dries up b/c it’s hot here. So this one day of nasty rain made me want to buy boots but I haven’t actually had anytime to look for them yet….Why you may ask….keep reading

But the weather here is dramatic and I don’t want too much drama in my life, but I SWEAR, DRAMA LIKES ME!

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Hey guys,

We had a belated Halloween party b/c everyone in Danang was in the midst of preparing for a SUPER typhoon (DN gets hit by 12 per year of varying degrees) and so everyone was buying candles and noodle packs around Halloween and no one felt like partying on that night.

Anyway, the Vietnamese don’t celebrate Halloween but the ones who have English class with American teachers do. BTW Australians don’t celebrate it either.

Because the first HW party ended up with me consuming a bit too much alcohol, l laid low during this one. But this one was hosted by an amazing dynamic American couple who are business people by trade but also teach English at the university so it was semi-professional anyway.

And I had time (but no money) so I probably put together one of my more creative and cheap costumes. I was a CAT. Get it? heheeehheh or meow meow meow! I wanted the students to catch the joke so I wore a CAT-hy necklace, make a catface mask and animal ears that kinda look like pig, deer, cow, or mouse ears but everyone got the point. My favourite part was my tail which was made out of little balloons.

This group of students is particpating in a program where they will go to Maryland to study for their 3rd year, I believe, in economics at Towson University. I wish them the best of luck!

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But this story is still pretty great. Basically, I was in a dessert shop ordering when a Viet Kieu called out in English “Where are you from?” Being the loner desperado that I am, I stopped by to chat and it turns out that he’s a French skipper who races and navigates boats for a living. He’s from New Caledonia (small island in the Pacific near Australia) and was born in Danang. He came back to find his nanny before it was too late.

Anyway, I have to work so I introduce him to my one French speaking colleague who ends up being his senior by just a couple years, and it turns out that they went to primary French school together here in Danang about 30 years ago! Her dad was a teacher at the school and his was the director so they definitely ran in the same circles and were able to reminisce. It was amazing. Then we proceeded to have several fun French filled days of chitchat and good VNese food. What else would you expect?

So today I introduced him to Mimi and Eric, the other lovely francophones, and we had the BEST lunch ever Ahhhhhhhh j’adore le francais! Yipeeeeeeeeee!

And here they are, George, Mimi and Eric

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Hiya bya coconut papaya!

It’s been awhile (ok so I haven’t written every day this week!) b/c I have friends! They are coming out of my ears and well, WTF? You’re right, wow, that’s fantastic

Mimi came back on Sunday but I didn’t meet her at the airport b/c I had OTHER FRIENDS!

I finally made it to the Bread of Life cafe (owned by Westerners and run by Vietnamese deaf) and it turns out that they have an ENGLISH church service there so I went and made friends@!!!!

Yeah! I found myself being invited out to lunch and to Hoi An that night to meet a French Viet Kieu (= overseas VN)! So now, I’m making more connections than ever socially. Work is another story altogether!

So there’s this wonderfully linguistic Vietnamese guy named Hai whose English is perfect and is pretty cute as well. He loves languages like s/o else I know but is a bit older so I’m not really interested. He set up an English school called Fischer’s Super Kids with his wife (that’s her maiden name) and so, I asked them if they could set me up with a junior Hai (get it?). So far, he ranks high (or Hai) on the attractive VN guy list (which is getting longer everyday!) hahaahahhaha!

Eric is the French Vietnamese guy that I met in Hoi An and he’s also fabuleux! He’s trilingual and funny and has this neutral accent in English and French that is just so cool to listen to. But he’s lived here for four years and has a gf so that’s another one added to the “just friends” pile. So far, I hardly hear a peep of VNese from him but since our initial meeting, we’ve been eating burgers and shakes, VN rolls and sweet desserts and FRENCH candies. He has a patio so Mimi and I will be the first ppl up there once it’s cleaned

With Mimi’s return, I’ve been eating out, drinking Biere La Rue, sipping coffees at Wonder, and flirting mercilessly with her coworkers at East Meets West. It’s been a blast and it’s only just begun. Everyday that we hang, I see that when she talks, it’s like me talking. We’re twins or two ends of the same person but I’d say she’s cool and hip and that I’m the “crazier” Mimi.

To give you an example of our similarities, she said that when she likes smthng, she’s a walking billboard. Does that sound like a certain s/o with her LUSH products? I’m even going to give her a piece of my favourite solid conditioner JUNGLE b/c she’s worth it!

She’s outta town this weekend, but now I’ve got Eric and still have Abe so I won’t be lonely. No more 10am rums for me!

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Heyyy! So I’ve been twice in 3 days and well, it’s just swell. I run along the beach and the first time, I had my friend Abe with me. He’s tall but was humouring me by running slowly. We went at night and the waves were crashing. The non-running crowd (everyone else in DN) was staring or cuddling with their loved ones. Meanwhile, I was yelling at Abe b/c he wanted to take it “slow”. Such good times : ) Then he starting jumping and trying to touch these lamp posts. I tried once and ending up falling on my shoulder. It was pretty funny, esp. cuz the VNese thought we were two crazy kids causing a ruckus.

Now, if I had a real “lover” (nguoi yeu) as the VNese like to call their significant other, that would be a good nite spot.

The other time I went, I was by myself and that way, I could run in peace. I stretched on this wall that led down to the beach and watched a group of teens play beach soccer with two large sticks as their goalposts. There were a lot of boats in the water and ppl were cleaning fish and reeling them in as I ran by. When I was thirsty, I stopped by this cafe for coffee, red watermelon seeds (addictive) and a cool wet cloth. All this and the free delicious tea came to less than $1!

So I can’t wait til Marathon Marisa comes to town so we can run, drink, and play near the beaches of Danang. Did I mention that it’s always warm, even in the winter?

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So I went to have lunch at this awesome fish noodle place (sorry MK) and as I was waiting for my bowl of fresh, steaming, warm-your-throat, $0.70 noodles, I saw a little mouse crawli into the back of this place and stand on its tippy toes to grab a piece of basil or Vietnamese plant. Then he came again and again like he was scrounging for food for his family. Since the food’s prepared at the front of the store, no one was watching except me. Then a girl came by and put this bowl of leaves on a higher spot so lil Mr. Mouse couldn’t reach it anymore.

The weird thing is that I don’t like mice. I have memories of being 10 and seeing a mouse in my cat’s paws and almost touching it. I hate them usually and don’t want my salad near their paws. I jump and shriek like many of you when you think about such creepy crawlies (though I like spiders = welcome in my room anytime) but after about a month here, I realized that this guy also needs food and we’re just animals who are hungry at lunchtime. I didn’t mind and almost wanted to videotape it. Weird eh?

But if that mouse comes w/in a metre of me, it’s DEAD MEAT or either I’m outta there so fast that you’ll have to call me speedy Marisa! (my marathon running friend)

In fact mice thrive in Vietnam and maybe ppl eat them. You get used to it after awhile and so it’s not too bad. It’s kinda like the ants…in my new place, I don’t mind them b/c they stay on the floor and not in my food.

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ARE SO COOL! Yesterday Abe-San, Nozomi and I went swimming. Then we ate banh canh (fresh grated noodles in an amazing fish broth) and then we went for SUSHI. Now, I’m on a “cleanse” after my wild weekend so no coffee, beer, or SAKE for me. Once we got there, Abe-San saw some colleagues (Ryo and Aikawa) so we joined them…AND LET THE SAKE GAMES BEGIN! Fortunately for me, their English was great. (Abe doesn’t speak it but can understand and read it.) Aikawa is an older gentleman who’s set up a Japanese school in Danang and works with one of his good friends, Ryo. They are sooooooo cute and they have the most smooth, attractively tanned faces, I’ve even seen. There must be something about the Asian skin that I hope to obtain. Maybe it’s the SAKE!

Aikawa-san is like the sporty cool dad that I like. My dad’s hyper active so I’m grateful already but a Japanese dad like this one
· Played ICE hockey and wants to go to an NHL game
· Golfs and wants to open a course in Danang and TEACH ME!
· Plays a Japanese instrument and is well-known in Danang for his singing
· Skis like this Canadian does
· Swims like a fish and SURFS!
· And did I mention that his English is AMAZING?

The only thing he doesn’t do is rockclimb but I’ve definitely met my sporty match!
And he likes the Canadian English accent cuz it’s easy to understand. Personally, it just must be me eh?

Abe-san is sooooooooooooooooooo nice and the more I hang out with him, the better it gets. We’re going running tomorrow. He’s so friendly, funny, has amazing VNese, and of course, meets the HOTTEST FACTOR But we’re going to be JUST friends and that suits me JUST fine J

And b/c I grew up in Vancouver, I know some Japanese food vocabulary and that definitely helps our relationship J Yeah!

And so, SAKE on SATURDAY! Just two more days to go!

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So back to East Meets West, did I mention that Nam is from TULSA, OKLAHOMA? That is only the hometown of HANSON!!!!! OH yeah! So of course, he’s seen them in concert, on the street, at their house (ok maybe he’s not a stalker) but can you guess who is? That’d be me and so I will stalk Nam until I can see Hanson in person. I missed them when they were in Vancouver so I guess I’ll just have to wait until Hanson takes on Asia. If ever they come back to Japan, I fly to Japan….

Doo bi dop ba doo wop! Oh yeah!

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