As for life here, I've been keeping busy, and everything's been fairly normal and uneventful. Spencer got back from his month long trip home at the beginning of October, and noticing how burnt out I was on being in the city, took me on an overnight trip to Vung Tau. We took the hydrofoil over on a Monday, spent Monday night, and came back Tuesday afternoon in time to teach that evening. It was exactly what I needed. We rode around on a motorbike, had the best french toast Vietnam has to offer (at least that we've been able to find so far), and relaxed on the beach (until a huge storm came)...
The only other thing to report is the Halloween madness at ILA. Each level had a different contest (Jumpstarts had a costume contest, Juniors had a Halloween poster competition and got to go to the Haunted House, Seniors had a pumpkin carving contest, and Elites had a scary story story-telling thing). My seniors had a pretty awesome pumpkin design, and we had a lot of fun decorating it. It was a bit weird being the one in charge, though...they were all looking at me to carve the pumpkin (and I had to since I'd been explicitly warned that students weren't allowed to touch the knife).
My Jumpstarts were adorable. They came in in cute little costumes, and I realized it would be a perfect photo opportunity. After about a minute of the TAs trying to corral them into rows so that they'd all fit in the frame, I realized that the actual process of trying to get them lined up was way more adorable (and telling of what it's like teaching a Jumpies class) than the picture would be, so I switched over and took a video (in the video, note the kid in the front, in the Cat in the Hat shirt that strikes his pose, and maintains it the entire time).
The final picture:
The chaos of trying to get there (photo):
More chaos (video):
Other news is that I signed a six-month extension to my contract here, so I'll officially be here through the end of July. Weird to think about, but I'm very excited. I've started to book some trips for after I get back from Thanksgiving...so far plans include Christmas in Mui Ne, Tet (Chinese New Year, at the beginning of February) in the central Vietnam (Da Nang, Hoi An, possibly Hue, and Nha Trang), and Malaysia in April to go see a Formula1 race in KL. Should be lots of fun!
I'm off to start thinking about what to pack for my trip home....hopefully see some of you soon!
xo
