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A banquet at a restaurant with all the teachers from the Foreign Languages Department! What better way to finish the first week here? No it wasn't in our honor. It was the usual (it seems) way to end the departmental all-day planning day. We were invited and of course were thrilled to go. The evening involved lots of delicious food and many toasts of "chuc suu khoe!" (good health) and "bottoms up" (The locals here are keen on English colloquialisms). Many toasts were accompanied by "100%" which it turns out means "skull". At first I pretended I could only manage to down half (thought it might be deemed more feminine and wasn't sure I could anyway) only to receive a second toast and this time a friendly hand nudged the bottom of the glass to help me get it down. The beer was served room temperature with a giant chunk of ice in the glass, watering it down - which was just as well.
Owen had a good first week. Invited to sit in on several classes and even deliver the odd mini lesson (at least once on the spur of the moment). I spent most days in and around the guesthouse on campus. A bit of hand washing each day (haven't spotted any laundries like the ones in Hanoi - must ask someone), short walks taking photos, but mostly hanging round reading.
The staff are very friendly and seem keen to see us here. The students are shy and giggly but eager to speak to us, and currently living on campus we're easily cornered. Native speakers are in high demand for practice and It looks like I might be involved in English Club.
Quang Ngai is like a sprawling country town compared to Lanzhou or Hanoi. No high rise, shopping centre or department store - or not that we've found yet. Still the bustle and noise though. The traffic is still crazy, just less of it and mostly motorbikes. Vehicles tend to claim priority by pulling out to straddle the white line then charging through with horn blaring. The bikes all move to the sides and everyone's happy. It's a bit difficult for us to get around as there's no bus service and a lot of the time it's too hot to walk far. The local staff tell us we should get motor bikes! Early on we chanced on a taxi driver with a bit of English who gave us his card, so we ring him if we need to go any distance. I guess we'll stick out here anyway, so I shouldn't feel self conscious about being the only one on foot.
The main supermarket in town is three storeys with a children's "fun park" corner on the top floor (yet to see any of the rides operating) and a food hall on the bottom floor. We've shopped there and eaten in the evening a couple of times - the hotpot is pretty good. Apart from a nearby coffee shop, the eating options around the university are pretty much only street stalls, the ones with low tables and tiny plastic "kindergarten" stools. I'll have to get a photo of Owen on one. We've had some nice food from them and survived so far, but there's not a lot of variety. No sign of a western restaurant or fast food outlet in town!
There are, however, many coffee places selling the delicious STRONG, velvety Vietnamese drip coffee with sweetened condensed milk. It comes in a glass with ice on the side - or if you want it hot the whole thing comes sitting in a bowl of hot water. I can see a slippery slope in front of me.
We're now looking forward to finding a place to rent so we can finally unpack the suitcases! Apparently a license is required for locals to rent to foreigners, but with so few foreigners we're not sure if many prospective landlords have jumped through all the hoops. We may be in the guesthouse a bit longer.
However, I managed to get some decaf ground coffee in Hanoi, and Owen spotted a shop selling guitars in town the other day, so things are looking good!
- comments
Maree Smith Hi Avenel, Great to see the photos!! First time we have seen any of your photos...It looks nice"! Hope you manage to find some 'digs' soon just so you dont have to keep diving into the cases. Will you have a position at the university or not? I vote you ge the scooters!!! We came home from u.k and I got thre flu, havebeen quite "crook" for over 2 weeks...Look forward to your next post.
Darryl Stock Very interesting and great photos. If you do decide to chance scooters DO BE CAREFUL! Wear helmets - I am sounding more and more like Auntie Ella!
avenel Dear Aunty Ella :)
Frank Now I see why the beds can't be shifted! Does look a bit spartan. Hope the shift comes soon for you.
Frank GO THE SCOOTERS!What's with the guitar though? Surely the scooters are more important - I have an image of a driver and a passenger riding side saddle - I won't specify hwom is who! Cheers