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Not the answer to everything - we all know that's 42 - just some answers to questions and comments I've received.
Isolation
No there aren't any other Aussie women here that I know of. We've met a Canadian and a Pilipino who work at an English school in town (spoken to them twice) and I believe there are a couple more working in the same school. There are one or two other Westerners we've glimpsed in the supermarket and we got into conversations with tourists a couple of times, but one of them was Irish and I could hardly understand a word he said. So I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of English speaking foreigners I've spoken to in the eight months we've been here. There are quite possibly others in Quang Ngai, but if there are we don't see them.
So, apart from talking to each other and one or two of our more fluent local colleagues, we only ever speak fairly simple English. This means consciously making conversation in short and uncomplicated sentences and repeating ourselves a lot. It's also brought home how much we use colloquialisms and means we are constantly having to rephrase things. One surprising consequence of this is that my vocabulary is suffering. I often find myself struggling to dredge up a word or phrase and forget what words mean when asked, so I'm trying to do a bit more reading just to keep up the language. Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising, or maybe it's just age creeping up.
We're trying to learn Vietnamese while we're here, hoping it will be useful as so little English is spoken, but are finding it very difficult - it's not an easy language. A legacy of moving around in recent years and having a smattering of several languages but fluency in none, is that when I try to say something I often come out with a mixture of Tetun or Chinese in with the Vietnamese, all in the one sentence. Often-used words and phrases pop out automatically and sometimes a word pops into my head and it takes a while to remember which language it is. I even find the odd German word or phrase appearing - and I haven't thought about German since high school days!
Food
We don't generally crave western food - actually part of the reason for going overseas is to experience the "local" and that includes the different cuisine. At home I generally cook a western hybrid, making it up as I go along. Our most often eaten western dish here is spaghetti bolognese, as mince is readily available and also tomatoes - and it seems even more like home after I found some sage and oregano in a supermarket in Danang. (Five spice was an interesting twist till then). That said, we do occasionally find ourselves thinking things like "a nice little fillet steak with mushroom sauce would go down well right now". Lamb is non-existent here and of course roasts of any kind would be a treat. In Quang Ngai there are no western food outlets but in larger cities there are KFC and pizza places and some restaurants will serve western dishes. We do find we gravitate to the western dishes when away, as they're something we can't usually have, but they're often not quite what we expect.
Whenever we go to a bigger city I like to head for the largest supermarket and zigzag, picking up anything I see that I can't get here. I'm finding more and more, so my wish list is getting shorter - as no doubt Anna will be pleased to hear. I've found decaf coffee in Hanoi (yay); SR flour, herbs and a strange coffee filter in Danang; and some reasonable clothes in Hoi An. Having had some success with microwave cakes, next trip I'll be looking for baking powder (so I can use the plain flour available here) and a microwave ring pan (so I don't have to stand a glass in the middle of a casserole pan - finding the centre is a bit of a challenge).
Creepies
Only seen one or two huntsmen, but lots of daddy long legs. The wings from their nightly feasts tend to be all over the furniture in the mornings. The ceilings are too high to reach with a broom or even a spray can, hence the long brush from the cart in the last post. There are actually surprisingly few creepies here, well less then I expected. Walking at night we see the occasional rat or mouse but not as many as I'd have thought - and none so far around the house (touch wood). What we see most of are the little geckos on the walls and ceilings. Sometimes they startle me but are pretty harmless and the hope is they'll eat mosquitoes - though they're falling down there I have to say. There are also lots of tiny birds with the loudest song I've heard and at present cicadas in some parts of town making an incredible racket.
Generosity
The local people here are incredibly generous. They've been very welcoming and inclusive and seem pleased to have us here. We've been given so much - TV and some furniture on permanent loan, delicacies at Tet, fruit and food. We've been taken places, out for meals and coffee, included in celebrations and social activities. Their hospitality certainly puts ours back home to shame.
It's an odd existence, a bit surreal, and I sometimes find myself wondering "what am I doing here?". However it's an incredible experience, always interesting and certainly keeps the boredom out of retirement.
- comments
Zig What an interesting Blog, Avenel!I love to read about the different existences and yes, I agree about the hospitality in other countries compared to ours. Maybe it's something to do with things being more formal over here.I'm enjoying the grandchildren in the school holidays at the moment - Scitech, Landsdale Farm, Whiteman Park, Museum, beach, trains & buses, movies, playgrounds and sleepovers.....By the time the school holidays are over I'm ready for a break!Cheers, Zig x