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I haven't died from any horrible mosquito-bourne viral diseases or mortally wounded in a motorbike accident or anything like that (although I have had a few more accidents recently). Since I've moved in to my new house, I haven't had a good internet connection, until right now, which is why I haven't written anything in so long. But fear not, I have returned!
I went out and bought a new motorbike 2 weeks ago, a Honda WIN. I felt like being more 'hardcore' and getting a 'proper' motorbike with the clutch and everything, rather than a scooter like everyone else. I now know why everyone else rides scooters. Motorbikes were not made to be rode in a pace like Saigon's chaotic streets. It's just about bordering on suicide, especially when you're stupid enough to buy a fully manual motorbike without EVER having used a clutch before in your life. I'm lucky to be alive and writing this post after the ride home from the bike shop, good God...
I literally stalled every 10 metres or so, and had to kick-start it back to life in the middle of a sea of raging traffic. I could have read the minds of the Vietnamese beeping past with their scorning eyes - another silly foreigner who can't even ride his bike properly. Oh, the shame!
Of course I didn't want to spend much on a bike, so I got one of the cheapest ones I could find. It was about $450. But I got what I paid for, the thing has been nothing but trouble since I bought it. I've had to get a lift to work the last 2 days from my housemate (luckily we teach at the same school) because I couldn't even get it started - the electric starter is broken and the kick-start is bending in places it shouldn't.
I moved into my new house a few weeks ago, in District 10, and have spent a little too much time watching Westerns and the discovery channel while laying on the couch and chewing on sugar-coated strawberry chews (called Dau Tay). You don't realise how essential having a couch is until you loose it.
Anyway, it's a real nice place, new as well (I think). I'm living there with 2 housemates, from the US and Canada. I'm the baby of the house, they're both in their late 20's. Moving in was an interesting experience. I got a motorbike taxi (xe om) to tie my suitcase onto the back of his bike, while I carried the rest of my stuff in a backpack and shoulder bag that I had to put between my legs. There was no room for my shoes, so I had to hang them over the handlebars. And to top it off, it was raining, so I had a massive poncho covering everything. Suffice to say, it was a very awkward drive, chasing after my suitcase in the rain to my new house. You can never really trust those xe oms that much...
I just found out that today is 'ghost day', where (let's see if I can recall this right), the man from the sea and the woman from the land meet and have babies, die and then it rains because the sky is crying. I have no idea what any of that is supposed to mean, but I just felt like putting it out there.
So happy ghost day!
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