Our province, Dong Nai, made international news last week because of the protests over China's oil drilling near the disputed Paracel Islands. Vietnam and China both claim the islands, and therein lies the dispute. Nationalist fervor is running quite high in Vietnam. I'm not a political person, although I do think Obama is a great president. The Vietnamese clamped down on the protests because of violence and vandalism. All is calm now. I was given a couple of Vietnamese flags to display, but since I want to stay out of the public eye, I hung them in my room, not out of my window. Of course, I support Vietnam. I live here and they pay me, and lately, folks have been rather nice to me. The White Monkey is on their side. Vietnam may take China to international court over the disputed islands.
There's a rat that freely roams our neighborhood day and night. It's a big rascal, so I consider it a community pet rather than a scary nuisance. It ran under my legs as I was sitting on the front steps of my house. And I mean under my legs. It wasn't scared, either. It got into my kitchen once when I left the back door open. I petted it a little and sent it on its way. Good rat.
The heat has been, well, hot lately. Right now it's 97 degrees fahrenheit and "feels like" 109. Humidity is 47 percent, and usually runs a bit higher. I sweat constantly, but since I've been drinking lots of cokes and stuff, my weight is increasing. I'm bloated like a hippo, but it's so dang hot, I don't care. The heat has mildly affected the students, who seem a little sluggish even though the Vietnamese are clearly better adapted to these conditions than the White Monkey. Understandable that they're uncomfortable, but classes are going well. Kids classes are awesome.
I went to see the 3-D movie Godzilla with my F3A3 class at the local cinema -- or as I call it, the internet/chat room at CinePlex. The F3A3 kids got tickets as a prize for their outstanding efforts in the Go Green competition. I had to pay for my ticket. Before the movie, I got the kids some drinks: they had Red Bull, Sting, soda and coffee. They're 10, 11, and 12 years old. We had a blast! We walked to the cinema, and hung out, and did the usual kids' stuff before and after the movie. I felt young again -- not a day over 58. That was the first 3-D I've ever seen, and it was very cool. The subtitles hung in mid-air. Wow!
Riding the bike is no longer an adventure. It's a pain in the ass, just like driving a car in the U.S. I even answered my cell phone while riding the other day. What a jerk I am! I can smoke and ride, also. Aren't you going to congratulate me?
I need to buy some furniture because sleeping and lesson planning on a foam mattress on the floor isn't working. I "talked" to a local shop owner, and I agreed to buy a desk, but the chair didn't work out. Maybe next time.
I love my coffee shop -- with servers Nguyen and Nguyen -- because they know what I want and the customers leave me alone, which is the big plus. I don't want to teach English after I finish teaching English. I do hear lots of sad stories from the young girls here, who all love me. But even if the stories aren't true, it's sad the girls would make something like that up. The decisions these girls make to earn money can be distressing, to say the very least.
But my focus is teaching and the students, and that's what keeps me smiling. No sob story here. At least not today.
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