We have now been in Vietnam for 7 weeks and probably due for our first letter! Apologies for not making it sooner for those wanting to know our news.
Busy – would be the best way to describe life here. After months of sorting through years of unsorted papers and boxes. And then in the last weeks, getting our Vietnam life packed and ready to go, Jaom and I were exhausted by the time we got onto the plane. I think we had about 2 hours sleep the night before we left.
Adrenalin got us through the plane trip. Thanks to a contact at Qantas , we had terrific seats (exit row) which meant we could take it in turns to lie down and sleep – probably not official plane practise but hey, the Vietnam Airlines staff did not stop us.
Our 4 storey, 5 bedroom house was pre-organised so our taxi took us straight there. Unfortunately it was a bit of a shock to see the landlady still cleaning when we arrived. And for the next few days we (mostly Jaom) turned around and had to clean our new house – not happy! But the house is great – tall and skinny. Kitchen, TV and general dining on ground floor. This is also where Andrew parks his motorbike – drives it through the front roll up door. 1st floor are the bedrooms. 2nd floor comprises the study/play room and the guest bedroom. 3rd floor is guest bedroom / store and a terrific balcony with views of the local area. Several G and T’s have been consumed up there already. At first the stairs were daunting but the boys now race up and down as if it were a corridor. Even Hamish, who isn’t walking yet, zooms up from one floor to another.
We arrived with 2 weeks before the school year. This was enormously helpful as we arranged bank accounts, mobile phones, food, furniture, unpacked the 200 kg of unaccompanied luggage (it took a whole day to get it out of customs) and simply set up house. In this time we also met some of the other staff, all of whom have become good friends. In fact, over the last weeks there has been a significant amount of impromptu staff get- togethers and parties. On staff there are quite a few families with kids the same age and often on a Friday night we rendezvous at one of our houses. Kids in the playroom and good wine and food on the table for the adults.
In this 2 weeks we also decided we needed a real holiday and booked 3 nights at The Sailing Club resort in Mui Ne – a beautiful beach about 200km north of Saigon. Just what we needed as once we returned, Andrew started work at the Australian International School Saigon.
Andrew is teaching mostly humanities and Year 6 Science (freaked out at first at teaching such young students, now that he has met the class they are actually a delight to teach, very enthusiastic and bright). AIS Secondary is in the centre of town (just up from the famous French built cathedral) It has about 250 students. Approximately 60% are Vietnamese and the rest are a mix of South Korean, Malaysian, Australian and 2 Norwegians! Most of the Vietnamese students want to study abroad and even in the few weeks that school has begun quite a few have taken various tests at consulates to assess their eligibility. So there is a degree of transience in the school population.
Flynn is in Dynatots 4 and is at AIS Primary. His campus is in District 2, 6 km from the centre and very much an ex-pat suburb. Jaom has been helping out at the PS, in the library and in some of the movement classes. Flynn is the youngest in his class (only one born in 2006) and has been nominated as “helper” a couple of times for the day and received an award in assembly last week for being a good communicator!
We are now well and truly settled into some kind of routine. Still feel like newbies but we are getting there. With 5 weeks into the term the school has a 5 day weekend. So the family has flown up to the historic town of Hoi An and staying at the Life Resort for 3 nights. It rained non-stop and heavily for the first two days and as I write this we are finally enjoying some sunshine. Looking forward to picking up my tailor made suits trousers and funky shirt.
Cheers – Andrew, Jaom, Flynn and Hamish.
Busy – would be the best way to describe life here. After months of sorting through years of unsorted papers and boxes. And then in the last weeks, getting our Vietnam life packed and ready to go, Jaom and I were exhausted by the time we got onto the plane. I think we had about 2 hours sleep the night before we left.
Adrenalin got us through the plane trip. Thanks to a contact at Qantas , we had terrific seats (exit row) which meant we could take it in turns to lie down and sleep – probably not official plane practise but hey, the Vietnam Airlines staff did not stop us.
Our 4 storey, 5 bedroom house was pre-organised so our taxi took us straight there. Unfortunately it was a bit of a shock to see the landlady still cleaning when we arrived. And for the next few days we (mostly Jaom) turned around and had to clean our new house – not happy! But the house is great – tall and skinny. Kitchen, TV and general dining on ground floor. This is also where Andrew parks his motorbike – drives it through the front roll up door. 1st floor are the bedrooms. 2nd floor comprises the study/play room and the guest bedroom. 3rd floor is guest bedroom / store and a terrific balcony with views of the local area. Several G and T’s have been consumed up there already. At first the stairs were daunting but the boys now race up and down as if it were a corridor. Even Hamish, who isn’t walking yet, zooms up from one floor to another.
We arrived with 2 weeks before the school year. This was enormously helpful as we arranged bank accounts, mobile phones, food, furniture, unpacked the 200 kg of unaccompanied luggage (it took a whole day to get it out of customs) and simply set up house. In this time we also met some of the other staff, all of whom have become good friends. In fact, over the last weeks there has been a significant amount of impromptu staff get- togethers and parties. On staff there are quite a few families with kids the same age and often on a Friday night we rendezvous at one of our houses. Kids in the playroom and good wine and food on the table for the adults.
In this 2 weeks we also decided we needed a real holiday and booked 3 nights at The Sailing Club resort in Mui Ne – a beautiful beach about 200km north of Saigon. Just what we needed as once we returned, Andrew started work at the Australian International School Saigon.
Andrew is teaching mostly humanities and Year 6 Science (freaked out at first at teaching such young students, now that he has met the class they are actually a delight to teach, very enthusiastic and bright). AIS Secondary is in the centre of town (just up from the famous French built cathedral) It has about 250 students. Approximately 60% are Vietnamese and the rest are a mix of South Korean, Malaysian, Australian and 2 Norwegians! Most of the Vietnamese students want to study abroad and even in the few weeks that school has begun quite a few have taken various tests at consulates to assess their eligibility. So there is a degree of transience in the school population.
Flynn is in Dynatots 4 and is at AIS Primary. His campus is in District 2, 6 km from the centre and very much an ex-pat suburb. Jaom has been helping out at the PS, in the library and in some of the movement classes. Flynn is the youngest in his class (only one born in 2006) and has been nominated as “helper” a couple of times for the day and received an award in assembly last week for being a good communicator!
We are now well and truly settled into some kind of routine. Still feel like newbies but we are getting there. With 5 weeks into the term the school has a 5 day weekend. So the family has flown up to the historic town of Hoi An and staying at the Life Resort for 3 nights. It rained non-stop and heavily for the first two days and as I write this we are finally enjoying some sunshine. Looking forward to picking up my tailor made suits trousers and funky shirt.
Cheers – Andrew, Jaom, Flynn and Hamish.
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