Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

As some of you may know, I left the University of Calgary-Qatar in June and have relocated to Vietnam, where I am teaching for the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology International University Vietnam ... or RMIT Vietnam. So now I am learning Australian English ... how are you going?
It was a fast and furious summer, what with returning to Canada, looking for and finding a job, gardening, catching up on friends and family, and going to Oklahoma to see Errol's mother and brother. And life continues to move apace ... at least for the moment.
Leaving Qatar was difficult in some ways, as I loved the students there and I am very supportive of the program and its objectives. However, for many reasons, UC-Q was not a good fit for me, and the best thing to do was leave. I keep in touch with some students and staff members and former staff members; I consider myself lucky to have made some lovely friends and hope to continue to stay in touch with them. In fact, last week my former UC-Q colleague, Tam Donnelly was in Ho Chi Minh City and we went out for dinner. She is the loveliest and most gracious person and it was great to see her for a bit. Such a small world.
So, from application to arriving in HCMC was a little over 3 weeks and so I am still in the process of adjusting to this new adventure. First of all, it is hot. Very, very hot. And humid. RMIT has a lovely new campus and so the a/c works wonderfully, which is a major blessing. They are putting me up in a hotel for a week; when my allotted days are up, I will move to a service apartment (meaning a studio, basically with laundry and maid servcie). It is a large and airy room with a great and spotless bathroom ... a fridge and access to a shared kitchen on the top floor. Apparently only 1 or 2 of the 8 residents ever cook and there is a lovely table on the rooftop verandah, as well. Most people eat out or order in here as it is so incredibly hot (did I mention that?) and also the restaurant prices are extremely reasonable, so not having a fully dedicated kitchen is not a big thing for me right now. I imagine I will get a flat in a couple of months, as several people have told me they are coming to visit and will need more space. And I suppose eating out will become blase in about 90 days or so:-) People at RMIT have said some people rush into a rental agreement and live to regret it, as the districts here are so different and as people become familiar with the city, they often find they prefer the lifestyle of a different neighbourhood. Right now I am in District 7 -Phu My Hung, a largely Korean suburb only 5 minutes (by taxi) from RMIT and, as I have 7:30 am classes every day, the thought of not having to contend with rush hour traffic as I commute from District 1 - Saigon is a major consideration for me. Plus Phu My Hung is quite green, less polluted, and much quieter. And more expensive, but there are pros and cons to everything, no?
I am a bit nervous about starting my new teaching position, as the curriculum is so different from what I have been working with recently. On the positive note, there is a curriculum, so that's good. The teaching approach is very communicative and extremely fast-moving. I think it is very CELTA-inspired. There are over 80 people in the department and they all have shopping baskets full of markers and papers and blue tack and games and hand-outs. I am tired just thinking of it all. I have my first day mostly mapped out ... at least the first two hours or so ... and we shall see how it goes. My friend, Patty Ryan, says that many Vietnamese students expect their English clases to be entertaining and complain if their classes are not fun enough. Oh, the pressure ... It is a very diverse lot I'll be working with - from Australia, New Zealand, the States, the UK, Canada and ????
I observed a couple of hours of classes last week and the students seem quite young and very sweet. I hope I can learn to pronounce their names:-) One told me to call her 'Mushroom', so that works for me. Seriously, I do hope I can learn to say their names properly. Some of our mispronunciations are very rude, I hear. I am hoping to take language lessons soon. There are many major differences between Qatar and here, but one of the most noticeable is the immediate accessibility of services. Within a two or three square block section there are so many services ... and so there are a few language schools that offer Vietnamese classes in my immediate neighbourhood. Music classes, art classes ... you name it! Plus in my soon-to-be home, the Eva Hotel, there is a silk importer and tailor. I have already had a manicure, pedicure and spa massage and these were all within a five-minute walk. Nice. On Friday, RMIT organized a city tour and dinner to complete our induction. and it was a very emotional way to end a very busy week. One of the places we stopped was at the War Remnants Museum, and as last week was International Agent Orange Day, the displays were quite graphic and upsetting. In some ways this country has had so much conflict over its several thousand years of existence that the Vietnam War seems like a blip on the screen in their history, and apparently some people here really do consider it that way. But what we saw will take a while to percolate through my consciousness, that's for sure. I met up with some former Londoners, Ron and Kathy Moore, who are teaching at the American International School in HCMC ... more small world. That was very enjoyable, as they are quite familiar with District 1 and knew a nice place to have lunch. The bar and grill was on a small street and it was full of stationery, camera, and electronics stores. So it was kind of neat to see folks drive by on their mopeds with 2 or 3 flat-screen TVs bungee-corded onto the back of their bikes. I also joined a pool. Again half a block away from where I am staying. The pool is well-maintained and long enough for swimming lengths. Yesterday the majority of swimmers were British 30-somethings and Korean fathers with their children. And me. So I went again this morning and the Korean fathers and their kids were there, but no up-and-comers... late night at the pubs perhaps.
My camera battery is dead, so I will upload some pics tomorrow. I will have more news soon, I imagine, and hope the last bit of summer is a good bit of summer for everyone. Best wishes to you all.