One Rising Star

#nextchaptervietnam Anyone really close to me knows how much I just absolutely LOVE a good hair wash. Well, today, I experienced the most unique hair wash ever! After an exhausting week (I'm truly a crazy workaholic and an abnormal exercise obsessed person) and then a terrible nights rest, I decided that today was the day that I would finally treat myself to my first hair wash in HCMC. I had heard that a hair wash here was quite good and that it usually included a very long head massage, so I was really looking forward to it. At the salon, after waiting my turn, I was asked to remove my shoes and to go upstairs. When I arrived at the top, I noticed that there were a few ladies laying down on "tables" being massaged. I was asked to lay down on one of them too, which had a sink at the head. Already, I had so many thoughts and questions running through my mind. In the beginning, the young lady started washing my hair and massaging my head. Everything seemed fairly...

#nextchaptervietnam Upon my arrival in Vietnam, I truly thought I could get by walking, running and taking taxi cars everywhere around town. I really didn't think I had it in me to get on a motorbike and to ride through the chaotic streets of Ho Chi Minh City.  It didn't take me long though before I learned about the advantages of motorbikes - much cheaper and much much quicker! Motor biking debut Last Saturday, I had my first REAL ride ( I say 'real' because on day 3 in Vietnam I got a ride across the street from my hotel ) on a Motorbike - Vietnamese style! I went to play soccer in another district of the city and it took me nearly an hour to get there in a taxi car. This was the second weekend in a row that I had experienced a very long taxi ride to get to soccer and I knew I just couldn't keep that up. So, after our extended 5-aside game, I asked my new teammates if anyone could give me a ride anywhere close to my home. Luckily, one of my Vietnamese teamm...

    #nextchaptervietnam BACK TO REALITY! It was an incredibly busy week inside  and outside of the classroom, as I tried to get into somewhat  of a regular balanced routine during the first week of classes. This weeks highlights were getting to know my temporary  Grade 5 students and trying to get back on track with my  healthy lifestyle here in Vietnam. GETTING TO KNOW THE STUDENTS I've really only had 3 days with the students, but I must admit, they've really exceeded my expectations so far. For the most part, their English was much better than I expected. We got to do so many fun things in order to learn about each other; we played workout your name (each letter of the alphabet is associated with a certain exercise),  we made name art (each letter of their name contained words or pictures to represent them), we made an all about me 'rainbow' (each strand had a descriptive sentence starting with "I am..."), we did speed i...

#nextchaptervietnam I have now been in Vietnam for 1 whole week and let me tell you that it’s been nothing short of…C-R-A-Z-Y!  Lots and lots has happened, but m y major highlights this week have definitely been finding a new home and being assigned a “new” temporary role at my new school, which you can read more about below. FINDING A NEW HOME Upon my arrival in Vietnam, one of the very first things I needed to do was to find a place to live. Since I had no plans to drive while living here (*look up driving bikes in Vietnam on YouTube and you’ll understand why), I really had my heart set on finding a modern and reasonably priced apartment close to the school, but also to restaurants and shops. I quickly found out that my expectations were a little too high however. Unlike many other newcomers who were snatching apartments left and right, it took me 3 days to find my new home. Too old, too high, too far, too small, too pricey…I had an excuse for everything I was shown....