Apart from English Club, occasional visits to classes and attending celebrations/ceremonies, I don't spend much time on campus at the university. It's mainly domestic stuff for me. Luckily I'm enjoying exploring the food scene. But I'll leave that for la later post. So, a bit on day to day life for me.After our visit to Quang Ngai and Hoi An we returned to Tuyen Quang on Tet Eve to cheery hellos from people in our street, some of whom were surpris...

It's not the reason we went, but the weather in Quang Ngai was certainly warmer. With a two week break over Tet we decided to take the opportunity to visit our old colleagues down south; looking forward to a week of warmth - in the weather as well as the reunions. We'd then be back in time to join in the Tet celebrations with friends and neighbours in Tuyen Quang.Locals tell us the first half of winter this year was unusually mild - thus when we first cam...

CHRISTMAS Christmas came and went even in Tuyen Quang. Celebrated with a few decorations and Christmas trees if not the religious ceremony. We were a bit down in the lead-up, afraid we'd miss the family too much. So it was a lovely surprise when one of the staff, her husband and baby son called in on Christmas Eve bringing us a Christmas cake. Not our traditional kind. They do very elaborate customised sponge cakes for all occasions here (the staff had even ...

Well, I began to think it wouldn't happen, but after months of delays here we are in Tuyen Quang, northern Vietnam, which will be our home away from home for the next 18 months. After several weeks of frantic packing we got away, relieved if somewhat exhausted. Remarkable. I'd come down with a heavy cold the week before we left Perth which didn't help the packing effort. (When you have to empty your house you realise just how much stuff you have!) Owe...

Don't you just HATE those blogs that suddenly stop without warning?!I used to follow a couple when we were living in China that did that - they were from people travelling to places we hoped to visit and I enjoyed following them and getting tips. I can only assume the people returned home after their holidays. Frustrating.Then I did the same thing. Whoops.I had good intentions of doing a countdown of our last month in Quang Ngai - even started a draft entry. ...