I realised that I have not done a blog update in several weeks and put it down to the fact that I haven't travelled anywhere. However when I think about it this blog is about my journey of living and working in Vietnam – the good, the bad, the exciting the boring, the joys and the frustrations.

I have been constantly challenged mentally since I arrived here. The job is not what I was told it was....supposedly developing the curriculum and teaching nursing.....in fact I have been teaching general English. Our lessons are 4 hours long with a 15 minute break in the middle so needless to say keeping their minds on work is a battle. I have 2 groups of students all at Intermediate level.

The first group are students enrolled in the Business faculty – now these students have an easy life. At the moment all they have is our 4 hour lesson per day – that’s it!! No other classes!! Once class is over they are provided with a bus to return to their dormitory where I gather (from what they tell me) they play computer games and sleep. They are gradually learning that I expect them to do their homework and they think I am ******* them.....but really all I want is for them to do their best. I can give them information, strategies and tools but they need to turn it into knowledge.

The second group are a combination of students from the Nursing and Engineering faculties. Now these students do have other classes in their respective faculties which are conducted in Vietnamese so their workload is greater than the Business students. Their only exposure to English is the 10 hours/week of classes they get from us - for most of the students this is fine as they dont want a job where they need to use English BUT there is a group of students who do aspire to work in international companies and hospitals which will need English if they are to be successful. I have a challenging class.....these students are repeating Intermediate level for the 3rd or 4th time and are really de-motivated. I suspect many of them believe they cannot pass so I am trying to build up their self confidence in addition to covering the required scheme of work. Part of life is overcoming obstacles.....

Since my last blog post we have had the mid-quarter exams which was utterly soul destroying for me. Not one of my students passed- but not only did they not pass but when given their results did not seem to care!! I came away feeling shattered as I try to make my classes interesting whilst still trying to cover all the syllabus but have started to question why I bother........yes I know......because I could not live with myself if I did not give it my greatest effort. However it is taking its toll on me mentally and physically. I have considered quitting but I am a fighter at heart and am not prepared to throw it all in yet.

The whole Vietnam experience to date and not been at all what I expected and I am so disappointed as I really want it to work out. For years I have wanted to live and work in Vietnam – it has been my dream......but at the moment I feel it is my nightmare. Compounding the actual teaching has been the dramas associated with getting our work permits and visas as well as trying to navigate our way around. For many of us who have worked in other Asian countries this have come as a surprise as usually the schools/universities are very welcoming and seem pleased to have you join them. Here I don't really feel welcome – in fact the Vietnamese staff seem to resent the fact that we are even present and others are openly hostile. For example at the opening ceremony for the academic year 2 Vietnamese lecturers got up after a couple of our teachers sat with them and stated VERY loudly that they were not going to be seated with English teachers!!!! I walk past VN teachers on the campus and always say "xin chao" (hello) but can honestly say that only one person has responded to me in 2 months...... The poor teachers who have come here from European and Middle Eastern countries seem to be totally mortified by the attitudes they are faced with. They thought they were coming to a friendly Asian country where you would be greeted with smiles and get to experience the warm hospitality for which Asia is known. I keep reminding them (and myself) that life in this town is not a reflection of the whole of Vietnam or anywhere else in Asia and am trying to get a few of them to travel around and experience the beauty of Vietnam before they become too jaded.

The debacle that has been the work permit and visa process would be laughable if it wasn’t so important to our ability to live and work here legally. In order to even be offered a contract here we all had to send scanned copies of our documents which you would assume that they checked met the requirements under Vietnamese labour laws. Every week we are being required to jump through more hoops than one could have thought possible. I got all my documents notarised and authenticated in Australia before I left but...oh no....this was not good enough. I was required to get them re-authenticated here. When I fronted up to the Australian Consulate they asked why I was there as I already had the appropriate authentication require by Vietnamese labour laws. I told them my employer required some further stamp. The lady rolled her eyes and said “let me guess, you are employed by .......l University”. When I said yes she advised me that it is their particular requirement and would cost 1.74 million VND. What choice did I have but to pay the extra money, get the extra stamp and just keep my fingers crossed that another trip into Saigon was not going to be required. Despite the terms of employment stating that my employer would cover all costs associated with the work permit inside Vietnam I am still waiting to be reimbursed the money. Given that it took about 6 weeks to reimburse the money for our health checks (after being told it would be a few days) I will be lucky if I see the money before Christmas. Trust me 1.74M can go a long way here in covering day-to-day expenses. This is just one example of the many things that has gone wrong from the moment we arrived. There were about 20 teachers who started at the same time and every single one has had at least one issue – 2 have already left and several others tell me they are actively looking elsewhere for a job.

On a positive note most of the other teachers are fantastic and we try to support each other as we go through these trials and tribulations. We also try to have a bit of fun...... so the photos attached to this blog will demonstrate that it is not all bad. We have our “cocktail” nights where we can buy them for about $2-3. Our local expat bar put on a Halloween night and everyone got into the swing of it. Some of the costumes were fantastic and a great night was had by all. As it was held during exam week we didn’t have to teach classes but I think it is safe to say that most of us were a bit under the weather on the Friday!!!!

On the weekends I get out and about in Thu Dau Mot (TDM) checking out different sections of the town each time. Tend to get up early and go walking when it is still relatively cool (about 22 degrees) and head off for a massage or manicure when it gets hotter (about 30 degrees). My only disappointment is that I am yet to find a decent massage – they are all too soft for me – more like a relaxation massage and I am trying to find one that does a deep tissue massage to iron out all the kinks in my body!!! OH how I miss my TCM doctor in China !!! Many of the teachers now have motorbikes so they can travel further afield but I have no idea how to ride one yet alone navigate through the chaotic traffic that seems to be everywhere. In fact I have seen more vehicle accidents in TDM in 2 months than I saw for the whole 3 years I was in China!! TDM is a small city but it has everything you need in terms of shopping, restaurants, cafes, sports facilities etc. During the evening a few of us generally meet up and go out for dinner together or end up meeting up at one of the nearby restaurants – something we will miss when we have to move out to the apartments.

Well that is all for now. Am hoping that my next blog will be a little more upbeat but I can only tell it how it is. Trying not to let the negativity of the experience to date colour my world.......trying to remain optimistic that all will settle down eventually........really want to be happy in Vietnam....

Bye for now. Xxx