Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Vietnam (1): First Impressions

WHOOSH!!! And here we are!

New country, new continent, new time-zone, new life.
And I am SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY TO BE BACK IN ASIA!!!
The pace is just different. The energy is different. Life has a completely different hue here...

In a way, I wish it were Shaun writing this blog rather than I, because everything feels so familiar to me, everything feels - oddly, yet unsurprisingly - like being home again. I've been encouraging him to  point out all of the things which he finds interesting, or different, or attention-worthy here. And every time he does, I realize that these things haven't registered with me at all, because after spending a decade of my life in Asia, it's all so natural to me!

We're in Vung Tau, which is a peninsula at the very southern tip of Vietnam, about 2 hours outside of Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh City. It's little: about 140 square km in total, roughly (I've been told) 14 km by 7 km in size, with a population of about 300 thousand people. The beaches aren't very prominent (to be fair, we have yet to go to one), but there are little pockets of beach littered along the coastline where I've seen people swimming at all hours of the day and night. But there are lovely parks and green areas, little nooks and crannies and enclaves to explore...
Life is slow here, as if we were living on an island. I'm SO happy to be out of the insanity of Johannesburg. WOW. 

First things first: official responsibilities. I started looking for work today. Had an interview at the University, and a school, and dropped off my CV at two other noted schools on the island. Our friends here don't seem to foresee any difficulty in us finding jobs. We wanted some time to acclimatize to a new environment, so we gave it a week. I've made the mistake before (more than once) of rushing into the first thing I find in a sense of desperate urgency, only to spend the next months feeling unhappy and frustrated. I won't make that mistake again.
From what I've observed, the foreign teacher schedule is 2 hours every evening (around 6 - 8 pm), Monday to Friday, and "full" days on Saturday and Sunday (with a 3 - 4 hour break in the middle). For that schedule, I'll earn THREE TIMES as much as I did in South Africa - at a far cheaper cost of living. Plus a lot of teachers here do online teaching, too. That brings in even more money. The potential for saving is incredible. 

Also - and just as importantly, there's so much free time for other things! Exercise, study, whatever you like! I'm really excited! It's common knowledge that I'm a giant geek. I LOVE studying, learning, expanding my horizons. I can't wait to flex my brain-muscle once again!
 
We're SO lucky. We've come to stay with one of Shaun's best friends, Connor, and his girlfriend, Candice - who are SUCH fabulous human beings! We're living with them for now until we find a place of our own. They have a big, beautiful, 3-room house with a large outdoor balcony, on which Connor (informally) runs 10 a.m stretches and yoga and Jiu Jitsu classes, which he encourages his friends to join. Different friends show up every morning - it's SO cool. We're totally keen on getting involved regularly... it'll be so nice to reintroduce exercise into my life again!
I was always too exhausted to do anything at all back in Johannesburg. Mentally, emotionally, physically... Battling rush-hour traffic twice a day? That alone is enough to render one bedridden by 7 p.m! My body craves it, I can feel it. I've been joining-in on the morning stretches, then when the boys start wrestling on the mats, I've been moving into the lounge and doing my own weight-and-fitness routines. Nothing crazy, nothing heavy, but just working my body again has felt soooooooo good! I can feel the gratitude seeping from my pores!
Plus, Shaun will finally have the time to pursue his passion of electronic music. Connor and Candice plan on starting to throw regular parties here (they had their first one on NYE), and my brilliant man will start DJing at those. I'm SO happy for him!!! After about a decade of working in construction: long hours, long days, in a stressful and miserable work environment, under dangerous conditions... he was exhausted, and uninspired. The artist in him has been screaming for release. I've seen a new Shaun since we got here. It's beautiful.

Some random yet fascinating initial observations:
Firstly, our fabulous hosts hired a motorbike for us for the first month, since that's how everyone here gets around. Traffic is typically Asian: everyone does exactly as they please, and everything runs smoothly because of it. I'll post a video and go into more detail next time, but it's quite something to behold!
Also, because of the heat, there is a siesta-culture here, too. Everything shuts down between about 12 and 3, in order for everyone to have a nap. Delicious! In turn, that also means that things shut down later in the evenings, which makes for a vibrant and busy night-time culture. Such fun!
We've met a few other expats here so far, and everyone's been SO nice. There's that old expat unity that I've missed: it's a camaraderie, a "we're-all-in-this-together"-ness, an understanding that comes from the fact that everyone's doing the same job and therefore experiencing the same challenges together. LOTS of South Africans! Which has also made assimilating so much easier.
I've also noticed that the city seems to be evenly split between the Buddhist and Christian faiths. There are as many churches as there are temples, and just as there looms a giant madonna-with-child statue up on the hill, so too is there a Buddhist one on a different hill. There's even a smaller-than-the-original Christ the Redeemer here! It makes for what appears to be a distinctly pious and peaceful energy...
Our lives here so far have been WONDERFUL. Wake up, morning-exercise sessions, drive around with C and C to get food and get to know the city (OMG ALL OF THE FOOD IS SO GOOD!!!), afternoon nap. In the evenings while our hosts are at work, Shaun and I have been exploring the island, he's been practicing driving the motorbike (I have no desire to learn - I managed to avoid it for a decade, I shall continue to do so for as long as I can), we've been reading up on life here, he's been working on his music, I've been reading (what a luxury! I can't remember the last time I read a book!).
Then at night the 4 of us will either go out for dinner or cook together at home... friends drop in and out of the house... it's all so easy and fluid here. The rhythm is SO good.

I'm really, truly, happy we made this move. We both are.
May it continue in this vein, and may everything fall into place for us in the weeks ahead. Sending out good vibes to the Universe.
Love and light to you all!!! xxx



 About to land in Asia! WHEEEEEE!!! :)

 First meal in Vietnam, at home with the utterly lovely Candice and Connor!

 Driving through the streets of Vung Tau

 Sights around the city, off the back of a scooter

 Sights around the city, off the back of a scooter

 Sights around the city, off the back of a scooter

 Sights around the city, off the back of a scooter

 Sights around the city, off the back of a scooter

 Sights around the city, off the back of a scooter

 Sights around the city, off the back of a scooter

 Mountain-top sunset facing West...

... and East, overlooking the fisheries in this port town

Vietlovin'

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing Hon! Can’t even begin to tell you how much I miss Asia! Maybe it’s time again😘

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dankie, my maatjie!!! xxx
    Maybe you SHOULD... ;)

    ReplyDelete