Alive and Kicking
Mom, Dad, et al:
Yes, I'm here in sunny Saigon. Everything has gone very well so far. I'm
staying at a kick-ass place. It's clean and safe, and the people are very
friendly. I have the dee-luxe room: Air-Con, private bathroom, stereo, and
a fridge (good omen of the day: All of the tapes except one are crazy
Asia-Techno. The one tape of Western music is labeled Mariah Carey/Bryan
Adams. I stuck it in this morning when I woke up, and it turned out to be
mislabeled. The first song? "Don't Cry" by G'n'R).
As I sit here, trying to type, I realize that when I first envisioned
writing all sorts of pithy and insightful comments. But now that I type, I
have no idea what to write. Like that little anecdote above, I'm pretty
sure that most of you reading this don't get it.
Um...Saigon is very HOT and LOUD. The people are very nice. They are all
extremely impressed with the fact that I speak any Vietnamese at all. I
haven't learned much more since I got here, but I have improved my
pronounciation of what I already knew about 100 times. Top phrases that I
use each day: "I don't understand" "Hello" "How much is it" "That's too
expensive" "I don't speak much Vietnamese." I do manage to get around,
though.
There's no web access here, so that's why I'm not using my own e-mail
acount. This is better, I guess ('cause you get mail with a .vn address).
There are pool tables everywhere here!
Good news Mom: I got a job offer. I can stay here and teach English. :)
The food is stupid cheap. About 50 cents for a meal from a vendor. I ate
in a restaurant and it cost about $1.50.
I leave here tomorrow to go North to my coworker's Mom's house. I'm taking
a mini-van with some other Westerners.
I think there is a plot against me. Everywhere I go in the world, there
are never any pretzels, but there are always Mentos.
Happy Valentine's Day,
Mike
P.S. I know this is underwhelming. I'll try to jot down notes so that my
next e-mail will be interesting. I should be back here (Saigon) in about a
week or so, and I'll e-mail then.
P.P.S. John, none so far, but don't worry, I have time.