it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

so... i am now at the 3-week stretch. in a matter of a few days i'll be back on a plane heading north-bound for canada. today it finally started to sink in how distinctly different my life has been in the past 4 months and at the same time how different my life is going to be in the following 4 months once i set foot back on canadian soil. oy.

i'm a little disappointed because the ministry of education in ho chi minh city decided to switch the students' holiday to the week after i leave... meaning, it looks like i'll be working up until christmas eve. *sigh* so much for my long-awaited one-week holiday. but work or no work, fortunately christmas plans are still coming along nicely, and as each day passes, the more and more it truly is beginning to look and feel like christmas. the children's christmas program at our church was last sunday (the 5th) and it was just so cute to see all the children dancing and singing along - of course, there was the random boy who would constantly wave at his mom throughout the entire thing, and even more so be the same boy who would sit down when all of the other children were standing and standing when all of the other children were sitting :oP it kinda reminded me of the kids back home... all the hard labour and strife the kids had to go through each practice was beautifully rewarded with a plethora of cookie-candy houses (not gingerbread because there is no gingerbread in vietnam :o( ) - once again, happy times :oD

the city is also transforming into christmas mode. district 1 looks like a completely different world... this is more widely known as the "tourist district" - it's where all the pish posh hotels are like the rex, the sheraton, the park hyatt, etc., and also where all the small shops and tourist-priced goodies are. the fake snow in some of the displays that i've seen almost look convincing, especially in places like diamond plaza, and along hai ba trung street; and some of the lightshows that are exhibited in some of the hotel lobbies that i've seen (as beautiful and as impressive as they are) make me wonder about how big the electricity bill is going to be afterwards - but i think this may be a possible answer to why certain areas of ho chi minh city have been experiencing blackouts in the past week ;oP

liz and i had a nice surprise the other day too, courtesy of bill, who in my books, is one of the most wonderful people i've ever had the pleasure of knowing :o) after a long hard day of teaching at the high school, liz and i came home to our room to find christmas lights gleaming along the rim of our balcony door - it was simply fabulous. definitely hit a soft spot with me :o) and to relieve the rest of our christmas nostalgia, liz and i decided to relax and spend a whole afternoon making paper snowflakes to put up on our window. and now our room is a winter wonderland :oD i absolutely love it! our christmas festivities also include the esi teaching team avec autumn, thuong, and loc in our own secret santa... i've been trying to figure out who got me, but everyone's actually pretty good at being tight-lipped about it (...doh - hehe).

and to get ourselves boosted in the christmas spirit, liz and i have decided to add a little christmas spunk to our lesson plans for the week of christmas - santa hats, presents, singing carols, reading and sharing Christmas stories, and the whole lot. i just need to figure out how i can supply 330+ students with presents without burning a hole right through my wallet :oP

on a totally random note, vietnam has amazing team spirit and immense national pride. the other day while kim (my TA) and i were motorbiking around the city, there were hoards and hoards of teenagers and adults in the streets wearing red bandanas and making a lot of noise. rather confused, i asked kim what all the fuss was about, and she told me that it was because vietnam was playing against singapore for the Tiger Cup. The Tiger Cup (appropriately named by their sponsor, Tiger Beer) is a soccer tournament held within asia - vietnam really takes this seriously.. and i mean SERIOUSLY. in all of the parks within the downtown area there were jumbo flatscreen projections of the live game broadcasted, and the parks were completely surrounded by lines and lines of parked motorbikes with their drivers and/or families watching in complete anticipation. it was nuts. just imagine the toronto mapleleafs winning the stanley-cup IN toronto x 500 - that's just how intense it was. motorbikes, cars, bicycles ringing their bells, honking their horns; drivers yelling and screaming whenever the ball would come metres near the goal line... yeesh!

and among other things, the english geek in me was very much delighted when i stumbled upon a collection of english books while walking around in backpacker's alley - it's located at the back of this tourism office along the side of pham ngu lao street - the place is small, but the shelves are overflowing with books from your classic authors like joyce, hardy, eliot, and austen; to your popular authors like clancy, crichton, king; to even your baby books, do-it-yourself advice books, etc. the prices were pretty reasonable, but at the same time tourist-intended, but it was quite refreshing to be in the presence of a plethora of english literature :oD

hmmm. in the remaining three weeks i have here in ho chi minh, i plan on making the most of it by checking out the city's museums and shifting gears to full tourist mode. that's right, i'm breaking out the maps, i'm revvin' up the camera, and i'm going to sightsee like i've never "sightseed" (err... sightsaw?) before :o) word of mouth has it that the historical museum, the war remnants museum, and the ho chi minh city museum are definite must-sees, along with the reunification palace where the former presidents of the regime held their secret functions and meetings during the war (kinda like the vietnam equivalent to the US white house). and of course, somewhere in my busy schedule of teaching and last-minute sightseeing, i have to get all my christmas/souvenir shopping done :o) wowie! looks like sleep might not be an option in the next few days ;oP but really, who knows - likely anything can happen on the spur of a moment. as max always says, "embrace the mystery" - and that's what i intend to do for the next few weeks :oD.

... can i get a woot woot!

ahh... and of course, what better way to end this entry with a little more eye-candy :o) (thanks to matt for these pics!)


taxi cramming
front seat: max, liz, matt
back seat: me, bill


pho'in it up at our fave joint: bill, minh hung (our driver), mercy, aaron, me, liz, max

hen gap lai! :o)
(see you soon!)