End of the Semester

I haven’t posted in a while, mostly because not that much has been going on. Classes finished last week, and the next two weeks are devoted to finals. I only have to proctor two finals, so it’s giving me a good chance to catch up on work for my PHD (and TV shows that I’ve been missing . . .)

dinner with Tuesday students

dinner with Wednesday students

My metaphor research class finished with a total of 6 students in Tuesday’s class and 4 students in Wednesday’s class (after starting with 26 . . .) After the last class, I went out for dinner and karaoke with one class, and dinner and coffee with the other. I can’t say I’m not disappointed that more people didn’t attend all the classes, but that’s to be expected with a voluntary class. The 10 students that toughed it out are real champs!

I rode my bike to the restaurant in the rain, so not looking my best . . .

dinner with friends

There's also been a lot of random stuff with friends, like dinners out or karaoke. I've also found some running partners - a girl from Australia and another from Holland - and I'm really enjoying group running again. Oh, and I also judged a high school speaking contest one Sunday. It was fun, but a little boring to hear 15 speeches about how wonderful Hue is . . .

high school English speech contest

Christmas in Vietnam

Although I said not much has been happening, there have been a few events, including the holidays. But, honestly, Christmas was a bit lackluster this year – In fact, I had to teach one class on Christmas Eve, and another class on Christmas Day! The university gave a party for all the foreign teachers, which was nice, but a bit lame, and afterwards I met up with some friends at a restaurant for a Christmas dinner consisting of pizza and pasta. Not so traditional, but still quite yummy! It was also nice not to have to cook anything special, which made for a very low-key holiday.

A few weeks before Christmas, I went into the administrative building and saw some of my coworkers putting up a Christmas tree for the holidays. They seemed a little confused, so of course I had to step in and help them out! I also received a package from the states and didn’t even wait to open it. Mostly, my parents had sent me food items from the U.S. that I had been missing – after abstaining for four months, the box of cereal and the dove chocolates only lasted three days! 

Bach Ma National Park

top of the waterfall

Yesterday, I visited Bach Ma National Park, which is just an hour away from Hue. I’ve been wanting to go ever since I arrived, so it was nice to be able to take a trip out there with some Chinese teachers from my university. I haven’t done much hiking since I moved here, so it was a great day!

bottom of the waterfall

enjoying the lovely weather!

The park was beautiful, and some of the views were absolutely stunning! However, many of the trails were not well maintained at all – they were overrun with plants, and could also be quite dangerous. We took the stairs to the bottom of a big waterfall, and the handrail was rusted and tearing apart in places. The stairs were pretty tough too  - the sign warned of 689 “very steep” stairs, but we went there anyways. The paths also involved a lot of river crossings without a lot of bridges or stones, and the water was freezing. Finally, 3 out of 4 of us picked up a leech at some point during the trip.

view from the top

Still, I don’t want to complain too much, because the weather was awesome and I was so happy to be out hiking with friends. I mean, just look at these pics! Hopefully, I can go back again soon.

what a great day!

how soon can I come back?

The Dentist

Today, I went to the dentist for a regular cleaning and for laser whitening. Everything is cheaper in Vietnam, so I thought I’d give the whitening procedure a try, as it cost around $56. The cleaning was okay, but not too thorough. The laser whitening, on the other hand, took just over an hour and was a little uncomfortable. They stick this thing in your mouth to keep it open and use the laser after applying some stuff to your teeth. Your teeth start to feel a bit hot, and they still feel a little sensitive, even now, after it’s over. I had read some horror stories about Vietnam dental clinics, but overall, it was a pretty good experience – clean, efficient, and cheap! I’m not sure how much of a difference the laser whitening made, though – what do you think?

before

after