HJS

We were too young–and probably too disinterested–to watch that TV show in the 80’s, but it was based, obviously, on a real place in Danang, where we’re drinking coffee right now.

Vietnam is a long, skinny country, with terrible roads and slow trains, so although we’ve been traveling for more than 10 days, we’ve only made it halfway up the coast.

The trip’s been fun and exciting, though, and we’ll write a nice long report on the new website when we get back to HCMC. The highlight so far has been Mui Ne, which we wrote about before. After that, we went to Nha Trang, a bigger, more famous beach; it’s gorgeous, but frantic and greedy–the “touts” (Hey you! Buy something!) descended on us the minute our bus arrived. Hoi An, Vietnam’s answer to Sutter Creek, provided a long, gentrified respite, and we came here to Danang yesterday, in preparation for our flight back “home” to HCMC tomorrow.

Yes: Home. There’s more news! The contracts aren’t signed yet, but we’ve tentatively accepted job offers from the Saigon campus of a big Australian university. The one-year package includes fantastic, world-wide medical insurance, a very cushy salary, and four weeks’ vacation, ensuring we’ll get a chance to see most of you before the year’s up! Our friends Brent and Loan (he’s the Saigon Babylift guy we mentioned before) are going to rent us one of their income properties–a wonderful two-bedroom (Guestroom! Get your passports ready!) on the 11th floor of a swish new building. We’re set to move in tomorrow!

For now, despite the fact that a glistening, white-sand beach is beckoning, we’ll keep hiding out in this coffee shop until the sun drops lower in the sky. We’ve just come from a lovely foreigner’s medical clinic, where the fantastic, wise, wish-he-was-my-permanent Australian doctor diagnosed my piercing sore throat as a “Apthous Ulcer” (in American: “canker sore”) due to stress from the sun and our job negotiations (long story involving the dong and the dollar–we got what we wanted!). Anyway, I’m sitting and sipping and trying to be calm. Luckily, he gave me a nice supply of Paracetamol for the pain. I clung to the magic pills and dutifully swallowed two. Then I Googled it: Acetaminophen. I’ll be cured in 10 days!

Of course we, and everyone we’ve discussed it with here, are thrilled and elated about Barack Obama’s victory in the Democratic primary. Based on our personal experiences and many reports coming out of foreign countries, the idea that a person of non-European descent could EVER even have a chance at leading the United States is causing shock waves. It begins to revive that now-tarnished, old dream that America is a land of opportunity and new beginnings. It begins the great task of repairing 7 years of brutal damage to the American image abroad.

Thomas Freidman’s column in the New York Times puts it well. Here’s the link!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/opinion/11friedman.html

Hey everyone! We’re done with the CELTA!

Those words mean little to anyone in the U.S., but for us and our new U.K. buddies here, it’s quite an accomplishment! The past four weeks have been absolute hell, but we’re coming out of it with a lot of new knowledge and a ton of QUALITY job opportunities!

We’ve been back and forth on the “should we stay–should we go” question (about HCMC AND Vietnam in general), and we’re pretty sold on Vietnam, but curious about what lies beyond HCMC. The best jobs are here, though, so we’re going to hang out this week and go on some interviews; after that, we’ll travel around a bit. The beaches here are legendary!

Right now we’re in the midst of a long goodbye-party weekend. The students have invited all the teachers to a traditional Vietnamese meal, followed by a traditional Vietnamese karaoke evening. Last night we were out with our new dear, dear friend Brent and his wife, Loan, who have a fascinating story I’ll write much more about soon (he was one of the airlifted babies–an orphan here in Saigon–in 1975; he ended up in Minneapolis and was raised by loving adoptive parents, then got curious about his past and came here for a visit, then got into teaching, then learned Vietnamese, then married his wonderful student, had a son, and became a fascinating liver of two lives–American expat and Vietnamese family man–simultaneously). But he’s just one of many people who were strangers a month ago and now feel like war buddies. More about them later.

We miss you all–especially our three little nieces! I’ve described them all at least a dozen times to curious students at our goodbye parties this weekend, in a kind of answer to that timeless Asian question: “But where is your baby?” The students loved our website pictures–which include Freddie and Cora; we need some of Anna! They don’t see light-haired children very often here, and they gushed at the sight of such loveliness. Joel’s former Korean student sent a special note: “The Baby Freddie is SO CUTE!” We agree! Cute AND muy inteligente!

Hope you’re all doing great! Look for more pictures of us soon, and post some of yourselves somewhere!

XOXO,

Heather (and Joel!)

We’re exhausted and just hanging in, but we’re alive and otherwise okay. There are five days left in this program–four that really matter, since Friday’s kind of a paperwork day. We love our students and have made a lot of friends here. Fascinating stories to tell–next week! Sorry we can’t share more thoughts right now, but it’s hard finding a few seconds to type this.

Hope you’re all well and happy. More soon, we promise!

H & J