Thanh Hoa, after the sunrise

I think things will work out okay here. Sunday night was just overwhelming, but the sun rose again and thinigs looked better..

My schedule is 7-9am and 1-3pm, teaching intermediate in the morning and upper intermediate in the afternoon. There are almost 50 students all together, though I've missed a few in each class. A little frustrating, so hopefully I can get them to all come all the time. I was supplied only the textbooks and CDs, so I'll have to get some other things to use as supplements the lessons. They seemed to like me okay, so that's good news.

Our home consists of two dorm rooms: one with twin beds for the kids and one with a queen bed for me. Their room has a wardrobe, desk and coffee table, plus what they term "a bathroom." Really it two half-tiled shower stalls: one with a toilet and one with a shower head. My room has the same, plus a stovetop just outside the shower stalls. I also have a refrigerator and a dining table. It'd do-able.

There's no washing machine, so laundry is done by hand still. I got a bit lazy at the hotel and farmed it out the last few times (at $1/kg I felt justified). We're back to it and I've got the blisters (again) to prove it. I think I'll wait a couple of days until I do more. Let these wounds heal.

Mosquito nets are, again, the norm, as are mosquito bites. The market is just outside the university and the supermarket is about 2 km away (almost a mile). Yesterday one of the students came with me to the supermarket to show me where and today I returned to buy sheets and towels. Must. Shower. Today.

Yesterday afternoon, I met up with the head of the English Dept and the Vice-Director (Vice-President) of Hong Duc University. He made me introduce myself in Vietnamese, but all I can say is "My name is Teresa. I am 36 years old. I love pineapple. I like Thanh Hoa." Pretty lame.

But, yeah, I do like Thanh Hoa. Except for some minor glitches, it's going pretty well.