Bake's Bumbling Blog

Open bar dude! Yeah I ate that Brando and I Brando's really not gay......promise Alway's with the tongue Man I hate karaoke! I am now down to my last week of teaching and with the Chinese New Year fast approaching my school center had a end of year party for all of us last night.  It was a lot of fun and soooo much food.  We had a 6 course meal with everything from pig to seafood rice to fish and everything else.  There was also an open bar which we took full advantage of, although there was a limit to how much I could do since I had to work this morning at 7 AM.  Me and the other foreign teachers got a bottle of Johnnie Walker as a gift which was awesome and it will be put to good use when Pritch comes to visit in a little over a week.  They also had Karaoke and managed to drag my, David, and Brando on stage to sing two songs which for me was hard, cuz I am not a good singer.  I have my last two days of teaching on Tuesday and T...

Sprayed in the face! Lots of decorations in Saigon New Years in Vietnam had it all.  Booze, fireworks, a drug bust, a fight, dancing and everything else.  The night started with my friend Aaron and I going to an Indian place for dinner which was quite delicious.  We then went to our local bar to meet up with some other friends and while there we got sprayed in the face with Vietnams version of silly string, watched the cops arrest a guy for a drug deal, and watched two guys and their wives fight each other after a motorbike incident.  We then walked towards the main city center for midnight and got to see some fireworks in the distance.  After that we walked through the crowded city (the most crowded I have ever seen it) to a night club called the factory, where they had a DJ and a dance floor and spent the rest of the night there.  While not the same as home it was a lot of fun to experience New Years in Vietnam!

Me as Santa! sooooo many kids Hanging out gifts The beard was very itchy Me and the staff Me and Andrew 1 straw for each drink, yowza Crazy Europeans in Vietnam sooooo much traffic Christmas Eve Celebrating Christmas Christmas dinner! Celebrating Christmas in Vietnam is quite different from back home.  On the 23rd I got to dress up and play Santa for a lot of the kids at the language center where I work, which was a lot of fun but very exhausting.  I was able to teach the kids a few things about Christmas and hand out candy and presents which they loved.  I had to wear a pillow to fill out the costume lol.  On Christmas Eve, my friend Andrew and I watched Scrooged which is a holiday tradition in my family and one I was glad to have been able to keep doing even though I am away.  Then we went out to our local bar where a lot of people were dressed up and Christmas music was playing and everyone was having a good ...

It's official, I can teach in Vietnam! Andrew & I living it up Yes I am Superman This and the next 3 pictures show what they do in Vietnam for a funeral The rest of the pics just give you an idea on what Vietnam is like I finished my teaching class last Friday and recieved the highest marks in the class!  I got my certificate and then we went out to celebrate all of our success at the Czech Republic embassy where thay have a real Czech brewhouse.  On Saturday I had an interview to teach and on Sunday I taught my first class.  It is very nerve-racking trying to teach English to people who do not know the language but also a lot of the fun and the students here are really respectful, fun, and eager to learn.  Vietnam is a lot of fun but also very different from anywhere I have ever been.  For one it is November 29, and it is still 85 degress and sooooo humid.  I've met a lot of good people and now that the class is over I ...

My room My Room cont. My classroom Classmates: Steve, Aaron, Brando, and Andrew  Joanne, Steve, and Carole  Johnny Our awesome board and Rita The two kids I've been teaching this past week, Buck and Tom1 Pizza Hut is even in Vietnam Crazy Vietnam traffic I will never drive here! Vietnam's version of McDonald's The regime is alive and well  Phuong from CSC and me before going to dinner My first two weeks in Vietnam have been a blast but also a lot of hard work.  The first thing you notice in the city is the crazy traffic.  Almost everyone here has a motorbike and they drive like there are no lanes and no laws so I have pretty much stuck with walking everywhere along with the occasional taxi.  My room is pretty nice here and I have a big bed which is great, my own bathroom and even a TV with ESPN and HBO.  Plus I have free WiFi which is so awesome.  I have just gotten back from my second week of class and it is goi...