So here are some of the highlights.
October ...
... brought a long-anticipated visit to Australia and Bảo's introduction to life, family, friends and -scapes of Sydney, Newcastle, Tamworth and the Blue Mountains. I spent two weeks before our trip monitoring Australia Network weather forecasts daily, hoping, hoping for an indication that we would arrive to balmy October days, but it was not to be ... The weather was variously cool, warm, cold, foggy but seldom wet.
What did we see? What did we do?
We stayed with David at Potts Point and did a lot of walking from this point. To the Domain, the Botanic Gardens and Circular Quay. To the city and through the Rocks. To Glebe and Newtown!We ate well, but far too much, marvelling at the immense bowls of phở and hửu tiêu with which we were served, enjoying feasts at the homes of family and friends.
We were Sydney tourists, (re)discovering the Opera House, the Bridge, Sydney Tower, Wildlife World/Sydney Aquarium, the harbour and the ferries ...
We twice borrowed David's car (yes, it seems I do still know how to drive after 2 years absence from behind the wheel, and 2 years travelling on the other side of the road!). Our first trip was to Newcastle and the Lower Hunter, to visit Karen and her family, as well as friends and the vineyars. The second trip was to the Blue Mountains which sadly and determinedly remained shrouded in dense fog for two days. No vistas of the Three Sisters or the Megalong and Jamieson Valley's were ours to behold this time.We flew to Tamworth to visit Mum and Dad and enjoyed the greenest scenery I can ever remember, courtesy of the rains that have since continued well past their welcome, and saturation, point.
Three weeks were like a life in another world. Time seemed to be our friend, marked out measuredly from a bottomless cup. Then all too soon the day of our departure loomed ...
(if you are a Facebook user please try going to Bảo's profile for his pictorial perspective on our visit)
November ...
Edwin (fellow teacher) and I took up a housewarming invitation to celebrate the extension of the family home of one of our most lovely teaching assistants, Kiều. This entailed a motorbike trip of approximately 50km to the town of Ngãi Giao in Châu Đức district.
We were very warmly welcomed by her family and neighbours and enjoyed some fantastic food prepared by Kiều's aunt. As I write we are still waiting to hear which of us her aunt has selected as her potential husband!No party in Vietnam is properly formed without singing and dancing. In this we were very ably managed by MC Hải.
After the party Edwin and I took a detour via Long Hải so that we could go and visit the Centre for Social Protection of Children. We arrived in time for a karate lesson but also had personal escorts around the grounds. I was told many things about the plants - a few of which I understood!
The teachers at ILA in Vung Tau support the centre each month by giving food to assist the lunch/dinner prepared for the 110 children who attend school at the centre. Which brings me to ...
December ...
and Christmas. In November, the teachers and staff at ILA collected enough money to buy each student at the Long Hải centre a basic pair of shoes. We also put the December food collection towards making a Christmas treat for each of the students and on 20 December a group of us (teachers and teaching assistants) made a trip to Long Hải to present the shoes.
We met with the morning contingent of students (approximately 50) to share a little bit of Christmas culture - via singing a round of the chorus "We wish you a merry Christmas!" - and some good old-fashioned TPR (for you teacher-types in the know!) with the Vietnamese version of Simon Says (Tôi bảo). There were also several lucky number prizes to give, followed by the presentation of the shoes.
Assisting Anne (Mỹ Hương) and her cousin Mỹ, the orphanage volunteers joined in on the Christmas festivities for the 50+ children (this number doesn't include the babies or severely disabled children) living at P and N centres on Christmas Eve. We took advantage of fine weather and the space at N centre to have an outdoor party with races and games followed by some scrumptious food and the climax of Santa's visit (you will see who that was in a moment!) and two immense cakes.
Click here for all the pics.
