Monk Life

I've been studying hard for the last week or so even though Conrad is down, he has to work a lot anyway, plus lots of hospital scans etc for Nhac. We've had some tasty table-bbq's and beers now though. I've moved to a small apartment with a balcony overlooking the canal on a backstreet with tons of little street cafe's, real Saigon basically. Just what I wanted. It's this place.

Scottish/Vietnamese Buddy!
The class is intense for sure. I've been getting in for about 0645 to study for an hour before it starts which is just about enough to keep up, so I'll do a bit more as it's much more enjoyable when not struggling to keep up.

A few people dropped out today at the start of the 3rd week (of five) and I can see why, but I've been enjoying it and things are starting to come together, although I've never been good at memorising stuff. My pronunciation and listening seems reasonable for the amount of time I've been studying, and I had a good day today, so I'm feeling pretty up. Although all weekend I was dreading Monday as Friday had been a real tough day.

Classmates with Teacher in traditional Vietnamese dress centre
Classmates are a good laugh, the young Koreans (who say I look like Tom Cruise!) asked me for lunch and beers on Friday which was a great way to wind down, then Conrad rang for beers in the backpackers district, also fun. Had a real quiet weekend then just chilling in my flat and walking around the area exploring. Met for coffee with American Buddy Tim last week but he's away to Da Nang now to try to get another job in a nice beach city.

Korean buddies!
Been here 3 weeks, already looking forwards to getting out of Saigon though, it's an amazing place but I am missing open spaces and cycling along farm roads! 3 weeks left in Saigon then I'll get the train back up to Phan Rang and get back on the bike!




Comments

g said…
Hola! Nice update, nice flat. How's Vietnamese beer? How's the food there? Can you order beer and food in Vietnamese yourself now? Greetings from Berlin, g.
April 24, 2017 at 12:08 PM
Kelv said…
Hiya, sorry for delay. Vietnamese beer is great, especially Saigon Special. Food is really good, tasty and filling. I can order stuff now, they can understand me although even I can hear I'm making mistakes. It feels great to be able to speak vietnamese to people, it just sounds like such an impossible language when you hear it spoken.

How's Berlin?
May 6, 2017 at 3:38 AM
Anonymous said…
Mmm... how do vegetarians fare out there?

Berlin is... think I'll have to drop you an email to catch up personally... :)
May 11, 2017 at 11:17 PM
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