Sabrina Nacinovic
October 11, 2023
Xin Chao!
The first 2 weeks in Vietnam were an adjustment period for me. I had been to Vietnam in the past and travelled around SEA for 7 months and barely felt homesick, however being in one place and living there is quite different than hostel life on the road. The hardest part for the first few weeks for me was trying to buy groceries for my apartment. I ended up buying fabric softener instead of washing detergent because the google translate lens did not translate the image correctly for me. The translator app has been my best friend as it has allowed me to have conversations with locals and shop workers to assist me in finding and ordering the correct items. Doing laundry has been interesting as I’ve had to be strategic with when I do my washing, the nights tend to be humid so if you leave your laundry till the evening it may not be dried the next morning. I do not have a dryer, so I hang dry all my clothing outside or around my apartment.
Our group was lucky that the principle from one of the schools invited us to dinner at her house and even invited us to Hue with her family to celebrate Vietnamese Independence Day. It was a cool experience navigating Vietnam with locals and trying all sorts of new dishes. An experience I am not going to forget.
I found being a vegetarian can be a bit of an obstacle in a country that eats pretty meat heavy, however there are plenty of places I’ve been able to find that serve vegetarian options, or entirely vegetarian restaurants/ food stalls. I learned that chay is the word for vegetarian and ever since then I’ve had no issue. My favourite foods have been mushroom Banh Xeo and veggie versions of Mi Quang, the traditional dish for the Quảng Nam Province that Da Nang is in. I’ve also been having soooo many coconut coffees. Vietnam is a coffee lovers paradise!
The start of school was very interesting. Quite the contrast to schools back in Canada. There was a big first day of school ceremony that was fascinating to see and be a part of. There are so many students in my school. Over 1600 kids and the school goes from grades 1-5. The students are so eager to speak the English they know with you, and I received many little gifts from them within the first week ranging from stickers, little toys and many Black Pink cards. I’ve even received hand drawn pictures the students drew of me! They are all so sweet! I’m mainly teaching in grades 3,4 and 5. The class sizes are super large, approximately 40-50 kids in each classroom so it can get very loud with only having 1 teacher and no additional supports. The school day starts at 7:40 and goes until 10:40, the students then eat lunch at the school and take a nap on top of a wood board in their classrooms until 2pm when the afternoon classes resume until 4:20. These breaks have been nice to be able to get some of my own homework done from my online classes!
Until next time!
Sabrina