Awsome

So folks, everything is still powering on.
I spent the weekend in Hanoi - Friday, saturday and Sunday morn - and if i havn;t been very specific, this is becuase i am 1 1/2 hours out of Hanoi. I stayed with new my new UK friend Sibyl and Aus friend Emily and we had a great time. Friday night consisted of going out with 6 other gappers to this random place were we basically got a MASSIVE plate of raw meat and a BBQ and we had to fry our own meat. It is time consuming, especially when your hungary, but it is a great result. We made a new invention which tastes just like Garlic bread so it makes us feel at home. There are photos - but i didn't bring my camera... sorry :S
Saturday,. for the first time, we slept in untill 11 and becuase it was raining, we ended up meeting up with two other gappers and whatching like 4 eps. of Gossip Girl. Yes john i have seen some GG and it is ok... Saturday night we found this awsome bar called "Le Bar" and is basically a western haven in the middle of VN. there is cheap hanoi beer there and also more expensive imported stuff. If you stay there long enough - which we did - they bring out shots! first was a watermelon and vodka shot which i must say is divine, and then an Apple and V shot, which could use a little work. After "le Bar" we met up with all the north gappers for a drink at someones placement and had fun playing cards and generally catching up with normal english speakers. Sunday morning, after family and "we can be heros" i managed to catch a really cheap bus to a market and i bought a DVD player for 450.000 D. Now for all you wondering if that is alot... 100.000 D is about $10. you do the math... it scares me to much.

Now you must be wondering now, Why did she buy a DVD player? Well i will tell you. Dewspite the experience, we do only have 4 chanels on our TV, all of which are english, but dubbed in Vietnamese, so it can make for some anoying viewing. The AWSOME thing is is that Bridge loves scrubs too, so we are going to get the full 6 seasons and sit down and watch them. There are so many box sets around here seriously, tell me what you want i i can prob get it for you. An aus newspaper howevery is near imposible to find.

Becuase sibyl and Emily and in Hanoi central, they have namaged to find the coolest litte cafe that do the best egg coffee. I know egg coffee??? but it is really good - very sweet, but good! there is photos of it too, but you will have to wait a little longer... but trust me, its worth it!

I would like to add also, i dont think i have drunk so much alcamahol in my entire life! Did i tell you all about the shots a few days ago? i dont know how to check previous blogs, but i swear i had about 15 vodka shots, one each with all the teachers at my school, so it is very possible that i had more than that. This is all well and good, but here i have turned into a complete light wieght! one sip and i'm gone. Does that put ot all into perspective? In HCMC there was some serious partying as we all got to know each other, but again i could only take 1/2 a bottle of beer. Its not like its strong, me just weak. Anyway, back to my initial point... beer is cheap and good if you can get it cold. I havn't had so much to drink EVER and if people wanna come visit, i can show you some seriously kool places and people...

I have many achievement while i have been here. Despite insurance, the only way to get around my placement is by Xe Om - pretty sure i already explain that one. Today, completly by myself for the first time ever, i caught a local bus, 2 xe-om's and a longer 2 hr bus. Most of this was with a really heavy bag and a DVD player twice my size!

I have lost weight... but the people are so small, that i tower over them all and nobody notices me... Its rather odd. I have had to learn how to hand wash my clothing, and for all of you "you what, that's piss easy" people out there, i had a nasty experience of my clothing comming out smelling worse than before i washed them! apparently there is a system involving 2 bowls, minimal clothing, two washes with washing powder and 4 separate rinse cycles, changing the water constanly! i feel so wasteful, but it rained cats and dogs and a few power lines the other day, so i can get over it quickly.

My place is surounded by patty feilds which is just crazy at times. Bridge and i went for a walk tonight, and it was a leasurly stroll untill this little girl poked her head out of her house and started screaming "hello!!!" at us. As normal, we smile and say helloback and keep walking. The little girl had other ideas however and ran up to us, grabbed B's arm and proceeded to lead us into her house. Her mother was there and she sat us down and poored us tea. The girl started getting out her english books and asked us to give her a mini lesson. It was rather bizzar, but the whole time i was thinking, How many other city Gappers would get invited into a locals house for a quick english lesson before bed? My answer would be non. We got given a dancing lesson and a peice of fruit each and as we were saying goodbye, the little girl, only about 6 gave us a beautifl, hand drawn picture. It was beautiful. so much so that we felt we couldn't take it as a gifdt even. The girl gave us the dirtiest look for trying to give us back, so we had to take it! We are now bound to here and we are going back to give her a present, and teach her english.

Ok, that is tones for now. I hope that can satisfy your appitites for a while.
I wouyld also love to hear from you all, and one term starts and i'm teaching more frequently, i will have time to talk to you all individually.

Talk soon!!!

Peace