Update on Nam, Celta etc.

It has been a while since I've had time to do anything on here. I've been in Vietnam for about 3 weeks, but haven't had much of a chance to get out of Saigon. The reason is that I've been doing my Celta, which has been an incredibly draining experience. I've also been applying for jobs extensively. I guess I'll start with that.

I like Vietnam, in fact it is a very cool place. That being said I have decided that I don't want to live here. I thought I'd want to work in SE Asia, and while I love to be in this part of the world, I think I am past the point of wanting to live here. That ship has sailed. I have been offered a job at a university in China. The pay is great when school is in session, but terrible when not. It makes the offer less than ideal. That is increasingly leaving Korea and Japan. In fact, if I had all the credentials I have now and was looking for work abroad and had never left Canada before, those are the countries I would be looking at. Ample public school and university jobs, decent pay and holidays enough to escape the worst of winter. With respect to Yen, she has many options for work in Korea and Japan and, while she has said she would go to China for me, I know she does not want to. I also am not sure what work she could do there. I worry about her just being home alone and bored all day. So after three years of school and training, I may wind up right back in Korea after all. I guess that at the end of the day, I have two or three years til Yen and I can get all the paperwork together to live in Canada and the Philippines, so I have 2-3 more years abroad. Being that I'll be able to save half of what I make the more I can make the better, and living in Japan or a new part of Korea would be great (two years in Busan wouldn't be that bad :)

As to Vietnam, I have really only been to Saigon, and am near Bui Vien, the backpacker ghetto of Saigon. Chiang beer tank tops and more parachute pants than an MC Hammer video. Also very average food. I am excited to finish and see other parts of the country. I feel like I have taken a dislike to Vietnam, but only because I have spent all my time in the worst part of it with the worst people in it. Saigon is also not a tourist city. There's a few old French buildings and a few monuments to the defeat of the Americans, but as a tourist city a day is enough. However, while the Bui Vien crowd may be a mess, my other Celta trainees have been some of the best people I have ever met. Usually when you get 18 people together you get a few goofs, but absolutely none with these guys. It has been the best part of being here by a wide margin. Seeing Will again has also been amazing. It has been great to see him on his turf. I saw him recently in Daegu but it has been cool here. I think if my plan pans out I'll go north after my Celta with Yen, then come back here for New Years Eve. Then in January I'll fly home to get my new passport and whatever documents I need and Yen and I can meet in Manila in Feb before flying to Seoul or Tokyo together.

The Celta itself has been very intense. I have put in regular 10-12 hour days and only get half of Sunday free. That being said I am 60% of the way through the course and there are only 9 instructional days left. I'm am happy I did it but I'll be happier when it is over. It has been mostly very useful though certainly is preparing new teachers for an ideal that doesn't exist. It has been great for me though, as I have been able to get rid of a few bad habits. Plus in a couple weeks I get a holiday in Vietnam, so that is fun.