Christmas in England 2015

Happy Christmas!!!!

Okay, so one last surprise blog of the year - I'm breaking with my current tradition of going home every other Christmas. I have decided to fly home for a relatively last minute Christmas break in England!. I'll still be working in Vietnam on Christmas eve but have booked a flight with Etihad at around 8pm on Christmas eve which arrives in London on Christmas morning. My parents will be picking me up from the airport and I'll be spending Christmas day with them.

I've not told any of my brothers and sisters that I'm coming home so it will be a nice surprise for them when I see them on Boxing day (This blog has been timed to be published on boxing day). I'll be flying back to Vietnam on 6th January so its only a quick, two week break. Other good news its that its TET holiday in February so it will be like having two Christmases.

End of year work Christmas Party 2015

We had our end of year Christmas party last Friday. It was a very enjoyable occasion and a nice way to end what has been a very enjoyable year. Our party was held on campus as we have a nice outdoors area (its always warm). Food was finger food and provided by a very good local restaurant and the music was courtesy of YouTube plugged into some speakers. It started at 5pm and I got home at 3am. The next day was a right off.

This may well be my last post of 2015. Next year my blog runs into its 6th calendar year which I'm amazed at. Firstly, because I've been away for 5 years and secondly because I've kept it up. Its been a great 2015. I finished my delta and got a promotion at work. I'm looking forward to some new challenges in 2016!

Christmas Tree at RMIT 2015

I took this photo of the Christmas tree at the gym in my University this morning. As you can see its nice and big but does not have any presents under it. It's starting to feel festive here even though its always hot.

 

I also took this other picture of an area of the gym. It's got some pretty cool equipment. As I've said before its great having this facility for free and its something I try to use as much as possible, its always nice and quiet in the mornings.

Victoria Phan Thiet Beach Resort and Spa, Phan Thiet, Vietnam

Just got back from a long weekend at a resort in Phan Thiet. I've been here a number of times now and choose a different resort every time. Phan Thiet is only about four hours from HCMC so its a nice place to escape to for a long weekend.

As you can see the view from our room was lovely, it was right on the sea. Also the grounds and room were amazing.

It also had a really good swimming pool which was where we spent most of our time. It was a much needed rest as I hadn't had a break since before doing my studying earlier in the year. 

Anyway, back to work tomorrow.

Final Darts match of the season

Last night was the final darts match of the season. I've not been updating my matches on a week by week bases this season but all I can say is it's been tough in division 1. I've played a total of 7 games and only won one match.

Anyway, going into the final match we were battling to avoid relegation. We needed to win or draw to stay up and we were playing our relegation rivals.

After the first 5 matches they were winning 4-1 and it was not looking good. In the singles I'd been matched against the second best player in the division - so really he's the second best player in Vietnam. As expected, he beat me comfortably but I'm happy to say that the rest of the team won all their matches and we ended up drawing 6-6. This means that we get to stay in division 1!!! 

It was a very dramatic and enjoyable evening and a nice way to finish the season. We will be having an end of season party at some point but there will be no trophy this time. The season will begin again in February.

Teachers day 2015

Today is teachers day. This happens every year in November in Vietnam and students give cards and, if your lucky, prezzies to the teachers to say 'thank you' for passing on their vast quantities of wisdom and knowledge. My best present given to me a few years back was a big bottle of shampoo from one of my students at ILA which lasted me roughly a year. 

Anyway, this year in my new role I don't have any students but it was nice to receive the above presents from my university. 

5KU BBQ in Ho Chi Minh City

Not much to report so I thought I'd write about another one of the nice eateries I go to regularly here is called 5KU. It's a BBQ place where they stick a coal fuelled BBQ on the table and you can choose the meats you want to eat. I opted for beef and chicken. Its really nice and cheap. A plate of beef and chicken with rice and beer like in the picture below costs around $20. 

RMIT X-Run

Our university arranges a number of sporting events. Earlier this year they arranged a 5k fun run which I attended as well as various sporting tournaments including karate and chess. This past weekend they arranged a x-run for staff and students. This consisted of a 2k run followed by an assault course set up on your field. I've added some pictures of the course below. 

The course on our field #1

The course on our field #2

Students ready for the run

Cargo net

Mud pool

Spiders web

Bars to climb over

There were 13 obstacles on total which had to be completed after running for 2k in the afternoon sun, there was an individual and team event (5 people per team). I was lucky enough to be asked to be one of the five members of the English teachers team.

RMIT English teachers team

At the start line

There were 14 teams in total from the university and we were pitted against some of RMIT's finest athletes. Well, to cut a long story short, I'm pleased to say that we won the event. Not only did we win the event, but we did it by a huge margin as the results table shows. We completed it in under 14 minutes and the nearest team took an extra 4m30s. If your wondering "Giao vien Tieng Anh" means "English teachers" in Vietnamese. I've now got another very nice trophy to go with my darts trophies. Not bad for a group of guys in their mid to late 30s against university students.

Top of the table

Winners getting their trophies

Proudly showing off my trophy

Things on the back of bikes

Having been in Vietnam for four years I'm now use to all the things that use to turn my head when I'd not been here very long. Daily you see people carrying things on the back of bikes that are huge, ladders, 40 inch TVs, fridges to name but a few things but now I'm so used to it it doesn't even register with me. Occasionally you'll see something that does turn your head. A while back I saw a guy on a motorbike carrying at least 40 cases of beer (the 24 in a box type). There were so many I couldn't count them all but sadly I didn't have a camera. A mate of mine took the following picture the other morning. i thought it was quite impressive. 

DELTA Module 2 - Finished!

Yesterday was a great day as it signalled the end of my eight week delta course. To say it's been a tough eight weeks is an understatement. I've written a total of over 37,500 words, taught about 12 hours of classes, watched about 30 hours of others teach and attended 60 hours of input sessions. So, yes, I'm glad its over and glad I'll be going back to work on Monday. 

Photo with a number of the students.

On Friday morning we had a party with a number of the students that we've been teaching. We all brought in various treats. I went to Dunkin' Doughnuts which is always a winner. After this we had some admin stuff to do before getting to the pub for about 12pm. We opted to go to a rooftop bar where we spent the next 10 hours. I've taken some pictures of the rooftop bar before it got messy which offers some very nice views of the city. 

Anyway, back to work and normal life on Monday, now the Delta is finished I can start thinking about other stuff.

Rain storm whilst working

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm at work getting my essay ready for my final delta lesson next Wednesday. I come to work because I've got a good desk and there are less distractions in the office than at home. Anyway, it's rainy season and whilst I've been at work there has been a great storm outside. I still love the rain here when it comes down. I've attached some pictures and video to this post. 

This is my view from my desk. You can see my monitor and name badge

Goodbye Mangrove Forest

Remember how when I started at RMIT I posted pictures about the lovely, lush, green mangrove forest behind the University? If you don't the pictures below will refresh your memory.

Well, I feared it was only a matter of time before this nice piece of land would be used to make someone lots of money and as the pictures below show, over the past few months they've been cutting it down so they can build on it. 

I think they're building a University which I suppose is better than them building another shopping mall or overpriced and unwanted high rise flats. I'll post some more pictures as the developments continue

Darts - The Tavern vs The Vinyls

As I've been doing this delta for the past few moths I dropped out the darts team but did tell them that if there was ever an emergency they should give me a call and I'll play. Well this past Tuesday they were short on player and as my delta pressure has eased off a bit I played. We were playing the team that is second in division one and very good. The Tavern have been struggling a bit this season and before the game were sitting in relegation. 

 I was a bit worried that I wouldn't play very well so went early to practise, by the time the match was up I was played okay. I'm pleased to say that I won both my doubles and singles matches checking out both legs in all the games which helped us to a 8-4 victory. The win has taken us out of relegation and my contribution helped to achieve that. I'm looking forward to getting back to the darts when I've finished my course next week.

One more week of Delta module 2

After 7 hellish weeks I'm nearing the end of the Delta module 2 training course. So far it's been all good news and I've passed three out of the three assignments and only have one more to go. It's not been all clear sailing for everyone as some people have failed some parts of the assignment. Each assignment requires a 2,500 word background essay and a 5,000 lesson plan. In addition to the 7,500 words for each lesson I had to write another experimental practise lesson plan and essay which was about 5,000 words and a professional development document which was 2,500 words, this totals around 30,000 words so far which does not include the other 7,500 words I still have to write for my final paper. So by the end of the eight weeks I will have written 37,500 words.

My assignments so far have been on 'speaking - improving fluency in long turns', 'grammar - helping lower level learners use the present perfect continuous and present perfect simple' and my personal favorite 'phonology - raising awareness of elision in connected speech', all very interesting I think you'll agree!

The final assignment is the most important and we have to pass it. The reason is we are externally assessed and Cambridge are flying a guy in from England to watch our lessons. All I know about him is that he's a doctor and gets paid to fly around the world and watch people teach - not a bad gig. The topic of the paper is 'Reading - developing top down processing for high level learners' - another winner I hope. I have to teach the lesson next Wednesday morning so this time next week it will all be over!

Nice Sushi

Where I live in Vietnam there are a lot of Korean people which means there is quite a nice section of food available to target Koreans, one of which sushi. I've been going to a few of the sushi places which is a food I didn't like when I first got to Vietnam but has been growing on me over the past year or so to the point that we're going out weekly to have some. One good thing about Sushi is its visually quite appealing so I took some photos below.

 

Still doing my Delta which is not much fun. Only two weeks left now. I genuinely can't wait to go back to work.

New role at RMIT Vietnam!

Some good news. I went for an interview a week ago for a role as assessment coordinator at RMIT where I currently work and I'm please to say I got the job! This is a full time position and I will be responsible for making sure the English exams at the university all run smoothly. I think it will be quite demanding but I'm looking forward to a new challenge. This does mean that I won't be teaching now for the time being. I will miss teaching but this was a good opportunity. I start the new role as soon as I return from my delta on 26th October.

Half way through the Delta module 2!!

Today marks the halfway point of the Delta course at ILA. I've now completed four of the eight weeks at the ILA building where I originally did my Celta four years earlier.

Although many parts of this have been interesting, I can't say its been much fun. I've completed two of the five essays. Both of these were 7,500 words each. I've basically been working pretty much every hour of every day to keep up with it. On top of this we do have to teach a couple of times a week and attend input sessions.

Anyway, the good news is I'm surviving and when I've finished it will open lots of doors for me with good role around most places in the world. I just need to keep taking every day as it comes and hope the next four weeks goes smoothly.

One good thing about my school is that they have a pretty good view from the 10th floor outside section. I took these pictures of Ho Chi Minh City the other day.