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