So in the end my Christmas was pretty tame. I spent the day sitting on my ass watching films. I attempted to watch the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy but halfway through the second film it switched from English to Vietnamese. No amount of fiddling the the settings could switch it to English and the subtitles lagged so much I gave up with it and moved onto another film. In the evening I attempted a variation on the theme of a christmas dinner. The oven in this house is broken so I was disapointed that I wouldn't be able to have roast potatoes until my mum suggested part boling them and then frying them. It turned out almost as good as real roast potatoes! I had some grilled chicken and some veggies, and some lame gravy made from a stock cube. Sadly stuffing mix isn't available in the shops here and I wasn't up for attempting to make that from scratch but at least I had some semblence of a decent meal without a noodle in sight! I had some NZ natural hokey pokey ice cream for dessert which also helped me enjoy my meal.

At the weekend I picked up another copy of Pirates 2 and so was able to finish watching that and I also got a bunch of other DVDs. At this rate I'm gonna have a whole suitcase worth of DVD's by the end of my time here! I am currently re-watching Flight of the Conchords but once that's finished I have a few other TV series plus a bunch of movies to watch.

These past three days I haven't done much other than teach but over the weekend I will no dount fit in a few more films. I've been teaching 3 double shifts this week so I get to work about 7.00, teach for 4 hours from 7.45 then after lunch I have another 4 hour class. It's pretty draining, particularly as I'm teaching low level classes so I have to try and keep them motivated and really pay close attention to what I'm saying - anything too complex and they just won't have a clue what I've asked them to do. Now I'm getting into it it's less daunting and it's getting a bit easier. Also all the other teachers are really friendly and helpful so I'm finding it pretty easy to get any questions I have answered.

I've got myself a otorbike driver who takes me to work every morning at 6.45 for a good price. He didn't try and over-charge me on the first day which is a good sign. An average price to get from Tay Ho to the languae school in 30,000VND but a few have tried to get me to pay 60,000VND+. This guy offered to take me for 25,000 straight up so he is one of the good guys! He waits for me at the top of the lane so Idon't have to waste time in the mornings walking around trying to find a bike so it makes the mornings marginally less horrific. Also this evening as I was walking to the supermarket I passed him and his friend having a drink at on of the random places on the street and after calling out my name he used his limited English to ask me how I was and wish me a happy new year. He's cool guy.

Yesterday my students gave me some weird thing called Banh Com which is a sticky green rice cake. It comes wrapped up in plastic which you peel away to eat. It's doesn't really taste like it's in any way related to rice - it's actually pretty grim. It is green though - a nice snot green. It has the texture of playdoh and smell like stale feet so its not something I will be keeping an eye out for in the future!

Tonight I am spending a lame new years at home. At this rate I might still be awake in an hour or so to see in the new year but my early starts are really getting to me so I may crash before then. I've decided against going out in Hanoi as by the time I get home after a long day at work I really can't be bothered to do much. It's not such an amazing event here, plus I would have to faff about getting a taxi or a motorbike taxi (from now on I'm gonna call 'em by their Vietnamese name, xe om, as thats much quicker to type!) back up here which might be pretty pricy. Am also put off after hearing that there was an increase in traffic accidents on the nights that there were important football games due to people driving in an even crazier manner than usual. I don't fancy dying on the way home tonight due to over-excited drivers!

I got some guide books last weekend so I'm planning my trip for Tet. I'm thinking Malaysia, and possibly a side trip to Brunei, depending on costs of flights and things. Plus I could go to Marks and Sparks in KL and buy things that I can't get here in Hanoi. I could shop in general for more than just tourist tat of knock-off goods!!! Plus it would be warmer which would be a bonus! Tomorrow I'm gonna sit down andwork it all out and check out some prices online, and I'll also look at options for Hong Kong and Thailand so I should be able to book something by the end of Friday! Yay travelling!

Went to the Christmas do last night - was pretty good fun! Shared a taxi with the manager as she lives just down the road from me and it saved me faffing around with the buses and I think we must have got the slowest taxi driver in the whole of Hanoi. It was quite a novel experience to go that slowly - usually taxi drivers just go for it and assume everything else will get out of the way but this guy was giving way and everything!

The place we went to is in the swanky Hanoi Towers where all the rich ex-pats live. The restaurant seemed kinda pricey so I don't think I'll be heading back to eat there any time soon, but as yesterday evening didn't cost me a penny price wasn't an issue! There was an open bar and a buffet style xmas dinner - turkey, stuffing, gravy, roast potatoes, mince pies etc. Yum! Met a whole bunch of people there too, plus there are a couple of people with rooms to rent so I now have some houses to check out too. Not only were all the teaching staff there all the Vietnamese staff who do admin and stuff showed up too, most of them with kids in tow, so there was a really good atmosphere. Once the meal was over people started to drift away but there were still a fair few people staying around to finish off the last of the alcohol so I hung around and chatted to them - including a bunch of British people. Haven't really spoken to many fellow Brits since being here so that was nice!

Got a lift back with Nat and for the first time since being here I've actually needed to wear my fleece! It's a bit breezy on the back of a motorbike late at night!

Still not sure yet if I'm going to do anything at all on Christmas Day - will have to see what happens.

Am also now starting to consider places I can go at the start of next year for a bit of a holiday. I have two weeks off for Tet and most people have recommended getting out of the country. As I have no choice in having two weeks off I guess I should use this as an opportunity to get out of Hanoi. However transport and accommodation in Vietnam are really expensive over Tet and pretty much the whole country closes down so I think this is a good time to leave the country for a bit. It has to be somewhere cheap though as I won't actually get paid til after Tet, plus I'm no doubt gonna have to put down some money on a house soon so I need somewhere cheap. There are some bargain flights to KL and Bangkok but I've been to both of those places before. Air Asia have some dirt cheap flights out of KL to other random Malaysian places so potentially I could fly there then get another flight out to some sort of beachy resort. Might go and try and get a bargain guide book tomorrow and have a read about places Malaysia has to other besides KL. I got a lonely planet for Vietnam for the grand total of £4 the other week and this store had a whole wall of second hand guide books, mostly for places in Asia. Will go hunting tomorrow.

Yesterday I observed a lesson of the woman I'm covering from next week. It made me slightly more confident that I can handle teaching a 4 hour lesson. Plus the students seem really lovely which is a bonus. I finished at the same time as Nat, the guy who did the CELTA corse with me and he lives right near the place I'm looking after so he offered me a lift back once he'd done his lesson prep. Whilst I was waiting for him to finish I went to a palce called KOTO for something to eat. Its an organisation that has been set up to help disadvantages/street kids by training them in the hospitality industry. They get a place to live and have English lessons as well as being taught general life skills and they spend two years with the organisation, then they get placed in a job. The restaurant is really nice and the top floor has a balcony that overlooks the Temple of Literature. The food is really good too. They also offer cooking lessons. You can either attend a series of 6 or go to just one or two. The courses on street food and Hanoi specialities caught my eye. The lessons are $35 each and I think thats something I'm going to look into in future.

Having done a few journeys on the back of a motorbike now I'm less intimidated by them. To the extent I think it would be nice to have my own. Whether I'd have the guts to face the traffic is another matter entirely. Maybe after some more time as a passenger the craziness of the roads will become less daunting! It only cost me jsut over a quid to get to the language school yesterday which is pretty good. Plus its much quicker than getting the bus. I might invest in my own helmet though as the ones they have don't always fit very well.

Yesterday afternoon I went out to get some food. The supermarket nearby stocks quite a lot of stuff but it doesn't really havbe much fresh stuff. Few supermarkets do. So after buying things like bread and rice there I then went to a place that stocks a lot of Western goods. They have a couple fo chillers and stock decent cuts of meat and bacon, plus lots of veggies and some fruit. They're a good place to buy stuff that you don't have to peel to eat as they're pretty hygenic compared to buying stuff from the stalls on the street. I did go to the fruit stall for some bananas and satsumas though. The satsumas are much sweeter than those back home and I'm getting quite addicted to them. You can buy a kilo for just 15,000 Dong which is a bargain! Next time I'm going to buy some of the more obscure fruits to try - custard apples and dragonfruit are currently catching my eye. Next I went to the egg lady and got a heap of eggs for 16,000. They look like free range eggs do back home but are heaps cheper! It was kinda cool going to all the different places to buy stuff but I imagine if you're short of time or its cold and wet It might not be as tempting a way to shop.

Today I back to the cool bookshop to buy a teach yourself Vietnamese CD and book. I think its time to try and learn some proper phrases. Right now I have picked up random words, particularly foods and numbers but I can't exactly say much so I'm going to use the CD to pick up a bit, then I want to get some proper lessons.

Once I'd dragged myself away from all the books I walked back towards the lake. I passed the Ho Chi Minh complex again and decided to go look at the stilt house and presidential palace. There was a bus load of Chinese tourists there getting in the way. They got very annoying very quickly! I then walked past all the government buildings with the thousands of army boys outside then went to the oldest pagoda in Hanoi. It's out on the big lake near me and is really pretty.

I got a bus back up to the house and as I was crossing the road some guy whizzed past on his motorbike with a massive fully decorated christmas tree on the back. That was pretty crazy!

I survived the back of the motorbike!

Had a horribly early start this morning to get to the boat by 7.30 but it was worth it. It was a bit chilly and misty at first so the first bit of the trip down the river was a bit eery. We docked at some random bank and climbed up to walk through a tiny village to a couple of temples. There were loads of fruit trees all over the place and it looked really pretty! The temple was really old too and was next to the river. On the way there some random old boy shook the hand of each of us as he passed. Very random.

Then we got back on the boat and sailed on a bit more to the next temple. This one was in an even smaller village and was made of stone, surrounded by jungle type plants.

We then had lunch on the boat whilst sailing back towards Hanoi. After lunch I sat up on the top for an hour or two basking in the sun - it finally came out! It was really warm and sunny and finally the sky was blue! There was a lot to see on the river. The surrounding countryside looked pretty cool, and there were lots of boats passing. The trend here seems to be to row with your feet rather than your hands! There were also fishermen and people transporting stuff all over the place. Some of the boats looked like they were about to sink at any moment and most seemed to be people's houses as well as their livelihood.

Just before Hanoi we stopped at a ceramics village. We got put into carts pulle by water buffalo to take us to the market. There is so much to buy there but I had to resist most things as I have no space and really no need for stuff like that. I did get a couple of small coasters though.

After that we sailed back down to the wharf. A couple of times on the boat two of the women were dressed up in traditional outifts singing traditional songs which was nice.

It wasn't bad considering I paid less than a tenner for the whole thing, including lunch!

Right now I am sitting in an internet cafe surrounded by western kids who look about 10 years old. They are playing computer games and swearing constantly. Lovely!

Have moved into my home for the next 5 weeks. Met the housekeepar and she's lovely, but she doesn't speak much English. Have had a look around the area too. It's next to the lake and is full of ex-pats so the supermarket stock s a lot of foreign goods. There is also a shop that stocks foreign stuff and it sells marmite! There are still cheap street places around too to get some pho or some bun chai from so theres a nice mix. I'm excited to have a kitchen but somewhat daunted by the supermarket as I don't understand half of the labels in the place. Might just have to buy random things and see what they are!

Tomorrow I am going on a boat trip down the river for a change of scene and then Sunday I think I'm just gonna do exciting things such as laundry and then watch some films. The couple who own the house have heaps of films I can work my way through!

Tomorrow I think I'm going to brave the back of a motorbike. I have to be at the boat by 7am and I'm not at all within walking distance. I don't really want to pay for a taxi and I ahve no idea what the buses are like first thing in the morning so I'm gonna try a motorbike. My logic is that first thing on a Saturday morning it shouldn't be too busy on the roads and so I'm less likely to die. I was told that the quickest and cheapest way for me to get to work from Tay Ho each day will be a motorbike so I guess I'm gonna have to give it a go sometime. I could get a bus but I have no idea how long it will take to get to the language school and they are really crowded at peak times so I think it's gonna be a motorbike.

I am leaving the hotel tomorrow! I am off to house sit at some swanky 5 floor house for five weeks. The people who own it are friends of the director of studeis at the language school and when they told her today that they wanted someone to look after their house whilst they are away from tomorrow she put them in touch with me as she knew I was looking for a place to live. This now means that I've got some time to try and find a decent place rather than going for the first available place.

Their housekeeper will still be cleaning etc whilst they are away so I wont have to clean their house or anything like that. they just really want someone to be in the house rather than leaving it pretty much empty for 5 weeks. Its in quite a nice part of the city - away from all the tourists and the rickshaw guys who pester you every time you hit the streets. It does mean I'm gonna have to find my way into the city each morning rather than jsut walking from the hotel but there are taxis and motorbike taxis plus there may well be a bus. Its gonna make the early mornings even more torturous though. Morning classes start at 7.45 so I'm gonna have to be getting up stupidly early to make it in for then. Still I only have to do that for 3 days a week. The rest of the week I have off! I am covering a woman who only works for 3 days. She does 8 hours a day though which is why she can get away with doing only 3 days. Most teachers seem to work 20-25 hours a week, plus all the prep time but at this language school you get a say in when you work so you can either teach one 4 hour class a day for the whole week or double up and teach more classes over less days. This means I get 4 days to recover from the 3 early starts a week!

I got my nice western breakfast on Saturday (lunchtime) and there was not a noodle in sight! This place also serves toast with marmite! Where did they get marmite from?!? I didn't achieve much on Saturday other than watch DVDs. I have caved and gone to the dodgy DVD stores here and got some TV series and films to watch in my spare time. I am currently working my way through desperate housewives!

On Sunday I found an awesome second hand bookshop. Its run by aussies (they're everywhere here!) and they have a lot of info about Hanoi so I picked their brains about trying to find somewhere to live in Hanoi. I also picked up a Dave Gorman book for about £4. They will buy it back when I'm done too!

Next I went to find a bus stop. whilst I was waiting two random old women started talking to me in Vietnamese and touching my hair and my skirt. I have no idea what they were trying to tell me! They seemed fascinated by me. I got a bus down to the south of Hanoi. It was a bit of a strange place. I went to a cafe next to the river and all the staff stared at me whilst I had my drink. I then went to try and find some silk village place but it was either closed for the day or jsut really crap. I gave up soon after and got a bus back to the old quarter as I couldn't face looking around this dodgy part of town any more. I went to the history museum which seemed to be the most random selection of artefacts they could find, stuffed into an old building. Some of it was interesting but some was just strange. Next I went down to the language school to pick up my certificate for the course and the women in the shop next door told me that my hair was very beautiful (thats one of the Vietnamese words I have randomly leant!!)

Yesterday I got a bus to a village outside of Hanoi. Went through some scraggy looking countryside to get there and then got dumped at some ramdon small town bus station. This place was apparently an old capital but now it just looks really run down. I walked into the village and walked around the streets for a bit and then went to try and find the temple that is there. I got mobbed by school children who all wanted to say hello to me. They kept riding past me on their bikes calling out hello. A groups of girls came over and practiced their English on me whilst they walked back to school and they gave me some random rice snack to eat. There was also a group of boys who pestered me for money but they were the only ones. I'm getting used to kids staring at me in Hanoi and the occasional older person but I don't really notice it any more. However out at this village EVERYONE stared at me. Motorbikes slowed down so the driver could get a good look, and people turned 360 degress in the street to look at me. I guess not so many tourists make it out there!

The temple was next to the school so I felt a bit like the Pied Piper walking there with all these kids following but eventually I managed to shake them off and go into the temple. When I came back out classes had started again so the kids were gone. I walked out of the village on a dirt track but I didn't want to go too far as it was hot and dusty so I turned back pretty soon. Saw some paddy fields though, and water buffalo or something grazing in fields. On my way back to the bus stop I saw people using the water buffalo (or whatever they were) to pull carts. Its completely different out in the country and it was interesting to see what its like there.

Today I had an interview at an Aussie (of course) language school and now have a job there! I'm going for an induction tomorrow, along with another guy who did the course with me. The job starts from next week. The first week I think I'm just observing, and then the next four weeks I'm covering for a teacher who is going away. There is then a two week break for Tet before the next year starts up. Fingers crossed I will get a year long contract then! It will be good to have this short trial before signing anything long term though. Will also be good to get some money - $22 an hour! Just need to find somewhere to live now and get my business visa sorted.

I went to the cinema this afternoon to see Madagascar 2. Childish I know but it has penguins in it!! There was another lone Brit there too so we sat together so we didn't look QUITE so childish. We also made the most of the cheap cinema snacks - popcorn for 85p and a drink for 60p! Bargain!

The course is finished!

After our last teaching practice this afternoon the four of us trainees went out for a drink and something to eat. We went to a place run by some aussies and I eyed up the breakfast menu. It looks good! I plan to sleep in tomorrow as I'm knackered then go and get myself a breakfast from there as they serve all day. This place also serves proper crepe pancakes with lemon juice and sugar so thats an afternoon snack sorted! I don't intend to do much tomorrow. I'm gonna sort out all my notes and then do some researc about the place I have an interview at on Tuesday.

On Sunday and Monday I'm going to brave the bus network and go and see some places further afield. Depending on how it goes on the interview on Tuesday I might try and take a day trip out of Hanoi later in the week, see what the country outside of Hanoi is like.