Finished

Finally it's here, that day that teachers, parents and students all love - the first day of holidays. I am sitting in a very quiet house at the moment everyone is sound asleep, even the street is quiet this morning - the only sound is our fan whirring in the background but that for us, is a milestone, we have grown so accustomed to the heat we no longer need the air conditioner on all the time.

But back to today. How to explain the emotions I am feeling! I guess all I can come up with is 'we made it'. We have finished our first Semester as expats. Someone told me yesterday that the first semester is always the hardest - they were speaking of teaching in a new school but I can translate that to life in a new country.

This past semester everything was new, yes everything was exciting as well but exhausting at the same time. We had new schools, new job (for me), new friends, new academic curriculum, new food, new house .... and the list can go on - but even though we have been here only 5 months we can say we life has begun to become familiar and predicatable.

But again 'we made it'. This past week has been a busy week. The kids all had end of Semester exams, and exams wherever you are can be stressful it also meant for the girls different pick ups and drop offs for school - thank goodness for Khan. I had a field trip to Dai Nam, though it was wonderful it's about 1 and a half to two hours away which made for a very long and noisy bus trip, not to mention a day of walking around a zoo and a fun park. Matthew had an invitation to the opening of a new company at the airport which we all were invited to - thankfully exams had finished. We also had the Winter formal, which I think will be a completely different blog. Josh had a sports day and I had a work Christmas party, this unfortunately was the one that just didn't make it but there's always next time.

This is why the kids are still sleeping, Matthew is sleeping and I am making the most of a quiet moment.

Christmas is now just around the corner and for a country that is not a christian country - they certainly make an enormous effort to be festive. The house across the road is decorated with lights, lights and more lights, a huge Christmas tree at their front and a navity scene to revile the ones in church. But it's still not home. We are all feeling a little bit homesick, christmas is a time for family and it was made all the harder this week with many of our teachers being really excited about going home for Christmas - but I am sure we will have a wonderful time in Hoi An, which we leave for on the 23rd December but more importantly we have the 21st which is the day Zander flies in. Matthew has asked me a number of times why, in writing this blog, I have never mentioned Zander leaving but I just couldn't, I wasn't ready to share the emotions attached to sending one of your children to the other side of the world for the next four years. However on Tuesday my family will once again be a complete family and I can't wait, and even though it won't be for long and we will have to say good bye again it's all worth it.

Reading back over this entry - it really is just ramblings - but I think ramblings are important they provide a sneak peek into the lives of others - that's my excuse and it sounds logical to me. I am heading off this morning to try and do a spot of christmas shopping but if it is like our attempts to shoe shop in a country of tiny feet - I am in for an exciting day.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I have this notion that Christmas decorations have to go up the December 1, no earlier and no later. So the week end before Wednesday December 1 had us out Christmas tree shopping. Thankfully the week prior to this we had been to a Bazaar where I did manage to find a traditional Nativity scene, I am not sure which tradition it belongs to but there is Mary, Jesus, Joseph, an angel and the three wise men so it ticks the religious tradition box, the fact that the angel looks a tad Jewish (according to Mikaela - I think the little 'rabbi hat' gives that away) probably ticks the religious tradition box for a couple of religions - but when you live in a country where Buddhism is the major religion - I was happy to find one. Our Nativity scene could also be considered very environmentally friendly - it being made out of recycled tin cans so it makes us all feel we are doing our bit to be environmentally conscious. The faces on a little people I think speak for themselves!

Back to our Christmas tree shopping. We originally thought we would continue the environmental theme and buy a plant and decorate that - but that was before we found The Christmas Stall. Driving down Ha Ba Trang we passed a Catholic Church, which being both ornate and pink, yes pink, caught our attention. We also noticed a Christmas Stall - so quickly pulling over and all jumping out (you have to love having a driver there is never parking issues) we were amazed at what we could buy.

We settled on a little tree that came with a touch of snow (so very unVietnamese) and pine cones, which as it turned out are great they make up for a lack of decorations, but for the grand total of $8.00 we were happy.

Of course I would not allow the tree to go up before Wednesday but as we really didn't have much it didn't take long. But the tree.........when we unwrapped the box and put it together we found it had two legs instead of three which makes for a tree that constantly falls over. Anyway a few coat hangers later and some magazine props we had a tree up, albeit a little slanted but that's OK. We played christmas carols while we decorated our tree with an assortment of tack and less tacky decorations, the only thing we didn't have is an angel for the top (But thanks to Leanne and her story about the first angel on top of a Christmas tree I am not really sure I can put an angel on the top ever again).

But there you have it. Our christmas tree, it might be small but still it's festive and now we can all sing it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Saigon after dark

The opportunity to dress up doesn't happen very much here, but last night we had a work function which gave me an excuse to do just that. After wondering what to wear to something that really didn't have a dress code but was said to be dressier then most places, I decided on that little black dress that every female keeps in her wardrobe just for this occasion. My little black dress just happened to live in Mikaela's wardrobe but surely that's the advantage to having teenage girls.

When we arrrived we were pleasantly surprised by the venue it was really quite lovely, it

was an outdoor restaurant overlooking the river, which as the sun went down only became more attractive (you could no longer see the rubbish floating down the river). Dinner was buffet style where you choose your meats and vegetables bring them back to your table and, if we were home we would cook yourself, but not in Viet Nam - here there was someone to cook it for you and place it on your plate. It was a great venue, wonderful food and good company, it was a lovely way to spend my first ever Teachers Day.


As the evening had begun quite early, many of the staff went off to go Clubbing and some how we managed to get dragged along as well. It has been a long time since I went anywhere that could be considered "going clubbing" but it was fun. First stop was Havana's, more a bar really with a band playing. After a few drinks it was off to Vasco's, a true night club, the ringing in my ears will attest to that. As we stood around chatting, well not really chatting because you couldn't hear anything it dawned on me that I was probably old enough to be some of these people's mother! not a very nice thought. When one of my colleagues said I reminded him of Olivia Newton John I didn't know whether to be flattered (she is still a very attractive lady) or horrified ( she is 62) but maybe it is the Australian thing. Anyway the music was so loud you could feel it vibrating through your body, but what amazed me was the music sounded the same, even when they changed songs, the same thump thump thump seemed to permeate all of the music that was played. But after standing around for a while in that perculair light that makes anything white stand out including teeth (It did remind me that I have to find a Dentist for Mikaela - does a mother's mind ever stray far from her children) I decided I might as well dance, thankfully I was in black so I could blend in with the background as long as I didn't smile. All in all we had a great night and at least I can say we went clubbing in Viet Nam and stayed out till 2pm.

Just another Friday evening in Saigon

It's just after 5pm on Friday evening. After a long week of work the weekend has finally arrived. It doesn't matter what country or city you live in, Friday evenings are always the best - the entire weekend stretches out before you.
As I sit on the balcony overlooking the street I am transfixed by the movie being filmed across the road. We have no idea what is happening, Bella said she feels we ought to go and ask for an autograph because maybe they are famous; but in all reality there is always lots of filming being done around the streets of Phu My Hung so it probably isn't anything exciting.
As I look around there are so many Vietnamese sights, sounds and smells that over the last three months have become normal - the constant beeping of bikes and cars, which though we live in a quiet neighbbourhood, still occur each time they pass on intersection; the little red plastic stools the the film crew are sitting on, I haven't yet worked out why little plastic stools abound - but they do in every outdoor cafe, street stall, indeed anywhere where locals gather and the smell of rain as it falls on earth that is certainly no starved of water with its own distinct smell.
But still it is Friday night, just like every other Friday night - Mikaela is working with her Math Tutor, Isabella is doing homework so she can go out tomorrow with her friend and then onto basketball try outs and Josh is staying well clear of me so I don't nag him to do his homework. And me, I am having a quiet coffee, watching the filming and waiting for my friends to arrive so we can all go out and celebrate Friday.

Shopping

Shopping in Vietnam is fun. Whether it is in markets, local street shops or even the local shopping centres. It can be exciting and it can be frustrating at the same time but, as time goes by it is becoming less frustrating yet no less exciting. There is always something to remind me I am living in a foreign country.
I have discovered so many things about shopping in the local grocery store that I am becoming just like a local. Things I need to remember include:
- don't line up or you could be in that line forever.
- you pay for your olive oil as soon as you get it off the shelf, if you don't want to be chased through the aisles.
- you can buy beer, wine and soft drink in the same aisle, but if you want m and m chocolates you have to get them from the locked cabinet.
- you buy bread from the bakery in the middle of the store, pay for it immediately and make sure you have close to the right money.
- meat comes mostly in big slabs, where you choose what you want using the tongs, hand it over and they cut and bag it for you.
- and fish....... comes out of the fish tank.

But most important of all, if you have a long arms, fruit and vegie shopping can be quick, for those of us who don't, you have to learn to wiggle your way to the weighing lady, throw your selection on to her scales where she weighs and tags it and then, if you aren't quick enough to grab it, it ends up in the basket near her where you then have to delve around looking for what was yours. For me this has become a challenge that I have undertaken with all skills of a ninja, I don't have long arms so I have become as pushy as the next person, wiggling myself stealthly into position to quickly pass over my produce one at a time, grab what she has already weighed whilst holding onto my basket I have become so adept at this that I even found myself doing this whilst arguing with a lady over my tomatoes! though I am not yet as quick as the locals, at least I am not standing there waiting and waiting.

And of course there is rice and noodles, the hardest part is what noodles to buy - with 3 aisles of noodles the choice is endless. As long as you are happy with 10kg of rice there's no problems.

I very regularly thank advertising gurus who decided to put pictures on products, without them I would be lost it's amazing what a picture tells you. Not to mention brand names; OMO is OMO in any language, as is corn flakes to name a few.

Well that's shopping in a grocery store.

Vung Tau

Saturday morning in HCMC can be blissful, with no more getting up early for swimming like we did in Australia, it's a day for sleeping in. No so if you want to go to the beach.

We decided to visit Vung Tau, the closest beach to HCMC. The Lonely Planet guide does say it is not one of Vietnam's best beaches (it's closer then the beaches in Mui Ne) so we were warned. We decided to get Joe our driver to drive us there even though it was going to take longer, about twice and a bit more then the direct passenger ferry. So here it is 5.30 in the morning and we are driving out of Phu My Hung. We had to catch the car ferry across the river, which though old fashion was fun. It's just amazing how many bikes they can fit on this little car ferry. It would have been impossible to get out of the car, because you couldn't open the doors for the bikes that were jammed so close to the car.

Though the distance wasn't that great the roads made it impossible to drive very fast - Joe did a wonderful job of avoiding the bigger of the pot holes but seriously it is a very bumpy road at times.

First stop was the main beach in Vung Tau. The water was beautiful in temperature but not so clean - so after a paddle we decided to keep exploring before we went for a swim elsewhere.

Anyone with children knows what kids want to do and what adults want to do is generally not the same thing. So here we are in Vung Tau to visit the beach, and Matthew and I find ourselves not at the beach but rather on a cable car going up a Mountain but with promises of lovely views we gave in.

Like lots of things in Vietnam you can always count on the unpredictable. At the top of the mountain, after a short golf buggy ride further up the hill, (I did wonder why they just didn't build a longer cable car!) we found an array of different of amusements. It is a cross between a religious experience

a fun park

and a zoo. Sorry no photo I was not going to go anywhere near those monkeys or that python. There was also one of those pirate ship rides, those ones that go completely upside. Bella feeling very brave decided she was going to try it, "I've always wanted to go on them but I've been too scared - so I am going to do it this time". Off she goes to buy a ticket, in 40 degree heat at 1030 in the morning none of the rest of us were very keen to join her. The poor thing was very nervous but you had to admire her bravery - to make matters worse there was no-one else on the ride. She gets on but is told to change seats because that particular seat is broken. I was beginning to feel a little nervous for her - Vietnam and rides that go upside down just didn't seem a good combination to me. As the ride started you could see in her face a mixture of pride that she had finally overcome her fear of this ride and fear not just of the ride but the fact that seat bar was not locked down properly. Anyway the ride started slowly then continued slowly, by this time we had realised that this ride was not going to go upside down, you could tell by the arms of the ride. In the end her screams of excitement died down to giggles of how ludicrious the ride was. And as for the rest of her family we laughed and laughed at all her facial expressions, Mikaela said that if nothing else happens in Vietnam except Bella and her pirate ride she would be satisfied. (You have to love sibling love).

After lunch in a swish waterfront hotel, a place we definately could go back to we all agreed, we headed off to another beach for a swim.

Being accustomed to deck changing none of us where too perturbed about the lack of facilities in which to change - but alas we have forgotten Asian beaches. From the moment our toes touched the sand we were surrounded by hawkers. Of course you have to rent chairs to sit on, you have to buy food, drinks and icecream and you have to put up with the stares of everyone on the beach. I never did get changed albeit I could have swam in my clothes there was not a person swimming in anything that slightly resembled a pair of swimmers. Matthew and Josh did go for a swim though a short one, they really didn't feel like sharing the water with sea lice!

All of a sudden the clouds came over and the rain came down, that's the tropics for you, so we took that as a sign to head home.

So that was our day at the beach not quite the beaches of Cronulla or Moolalabar, but still we all had a wonderful day out together - time with family is really all that matters.

Saturday in Ho Chi Minh City

Don't you just love Saturdays? Time to sleep in after a busy week, a relaxing coffee with family, maybe a walk around the shops, time to socialise. This is what I was looking forward to one Saturday morning. Matthew was in Australia but that was OK we had things to do and places to go, as the saying goes. The list of things to do kept growing on Friday night from dropping kids at social functions, buying caluculators, grocery shopping, getting camera's fixed and Bella still wanted to buy Ugly Betty. Friday night should have given me an inkling to what Saturday would bring but I didn't listen to the warning signs. Josh was going to meet friends and go ten pin bowling in the morning, he had to be there at 9am (there goes the leisurely sleep in) anyway at about 9pm plans were changed and he wasn't going till 11am (great the sleep in is back), all I had to do was text our driver and let him know. Mikaela then informs me that she has missplaced her phone since Tuesday! nothing much we can do about it at 10pm, but it's something else to do on Saturday.

Off we set in the morning with a very excited Josh. On the way I rang Mikaela's phone thinking maybe it was in the car and we would hear it, instead it was answered in Vietnamese of course. We gave the phone to Joe (our driver) for translation - apparently someone had her phone - she had dropped it at school and it was now in District 10. Great we knew we could pick it up sometime today in all our running around.

So first stop, off to District 1. It was very strange dropping my 11 year old at Diamond Plaza Shopping centre on his own - so I walked him up just to make sure. Diamond Plaza is a new shopping centre in HCMC - it's very fancy and very expensive even for Australian standards certainly not a place I would be shopping. Unfortunately while we were there Joe rang to say he had a flat tyre and would be a little late. So we decided to sit for that leisurely coffee, unfortunately it rained as we were drinking our coffee but that's Saigon for you.

When Joe picked us up we continued on our errands for the day - planning on meeting Josh at a neighbouring shopping centre where he was having lunch. We stopped to get my camera fixed, yes they could fix it but come back at 4pm, yet another place we have to get to on this already busy Saturday. Time to collect Josh so I decided to grab lunch at the same place. You can imagine my surprise as I am standing in the food court on the phone to Josh saying where are you, he is saying near KFC, I am saying so am I but I can't see you. As it turns out they had gone to a neighbouring Shopping centre of the same name but District 5, 20 minutes away. Back to the car and a mad dash to find Josh, half way there my phone runs out of credit. So using Bella's phone we stay in contact with Josh who is now on his own, his friends having gone on to the movies, (who said vietnamese kids don't go out).

Finally we get over to District 5 collect Josh then over to District 10 to collect Mikaela's phone. As Bella's phone has also now run out of credit, adding credits to phones is yet another job to be done on this busy Saturday. Off to get the calculator from yet another District, District 3 this time. We get to the calculator shop only to find that the shop doesn't take Credit cards on Saturdays!!! So off to ATM's to try and find money, I will note however that my Australian credit card has not been working here, and my Vietnamese card has not arrived - the machine broke down and it couldn't be made, so I am reduced to using Bella's card (I think she is charging me rent to borrow her card). Anyway after 4 ATM's I gave up, the calculator can wait for another day. Back to District 1 to collect my camera and of course Bella finally found Ugly Betty at the right price right next door to the Camera shop and then finally home to District 7.

Not everything was done - no calculator, no phone credit, no grocery shopping. But we did manage to go to Districts 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 all in one day - which I can tell you is an impressive Saturday in Ho Chi Minh City.

Cricket in Vietnam

We have been here for exactly one month today. So we thought we would celebrate with a game of family cricket - well family cricket minus Zander, but he was there in spirit (in the form of Graham) but who's counting. Josh grabbed his bat and his tennis balls and off we set for somewhere where we could play. It didn't have to be big, we are used to playing in our driveway. The problem is the grass is not for walking on here, we did find a park that had a swing set so we thought that it would be OK to play there. But the park was a muddy swamp - not really sure how you are supposed to reach the swings unless you had gumboots. Anyway we found another park which had a road through the middle of it - but as it was blocked off except for motor bikes we thought it could work. And it did, with sticks as stumps, a pile of pavers as wickets and trees as fielders we played our inaugral game of backyard cricket or maybe it should be called paver road cricket - unfortunately we got rained out but it was a lot of fun, with lots of arguments as rules were changed and modified, Josh wasn't happy with 'the landing in a puddle you're out' rule, but it was great even Mikaela enjoyed it.

Our little Pirate

We had only been in Vietnam for a week and a half when we had our first encounter with the medical practices of Vietnam. Before we left Australia Bella decided to have her ears pierced. For those of you who have never experienced Bella and needles; this was a monumental event. Her fear of needles is so huge that vaccinations are carried out only after massive planning similiar to any secret covert governmental exercise. But she did it - mind you only after trying to, unsuccessfully, convince the Beauticians to do both ears simultaneously.

Anyway we left Sydney with both ears pierced.

After only a few days she woke up one morning with a very swollen earlobe; being such concerned parents, we told her to continue to bathe it in salt water and that it would be fine. The next day it was so swollen that we could no longer see her earring. Off we go to the Pharmacy, no easy feat in vietnam, but we get cream. Two days pass and the swelling goes down. However the earring is gone! It has been swallowed by her ear lobe.
Well off we go to the emergency department of the local international hospital. The doctor was lovely, though Bella wasn't impressed when he laughed at her situation. He explained that he would give her a local then pull the earring out. I was very impressed with her - she didn't bat an eyelid. It wasn't until he got a needle out that she got concerned - the poor thing didn't realise that a local meant a needle.

Anyway they managed to give her the local, slit the back of her ear, pull the earring out together with the abscess that had developed, fill her ear lobe with antiseptic and put a bandaid on it. We were then able to go. Mind you when they told me the price was 1 million three hundred dong I nearly ended up in the hospital with a heart attack but then of course I realised it was about $60 AUD, so all was OK.

Two weeks down the track Bella's ear is fine - she does only have one earring and I think that is how she is going to stay - you must wonder what the Vietnamese think of the one earring blonde haired pirate.

3 Weeks Gone

You know when you are on holidays and if you are lucky you get two weeks but all too soon its time to go home - well I kept waiting for the time we went home. We all felt we were all on a holiday. That came crashing to end on Monday, with the kids returning to school.

Although I had been back for 2 weeks it just wasn't the same.

Sunday night came all too quick, bags were packed, uniforms ironed (albeit in Bella's case not too well - we have decided kids have to iron there own uniforms ) no need to polish shoes because footwear is a personal choice and off to bed early to hopefully get a good nights sleep to start the week. But you know what it's like when something exciting is going to happen the next day - you just can't sleep - then all your worries seem to magnify. I think all of us were worried about what life would be like if you are tall and blonde in a school filled with dark haired shorter people who, not to mention, speak a completely different language.

However we did survive the week. It was a little like a roller coaster ride with ups and downs comments like "I won't make any friends", "I can't understand anyone" "I have never done ......(fill in the blank with any number of subject topics), "It's too hot", "It's too cold" and Josh's best comment after day one "I had the best day ever but I don't want to go back tomorrow" all have filled our house at various times throughout the week but we all managed to get to Friday quite pleased with ourselves.

It is amazing though that after only one week, all three of the kids are talking about who they sat with at lunch; things new friends have said; they have new friends requests on facebook and requests of "Can I go to the movies with..." are being asked. All Matthew and I can do is sit back and say WOW. Josh has assimilated so much that in class the other day he said "Oi chua o'i" (Oh my God) which had the entire class laughing".

As another week is about to begin we are all feeling positive. I am sure that the novelty of being the only blonde kids in school will have worn off slightly and that their vegemite sandwiches will no longer be looked at with the same amusement that they have been!

Phu My Hung

Who would have thoughts that two weeks could pass so fast, actually 2 weeks and 3 days. Tomorrow is the start of reality. The kids start school. I am sure that the next few weeks will be filled with many ups and downs, let's just hope there are more ups then downs. Except of course if you are Australian girls in school uniforms , who when they put there hands in the air there belly's are exposed. Thats what happens when you go to a school where the majority of the population are much smaller then you are, the uniforms are a bit squishy.

Life in Phu My Hung has become a little more predictable. We now can find our way around. Though today we found a super market that is cheaper and more convenient then any of the others so we are still discovering. We did learn that meat that looks really good and really cheap is likely not to be beef but rather buffalo and we are not going down that path. It looks like a we are on a diet of chicken and seafood - I just have to get the kids to eat seafood that doesn't come in a box.

We are not even so suprised with what is carried on the backs of motorbikes anymore - though the 6 people Zander saw is still winning the most people on a bike. Though I will add there were 4 children and 2 adults but that is where the similarities to my family end.

Seeing a fridge on the back of a bike is now common place.

Back to life in Phu My Hung. Phu My Hung is in District 7 on the outskirts of the HCMC it's a much quieter part of the city. There is more open spaces then in the city but there are still heaps of restaurants, including Pho 24 which we all love and is very cheap. A bowl of Pho costs about 35,000VND which is about $2AUD, there is not many places we can feed our whole family for $12.00 and Pho 24 is not the cheapest place to buy Pho.

We live in a villa, My Tu Canh, which provided us with much more room then any of the apartments that we looked at. Some of them where so small that I don't think we could have fitted in the lounge room at the same time. Some of them had the ugliest furniture, I know you can't judge a book by it's cover, or in this case a room by its gawdy lounge but I couldn't have lived with brown felt with flowers on it!

Anyway after a heap of apartments and villas we finally decided on this one, it's older then the others but roomy, it has a pool, and it has a 4th bedroom which Mikaela quickly grabbed as it was intended for the maid, Mikaela can now officially claim she is the 'Cinderella' of the family. The only thing that is missing is hot water in the kitchen and an oven but apparently we are now officially living like a local no one has either.

Vietnamese Plumbing

We were introduced to the intracacies of Vietnamese plumbing in our first few days in the Hotel. One of the children, not mentioning Bella's name of course, came out of the bathroom and said that the toilet wouldn't flush, she had over used toilet paper but in her defence she said "It's better to be safe then sorry" and she does have a point there, in respect to the toilet paper. Anyway we then had a toilet that didn't flush, not a pretty sight or smell in a shared bathroom. At least we had Zander and Kaela's bathroom. The following morning we explained, in somewhat broken English that we had a toilet that didn't flush. Later that morning a housemaid came up with nothing more then her walkie talkie, she went into the bathroom closed the door, then came out a few minutes later and said "fixed" or something like that! We are all still perplexed - how on earth did she clear such a huge blockage with nothing but a walkie talkie.

So there you go when you next have a blocked toilet just talk to the toilet with your walkie talkie and the problem is fixed.

Introduction to Road Rules 101

Well we have now been here for just over a week and life is a new adventure everyday. I'm sitting here at our new villa in Phu My Hung District looking over a street that really could be almost anywhere. Except for the street sweepers who have been sweeping the street all morning with the cutest little brooms, a few motorbikes going past with a variety of things on there back , and the back up generator humming in the background. Our street is wide with trees that make it cool and shady. All this is a far cry from where we have spent the last week but it is the many different faces of Vietnam.

Going back a few days...

After our dramatic arrival our Hotel was a welcome relief. Mind you trying to explain that there were 6 of us not 5 proved a challenge. They eventually found a fold out bed for Josh but couldn't locate a mattress so a few blankets later he had a made up bed on the floor by this time it was after midnight so we were all glad to collapse into bed.

The time difference, albeit slight, had us up at 6, so we headed down for an early breakfast. Brekafast in Vietnamese hotels is culinary to say the least, they had an array of local dishes like rice, noodles, pho and even rice paper rolls but they also had toast, boiled eggs, ham sandwiches, pastries, spaghetti bolognaise, a selection of cold meat and fruit. It's like they put out anything they think western culture could possibly eat. Alexander's aim was to try everything in as much quantity as he could - a goal he achieved over the week we were there.

We were all keen to hit the streets on our first morning in Ho Chi Minh so off we set. Trying to describe the streets in Ho Chi Minh city is impossible. The people, the colours, the smell all stand out but it is the motor bikes that dominant this crazy city. Everone rides a bikes here and there appears no road rules yet it seems to work. What is amazing are the things that are carried on these bikes everything from babies, entire families, fridges, huge floral arrangements. We are endeavouring to find the largest family on a bike yesterday Zander saw 6 albeit there were 4 kids and 2 adults but still an impressive

feat. To cross the road the following steps must be adhered to:
1. Forget everything you have ever learnt about road safety.

2. Just cross, anywhere

3.Walk at the same consistent pace without stopping or pausing.

4.Cross individually - a big group is a big target to hit.

5.Take no notice of traffic the bikes, the cars and the mini buses will go around you.

This is all easier said then done it is truly amazing watching the children, who I have encouraged to cross at lights or pedestrian crossings, who I have held hands with as we cross, now just crossing willy nilly.

I am sure I will get used to it.

Are we ever going to get there

After a great flight we arrive, after months of packing, weeks of stress, days of cleaning, hours of luggage hassles we are here.

We are instructed to go to the Landing Visa counter where about 30 people are queing, but we are given forms which we complete, attach photos, pay some money - Visa's obtained, and we head for immigration leaving the 30 people still waiting for visas. We go through one at a time me, Matthew, Mikaela, Joshua, Isabella and .............. Alexander has a problem he is sent back to the Landing visa counter. After only a few minutes he comes over to were we wait on the Vietnamese side and says "they said my visa isn't valid and I have to go home". I didn't know if to laugh hysterically or sob hysterically but I was most definately hysterical.

After frantic phone calls to contacts, of which at 10pm, they were never going to be successfull here we were stranded at Ho Chi Minh Airport, 5 of us in Vietnam and one of us still in No Man's Land and it's 10.30pm. We didn't have a clue what to do except maybe sleep at the airport until the morning. We knew someone was picking us up at the airport but we knew if we went through the arrival gates Zander would be on his own. After trying to catch someone who looked like the could help us we managed to get a lady who told us that he should go back to the Landing Visa and ask them to look up his file number. After another hour his Visa was extended - the original one had the wrong dates, it had him arriving in June for a month but they finally extended it - it did cost him another $75.00 but I couldn't care less we were all in Vietnam. The plus side was the person collecting us was still here. So here we stand amongst an enormous amount of luggage in the heat of Vietnam after an adventurous journey but thankfully altogether for what I can't help but think will be the last time we arrive somewhere as a family, all 6 of us together.

Farewell Australia Hello Vietnam

It seemed a bit of a waste to come all the way to Darwin and do nothing - but that's exactly what we did. We sat around the pool which was undercover almost in the carpark, definately no need for my Suntan Lotion that I bought, but at least the buying of the suntan lotion provided Mikaela with many hours of amusement - according to this teenager suntan lotion was such an old word! I think the inference was her mother is old and out of touch.
4pm came as did our bus for the airport, I'm sure the hotel was glad to see the back of us, if we asked them one more time if we could get into the room which stored our luggage I think they might have locked us in the room!
Darwin airport was certainly fun for Alexander. You have to visualise us moving through baggage check, we all have hand luggage and laptops, the laptops have to be removed from their bags and put into a separate container, the playstation and Wii which we had, at the last minute, stashed in Bella's hand luggage also had to be unpacked and Josh being ever so cautious, insists on removing his necklace just in case - so all in all it takes a while. Alexander's hand luggage was grabbed for a more thorough personal check - out comes a charger and they try again, but again its rejected. This happens a number of times with more and more things being removed as possibly being the offensive item that kept showing through on the x ray. At this point baggage check is getting more and more crowded as we act like a dam in their system - eventually there is nothing left in his bag but it was still going off - they then removed the bottom insert of the bag and found it - the offending item - a metal bookmark!!I won't say what was going through my mind but it certainly wasn't a bookmark. OK we're done Zander repacks his hand luggage, puts computers away and we move on, only for Zander to be requested for a drug swipe on him and his luggage - honestly next time he is on his own. All clear and finally we move towards customs and immigration.
More bag checking again, out come the laptops, the chargers, the Wii and the playstation all the hand luggage goes through - this time it's my turn to be knocked back - for of all things liquid in my luggage, out comes all the liquid things - foundation, creams, shampoos all into plastic bags, I even have to throw away anything over 100ml, including my suntan lotion. Finally we are all through laptops repacked, hand luggage repacked in my case and we can finally go to the gate, with Josh whining all the way that his laptop bag is too heavy, I guess it's been a long day. There is not much to do in Darwin airport with only one duty free shop and one cafe so we played UNO, yes UNO, and the children spent all our remaining Australian coins on junk food.
Finally our flight is called and we're off until I realise that my laptop is gone, my heart dropped, the only place I could possibly have left it was at the last customs check, my mind was racing wondering if I could possibly run back to the customs check to see if it was there. Then Matthew said "check Joshs bag" there it was - no wonder the poor kid thought his bag was heavy he had been carrying around his laptop and mine.
Finally we can say goodbye to Australia.

The Top End

A four hour flight is not too bad, Just enough time to watch most of the latest Harry Potter movie with Josh, eat our sushi rolls, have a nanna nap and begin to get leg cramps. Oh to be like Alexander who was asleep before the flight had left the runway!
Darwin is hot and humid. Managed to find a mini bus to take all of us to our hotel only probelm was that I couldn't remember the name of our hotel, which was OK because I had the receipt on my laptop - except my laptop was flat! So here we are in Darwin searching Wotif.com for a hotel which started with A. Thankfully there are not too many hotels in Darwin that start with A so we managed to find it. I was not having a great start to Darwin I managed to loose the receipt for the return bus trip before I even got on the bus, its probably buried somewhere in the pile of luggage. You could almost hear the groans of the other passengers on the bus when we get off the bus to look for a receipt. As we were driving to our hotel we hear this very excited yell "Oh look an autobarn" the entire bus, including us turn and look at Josh but I guess fatigue was setting in we all just shrugged our shoulders and left him to his excitment.
Thankfully the "A" hotel was ours and we could check in, change out of winter clothes for quite possibly the last time in quite a while - except Alexander of course - and hit the streets of Darwin.
My trip to Darwin continued on its downward spiral as I ushered my family across the road against the lights and nearly got us all run over! Not a promising start. How will I manage to cross the road in a country that drives on the wrong side if I struggle in my own country. I guess I am about to find out as tomorrow we farewell Australia.

The Beginning

My children have suggested I write a blog about our adventures in Vietnam. In explanation my family is my husband,4 children (aged 18, 16, 14 and 11)and myself. We are moving to Ho Chi Minh city because I have a new job there and months ago when I applied and was lucky to get the job everyone was very excited and supportive. For the most part everyone still is, though 2 hours before leaving Sydney my 11 year old did ask "Do you really think we are making the right decision?" so if I wasn't already stressed about renting our house, checking passports and visas, moving kids to a new country and a new school, I was now even more stressed that I was dragging my family to another country kicking and screaming; but they keep telling me it will be fun! Only time will tell as we navigate life in an Asian country that has restricted access to facebook, has no MacDonalds, traffic that makes being a pedestrian really scary and money that goes into the millions!

Goodbye to Sydney

If someone was to tell me that the hardest thing about moving overseas was the constant goodbyes I don't think I would believe them. I knew saying goodbye to my family would be hard but I thought my excitment about the new challenges that lie ahead would make saying goodbye to everyone OK, I justified it to myself that it was only for 2 years actually 104 weeks I told my netball team. However it got to the stage that everyone I saw in the last few days before we left I had to say goodbye to. My kids would just shrug their shoulders and say "oh here she goes again" as I cried my way through another goodbye. Even my young sons primary school, which I will add he was to leave anyway in 6 months, had me sobbing with their well wishes and prayers for our safe journey.

We had decided to stay in a hotel near the airport for the last few days so as we could return home to clean the house. This sounded good in theory however 6 people and luggage enough to float the Titantic made it a squishy and 'family bonding' experience. I draw the short straw, well my 11 year old Josh, and I both did. Being the smallest in the family we got to share the pull out sofa bed. Sleeping along side a child is never restful particularly when that child likes to sleep diagonally! being woken in the middle of the night by a foot kicking my nose certainly took the shine off the family bonding experience.

It seemed everytime we arrived back at the hotel we had yet more luggage I do wonder what they thought, especially when I arrived with a box bearing our coffee machine, it was at this point that my girls decided I was just too embarrassing to be seen with saying "Mum they'll think your weird". The coffee machine was going to my father to mind while we are away I will point out, but that didn't lessen the embarrassment of walking through a crowded hotel lobby with my own, rather large coffee machine.

Finally Wednesday arrived and it was time to leave. All 149kg of checked luggage, 6 pieces of handluggage which we told the kids not to grimace at the weight of as they carried it, 6 laptops a camera bag, food (what you save on Jetstar fares you spend at the airport on food when you have remembered that you won't get fed for 4 hours - an absolute disaster for any teenagers let alone an 18 year old boy) and 6 people. It was an unusual sight coupled with parents, nieces and friends that came to say goodbye! I'm sure we were the ones which people said "I hope I don't get stuck next to that family".

Boarding arrived, more goodbyes, copious tears but finally we were off - if only to Darwin. Flying out of the domestic terminal didn't have the same exciting feeling as the International but finally we were going and anything that hadn't been done was not going to get done at this point but thankfully one of the teenagers did remember to change their status on facebook to reflect that we were going - glad they managed to keep their priorties right. Darwin here we come.