Ok so I haven't posted on my blog as religiously as I should have done...

I've been spending a lot more time in Hanoi now and I am working every day in the week and earning a nice enough wage to keep myself happy but not by any means a huge salary just yet (that will come when more teaching hours emerge)
Once you are a qualified teacher out here you simply work a few hours and you soon find you are earning more than enough to fund alcohol and nice trips.

I have travelled around to a few places though I was very quick to start working in Oxford English VN so I did not have much chance to go round the whole of VN. I am trying to get a reasonable command of the basics of Vietnamese before I really start to go to the more remote parts of VN.

Well yesterday I went to a great expat concert with loads of bands and DJs playing music all afternoon and evening. It was great fun!
Today with a hangover I was taken round by my landlord's son in an imported car from Dubai. It was nice to see the city from the comfort of a big expensive car with russian music played and he proudly showed me some new parts of Hanoi that he had developed......They looked very err Russian and Socialist but he seemed happy when I said that to him. They were quite pretty regardless of the fact that I felt I was back in East Berlin or Sofia again.

Anyway here are some photos for you to enjoy from some other trips as well as some pictures of my new home. Hope everyone reading is well and please send me an email if you ever get chance.

My first trip out of Hanoi

At the weekend I managed to get out of Hanoi after a few failed attempts where I ended up lost in the suburbs on my bike. I did this by getting a load of my ex students from the CELTA course to take me out. It was brilliant to be free from the city and all the fumes. Though it was very misty I was able to see a few buddist temples and a holy cave complete with candles and various holy stones.

I also got the CELTA report and was quite happy to see it was really positive about me. It certainly means a lot and I've already noticed there are a lot of schools out here who seem keen on employing me. I realised how prepared I am when I met some other people from the UK doing something similar. One had actually managed to fail the CELTA or dropped out on his first attempt and the others were doing some kind of 'gap year' placement where they get a week's training and get paid a few dollars for their needs. It's certainly a far cry from the professional organisations that exist out here that I'm chasing after but it was positive to see that I'm a bit above the bottom of the ladder in the EFL world.

Anyway this week is all about applying for different jobs and trying to get some fixed hours for starting to work......

CELTA finished!!!

Ok firstly sorry for not posting at all but I have been very very busy and hard-working for the last few weeks. The CELTA (Certificate of English language teaching to adults) is intense and it is the most recognised qualifications for a reason.

I have now passed and been told that I'm going to get a good report. The next stage is for me to find a job over here....
Over the last few weeks I've started to really enjoy being up there teaching English and have really found it is something I can do for a while. The amount of response and interesting things you hear from people is amazing.

I've now got some time off to collect my thoughts and prepare for the next stage.....my first job. I haven't got any job 'guaranteed' so I'm starting to apply to various places to get myself on the ladder.

I've now got a motorbike and I'm riding round Hanoi as much as I can. Though yes it is a pretty scary experience once you get used to having to beep your horn and see people going the wrong way up one way streets it becomes quite routine. (well the Vietnamese seem to be relaxed with the whole thing)
It certainly stops me from getting ripped off (by Vietnamese standards) by the dodgy taxi drivers or motorbike drivers that decide the price depending on how much they think they can get out of you.

Last night's experience involved a prostitute hopping on the back and trying to persuade me to take the additional services of the taxi ride. It was actually hillarious because this all happend on the back of a small scooter with the driver, me sanwiched between them and this prostitute on the back trying to tempt me. She soon gave up though and found another bike back into the centre to find more customers.

Anyway hope all is well with you all and I will try and post more often now I will be touring round a bit more.

Right well things have been moving fast but today I decided to really settle in and managed to get the basics for my room and some basic food. It's amazing how long things take here to do basic tasks because I don't speak the language so I spent the whole day just going shopping and finding a place to eat on my own. In the end I have managed to get the things I need at a very low cost sum.

In the days before today I have learned how to ride a scooter, visted parks, seen the city and also managed to eat at many places. Everything is so cheap here. I can easily only spend 10 GBP a day and live quite lavishly. I'm sure this rate will go down once I know where to go, what to cook etc.

It's great as well how at every street corner there are people waiting to take you on the back of a bike for a price of around 20-80p (depending on the distance for the ride)
I've posted a few of my favourate pictures from the last few days to hopefully give an insight into what things are like here.

I wish everyone the all the best, especially those stuck in snow. It was a pleasent 24 degrees here but I hear it will get a lot hotter soon.

I have arrived. I've not really looked round much but my house is huge and my room is the biggest I've had. Apparently it's quite expensive for a room here but it's cheaper than a hotel or a hostel and far better quality. (air con cleaner etc.)

Anyway I'm going to get up and find out more about where I am and what to eat.

More soon....

Today is the final day before I leave for Vietnam. I couldn't say it's been ideal. I sit watching the news wondering if I'll even be able to get out of the UK. I also still seem to have a large amount of preparation work to do for the course I'm doing that I planned to do well before I got to Hanoi. Oh well I guess I can do it on the train and plane (or no doubt while I am sitting out the 8 hr delays that will happen due to snow)

I took a ton of photos before I left of Peckforton Castle etc. but I'll post them when I get a better internet connection. (512k of Aston Juxta Mondrum doesn't really move that quick)

Hopefully my next post will be from Bankok or even (hopefully!) Hanoi.

The preparations starts

Ok this first entry is just to welcome anyone who has decided to look at my blog. Right now I am still in the UK and working at my happy job as a night porter. I have said goodbye to most people there and have one more night so hopefully I'll try and snap some photos of the castle before I leave it for good.

I will be leaving in less than 2 weeks to go and live in Hanoi and teach English. This is a huge step for me as you can imagine since I have hardly left home for the past 4 months. I can't wait to be back on the road though and hopefully I will have plenty of exciting tales to tell. So far things are still rather dull...

It looks like I've pretty much sorted everything except for 1 more injection and an international driving license I think I should be fine. I'm contemplating the idea of buying a camera before I leave or just using the one on my phone.
The thing I really should be thinking about though it preparing for my CELTA course as this will decide which kind of job I end up in and failing it won't be an option for my time abroad. If I fail the CELTA I go home rather quickly. (And satisfy the view of a few critics of my plan that I will be back in the UK within a month)

Anyway please post messages of support and wish me well or tell me I'm going to fail if you feel the need.