Wash it and go

Almost every Tuesday and Thursday from 10-11:30 my Vietnamese tutor, Viet, comes to my apartment and teaches me Vietnamese. We also discuss the differences between American and Vietnamese cultures. Our lessons have included introductions, numbers, telling time, food, going shopping and transportation. After about 6 lessons I finally feel like I'm making progress. My pronunciation has improved tremendously, but that's because he doesn't let me continue until I can say everything correctly. I was so excited the other day because I finally have my come back to xe om drivers who continuously harass me for rides. Last week I was walking about half a block from the supermarket to my school and the entire time a xe om driver followed me and asked me if I wanted a ride. Finally I turned to him and said, quite sternly, "Toi co xe may!" I have a motorbike! He backed off. I felt triumphant! He understood what I said and left me alone! Once I returned to the teacher's room I texted Viet and told him that I actually used something he taught me! A tiny victory, but a victory nonetheless. We have four more classes left, and we've already breezed through the book, so he said he's going to create his own lessons for me.

Besides my bi-weekly Vietnamese lessons, and teaching I really don't have too much to busy myself with. I go out with friends for breakfast/lunch/dinner/drinks every now and then, but I feel like I need a hobby. Before I came out here I had full intentions to take yoga classes and immerse myself in studying Buddhism, but that hasn't exactly happened...yet. The Friends of Vietnam Heritage holds a morning meditation program every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6:30-7:30am and I would love to go, but with my evening schedule it makes it difficult to get up that early to do anything. I think that I will make an effort to try it out soon.

Sometimes it amazes me how culturally diverse this city really is (at least in terms of food). Take my weekend for example:
Friday: Ryan and I ate Indian food for dinner and then headed over to an Irish pub to play some connect four and drink some beer.
Saturday: I spent some time at a Starbucks-ish type coffeehouse and wrote a letter. That evening Ryan and I ate dinner at a Japanese ramen shop.
Sunday: Before going to see a Brazilian film at an independent movie theater Ryan and I ate hummus and a delicious Greek platter of marinated pork, grilled vegetables, and a Greek salad with feta and kalamata olives.

One of the greatest perks of this city, and I guess in Asia in general, is that personal services like massages and salon services are so inexpensive. I took advantage of this last Friday and I went to a haughty taughty hair salon and I got my hair permanently straightened. This type of thing costs $200-300 in the States, but I paid only $60 for the same service. I would never imagine getting this done at home, but I was so fed up with spending 20 minutes every morning to straighten my hair so it would look somewhat manageable only to walk outside and have it frizz up all over again. Now I can wash it and go...wash it and go: two words I've never been able to put together in the same sentence. I know it sounds silly, but this is almost a dream come true.