So it’s been four months since I first started my travelling adventure. Wow. As I just wrote that I had to pinch myself because the time has gone by unbelievably quickly! In the 4
I’ve seen some of the most beautiful landscapes, white sandy beaches, waterfalls – and to top it off I’ve met some amazing people. Some definite friends for life who I hope to see again one day.
I’ve done things I wouldn’t normally do. Like jumping off cliffs into open waters (bearing in mind I can’t swim). Or eating food off the street for less than 20p, without even worrying about getting food poisoning.
I started travelling with no expectations – and I’ve been completely blown away! And I think that’s the best way to do it. I was having a chat with a guy I met and I was telling him I’ve had no expectations. To which his reply was: “That’s a little sad”. But the way I see
I’ve met many people on my travels who’ve complained about places not being how they expected or who’ve felt disappointment. If you build a big picture up in your head, it’s far too easy to be disappointed. That’s just my thinking anyway ☺
I don’t want my travelling adventure to end just now but I am taking a little break from it. Well, it’s actually more like a diversion.
A different route…
So before I left home in the UK I planned to travel for 6 months. Now I’m more than halfway through, and although I completely love travelling I just wanted to do something a little meaningful and help others.
So with a recently completed teaching qualification, I decided to move to Vietnam and find myself a job teaching English. And if you’re looking for a teaching qualification check out i-to-i. I did my 120-hour online teaching course with them and the course was brilliant!
At first, I was absolutely terrified but three weeks in and I’m completely loving the job. At the moment I have 3 classes teaching 4-6 year-olds and 11-12 year-olds. You wouldn’t believe the cheekiness of some of the students. But I love their enthusiasm! In my first class with the older students, one of the 11 year-old boys raised his hand to ask me a question.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” He said
“No” I replied.
To which he said “Why not? Are you a lesbian?“
I was just surprised he knew how to say lesbian in English!
Back to the job… as its all completely new to me, I wanted to ease myself into the work. Since gaining more experience I’m hoping to expand and fingers crossed, I’ll be teaching full time in the next few weeks!
Challenges
Controlling the classes was initially a challenge and to be fair it sometimes continues to be, but I’ve never been one to back away from a challenge. I’m absolutely loving this job as a foreign English teacher and hopefully, I’ll be here for the next few months before I head back on the road to start travelling again.
Even though I’m working I’m still going to try and explore the country on my days/weekends off so I’ll be blogging about that too!
Life in the big city
As for life in Hanoi. Despite being currently bed-ridden, waking up in hot & cold sweats, with a gross cold, sore throat & headache, it’s pretty cool in this city. 🤒😊
I’ve not done many site-seeing around as I’ve spent most of my time either finding jobs, working, making friends or partying with those new friends. But I’m here for a while so I will update the blog with a Top 10 things to do in Hanoi… when I get around to it myself!
The people are so friendly here, the locals & backpackers. There’s also a large expat community, the majority of which are English teachers. So it’s been nice getting to know people, making new friends and bumping into those familiar faces in ‘Beer Corner’ (an area where you can buy a plastic cup of beer for around 18p) every once in a while!
And how could I forget to mention the crazy traffic! After countless Uber drivers cancelling/not knowing where I was waiting/not knowing where I wanted to go, it all started getting a little frustrating, not to mention expensive.
So I decided to buy a scooter. From never driving a scooter before, to learning on the busy streets of Hanoi, people told me I was crazy!
But I did it anyway and I’m loving life driving around the city on Dora the Explorer – I didn’t name her!
Until next time, from the place I’m calling my new home city for the next few months, Ciao!
Peace & ❤
Current location: Blogging from my bed & feeling very ill.
When you coming home. I’m beginning to miss you.
Every time I make a brew, I think of you ‘cos usually you want one as well. Dad xx
Ah you can always come out over to Vietnam and make me a cuppa here Dad!
Aw maya soo happy your having fun and teaching ! That’s blown me away ! If your fancy even more of a challenge try teaching 21 3/4 year olds ! That’s a mission !! Glad your enjoying yourself and scooting that’s brave ! Just to think that you didn’t want to hold Neo or jai as babies cause u were scared that they were so small ! Look at u now ! I’m sure all the family is super proud of u I know I am ! Keep smiling and go live the dream !!! ❤❤❤❤