A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
Have I mentioned I'm teaching English to kindergarteners three days a week? After two weeks of it, I have come to the realization that I must have been clinically insane (self diagnosed) to accept this position, but the kids are adorable and fun. However, as a consequence of this new employment I suspect I may be gaining a reputation on the streets of Saigon as some sort of foreign nutjob.

During my long walks back from Lan Anh I tend to sing to myself, testing various songs from childhood and campfire girl camp that I think might work with the kindergartners. My singing habit probably wouldn't be so conspicuous if I weren't simultaneously attempting to devise hand and body motions to lend visual interest. Yesterday, in fact, a sidewalk vendor pointed at me, laughed, and proceeded to perfectly mimic my hand motions. Guess I wasn't being as subtle as I had thought.

Fortunately I have a very high threshhold for embarassment, honed by years of rolling my eyeballs at my mother as she sang show tunes at the top of her lungs while whizzing down the ski slopes at Mission Ridge in her all-orange outfit. And I'm not talking a subtle burnt orange either -- this is the kind of orange that a concerned, color-blind husband would buy from a crafty salesclerk to ensure that his wife is never lost in the snow. Rescue helicopter pilots nationwide would applaud his selection. Really, most every potentially embarassing situation has been child's play after enduring the humiliation of my teenage friends witnessing my mother's Bette Midler-esque downhill skiing style. Thanks, Mom!

© 2002 Katy Warren



posted by Katy at 3:17 AM