Phil Palmer : October 2019

Monday 28 October 2019

Tuesday 29th October, 2019

Last night I had a food delivery. YingYing ordered the food online and I had a great meal of chicken and rice and eggplant for 20RMB which is about 3GBP and this includes for the delivery. I told YingYing that therefore the delivery man must be paid about 3RMB for delivering the food and that the life of a delivery man (yes always a man) must be hard but she reckoned that they know the area very well and can deliver enough meals per hour to make good money. Good news all round for everybody other than the recycling issue which makes me think how far apart East and West are on this (Extinction Rebellion ?)

Monday 28th October 2019

Sunday 27th October, 2019

Saturday, 26th October 2019

Another not-going-out day. One of the things I find really difficult here is the lack of easy recycling. Seems like recycling is considered as a poor people activity so some people are always rummaging around in the bins to find plastic, glass, paper, cardboard etc. It appears as though active recycling is not seen as something that everybody should be proactive about as an ethical thing. I try to do my bit but YingYing doesn't get it and I have to choose my battles...…...

Friday 25 October 2019

Friday 25th October 2019

A not-going-out day. YingYing has been called into work today so I have been doing emails and a little Chinese practice. I feel like I am making progress and can orchestrate some conversation but I am feeling lucky if I can understand what is said back, also if someone starts a conversation with me, I rarely understand what is being said. On the plus side, I can understand some of what YingYing says when she talks to other people in Chinese. Oh well, press on...…..

Thursday 24th October 2019

Wednesday 23rd October 2019

Sunday 20 October 2019

Sunday 20th October, 2019

Today was a big teaching day, well big for me. Four classes on line, three in the morning and one in the afternoon. The weather is well changed which didn't prompt either of us to particularly want to go out today so we ate leftovers from yesterday and hung out at home. YingYing finished her big project at work last week so she is going in this week but the pressure is off. I had spent some time over the last few days looking for the perfect getaway in Cambodia in January. Still searching...….

Saturday 19th October 2019

Thursday 10 October 2019

Thursday, October 10th., 2019

It has been a busy day after a sleepness night, with two job offers in the bag and having to choose between the two. To precis:

   APAX English ILA Vietnam
Salary and benefits    High Medium
Hours Long    Negotiable (paid on an hourly rate)
Situation    Somewhere in South    Ho Chi Minh City
Classroom support    Low    High
Academic support Medium    High
Lesson prep required    Low High
Pre-arrival support    Low High

At present I am favouring APAX English on the basis of the higher salary and benefits (and the complications of working to an hourly rate) and the reduced pressure in terms of the lessons are already planned out for APAX and the teacher's role is to make the lessons fun. Both roles would start on February 3rd.