close your mind-tracks and leave fantastically

Welcome to my blog! After the year in Hanoi, Vietnam, as a VSO volunteer, I'm still depending on the assistance of my two faithful neurons for all there is to come. I might decide to keep you informed, you will decide to keep reading.

29 November 2006

Ladies and Gentlemen...


These laser eyes belong to my guardian angel, Anne-Marie, and her two cats...

28 November 2006

Post Bike Ride Update

I CAN WALK - NO PAIN.

Just thought you may be interested.

Tschuess!!

27 November 2006

A fortune teller once told me

Now close your eyes and imagine you're reading this in June 2006, because what I'm writing goes back to that month.

During the VSO Annual Volunteer Conference in Hoi An, one of the many activities/trainings organised was a session with a Fortune Teller.

You see, here in Viet Nam, Fortune Telling is a very important job. They will be able to tell you when the auspicious date to fly out of the country is, when the best date to get married is, what year you should have babies in, and just about anything else that you may have slight control over.

Those who know me back home, also know, not only that I love and am totally fascinated by the supernatural powers of people with the 6th sense, but I actually do believe in it....but please, don't use this against me.

To start off with, I will have you know that I am a flying dragon...there's no better species to be and I'm going to be lucky and rich and beautiful for the rest of my life. mmmh.

So anyway, the fortune teller at Hoi An told me that:

I am romantic, kind hearted, hot tempered, my career will improve when I'm 35, until then it's deep shit, only earn enough to survive, but that's difficult because I like going out too much; will move home next year; will fall in love with a Vietnamese man, but he will not make me happy. I'll marry between 33-35 with someone from my home country (didn't have the heart to start arguing there) but abroad, I have a big black mole somewhere (and again, I would have loved to show her my spotted back - ok too much info there), people like me, I'm a loyal friend, people listen to me, even older people and I am independent.



Check out "A fortune teller once told me" (Tiziano Terzani), and tell me what it's like cos I haven't read it yet...ehehe.









Nowt to do with Fortune Telling, but I love this picture and it was taken by Anne Marie at the conference. Will tell you all about that another time.

26 November 2006

Maaah Graaazieeehhh






















Hey, hey, hey…haven’t updated the blog properly for a lifetime, so here it goes again. The thinking process began (finally) yesterday at the back of my Xe Om, as I was heading to the meeting point for the KOTO bike ride….I have so much to tell about everything that’s been going on so far, so resolution is that from now on I will share just about everything and anything that’s been happening. I can feel vibes of relief in all of you back home..ehehe.
And what better way to do it if not the day after one of the most amazing days I’ve had so far?

So, THANK YOU KOTO, for organising a fantastic day out in the country side (even if this means a sore bum during and after – for how long?). THANK YOU Steve, for being such a great organiser, for actually fundraising for me, and THANK YOU VSO for agreeing in paying up..
Deal was, get up incredibly early on a Saturday morning, to get on a bike to ride 80 km from Hanoi to Ba Vi – in principle all super mega ueber wrong things for me, really…but I got up unexpectedly enthusiastic about the whole thing, took a Xe Om, made my resolutions about the blog, met up with Mike, headed to the chilled out bike ride, crossed amazing landscapes, villages, super smiley people, kids shouting Helloooooo, holding out their hands for cheery hi fives (which caused a slight collision with Mike – and thank you Mike for preventing me going face on the ground), stopping for a Hanoi beer out of Hanoi, getting a elbow-to-hand and full face sun burn, and….being the very last rider of the KOTO bike ride challenge.

Half way through (so to say) we had fine break near a beautiful pagoda, where I managed to scoff as many delicious KOTO muffins as I could – THANK YOU Martin for being such an amazing cooking teacher! Apple, Mango and Papaya muffins..mmmhhh.
















with Steve and Martin - holding me upright


It was a real success, and for Steve, his last KOTO event as a VSO volunteer – well done. As for me, I managed to crawl home, have some dinner before collapsing – and today, I can move!? Some people say it’s only for today and I will be paralysed in the next few days, unless I do some sports today… You’ll be shocked to hear that I am NOT going to do any of that today. There.








Mike - brilliant team mate!

17 November 2006

hello

don't ask me...I don't know what I'm doing. In about 4 hours the Japanese First Lady will come to visit Cafe Smile, there's about five million things to do, and here I am updating my blog.

Well, firstly, I wish to apologise ...in fact, i have to go.

I'm alive though.

muac

03 November 2006

Thay Hung


Thay Hung is our Vietnamese language teacher, a wonderful man who's lead us into the magic maze of the Northern Vietnamese language and culture since the day we arrived (and the following 5 weeks in In Country Training - the picture above was taken during one of those lessons).
Thay Hung is one of my favourite men in Vietnam. This is not only because he thinks I am very beautiful and young, and approves of my smoking and liking to go out a lot. I like Thay Hung because he's the most wonderful gossip in the world...

The set up is that VSO house number one (Ruth and I) have a 2 hours lesson every Monday evening. This is where Thay Hung collects the information on VSO house number 2 (Mike, Marvin, Derek - and lesson guests Richard, Catherine and Alice):
- Are they married?
- Have they got children?
- Where are they from?
- Are they in love?

All for the sake of language practise, of course...as Thay Hung reiterates "I don't care if you don't tell me the truth, it's just to get used to the structure of the sentence"
So one evening Thay Hung taught us the word for "attractive" (which, of course, I do not remember for the life of me) with the following question:
TH - Em Patty, who do you think is the most attractive at VSO?
EP - mmmh, let me think. ehhh. I think everyone is attractive at VSO. (I know the score now, there's no fooling me! ...I think)
TH - Ok, so do you think that Anh Marvin is attractive?
EP - Yes, I think Anh Marvin is attractive
TH - Do you think Anh Derek is attractive?
EP - Thay Hung? I thought I could call Derek "Chu"
TH - That's not important. Do you think that Anh Derek is attractive?
EP - Yes, I do. I think all the men in VSO house 2 are attractive.

So this happened some weeks ago. Then I get an email from one of the VSO House n 2 yesterday, saying "We know that you think that Marvin is the most handsome of the VSO house n 2 - when we told Thay Hung it would be an idea to maybe send an email to your boyfriend, he responded: oh no! she said that before they got together!" (which is, obviously a lie...)

Viva Thay Hung. I love him to bits.