Back to work

So I officially started my new job at Vietnam National University. I was supposed to be working three days a week, but the day before I started I was bumped up to 5 days a week. This means I am working 7:30AM-10:30AM every weekday. Waking up at 6AM is definitely no fun, but I get the afternoons off and can relax for the rest of the day. I also picked up 4 other classes at a small English center near my house teaching pronunciation... but both classes are less than 5 people so it's very low stress. I did the math, and I am working half the hours and making 500USD more per month than at my old job at SIS, so I am absolutely a happy camper at this point. My university classes are a great improvement from teaching 7yr olds, as their English is good enough to understand my sense of humor, which makes things a whole lot more interesting. I'm halfway through my first work-week, and am feeling really optimistic about the new job. I was quite nervous to begin, since I am teaching Business English (I have NO idea how I got stuck with these classes considering my total lack of business background) and really don't know a damn thing about it; I was sure that I would get in the classroom and have all these students asking numerous business-related questions I couldn't answer, but their English level is low enough that I still seem completely smart and capable... thank God. Also, the university is a little bit of a drive from my house, about 20 minutes by motorbike, so I'm getting out into the streets a whole lot more. Given my new working hours, I am only driving in Hanoian rush hour in the morning, and have a stress-free ride home (generally speaking). All in all, I'm looking forward to see how my new classes progress.

By the way, I have started photographing street food, so once I get a nice photo collection of Vietnamese dishes together, you can look forward to an entirely food-related post (the best kind of all!).