I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday morning and spent the day wandering aimlessly around District 1, which is a maze of street food, mopeds, and foreigners.

So. Many. Foreigners. Women in flowy skirts wandering in droves with backpacks. Men with dreads and rose tattoos. Couples giving each other the silent treatment over coconut milk and pho. European families in SAIGON shirts ushering their disgruntled offspring to the next trinket shop.  Ugly middle aged men flanked by gorgeous local girls.  Everyone’s hot. Everyone’s on vacation, everyone’s pawing at somebody.

It seemed like the city itself was sweating gloriously along with us, and for the first time since I’ve left the United States, I felt truly happy.

I spent the night at the Saigon Inn, which I strongly recommend. The hostess was seriously the nicest lady ever, even when she was giving me shit for arriving with 60+ kilos of luggage. (Yikes.) I met some cool people over meatballs, and overall had a great but short stay in the city. I can’t wait to return in the future.

I’m actually writing this blog post from my new home in Qui Nhon (pronounced qui-nyon).

So far, so good.

My boss greeted me at the airport and I instantly felt comfortable around him. And am loving the vibe of the city, which is messy and has a lot of cows. And a beach. Right there. I work with only three other foreigners, a married couple and a tall middle aged guy.  We all went to dinner together, and from what I can tell, the couple does their own thing and the guy does his own thing. They’re the only three foreigners (well, plus me now) in this city of 280,000 people. Honestly, right now I don’t see myself becoming super close with any of them, but I don’t see myself not liking them either. So it doesn’t look like I’ll have the most vibrant social life here, but I’m happy for that.  I can’t wait to spend quiet mornings on the beach, drawing and reading my book.

I got to sit in for a little bit on some classes today and I found out a bit more information about what my teaching schedule will look like. Six days a week, two classes in the morning, three hour break, three to four classes at night. So doesn’t look like I’ll be taking any weekend trips off to Cambodia or Laos for the time being, but that’s ok. Classes range from one hour to one and a half hours. I’m going to teach from a book, but I will have a lot of creative liberty.

….And guess what the best part is? ALL MY CLASSES WILL HAVE A VIETNAMESE TEACHING ASSISTANT! And guess what? She helps with class management and explaining directions!! Ah! Stoked. This makes life so much easier. Plus, bilingual classrooms generally have more positive vibes.

Ok so living arrangements. I’ll be staying in a hotel for the six months that I’ll be here, a couple doors down from the married couple.

The room’s ok. Obvi not enough space for all 60 kg of my clothes. But it does have wifi, aircon, fridge, TV. It’s a bit dirty, though, and I’m terrified to sleep in the bed…(stains). Also, the bathroom smells a little…off. And I found a used condom on the floor next to the toilet.

And when I removed it, it left behind a small puddle of goo.