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… and so it goes on

With news coming in just now [ rough translation ] that schools in my Khanh Hoa province will be closed until further notice, that sinking feeling is probably my job going under.

On March 12, Mr. Nguyen Tan Tuan, Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee, agreed to allow students at all levels in Khanh Hoa province to leave school from March 13 until a new notice is given. Previously, high school students in the province were sent back to school on March 2. Meanwhile, students from preschool to junior high school are suspended from school until the end of March 15.

The school return date was originally Feb 2. Then Feb 16. Then March 3 … and so it goes on. Having gambled money on a Visa ( and lost ), I’ll be doing some hard thinking in the coming day or so on the ‘sunk cost fallacy’. AKA ‘pouring good money after bad’.

I’m missing NZ, and would love to be back for a while before winter really bites, and I’m ready for a new adventure.

IF I can get the timing right , the school here in Nha Trang may offer me a new contract, but that seems unlikely.

Also, the longer I stay here without a solid income stream ( online teaching aside ) , the greater risk that I get stranded either because of finances or ( more likely ) travel bans for passengers from, say, Vietnam!

No promises, mind, but watch this space.

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Day Tripper

Sitting on one’s chuff is sometimes necessary, but never desirable for long stretches, for fear of growing carbuncles on the underside.

With that in mind, after a morning’s slog over a hot microphone, I took myself off for a jaunt to the south, following the beach along the coastline. Below is roughly the route.

And even further below is what I found. As you see, Nha Trang is achingly beautiful. The beaches are clean, the air is fresh, and even the over-zealous and under-worked security guards didn’t upset my buoyant mood.

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Leave to Stay

This morning, after expensive and mysterious wranglings, I took delivery of my passport, with renewed visa.

Renewed Visa

That says that this reprobate is allowed to stay here in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam until June 1 this year.

Visa renewal is achieved here in one of three ways;

  • Pay somebody who knows somebody a wad of cash to get the job done. Expensive, and a little risky, since it means sending your passport via the mail. But hassle-free, and it works. USD $225 for three months in my case. Score one for corruption.
  • Do the time-honoured ‘Visa run’, which involves leaving the target country, and returning forthwith. Slightly cheaper, but a tonne of hassle. Borders, hotels, passports, papers, planes, buses, trucks, taxis.Not for me.
  • Going to the local Immigration Office and wading through enough bureaucracy to make a half-grown man cry. You should go armed with a tame Vietnamese who can translate for you, and a tonne of patience, and time. Cheap, but probably the path to madness.

So the choice is a lighter wallet, or a helluva headache. I chose the former.

Which gives me some wriggle room to finesse the cheapest flight(s) home anytime from now until then. That’s my likely reaction should my Y8 ( 8th Grade ) and Y9 students be ordered to remain home on or before our March 16 school return date.

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To market, to market …

Not this morning, alas “..to buy a fat pig…”, but to stock up on fresh veges, and a salad-filler.

Steamed kumara, fresh lettuce, and tofu

Cost for the above? 15,000 VND or about $NZD 1.

The kumaras are perfect with a bit of melted butter. The tofu is a recent addition, on learning that it’s mainly protein and fat, and a ‘cheap as chips’ salad-filler at about 30 cents.

Plus, I’ve discovered that the woman stall-holder whose duck eggs are the freshest I’ve found, also has reliably non-flaccid veges on offer.

Go figure.

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COVID-19 and … me

The Covid-19 virus continues to throw spanners in the works of my attempts to earn a crust here.

Far be it from me to take it personally, but I understand I am the only one of my school’s foreign teachers whose students are still unwelcome at school due to virus fears.

The earliest possible restart date for me is now March 16.

Meantime, I’m doing what I can to pay my way by teaching online. It’s not easy, because the mainly Japanese students have jobs, of all things, which mean that the peak teaching hours are awful ( 4 a.m. – 6 a.m. and 6.00 pm – 9.30 pm ).

As it stands, if school is again delayed on March 15 or earlier, I will more than likely be forced to leave Vietnam.

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Schools out ( forever? )

The news continues to get blacker from my non-job, as has again delayed a return for my students.

On Saturday came the news from the Head Teacher that my students wouldn’t be returning until March 9, if not March 16.

Which of course further stretches my finances. An expected payday March 7 ( for February ) won’t now happen, and it’s possible that the birdie will again not sh*t on April 7 ( for March ).

My problem is that I committed to another three months here by sending my passport off to extend again my Visa. Having told the company that I wanted a 3-month extension @ USD$225, it is too late to back-peddle.

So I either throw away that sizeable investment, or make the best of a bad situation. A second investment was buying the scooter, avoiding rental costs.

I’m considering emailing the school threatening to do a runner, and begging as tactfully as possible for some kind of retainer. Which isn’t part of my nominally part-time contract.

The alternative is the make the best of a tough situation, and optimise the hell out of everything. I have managed to finagle a deal with the hotel whereby they reduce rent down to 4.2m VND from 4.5m VND, a saving of about $NZD 20 / month. It all counts.

I’m doing my level best to reduce power usage in my room, and am learning which quality meats and foods are cheapest ( chicken, fish, eggs ).

I’m putting in hours working online, which will almost cover costs. But being limited to one online platform, and with no guarantee of bookings even when I make myself available, it’s no sure bet.

With all that, and my finances dribbling down nearer a fare home plus nothing, I’m getting a little nervous, if the truth be told.

Testing times.

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Morning Haul

Below is the result of the third order of business for the morning.

Eggs, Pak Choy,tomato

That is, off to the nearby ( 1km ) market, where I scored shown pak choy, a dozen fresh duck eggs, and tomato. Price 45,000 VND ~= $NZD 3.

Which is another thing I love about this place – cheap produce.

Two others are the first and second orders of business for the day. The first, walk on the nearby beach, and the second, a morning cup of genuine potent Vietnamese coffee.

Easy days. But things are about to get tougher, with the scheduled start of school Monday March 2.

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Tourist

Today I finally put on my tourist boots, and visited the landmark Po Nagar tower / temple, a Nha Trang landmark.

It has taken me a mere 10 days or so after a lecture from the tedious ex-neighbour in which he regaled me with bombast and random facts my caffeinated brain would never remember.

I was there for a relaxing coffee, dammit, not to sit in class.

Today I was there to drink in the temple, more than 1300 years old.

More later. For now, just pictures.

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Some recovery porn

Recovery from the  recent bike accident  has been much faster than the previous debacle .

That’s down to two differences. 1) This time, I bathed and cleaned the wound soon after the accident, and 2) last time the bike landed on my left ankle. That was the most serious injury, and the one which had become infected very soon ( several hours ) after the accident.

Another difference may be the quality of the sea-water here in Nha Trang. That is, it’s clean, as opposed to the litter and petro-chemicals awash in the water in Rayong, Thailand.

I was nervous about a dip in the sea with the injuries, but after a couple of days, it seems to be doing the trick. As you see, the injuries have scabbed over nicely, and no sign of infection.

Because I landed heavily on my hip, perhaps the worst of the injuries is a rickety back. Not much to be done with this, except for regular gentle movement, and walking. It’s coming right slowly.

Meanwhile, I’m now riding more like the guy in the photo below.

Mr. Magoo

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Schools still out

School is now out until March , which will for me force some difficult decisions.

After doing everything possible so I am firing on all cylinders for the scheduled Monday 17th restart, the let-down came this afternoon from the school’s head teacher.

So I’m all dressed up, but with no place to go.  In one sense.

In another – the financial – it leaves me way too exposed for my liking.  No school hours worked in February means no wage from the school until April 7.

Add to that the cost of rental, and renewing my Visa by March 1, and it starts to make less sense to stay here.

On the other hand, tickets back home aren’t cheap right now. And it’s unlikely the same Jackpot job will be waiting for me on my return.

So it may be just as well to hunker down and work my butt off online for a bit.

And yet, March in Whangarei is the best time….