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What a Difference

As the old song goes, what a difference a day makes.

Day 1, May 4, back at school and Murphy’s Law struck with a vengeance. I started thinking seriously about resigning. Day 2, and problems disappeared like Vietnamese puto cakes.

Day 1

The rolling train-wreck started the previous day when my laptop decided its number was up. The damned thing refused to boot into windows, and the Linux install gave me no WiFi. So, all told, next to useless.

The train-wreck continued when my bike died on the way to work. The smallest Mercy was that it happened at my planned Cafe stop. I quaffed my coffee, left the bike there and ‘taxied’ to work. On the pillion of a motorbike. Clutching as I was, a laptop, a backpack bag, and a 6-litre water bottle.

At work, I learned that, as feared, no aircon was allowed in classrooms. Nowhere in New Zealand even approaches that heat. It’s like Venus. Hot enough to begin a weight-loss programme by going outside for an hour.

On arriving home, a 15-minute bike-ride, I cranked up the aircon, flopped into a chair, and stayed inside for the rest of the day.

Day 2

School admin saw sense, and allowed aircon in classrooms. Without it, myself and foreign teachers from South Africa, the US, and Canada suffer so brutally that survival is uppermost in mind, and teaching ( almost ) nethermost. Ahh, the sweet relief of cool air!

I put a patch on the bike issue by renting another short-term. Taxi-ing to work each day while I fix the Old Dunger bike would be clumsy, and expensive. I was able to rent a good bike for 80k VND / day.

I discovered the laptop would at least boot into Linux.

And, students, perhaps picking up less of a scent of blood ( and sweat ) in their nostrils, seemed to go easier on me.

Day 3, May 6

After getting through my 3 hours’ worth of lesson, and home to Sweet Shelter, the Head Teacher asks me to take his Wednesday afternoon class May 13, for 90 minutes. It’s a vote of confidence from him, and I’m thinking it’d behoove me to be in his credit column.

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On My Way

The heat, the traffic, and the dogs have won out, and I’m on my way to a new apartment May 3.

The new apartment is about 2 km down the road, and is closer to the town centre, the beach, and the school.

The new apartment is smaller ( three rooms – bedroom/living room/kitchen, tiny balcony, and bathroom ), but is cheaper, at $3.2 million VND/month ( ABOUT $225 nzd ).

The Heat

Coming into summertime, the heat is becoming hard to handle. Here at 25 Quang Duc, the only room with air-conditioning is the bedroom. Where I’d rather not spend the entire day.

The Traffic

The new place is just enough off the beaten track, so that ( I hope ) I’ll no longer be bombarded with vehicle horns. As I am here, mornings around 7am – 8.30 a.m., lunchtime, and from about 4.30 pm to 7pm. The rest of the day it’s only every few minutes.

The Dogs

Here there are dozens of local dogs which need professional help. A quick bullet would also work. At almost any time, somewhere close or within hearing distance, one of these will be doing it’s nut.

It’s gotten to me. The new place is surrounded by a few less dwellings, so I’m hoping this improves.

I’ve put a deposit on the new place, and committed to a month. If it doesn’t work, I have a couple of back-up plans ( bolt-holes ).

Alea jacta est.

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It Ain’t Half Hot

In a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’, I’m now ( sometimes ) pining for the winter chill of Whangarei.

Here’s why;

As you see above, early afternoons feel like 41 °C. Before 7 a.m. feels like 30 °C, and by early evening, it’s cooled way down to … 33 °C . And those evening and afternoon ‘walks’ are done in the apartment corridor, in the teeth of a breeze.

Who needs a cooker? If not for the dust, you could slow-cook something on the pavement here. In the afternoons.

So I’m struggling a little – going ‘outside’ ( anywhere without air-conditioning ) feels like plunging into a hot bath, at least after late morning.

Here’s how I’m attempting to cope;

  • Decamping to the bedroom

    , the only place in the apartment with air-conditioning. It’s small, so the air-conditioning works pretty efficiently. And, surprisingly cheap, by setting the aircon temp at ~= 26 °C, and running a fan. I finagled a deal for power @ 3000 VND ( NZD 0.20c ) / unit from the usual deal of 4000 VND / unit.

  • Cucumbers

    Brewing up ‘pickled’ cucumbers by adding hot water, salt, and apple cider vinegar to chopped cucumbers, and stashing them in the fridge. ‘Cool as a cucumber’.

  • Skulling

    plenty of water.

  • Opening windows

    and doors to get a mini-hurricane whirling through the main room by late afternoon. Downside : the madness and horns from the road below are in my face.

  • Dousing

    myself around the neck, shoulders, and under-arms with ‘cold’ water. Most times, the pipes themselves are warm, so this works best with fridge-cooled water.

    • I’m a little nervous about the return to teaching ( early May? ), not least because official Government guidelines advise against using aircon in classrooms!

    This isn’t what it said on the packet. Below is the official climate in Nha Trang. April – average relative humidity – 80.5%. Take it with a grain of salt.

    Nha Trang Climate

    Climate data for Nha Trang
    Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
    Record high °C (°F) 31.9
    (89.4)     		33.3
    (91.9)     		34.2
    (93.6)     		35.9
    (96.6)     		38.5
    (101.3)     		39.5
    (103.1)     		39.0
    (102.2)     		39.5
    (103.1)     		38.3
    (100.9)     		34.8
    (94.6)     		34.3
    (93.7)     		32.8
    (91.0)     		39.5
    (103.1)
    Average high °C (°F) 26.9
    (80.4)     		27.7
    (81.9)     		29.3
    (84.7)     		31.0
    (87.8)     		32.3
    (90.1)     		32.5
    (90.5)     		32.4
    (90.3)     		32.5
    (90.5)     		31.5
    (88.7)     		29.7
    (85.5)     		28.2
    (82.8)     		26.9
    (80.4)     		30.1
    (86.2)
    Daily mean °C (°F) 23.9
    (75.0)     		24.5
    (76.1)     		25.7
    (78.3)     		27.3
    (81.1)     		28.4
    (83.1)     		28.6
    (83.5)     		28.4
    (83.1)     		28.4
    (83.1)     		27.6
    (81.7)     		26.6
    (79.9)     		25.6
    (78.1)     		24.4
    (75.9)     		26.6
    (79.9)
    Average low °C (°F) 21.3
    (70.3)     		21.8
    (71.2)     		22.9
    (73.2)     		24.6
    (76.3)     		25.5
    (77.9)     		25.6
    (78.1)     		25.4
    (77.7)     		25.4
    (77.7)     		24.7
    (76.5)     		24.0
    (75.2)     		23.3
    (73.9)     		22.0
    (71.6)     		23.9
    (75.0)
    Record low °C (°F) 14.6
    (58.3)     		14.6
    (58.3)     		16.4
    (61.5)     		19.4
    (66.9)     		19.7
    (67.5)     		19.8
    (67.6)     		20.6
    (69.1)     		21.5
    (70.7)     		21.3
    (70.3)     		18.8
    (65.8)     		16.9
    (62.4)     		15.1
    (59.2)     		14.6
    (58.3)
    Average rainfall mm (inches) 38
    (1.5)     		16
    (0.6)     		31
    (1.2)     		35
    (1.4)     		70
    (2.8)     		59
    (2.3)     		36
    (1.4)     		50
    (2.0)     		159
    (6.3)     		302
    (11.9)     		332
    (13.1)     		153
    (6.0)     		1,280
    (50.4)
    Average rainy days 7.8 4.0 3.3 4.3 8.5 9.2 8.4 9.6 15.2 17.7 17.6 14.0 119.5
    Average relative humidity (%) 78.0 78.8 79.7 80.5 79.3 77.8 77.2 77.4 80.4 83.2 81.8 79.5 79.5
    Mean monthly sunshine hours 185 208 261 258 255 230 242 233 202 183 142 142 2,540
    Source: Vietnam Institute for Building Science and Technology[10]
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