Not Fake News. Urban Legends

How easy it is in a foreign country for things to come crashing down.

‘Crashing’ because I’ve had a second bike accident. Very suddenly, the cock-a-hoop of the last post became a dead chook.

It means everything has suddenly become twice as difficult, because moving around is uncomfortable.

I landed on my left side, so have some scrapes, the worst on my hip.

After the Thailand accident & following infection, the second thing I did was get to a pharmacy and clean and patch the wounds.

The first thing was dealing with a swarm of yapping Vietnamese who rounded on the fresh meat ( me ) of the accident scene.

Only the taxi driver I collided with spoke a little English, but I didn’t need a translator to clarify that I wouldn’t win this argument.

He’d started a U-turn right in front of me. I came off the bike, which then slid into his car.

I made the mistake of trying to swerve and brake at the same time. The road was wet, and I was going a little too fast for the conditions.

As I slid, there was a marked flash-back to the Thailand accident, to that point where things there suddenly became a truckload more difficult.

The taxi driver demanded $3m VND ( ~= USD $138 ) for repairs, threatening to call the Police. As a foreigner, that was unlikely to go well for me, nevermind the sheer trouble of dealing with a gang of Authorities who spoke little English.

I negotiated him down to $2m VND ( small crack in his left rear side-panel ), and scarpered the scene after convincing him of my address and Serial Number.

It doesn’t end there. Today I’ll fork out $750k VND for what could be a patchwork fix, so at least the lights and indicators on the bike work.

The bigger picture is that recent anxiety about the stability of my situation here has shot up. Part of that is uncertainty about when my school re-opens.

For now, I’m doing what I can to batten down the hatches – optimising sleep, diet, and health generally. One step at a time…

I’ve taken a minor gamble and bought an old ‘dunger’ bike.

The very same that I’ve been renting at 1m VND ( ~= USD $46 ) per month.

The logic goes like this – I’m here for 4 more months ( at least ). Cost of renting:4m VND. Cost of purchase : 3.3m VND. Conservative sale price: 2.5m VND.

The downside, of course, is that I have the mechanical aptitude of a … donkey. On the other hand, I’m reliably told that Vietnamese mechanics sprout like weeds. Not only that, they’re as robust ( capable ) and cheap.

I’ve been dealing with the bike shop I bought it from since arriving in Nha Trang. It’s about 2 minutes ride away. The owner is happy to introduce me to her pet mechanic, for if and when he’s needed.

So, no more monthly stress about transport.

I’ll enlist a backup in case the bike claps out when I’m scrambling to get to work. This is Grab, the local equivalent to Uber.

And fingers crossed that the old workhorse continues to take a flogging.

Good intentions don’t get you far, unless there are accompanying actions.

A case in point, for me, has been learning Vietnamese. The fact that its script uses the Roman alphabet – albeit with accent signs that would flummox a Viking – should make it easier to learn than, say, Thai. But it just hasn’t happened.

So I’ve learned to take some pretty severe shortcuts.

Shortcuts

These include a wide range of gestures. For example, the first two fingers upside down for walking, a hand opening and closing for talking, a hand to the ear for listening. Flapping wings for chicken, horns from two index fingers on the head for beef. A lookout sign for ‘where’?

Then there’s sound, always good for a laugh at a market – snorting sounds for pig, quacking for ducks, etc. The seller will usually understand, and it’ll raise a grin.

Three phrases

Then there are three phrases which have got this Lazy Man a long way;

• xin chào ( “sin chow” ) = hello.
• gam on ( “garm oohn”) = thank you.
• bao nhiêu ( “bow new”) = “how much?”.

When I get a little more serious, there are a ton of resources online for learning Vietnamese.

And then there’s always the lovely, and very patient, young woman at reception to practise on.

Today being Tết , or the Lunar New Year , I wonder if that would make a good ‘resolution’?

It looks for now like I’m here for the Duration – til June at least.

The school I’m working at, in the West of Nha Trang ( see below, has extended my ‘part-time’ ( 15 hours teaching / week ) contract until then.

I’m happy about that – my schedule is 0830 to 1145 teaching, with a 15-minute break between 90-minute classes.

Which means I’m free of an afternoon to visit the beach up the road, or what have you.

The downside? – no financial support from the school for Visa / Work Permit / temporary residence card.

So that until I find a better solution I’m extending my Visa month-by-month.

On the upside, I got on a much firmer footing when the online teaching work I’ve been doing came home to roost. The $430 USD payout means that for now I’m not sailing so close to the wind.

I’m now grappling with currency conversion, and juggling cards ( from Thai bank accounts ), but I’m working through it.

So, so far so good. Barring scandals, I’ll be here in Nha Trang, VN, for the next 5 months.