The finished product!

So I finished unpacking and cleaning my room today, and I am so proud of the finished product! This is really my first apartment, and I am actually very happy with it, now that I have everything set up the way I want it.

So here is the story of my arrival and the ensuing following days:

I arrived at the airport, anxious and exhausted. Here is all the stuff I brought with me for 9 months' worth of work (yes, it was still more suitcases than most other people at orientation, but I am still proud/shocked that I was able to fit my life into 2 suitcases and a backpack!!!):

 There was no need to worry, because I was greeted by two incredibly friendly co-workers (Chi Hang will be my coworker in the English department as well as my Vietnamese teacher, and Chi Linh will be my coworker and general overseer, and she works in the International Relations department) who had brought me flowers and a sign to greet me!!!

The hour-and-a-half car ride back to the University from the airport was really silly, and Chi Linh and Chi Hang basically interrogated me about whether or not I was single and/or looking, and they invited me to join their Ha Tinh Singles Association amongst the single faculty members! Whether or not I will take them up on this offer is anyone's guess, but they did also invite me out for karaoke and lots of parties, so I know I will have nice friends and co-workers who will be looking out for me and my happiness.

After I dumped all my stuff in my room and took a quick nap, Chi Linh, Chi Hang, and Anh Duc took me out for dinner. (I will make a note right here for any confused readers that will hopefully clarify any wonderings: "Chi" means older sister, and "Anh" means older brother. Vietnam is a very relationship-based society, so every interaction needs to be defined by a social rank and relationship. Thus, for people who are my superiors, older than me, or to whom I'd like to show respect (within a 10 or 15 year margin of age), I would call them Older Sister or Older Brother. My title is "Em Allison," which means "Little Sister Allison." There are also titles for much older people or much younger people, but the ones I will be primarily using with my coworkers are chi/anh and em.) ANYWAY. They took me to this restaurant that was built on stilts out in the middle of the water!

It reminded me very much of something you'd see in Cape Cod.

 The whole restaurant was open-air, so I got a great view of the sunset from our dinner table!! The other awesome thing about Ha Tinh being a coastal province is that the seafood is allegedly SPECTACULAR. If the shrimp we had for dinner is any indication of that generalization, then I think I will be pretty content for the next 9 months!

The next day I woke up early to have breakfast with Chi Linh. We ate pho at a restaurant near school. I think I will probably eat breakfast there every day because, as it turns out, the street food scene by my school is somewhat lacking. I think that my school is at the end of a rural cul-de-sac, so most of the street food is in the downtown area which is a bike ride or taxi ride away, so definitely not easy street food that I can walk two seconds from my room to get for a quick meal.

After breakfast, Chi Linh and one of her co-workers took me to the supermarket which was the equivalent of a small Wal-mart or Target, and I stocked up on cleaning supplies and apartment essentials. The process was incredibly stressful and exhausting and left me in a very cranky mood. However, after a rejuvenating nap and some lunch, I was able to decompress a little bit and set to the task of unpacking and cleaning, which I only finished just now!!

Here are some pictures of my room:

My dresser:

 My bathroom:

 My cleaning supplies stash (who would have ever thought I'd possess that much cleaning stuff?):

 My make-shift closet/coat-rack:

 My TV, cabinet, and flowers that I received on the first day!

 The flowers from the first day as well as the flowers from my faculty meeting today, where I was presented with the sunflowers on the left:

 My bed - note that Boppy and Pilly are ever-present:

 My desk (the cleanest it will ever be, is my guess):

 My makeshift kitchen:

A close-up of my cooking area:

 My bedroom as a whole:

 My night-table and computer set-up

Here is my brand-new bicycle! Sadly, it is actually a bit too big for me, so they are going to try to replace it. I feel bad to make such a request, because the bike was such a generous gift, but I simply don't feel safe (or graceful) getting on or off of it, so I really hope they can find a smaller one.

 However, here I am with my bike - of course we are perfectly matching!!!

Lastly, here are some pictures from my very first dinner-making experience in my new apartment! I forgot to buy spices when I was grocery shopping, so the only things I had to season my food were garlic and scallions. Not complaining, just saying.

So here is the process of making dinner:

First I made rice in my brand-new rice cooker.

Then I chopped morning glory, green beans, and some other mysterious green leafy vegetable that looked like a cross between spinach and kale.

 Then I chopped garlic and scallions, and threw them in a way-too-hot pan, which emitted lots of smoke.

 Luckily, it cooled down, and I could add the vegetables.

 Lastly, I added tofu and plated it. Overall, it was decently nutritious and fun to make, but I would like to find some better seasonings so all of my food does not taste like garlic and oil. Otherwise, great success on dinner!!

Now it is 7 PM, and I am finished with dinner and washing the dishes, so I am sort of at a loss of things to do to fill my time. I guess this is what all the former Fulbrighters meant by "You will have a lot of time to face yourself during this experience." There is plenty of down-time and plenty of alone-time, and the combination of those two factors create a breeding ground for loneliness, boredom, and a whole range of emotions that come from sitting too long with your thoughts.

I am going to compose a list of "go-to" activities for me to do when I am alone in my room at night. This way I will not be able to say that there's nothing to do, because there will be a reliable list of (hopefully) at least 10 activities that I can do to use my time wisely:

1. Write in my journal.
2. Write in my blog.
3. Read.
4. Paint my nails.
5. Go for a walk/run/bike ride (weather/day-light depending).
6. Study Vietnamese (grudgingly)
7. Call my grandparents
8. Yoga/Pilates
9. Create lesson plans/learning activities for my students
10. Communicate with fellow Fulbrighters
11. Write postcards + letters to people back home (who doesn't like to receive mail?!)
12. Watch Vietnamese TV (I only have Vietnamese channels - we'll see if I even turn my TV on once this year!)
13. Practice songs for karaoke (no, I'm actually serious)
14. Clean my bathroom.

Any other suggestions from my loyal readers, I'd love to hear! The more go-to activities I have in my back pocket, the more mentally healthy I will be, so please bring them on!

Goodnight to all!