Spoke too soon?

So soon after my declaration of love and commitment for the country of Vietnam, I am feeling quite frustrated with it and how time moves here.

I had every intention of having a productive day today, but I feel like everybody else is just getting in the way of my plan. Everybody needs something from me or needs to talk to me about something or needs me to do something for them, and it always takes 5 times as long as it could take because things run so slowly here. Or when I finally agree to meet someone to help them with whatever it is that they need, they keep me waiting for 20 minutes, and while I am standing there waiting for them, I am losing valuable work time. Frustrating, yeah.

As a result, I am stressed and much further behind on my lesson plan than I would like to be. If I could just sit in my room and work for more than one hour without interruptions, that would be nice. And if I do get interruptions and try to explain to them that I am really busy and have a lot of work to do, I would also appreciate some empathy and validation instead of "Don't worry so much, we all have work to do."

Well... yes... this is definitely true to some extent, but I also don't spend the majority of my class reading to my students out of a textbook and writing vocabulary words on the board for them to memorize. Since I actually plan lessons and put work into making them engaging, active, stimulating, and challenging for students, it takes a little more "work" than just showing up to class. So yes, we all have work to do, AND, mine is very difficult and taking me a long time, so STOP INTERRUPTING ME.

With that said, I still love Vietnam, but I think this weather is getting to me and making me quite cranky. I also think it's time for me to purchase a space heater in the very near future. This is the first time I have felt genuinely cold in Vietnam, and I know it will only get colder.

Ah, time to take some deep breaths, work on my lesson for 30 more minutes, then go to another meeting that will probably last much longer than I would like.

The highlight of my day is that the donut woman who I have seen traipsing around town selling hot, fried donuts (and keep missing due to being on the back of a motorbike or stuck in a meeting at a cafe, only able to mournfully watch as she walks by selling her goods) has now installed a shop on our street!

When I drove by earlier, she was clearly selling donuts. When I drove by just now, she was selling what smelled like French fries or some sort of potato fritter. A fried food lady selling stuff just 100 meters down the street from the University could be my downfall, but currently, it is the one ray of sunshine in my day because I know if things get any worse, I can just head over and grab something hot, oily, and fried.

I hope she's still there later tonight circa dinner-time! Then maybe I can reward myself for a completed lesson (insh'allah!) with a delicious yummy.

Oh, and in other news, the family(s) of rodents that lives in my ceiling and/or walls is beginning to make more and more noise. I am truly hoping that this does not mean that they are beginning to reproduce, because soon enough they may run out of space in their hidey-hole in my ceiling and seek an upgrade like, say, my bedroom. So far I have not seen any of these rodent friends, but I only hear them scurrying, thumping, and scampering around. If I could go a whole year without seeing them, that would be amazing, but sadly, I doubt that will be the case. Until then, my heart stops every time I hear them rustling. I know I am going to need to get used to this one.

Ok, enough procrastinating. I'm stressed out and simply need to GET BACK TO WORK. Next time I write I will hopefully have a completed lesson plan.

Ready, set, go!