Stories to warm the heart!

So it's been a rough few weeks and I thought I'd share some really, really satisfying moments from this week to keep my spirits up.

I had a really good day. It was our "Halloween" day so I dressed up as a mad scientists and the kids LOVED it! (Pictures to come). It was hectic and I peed like once when I normally pee 279437685 times so it was a little insane and my head hurt a bit by the end of the nonstop day, but it was sooooo great.

I saw some student progress this week. Like, direct student progress. Students growing in their English academic abilities. Sweet! (Translation: I lowered my standards by a landslide and therefore have seen slight progress and feel good about it... )

I've started rehearsals for my play (Yes, I'm staring in a show, omg!! Details to come!) and I'm just feeling over the moon about it. I had the worst day on Monday, but then I went to rehearsal and felt awesome... so that's the best!

Last weekend, a vegan company in Shanghai launched their new ice cream brand and gave out free ice cream. Dairy free ice cream? 6 bowls? FREE?! Yup. I've been to Heaven guys and it tastes yum.

My extremely thoughtful husband left me a note on my pillow saying "You're amazing. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise" after a few very, very horrible days and it made everything okay again.

My students decorated the classroom like a haunted house and it looks amaaaaazing (even though it's messy and took forever). I am so happy that I let them decorate for the past three weeks. Other classes only decorated for this week, but I let me kids take over for the whole of October. Worth it. I think my class might win the decorating competition.

I told my students a scary story and had my assistant Head of House come in and scare the shit out of them at the end and it went SO smoothly. Two students ran out of the class screaming! It was amazing. They are STILL talking about how "scary" Ms. Wun is. Hehehehehehe. *brushes dust off of shoulder*

Today we had a 5k run for charity, and watching my kids push themselves to finish it was a heartwarming experience. I was cheering them on the sidelines like a proud mama and some of the students just looked genuinely proud of themselves after every lap. They'd slow down a bit to smile and wave at me and I'd cheer them on calling them a hero and a superstar. My God, it was beautiful. I just absolutely love seeing students so passionate and motivated these days. My FAVOURITE part was that they were not using technology or complaining or being rude to each other. They were helping each other run around the track and smiling the whole time in their costumes. They were loving a simple activity. It was adorable and I can't stop smiling thinking about some of my really, really weak students pushing themselves and crossing that finish line, highfiving me at the end (some of the boys highfived really hard which made me laugh!)

I watched Friends last night and Bernard brought me home a snack of chocolate and ginger ale and we just cuddled and I watched my show and he did his thing and it was just SO relaxing and nice. My feet were killing me and my brain was mush, and I just watched my stories and loved every second of it. It's kind of scary how much I love doing something so simple as this... but I do!

Here comes the best part of my week and arguably the most exciting part of this whole month. So exciting that this is the reason I'm writing the blog. The other stuff makes me very happy and blessed, but this last thing that happened about 10 minutes ago has really made me start skipping and singing!

Here it is: MOSES LICKED MY FACE!

Context: Moses is our rescued foster dog who is pretty nervous and stand offish at the best of times. He has never, ever licked anything but my arms and occasionally my legs after showering (because he's strange) and today, I came home from work, opened the bedroom door and said HI MOMO!!!! and he roused from his sleepy state, came over to me, tail wagging, plopped in my lap and went NUTS!! He was a proper dog!

Moses doesn't play with toys or get overly excited about anything. He's a bit of a strange dog and is often very mopey. When he licked my face, I couldn't believe how excited it made me. I feel like in that moment, he was so comfortable with me. I feel like he was telling me that he loved me at that moment. It was an absolute treat and I loved it!!!!

Confession: I'm actually not a fan of being licked in the face by dogs BUT this was so unbelievably uncharacteristic of our little bear. Now he's cuddled up beside me. I swear he can feel my energy. I feel like he feels very safe and loved. It's such a beautiful feeling! I feel like a major step has been made here in my foster parenting role.

GAH! What a good day!!!

I promise I'll post some pictures of my classroom and students in costume, but for now, here's a few little things to hopefully make you smile.

Until next time!
Sarah the happy Wun

The Next Chapter... hello again Shanghai

The ups and downs of starting a new job

It’s been a roller coaster of emotions beginning my new job. Bernard is extremely happy at his school, doing exactly what he wants to be doing. I, on the other hand, have been dealt a different deal and it’s been tough to say the least. Not only have I had to adjust my teaching style and plans, but I’ve also had to grapple with coming into a brand new school and starting from scratch in every sense of the word. I kind of wanted to be done with starting afresh, but as much as it’s scary and stressful, it’s also kind of fun and feels cool to be a part of something brand new.

Some really awesome things about my job are that there are only 65 students so far and I get to teach them all! I love that I see and teach all of the students every day and therefore I know all of the students in the school – I know this won’t be the reality for long, but for now I’m soaking up all the perks of this, like consistent communication and ensuring that all students have the same English instruction because I am THE English teacher. Because I’m the only English teacher, I am also the head of the English department, which is both badass and scary at the same time. I can use my curriculum design experience to build the English curriculum from the ground up. I was planning on using some of my old resources and adapting them to this environment, but because the English levels of my current students are so drastically different than my last kids, it’s kind of impossible to use the same curricular materials.

I absolutely love my colleagues! They are wonderful and we are such a small and tight-knit staff that it makes things even better that we all get along and work well together. Communication is a lot easier when you only have a 10 teacher staff.

I have my own big, beautiful classroom, which is super cool! I know not all teachers can say this, so I don’t take this fact for granted. I am so happy to be able to decorate and take full command of my classroom.

As much as some of the other staff complains about it, the lunch is amazing! We have the option of “upgrading” to a “special” meal and I’ve grown accustomed to the Korean bibimbamp! It’s delicious and full of veggies. I could honestly get used to eating this every day for the rest of the semester. I really hope they haven’t gotten rid of it since I’ve been on vacation! Haha. Knowing my luck, it’ll be long gone by Monday.

I get to teach dance and yoga classes as extra-curricular, which not only lets the students do something nonacademic, but also gives me an excuse to work out at work! I love to dance and yoga sustains me! I need yoga to survive, I swear – and I do yoga club on Fridays at lunch so all of my stress that I’ve built up over the week, I can sweat and stretch out during this time!

For the most part, I have support. I feel fairly supported and like the other teachers are consistent and have my back. Again, having such a small school makes communication and consistency much easier than in a school of thousands!

Because this isn’t Heaven on Earth or anything, there are multiple obstacles and struggles I’ve had to deal with since starting at my new job as well. (I’ll spare you the administrative and visa process struggles because those are boring and frankly come with any new job overseas). The first and biggest one being that I’m teaching something completely different than what I was told. I was told I’d be doing English including literature and the works. I was told my students would be proficient English language speakers and writers. I was told I wouldn’t have discipline issues and I’d be able to use my resources from my old job – like the lesson plan covering non-linear texts and video games! This was my perception.

This is reality.

The majority of my students are beginner and basic English language learners at best. Most if not all of my students haven’t been in an International school environment before. Most of the students were taught English by a local Chinese teacher in the past, and therefore have never had a foreign teacher teach them their classes in English. Most of my students have a hard time spelling words that any teacher would consider basic (pencil, snack, school) and therefore – yes this is an assumption but an informed one! – have a hard time reading and writing in general. All the planning and resource collecting that I did the two weeks prior to my students arriving was useless and has literally not informed any of my actual plans. I teach from a grammar textbook more than I’d like to because I have to in order to build a foundation of English, which I thought was supposed to be built way before sixth grade! I teach phonics, which I make fun because I’m me but is actually painful and makes me feel like I teach in a training center.

Sad reality: I’ve been “angry” for the better part of my teaching time so far and it’s just October now. I’ve had to yell and get mean and scary more than once, which I hate doing, especially at the beginning of the year. I’ve doubted myself on countless occasions. I’ve wanted to quit on more than one occasion. I’ve cried hysterically under my office desk and said, “I can’t do this” repeatedly. I’ve apologized for things that I don’t need to be sorry for. I’ve made mistakes on a daily basis and feel bad about it. I’ve had to deal with behavior issues that have caused parent calls before the end of the first week of classes! I already have a student on probation. I have felt helpless and powerless and like I can’t do this job already and I hate that feeling. I’ve had Abu Dhabi flashbacks (!!!!!!!!!!!!) I’ve questioned my career path. I’ve been jealous of my husband for being way happier than I am at work. I’ve felt ashamed for being sad and inflicting that on my husband. I’ve covered just how upset and disappointed I am in my job in order to spare my husband. I sometimes feel like I’ve made a mistake leaving my old job….

Happy reality: At least half of my students are fairly sweet and really want to learn English. At least half of my students make me smile and laugh and love what I do. At least half of my students are forgetful but precious and feel bad when they aren’t prepared for my class. After 3-4 weeks of teaching, I’ve discovered that hell yes I can do this and it excites me how far I’ve come! I have established rules and routines in my classroom that at least half of my students respect and follow. I’m happy and love teaching so much that I could literally be teaching feminist banana peeling to babies and I’d be thrilled because this is the best job in the world and I get to do it and be paid for it!

Super happy reality: That paycheck though. Finally my Master’s has counted for something and my education and experience is being appreciated in the form of dolla dolla bills, and even though I wish this wasn’t the case, I’m doing this partly for financial reasons. Why else would I be in a place where I can’t just walk out my front door, travel a short distance, and hug my mom?! I have to airplane for at least 13 hours and skirt through multiple time zones to hug my mom and that’s huge to me, so hell yes if I need a good paycheck to deal with that fact.

What’s coming up? Positive vibes, more self-reflection and realization that I really was born to be a teacher and giddiness at the thought of my weak students soaring through and sharing some badass English skills with me that will delight me more than a vegan chocolate cake!

Actually, something like that has already happened!

One of my English students at the beginning of the year was extremely weak. In class, she would sit and stare at me and guess at my gestures and foreign words. I spoke slowly and simply but she never really seemed to get it. After a few placement assessments, I came to the conclusion that she needed supplemental English help, so I put her on the list of students to be pulled from Music or Drama class for extended English (this has been a life saver and such a necessity at our school – it means that kids get English class sometimes more than once a day!!!!) and she’s not only been doing well, but she’s actually surpassing some of the other students! She told the supplemental teacher that she understands me fine and that it was a mistake to put her in the extended class. Mistake or not, having her come to the realization that she a) needs to pull up her socks because Ms. Wun thinks she doesn’t understand and she’s weak in class; and b) has the confidence to reflect on and confront her English abilities, is amazing! I’m so thrilled that she puts her heart and soul into every one of my classes. Her hand is always in the air ready to participate, which surprises me every time. She’s even started smiling and waving at me in the halls. On a more personal and less academic note, she’s in my dance class and therefore we’ve developed a special bond that goes beyond English language learning. She’s a great dancer who picks up on movements and rhythms very quickly. She’s translated this skill into her English class and therefore can learn things quite fast as long as they aren’t too difficult.

I’m still working on getting her confidence up to ask me questions when she doesn’t understand things in class, but I’m just so happy that I’ve already seen progress in one “weak” student. It gives me hope that more students will make leaps and bounds and become capable language learners who can not only have a conversation with me and the other teachers, but also want to have these conversations that most timid, basic language learners fear the most.

So as much as there have been new struggles (some of which I haven’t mentioned because, to be honest, I’d prefer to forget the struggles and focus on the positives), there have also been new and amazing challenges that have excited me and made me feel proud to be a teacher in a new and nerve-wracking environment.

So my goals this year? I’d like to master the art of curriculum development and craft a really badass and flexible English curriculum for my school that many teachers can use in the future. I’d like to differentiate like a pro, which is easier said than done, am I right fellow teachers?! The struggle is real, haha. I’d like at least 25% of my students to shock and amaze me with their rapid progress by the end of June 2017. It would please me to get a parent message of thanks regarding a student’s ability. I’d also like one more thing, although it’s a hard sell and probably won’t happen, but a girl can dream – I’d like my form group (homeroom class) to develop an open mind and become mature. I’d like them to not depend on their parents or teachers for everything. I’d like them to be humble and thankful for opportunities and experiences. I’d like them to be good and decent people who think deeply and help each other instead of walk all over each other to get ahead in life. I guess I’d like at least 10% of my kids to be this way… I hope that’s not asking too much. And how will I get here? I’ll work damn hard because I’m a damn hard worker!

I’ve had people in the past tell me to stop caring so much and to stop working so hard because I’ll burn out, but this is how I am. I care so much and take everything so hard because it makes me feel like I’m being useful. I work as hard as I can so that my vacations and breaks are super meaningful and well-deserved. I teach so hard and care so much that at the end of most days, I’m exhausted… and I don’t mind this feeling as long as my students impress and inspire me and I see some of these goals happen.

My reality is a good one and I’m very happy. As I sit here, I have one and a half more days of holiday before I go back to work on Monday. As thankful as I am that I can sleep in tomorrow and eat junk food and watch YouTube all day, I can’t wait for Monday… and that makes me happy, and also feel like a damn good teacher!

Until next time,

Sarah the teaching Wun 

The Adventures of Moses

Hi, I’m Moses. I’ve been living with the Wuns since February and I’m having a blast! Don’t get me wrong, there have been obstacles along the way, but the Wuns are so patient and helping me recover from my street days.

When I lived on the streets, I was always very nervous. I heard lots of loud and scary noises and could have been run over many times by all these crazy motorized scooters! The winters were really cold and I didn’t like being outside left all alone with no cuddles.

I was found in the rain by a really wonderful woman who rescued me from the chilly, wet outdoors. She took me in and I had to get used to being around a lot of animals all day every day. I think this nice lady helped many animals which is so wonderful but I wished that I got more attention because I’m needy like that. How can I help wanting belly rubs? They feel so good!

One day, I got to stay outside of the room with all the animals and didn’t have to wear my cone. I hate my cone! I can’t chew on my body when I’m wearing that stupid cone. I was really excited to run around the entire house and get lots of pets from the rescuer and her husband. Then the doorbell rang and I was over the moon excited! I ran to the door and two giant strangers came in. I was afraid that they would hit me or yell at me like on the streets. The man bent down and gave me a really nice rub on my head so I sat by him the whole time they were there. The woman just kept smiling at me and I could feel that I was safe.

I got in a really fast and crazy car with these two nice people. I arrived at a new sniffing ground and didn’t know what to think. It took me a few weeks to feel safe and even then I was always afraid that they would leave me out in the wet and cold like what happened before. 

These people are really nice but I wish they would just give me all their food. The man is always in the kitchen and makes good smells. I want to eat these smells but he glares at me when I ask (bark) for food. I wonder why. Maybe I’m not asking (barking) loud enough.

The woman always sternly calls me name when I bite myself. I personally don’t see how it’s any of her business. It does hurt though. She sprays me with some stuff that really hurts but then soothes me. I growl at her but I still love her.

The woman also gives me these big yellow pills every day and gets really happy when I eat them. I like when she’s happy so I’ll continue to eat them.

The Wuns went away for so long! It was only a weekend but why didn’t they take me?! I went to a big, scary place with lots of medicine and people in white coats. I had to sleep in a big, ugly, scary room with no soft blankets. I miss sleeping next to the man and woman in their big, comfortable bed!

Now I have to wear my cone 24 hours a day. The doctor looked concerned and I have to eat many pills – they taste really bad and I wish they were like the yellow pills but they’re not. There are many cab rides but I haven’t seen the Wuns in a week. Do they not like me anymore? Will I ever see them again? Where are my mom and dad? I wish I had a home.

The rescuer and I are at a familiar apartment. My tail is wagging and I’m excited that I might see nice people again. The woman opens the door and I jump on her. She’s really happy and gives me lots of rubs. She doesn’t take off my cone so I’m mad at her. I’m really happy to be back with the Wuns. The man takes lots of pictures of me – maybe I’m cute after all.

I’m not allowed to sleep in their bed anymore. The had to wash all their sheets because of the Alopecia everywhere. The woman uses a scary machine that makes noise and eats up all of the hair I lose everywhere. I don’t like this machine. She seems frustrated and sighs when she pets me and all my hair comes off.

The woman tries to feed me pills – 5 of them! I try growling signaling that she should stop because I don’t like it, but she continues. I try baring my teeth but she continues. I snap and try to bite her and this seems to work. The man comes in and looks angry. He grabs me and sits me down and the woman makes me take the pills. I don’t like the Wuns anymore, but I still love them and am happy to have a warm place to sleep and water in my bowl. I hate my food though because it isn’t the same as what they eat and I want their food all the time.

I’m starting to get really frustrated by this cone. It’s hard for the Wuns to pet me and I keep walking in to walls and getting caught everywhere. The woman laughs at me but I don’t think it’s funny. I’ve snapped and tried to bite her a lot because I’m frustrated. The other day she cried and didn’t want to come near me. I’m really sad and scared now because what if they get rid of me? I’m not nice anymore and I’m so irritable. I don’t like lying next to them because I’m so itchy and they won’t let me scratch. What if I go back to the big, scary place?

About four weeks have passed and I feel so much better! My foster parents pet me all the time and don’t use the scary machine as much because my hair doesn’t fall out as much. I also don’t have pink and red patches all over my body any more because the Alopecia is clearing up. Maybe they’ll keep me now because I’m nicer. I appreciate the pills now because the woman takes off the cone when she feeds them to me and she also gives me pets in between and doesn’t cry when I’m a little growly. I guess she can finally hear me when I say (bark) “Please be gentle and give me time to swallow each pill.”

Even though I don’t get to sleep in my foster parents’ bed, I have a new bed and it’s so comfortable and all mine! No one else sleeps in my bed and I know when to go there at night when my foster parents go in the big bed. I wonder if they know that during the day when they leave me, I climb into the big bed and stay there all day! I’m such a clever and sneaky dog. I think they’d be okay with it though. I get to lie wherever I want all day just not at nighttime now. I think maybe my hair gets everywhere at night, I don’t know.

When foster mama is on her computer and very busy, I love that she stills lets me cuddle up beside her and she belly rubs me for hours. I’ve never had constant belly rubs like this before! I love the Wuns! I hope they never leave me. I hate every morning because I know they’ll leave for the day, but they always come back and shower me with love and rubs. They also make sure I eat and never go hungry. 

I’ve gained a lot of weight and foster mama doesn’t pet me cautiously anymore because I have meat on my bones!

Sometimes I’m just trying to lie down and rest and foster mama will smile at me and give me hugs. I never do anything special but she still smiles and says “Awwww, Moses!” I think this means that she loves me. Maybe someone will love me forever one day. Will my foster parents love me forever? I hope that when they talk about the Wun family, I’m part of it.

Woof woof,

Moses

Welcome to DaNang 2

DAY THREE:

Bernard was sick. My tummy was hurting mighty fierce, but I was kind of used to it at this point so that’s nothing new. But Bernard was quite sick! Damn the food here! It wasn’t really agreeing with either of us. We had a lowkey day and enjoyed some reading and fresh fruit juice.

DAY FOUR:

I booked a cooking class in another town because we had a coupon so we got up early and did that. Bernard was feeling pretty rough on this day, but he was a hero and got through the class. The cooking class was okay but not as good as the one we did in Thailand which was a blast! My point of contention with the class was mostly the fact that they wouldn’t take my coupon! Also the class was cut short because it was a holiday. I kind of flipped out at the poor woman at the counter when we had to pay. Our guide for the class had peaced out at this point and I was enraged at the lack of service. Maybe I was foolish to compare it to any of the perfect hospitality we got in Cambodia… this is the problem with traveling so much… you cannot help but compare!

The food was really nice that we made though and we did enjoy it on a beautiful patio. And at the end of the day, we had enough money to pay for it so I really should have stopped bitching. Stupid place.

We decided not to explore the town and just went back to the beach in DaNang. We enjoyed the beach as we cautiously explored for food that wouldn’t kill us. We went back to the Banh mi place we had gone to the day before because the lady was so kind. She didn’t have enough buns to make Banh mi but she made us this really lovely noodle dish for like no money! Mmmmm street noodles! I think it was like 20,000 VND, which will give you a good comparison to other food prices. Better than LAME Vien!

Then to our pleasant surprise, the noodle place lady gave us a mango!! That was pretty cool! I got a kick out of the woman at the hotel looking for a knife so I could cut the mango. She wouldn’t let me take the knife to the room (understandable… I could have been a serial killer), so I sat and cut the mango in the lobby while she watched me laughing. HAH! That was a cute little experience.

Then we picked up some light snacks and watched Jurassic Park 2 in our room and nursed our sensitive and tender tummies.

Bernard as a Top Chef!

The next day, we had to get up at stupid o’clock (like, 3am) to catch our stupid early flight back to Shanghai… but at this point, we were very glad to be heading back to reality where things were a little dumb but at least we knew that. All in all, a great and eye-opening vacation. You really can’t complain when you’re on a vacation that lets you explore three different countries. #blessed

And that's our story of Chinese New Year Holiday! Yes! I did it. I successfully wrote about it only a little while after it happened, unlike last year. Ugh! Sorry folks. 

Yours,

Sarah the traveling Wun

Welcome to DaNang!

DAY ONE/TWO:

A billion stupid flights later we arrived safely and drowsily in Vietnam. We immediately went to bed because it was so early in the morning/late at night that we were delusional. The next day, we were extremely happy to sleep in! It was impossible to sleep in during our short vacation in Cambodia because we had so much temple to see! We slept late and rose early, so the first morning in DaNang was reserved for a blissful coma. Besides, the weather was cold and stupid. Not again! We really were cursed with bad weather pretty much throughout our trip. I really didn’t mind the “cold” weather in Cambodia because it just meant we weren’t sweltering! But I was looking forward to taking a dip in the ocean and lying on the beach. Nope… too cold.

The first day, we eventually got up and started perusing the area. Nothing was open! We almost forgot that it was Chinese New Year and in Vietnam, I guess they celebrate too. Literally nothing was open and it was creepily deserted. It was still very peaceful and we enjoyed the solitude, so we walked around for a while looking for a little café to perch and relax. After walking for 4 years, we finally found a coffee shop recommended by a friend: Cong Coffee! The place was decorated to look like a hollowed out war bunker and the décor was super cool and historical. We immediately enjoyed it. 

However, the service was terrible because it was really busy and this just reminded us of home, which was stressful. We got drinks 18 centuries after we ordered, but the drinks were incredible! Bernard got an iced coffee slushy thing made with coconut milk! It was absolute heaven. Like, I can taste it now and I’m writing this blog 3 months later. I got a ginger tea, and I must say, Vietnam knows ginger tea! Now as a herbal tea drinker and an 85 year old bodied woman, I know my grandma/medicinal teas and this was hardcore gingery which is just how I like it! It punched me in the face with ginger! I mean, realistically, it did take about 45 minutes to come out, so they were probably steeping it and boiling the ginger for that long – worth it! Also, we ordered this item called mungbean cake because we assumed it would be disgusting and that would make for a great picture and story, but it was absolutely delicious! Cong Coffee… your food and drink impressed me… nothing else did.

When we got back to the hotel after hours of trekking into the city, we decided to research romantic restaurants and treat ourselves for dinner. We stumbled upon a restaurant close to our hotel called Lam Vien. Buckle up your seatbelts for this review…

A colonoscopy in the middle of the night by a grizzly bear.

Being chokeslammed into a billion upright knives by Godzilla.

Throwing up into your own face.

Endlessly listening to “I try” by Macy Gray.

Working at Al Nahda forever.

All of these are better than the night we had at Lam Vien!! I don’t really want to recount the details because I’m stewing in anger thinking about it, but I will briefly by leaving Bernard’s review of it that he wrote on TripAdvisor:

“If Only We Could Give a Zero Rating”

Reviewed February 13, 2016

My wife looked up romantic, fine dining restaurants in Da Nang and she came across this ... place.

To avoid getting into a confused and spiralling rage from remembering the absolute travesty that was our evening here, we're simply going to number the pros and cons of our evening.

Pros:
1. The bar; since we had to wait for just under two hours, we decided to set up camp at the bar and it was fairly pleasant (although we noticed that other waiting diners did not feel the same – one woman ordered a bottle of white wine and asked for it to be brought up to her table; by the time she came down to remind a server about her white wine, the ice in the bucket had turned to water).

Cons (here we go):
1. We were told the wait would be 30 minutes (no problem, it *was* Tet holiday after all and admittedly, we didn't have a reservation), but we waited for almost two hours. Also, although they were understandably busy, nobody had the courtesy to come check in with us as a, "Hey, we remember you're here because you're a customer and we care about you!" My wife had to go and stand at reception to remind them that we hadn't left and were still patiently waiting.
2. When we *did* finally get a table, it was changed from what I can only imagine to be the more intimate setting of the second floor to the busy, hectic, family friendly first floor, plopped in the middle of the room when there were plenty of other tables that were at least a bit secluded and intimate.
3. When we were seated, the table was not set and smelled strongly of off-brand cleaning supply. What a great way to whet one's appetite! We didn't get eating utensils until our first main course arrived.
4. We had to wait for what seemed like an eternity before a server even made eye contact with us. We finally managed to order some food.
5. The food was so underwhelming considering the price we paid. We ordered grilled squid with chilli salt, cashew chicken, and some sort of four dish appetizer which they were out of and neglected to tell us until after we received the cashew chicken (mains come first at this restaurant???). The manager offered to change it to their Lam Vien Spring Rolls, and we agreed.
6. The "grilled" squid with chilli salt had a surprising absence of anything that resembled chilli salt. What we *did* get was a lemony, sweet chilli sauce (which reminded me of something I would maybe get from Red Lobster). The squid was unevenly "grilled" and I'm fairly convinced that it wasn't even grilled. This was very disappointing as this was my wife's first time eating squid and people rave about the seafood in Da Nang ...
7. The cashew chicken was only average at best, but came with a blow your socks off price tag. Hum.
8. Because they were out of the four dish appetizer, they offered to replace it with their special Lam Vien Spring Rolls. No problem! Oh wait! Except for the fact that it didn't show up at all during the course of the meal. The only reason we got to even taste their spring rolls was because as my wife and I sat, twiddling our thumbs after two disappointing mains, a server came up and asked us if all our food had arrived. My wife replied with tears brimming in her eyes, "No." Then the manager who was passing by and overheard said, "Really?" walked towards the kitchen, picked up a plate of spring rolls that had clearly been sitting out since the start of this journey, and gave it to us. Of all the dishes, this was probably the most flavourful, but we didn't originally order it nor did it come before the mains, which is what an appetizer is supposed to do. It was also stone cold because that's what happens when you forget an appetizer for the course of an entire meal.
9. The bill, if you can believe it, came to just under 600,000 VND. Now, I understand that prices are inflated in Vietnam and it was the Tet holiday, and this is supposed to be fine dining, but considering the lack of service, the poor quality of the food, and the general absence of a romantic atmosphere (which Lam Vien is advertised as!), we felt robbed both emotionally and financially.

Overall, there was basically nothing pleasant about our evening. We understand that it was the Tet holiday and restaurants are short staffed, food quality may be harder to control because perhaps the seasoned chefs are on vacation. But, if you run a restaurant that charges 195,000 VND for a grilled squid, there are certain expectations in terms of service and food quality that comes with that. Maybe, as a restauranteur, if you're aware that it's Tet holiday, don't tell potential customers that it'll only be a 30 minute wait. Instead, tell your customers, "Sorry, it's Tet. We're all booked up, you don't have a reservation, we won't be able to seat you tonight. Would you like to make a reservation for tomorrow evening?" If that's what we were told, we would have gladly made a reservation and probably have been spared the horror of the evening.

We felt like we were an imposition to the restaurant. Unfortunately, because of our experience that evening, we can't in good conscience give a favourable review. My wife described the dining experience as akin to a bad breakup.

Lam Vien, you really dropped the ball with this couple.

 So after a deathly terrible dinner, we dejectedly walked home but stopped at the beach to get our giggles out about just how awful the evening was and how generally disappointing the day was.

We then paused for a moment to remember Cambodia. Some people there didn’t have toilets for crying out loud! What was I doing complaining about a few shops being closed and a shitty restaurant experience?! At least I got fed! We had a good laugh and picked up some snacks on the way back to the hotel. We found Spiderman 2 or 3 --  I don’t remember… it was the one where Tobey McGuire was emo, which I couldn’t handle, so I rage quit life and went to bed.

The next day we woke up to sunshine! We were a little too happy about it and I think I looked like Julie Andrews skipping across the mountain in The Sound of Music as we leisurely strolled to a cute little café/diner called “An’s deli”. This became a favourite spot for the rest of the trip. I think we went back at least three times in 3 days. We had a beautiful little breakfast, read for a bit, and then went back to the hotel to rent some bikes. Every time we wanted to rent a bike, they only had one – even though there were like 5… lying was a reminder yet again of home so we were stressed out once again! Nevertheless, I told Bernard to rent the bike and I’d run like a jackass alongside of him. He insisted that I perch on the back like a howler monkey and we biked along the boardwalk of the beach.

After biking around the beach area, I had a raging sunburn that wouldn’t quit, but I didn’t even care because I was so happy to be warm! Warmth! Something I hadn’t felt in months!!

We soaked up as much sun and warmth as possible and chilled on the beach. I rented a chair to sit in but Bernard refused to pay for one and built a “Sand chair” that he lovingly refered to as “Sand chaise”. He even spelled that out on the back of it in seashells. I think it goes without saying that everyone on the beach was staring at him… it was awesome. I had a good laugh when he couldn’t get all the sand off of him and I was sand-free because of my rental chair. HAH! Good times.

It was getting late when we finally tidied up all the sand off of us from the beach and we decided to scope out dinner. I could have licked the ground and it would have been a better experience than Lam Vien… more like LAME Vien! Am I right? Anyway…

We had dinner at “Soc Trang” which was questionable but fine. Then we went back to An’s deli for an after dinner tea and cake and bought a pineapple for breakfast. The cashew nut brownie I got at An’s was so good I completely forgot about my sunburn and our miserable luck for most of the trip. We were happy again!