Today, we were visited by a representative of the Canadian Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. This young man, with a wry sense of humour, provided us with some details about living in Vietnam. For those of you who were concerned about my safety while abroad, you will be happy to know that HCMC has very little violent crime. Petty crime exists, clearly, but isn't as prevelant as in other countries. One interesting crime that occurs in HCMC is pet snatching. Men on motorbikes may perform a drive-by theft of one's beloved pet, then essentially hold the pup/goat/cat until one pays a "finders fee" to these crafty criminals. Purse and cell phone snatching are, of course, more common.

About 4000 Canadians reside in HCMC, but about 95 percent of these Canadians are Việt Kiều (meaning, Vietnamese people who moved to Canada and have now returned to Vietnam). The Canadian population of the city gathers on June 6th to celebrate Canada Day (many Canadians are travelling or visiting home in July, so they have opted for this early celebration day). Also, the Consulate organizes the HCMC Terry Fox Run, in which about 7000 people participate each year. Our school will be an active participant in this year`s run.

We headed downtown to a fantastic restaurant for lunch. The owner of the restaurant gathered together the foremost street venders in the city to create a menu and staff with a truly local zest. If any of you come to visit, I will surely take you here! We all shared a myriad of dishes. I ate a shrimp whole--head and shell included. AMAZING FOOD!

We wandered about downtown, seeing the Opera House, Notre Dame Cathedral, Reunification Palace and so on. Wilf took us to a DVD store, notifying his favourite service agent that he had Canadian teachers here to buy some movies. Within seconds, we were swarmed by service staff, provided seats, and stacks of DVDs were thrust into our hands. After we were done looking through one stack, our personal attendent would have another ready for us to look at. After looking, rapid pace, through surely one hundred movies and TV series, I bought 6 movies for approximately four dollars. Those should be good for escapism evenings.

As other shopped, Wilf, Cheratien, and I headed to get some ice cream on the terrace of a lovely cafe. The ice cream melted quickly in the mid-afternoon heat, so I responding by consuming it with vigor. It is indeed, quite sticky and hot here--I am sweating a lot, but am not alone. Apparently some people`s bodies never adjust, and are perpetual sweat monkies. Let`s hope I am not a part of that contingent.

Things at the school are chaotic. Tomorrow I sit down with the principal to work out my schedule so that I can begin to conceptualize what my year will look like. I am eager to know.

Once more, my colleagues seem to be a spectacular crew, and I am already learning a great deal about them. I am excited for our years together. Many have very interesting stories of previous employment and travels--amazing and adventurous spirits.

I miss you all profoundly.