Monthly Archives: July 2009

After what seemed like a month of cloudy and drizzly days here in Long Xuyen, it’s been sunny and warm the past couple of days, which I certainly have appreciated.

This summer I’ve been keeping a very hectic schedule and trying to save a little money. What I mean by hectic is that I work from 8 a.m. to 8 or 8:30 p.m., depending on the day, Monday through Friday. However, I don’t work straight through the day and have some nice breaks and try to squeeze in some badminton time when possible too.

And speaking of badminton, this morning (Sunday), I was invited to go shopping for badminton clothes, and ended up with my first badminton shirt, along with some badminton shorts that are approaching the “uncomfortably short” length. I’ll try them out this afternoon when I go work on my smashing skills…

It’s been awhile since I last updated this blog, and since I’ve been in a new residence for the past month or so, I thought I’d post some pictures of the new place that I call home.

A former student of mine, Phuong, recently opened a shop in a market area of Long Xuyen. However, the house that she’s renting has a few extra floors, and she said that I could rent a floor if I wanted. As I was waiting for the documents to be finalized at the Construction Department (I really don’t understand the ridiculous laws in this province concerning foreigners renting houses), I was notified by my previous landlord (the room near the lake) that I had one day to vacate the room. So, kind of in a rush, I moved to this new place, and here are a few pictures. And the documents are finally finished so I’m very legally living here now.

The sign of the shop as seen from the street.

The nerve center of the shop. From left to right: Duyen, shop assistant; Phuong, owner and my landlord; Tin, salesman and newly avid English student.

Looking up the staircase from the first floor (I live on the third floor).

My bathroom, small but adequate. Those are frozen hot dogs thawing in the sink. Today is the Forth of July after all…

The entrance to my room.

The front hall.

My bedroom.

Another view of the bedroom.

The main room.

Another angle in the main room.

A view from my balcony.