A summary of what's happened since the last blog: jolly Leegood jaunt to Hoi An was pretty cool. I like: beaches, sunbathing on Christmas Eve, good food, new shoes (DRAGON BOOTS), peace and quiet, my family (even if I do revert to being a teenage brat when I'm with them ("SHUT UUUUP, I HAAATE YOU, WHATEVERRRR") - sorry family, although it's partly your fault for raising me all wrong). Christmas Day was also pretty cool, but any day that involves curry is a good day in my books. Being a spoilt brat, I got a new camera, so hopefully my blog will be vivid once again.

These photos were taken at a ruined ancient templey place near Hoi An, called My Son. Fun fact: it's not ruined because it's over a thousand years old, it's ruined because America bombed it to shit in the war, when the VC were using it as a hide-out. Thanks again America!

There was also a lot of face-pulling involved, standard.

groping an ancient religious monument, nice one

a sea monster over shiva, there was a story but i can't remember it

my mum doing a 'natural' pose

epic photo

making a mockery of cultural tradition

Now some photos of some of my students at their Christmas concert; they looked ridiculously cute in suits.

Not that teachers have favourites, but the boy on the right is my favourite

Minh Duc: ADHD in a three-piece suit

cheeky

"what this enclosed space full of hyperactive 7-year-olds clad in synthetic fabrics needs, is pyrotechnics"

Other news: my Vietnamese teacher tells me she has had to stop teaching one of her students because she suspects him of being an American spy. Apparently he was asking too many questions about the government, and expressing anti-Communist sentiments, although her suspicions were raised when he refused to learn any vocabulary, only grammar - who would do that?

I had to give a test last night to one of my classes - ADULTS, who are also TEACHERS - and I have never seen such flagrant, unashamed cheating... book-opening, conferring, walking across the classroom to look at someone else's paper... It upset everything I hold true! My deepest-rooted principles were squirming in horror. I wanted to cry out "What's the point of taking a test if it's not a representation of what you have learned?! You're devaluing your own efforts! Our shared labours lie shattered in the dust on the classroom floor!" but they wouldn't have understood my English because they're only elementary-level.

Best thing on the back of a motorbike: a cow. Driving from the airport into inner city Hanoi. Why?

I leave you with this picture of my mum, having a REALLY REALLY GREAT TIME on Christmas Day: