Phan Thiet July'12

I am almost at the end of my time here and of course I am sad. Frequently people ask me when I'm coming back, I don't know if I'll ever come back to Phan Thiet. I have it in the back of my mind to come back next January,live in Mui Ne and learn how to kite surf but it's a pipe dream. At that point I'll have very little cash and I'll be so terrified about going into debt that I'll want to get a new job as quickly as possible, I know me. I am not angry with my mother but the blame does lie at her door. She has given me a fear of not having enough money and I don't mean of being poor. I mean just not having enough to pay the bills each month, my parents always managed in the end but it has left me with an insecurity about money that living in Japan and here hasn't erased. Even though I am in a financial position that some people would envy, I don't have any debts and can take a few months off to travel. Anyway, it is what it is and some things aren't going to change. And this all feeds in to my fears about the future. I am always afraid when I don't know what the future holds, I think it's one reason why I like to plan things, it gives me a feeling of control. I am realistic enough to know that that feeling is an illusion but hey, whatever gets you through the day right and it's better than alcohol. I think I have been drinking a little too much recently and I'm trying to curb it, but it's just so easy and cheap. It is actually more expensive here to have a soft drink in a restaurant than a beer, that's not right! I have had a quiet month so far, having coffee, dinner and beers with friends. I took time out to visit the second new English school in Phan Thiet. It's run by a lady called Minh and before I had been in her office five minutes she had offered me work. Then she asked me if I knew anyone else in town who could teach there, she obviously isn't familiar with the problems of getting a teacher in this city. It doesn't bode well for the future of her business if she doesn't know that. APC is also having issues finding my replacement, Ms.My doesn't know if they'll have 2 foreign teachers next school year. I've seen Carlo a couple of times, always at Novotel, I haven't managed to get him past the hotel gates yet. He does have a lot on his plate right now though, the hotel has been sold and he doesn't know if the new owners will keep Accor on to run it. The new owners bought the Sofitel in Dalat and then kicked Accor out so they have form for getting rid of the management team. He's waiting to see what's going to happen. The second week of this month brought the heaviest storm of the rainy season so far. I was at school at the time, the power went out, a couple of ceilings came down and one of the big glass doors smashed. It was a mess. I managed to cycle home during a lull in the rain and got there to find my bedroom floor covered in an inch of water. Luckily it was a Tuesday so I'd stood my mattress up on one end so the cleaner could mop my room. I spent over an hour getting the water up, not fun. That night I had dinner with Blane, my replacement. He's an American with a Vietnamese family in Nha Trang. He's been working there for a couple of years but it's all part time work and not as well paid as APC. He's going to commute each week and his family will stay there. He seems to be a nice guy but I wonder how long the commuting will last, it's four hours minimum each way and the road is horrendous. I wouldn't want to do it and I can imagine that if he gets a good offer in Nha Trang that he would take it, I know I would. He was here for a few days and seems to like the city, that helps. I've decided to stay in the house until I leave Phan Thiet. I was talking it over with Ms. My and she spoke to the house owners and they wanted me to stay. I think it's the right thing to do but I have to make sure that I've packed up as much of my stuff and got rid of what I can before the end of this month. I don't want to have a lot to do on my last weekend here. I've given some stuff to Daniel and Anh already and started to sort out my clothes. I am worried about leaving the cats, but I don't know what else to do. They are happy and well fed at the moment but they haven't been in contact with anyone else but me and they won't go near anyone else. On the one hand that's good as it might keep them out of the cat catcher's clutches but on the other it would make it difficult for them to be in a new home. I'll continue to feed them until I leave and then they'll be on their own. I finished teaching at the international school yesterday, today the students went on a school trip. It feels very anti-climatic. I have one more class at the ESL centre next week and then I am totally done. I haven't taught at Vietcom Bank this month at all, just as well I wasn't relying on that income. Ms.My arranged that this month I would get my back pay from May, June's salary as normal and be paid in advance for July. I have been paid, more than I was expecting in fact but the Vietnamese staff haven't. I do feel guilty about this, but not guilty enough to forgo my salary. At the moment we have lost fifteen high school students and have only had five new students sign up for the new school year. There will be only one native English teacher next year, the other English classes will be taken by a Filipino lady. Ms. My has been in contact with Henry in Saigon and apparently he's having difficulty in getting people to come to Phan Thiet. I am not surprised, just because Anna and I loved it here doesn't mean everyone else does and there's the not small matter of the five hour bus ride to get to and from Saigon. It wouldn't be so bad if it was the couple of hours it would take on a decent highway. Talking about highways, I'm off to Nha Trang tomorrow to say goodbye to Denise and the gang up there.