Roving Cat

Typhoon Ketsana arrived the 28th of September. We were well prepared, fully stocked up on food, water, candles and a torch. Electricity wiped out on day one, which preceded two terrible nights of no sleep while the wind creepily 'wooed' outside my bedroom window. Little rain fell, but the winds of up to 185km/h kept all awake and alert. Houses flooded, roads were blocked and trees bent, snapped and fell. Some neighbours boarded up their houses and relocated to another place, while others camped out at home by the candlelight with their family.

In 2009, having no electricity is a rather boring experience. My room mate and I tried to come up with some ideas to keep us entertained, and our mind always wandered back to a game of scrabble or a crossword, but we had none of those. We read, read and read by candlelight, while hoping that the lights would suddenly turn on again. Phone services were blocked (text worked!!) so almost all forms of modern communication were eradicated from the entire city.

Maybe I'm exhaggerating the situation, however for me, it was, well, scary. At night the house felt like it was rocking, while in the day the hours just slowly passed, basically giving me many opportunities to study, read, study and read. Anyway, Ketsana eventually passed, people slowly emerged from their homes, and the clean-up began. Trees and rubbish were strewn everywhere, but nothing was hit as badly as the beach. Huge tree trunks washed up ashore, along with tons of sticks, leaves, branches in the brown murky waters.

Thousands of homes were destroyed, and thousands more people were displaced. Please think about the people, unlike myself, who weren't so lucky. Some were injured and some were killed, while others have lost all they have ever owned. Please also think of those in the Phillipines, who were effected far worse. There are various charities accepting donations online to assist those in need.

We were very lucky it wasn't cold either. It was still pretty which makes it a lot easier to survive.

On a happier note, three stray kittens have decided to call my home, their home. They just turned up one day, and came back every now and then, so, I'm feeding them. Whiskas and tuna. They are stick and bones with huge googly eyes on these tiny little faces. They are getting used to me, so I just sit there while they eat and just look at them. It's amazing the effect something so cute can have on a person. They bring a huge smile to my face.

With the onset of the rainy season (typhoon season??), I am moving to Hanoi. At the end of October, I will say goodbye to Da Nang, my home of 8 months, beautiful beaches, quiet roads, and stunning natural landscapes, and say hello to the bustling Capital that is Hanoi. Although I am sad to leave the Central Coast, I am just as excited to work again in a kindergarten, see old friends, and partake in dance classes, Vietnamese classes and other extra curricular activities that come my way.

While dreaming of my new life in Hanoi (again!), I am also dreaming of the far away exotic land that is India.

Home of the Taj Mahal, the biggest population of English speakers, the largest democracy in the entire world and the creator of snakes and ladders and the digit 'zero'. A picture of vivid colour, a celebration of Hinduism, and an appreciation for the mind, body and soul and delicious food come to mind, as do crowded streets, humidity and severe poverty.

Because of this, I keep thinking about it! I can't stop. I don't know what spurred this interest, but I want to go. Not for a few weeks, but maybe 2 months. Volunteer for 5 weeks, travel for a few more, I'm not sure, but because of it's size, I think I'll just visit a couple of cities, slow down, and take my time. At the same time, be extremely cautious of the things I do, the foods I eat so as not to get SICK! (I've heard a few stories). It just seems like the country that I'm going to instantly fall in love with, you know those places in the movies that "change people", that have such an effect on them, I think that place for me will be India. But, maybe I'm wrong. Next year I hope to go to India, and provided I have enough funds left, Brazil too, in September. Two exotic lands in one year! Wow, I hope so.

I will post photos of the typhoon and the kittens soon.

Love.
Cat.

Not sure exactly why I'm writing about kids animation movies, but I recently saw two fantastic animated films, Pixar's "Up" and Dreamworks "Bee Movie".

I saw Up at the cinema here in Da Nang with my boyfriend, and by the end of it, we had both experienced emotions of happiness, sadness, relief, confusion and fear. How one movie can jampack so many ideals into one movie, I do not know.

(minor spoilers following!)

The opening sequence in the movie is completely script free, and chronicles the life of a boy who grows into a smart young man, and eventually a 78 year old man, Carl, who has loved his wife his entire life. After the death of his wife, the man decides to do what they had both wanted to do all their lives - visit Paradise Falls in an unknown part of South America (apparently Costa Rica according to Raphael). The entire movie depicts his journey from the modern city that he calls home, to a jungle of colour, exotic animals, and frightening heights.

On the way Carl makes many friends, including an 8 year old boy scout, Russell, a beautiful (ostrich/emu?) (that I thought was a peacock), and a very happy, tail wagging, tongue licking (talking) dog, Dug.
Oh! He also meets a bunch (more like hundreds) of talking dogs, who have amazing human abilities. Some are horribly scary, like the doberman, and some are just so cute, like Dug.

I cried, I laughed, I was worried, I was scared, and I empathised with the old man. What amazed me most about this movie was the very adult themes. Not adult content that children cannot view, but it taught messsages that we all need to remember, no matter how young or old we are. It tells us to be grateful of the people that we have relationships with, to do the things we want to do NOW, before it's to late and to treat people with respect, no matter how annoying or irritating they are.

What impressed me most about the movie, is that it isn't just for children. Think back to when Disney created Alladin, and the Lion King, and the Little Mermaid. They were great movies, but I don't think I would watch them again, unless I had kids under my care. But nowadays, kids movies create so much in just a couple of hours and provide entertainment for all.

If you haven't seen Up, go see it now, because it's absolutely brilliant.

I watched Bee Movie on HBO yesterday, and that was another excellent animation made for kids. It delved into the world of bees, and taught it's audience to take value in all the things you do, no matter how big or small. Even if it's a small job, it's important, and needs to be done with care. It shows us the amazing life of a bee, and how important their job is.

In the movie, one bee, Mr Barry Benson (voiced by Jerry Seinfeld), sees how humans eat honey and use honey in their daily lives. He sues the human race for taking their honey, and he thinks that by stopping human consumption, bees don't have to work so hard to produce honey. What he doesn't realise is, is that bees are not only important for honey, but for cross-pollination. Much of our natural world depends on bees to survive.

I did actually learn a lot about bees in the movie, and it teaches children an important message. Great movie also, very funny, and lots of colour. However, the length of the courtroom sequences are probably not so kid friendly.

One last thing I want to mention about the movies is how easy it is to depict what you want. For example, Carl in "Up" is obviously a grumpy old man who never smiles, because of the shape of his eyebrows and mouth. The scary doberman, is black and brown, and has incredibly pointy (almost sharp) ears, creating a very violent looking dog. In "Bee Movie", the process of how honey is made in the hive is shown. Nectar is transferred into a clear tub with "Nectar" written on it. It is clear it is an advertisement for Microsoft, as the same font and angle is used in its writing! I thought that was a very clever little ad in which made me laugh.

Although many kids watch real adult movies with their families, I think it is really important for a child to watch animation movies like these. They portray important morals and values and use colour, depth and size that is so important for a child's development.

It just goes to show how important colour and good visuals are important for children, no matter the age. It's so important in my teaching, where my classrooms are empty of colour and are very dull. I always try to introduce as much visuality into the activities, so students are kept interested. But it really is amazing how so little can do so much.

Sorry about the length of this blog, maybe it got a little boring for you!

Love.
Cat.

The only real adventure I had in Saigon was surviving the constant downpours that occured every hour. I went to Saigon for a few days just for the heck of it, and the first day turned out to be a collection of "Oh my god!'s" at the rain, the traffic and the 10 million people that inhabit the city. It's a nice city, well developed in infrastructure, lots of English business, many international visitors/expats, and generally just a city that is far different from other Vietnamese cities. But it also had a lot of street beggars/sellers (selling small things like chewing gum), severe lack of road rules (not unlike Vietnam), and a terrible overcrowding of buildings and people. Viewing the city coming down on the plane was incredible, just a huge collection of buildings in a built up area that expanded futher than I could see.

Day one, I hung out with Raphael wandering around the city, doing some shopping, in between the rain that prevented us from doing anything outside . In the night, we went to the only Brazilian restaurant in Saigon (they also have one in Hanoi) and ate a buffet of deliciously fresh cuts of meat, pork, beef and even lamb (which is so rare in Vietnam!!!). Not cheap, but lots of fun, and something a little different.

I also got my hair cut and coloured, plus a manicure and pedicure, and some funky nail art. All in all, costing me around $50, so I'm very happy.

While at Go2 bar in the tourist centre, I met a friend of Raphael's, a 5 year old Vietnamese boy named Quy. He works as a seller with his mother, selling predominantly chewing gum and other small cheap things, in a box he carries around. Quy has excellent English as he speaks every day to tourists, plus, he is very Brazilian! He knows the Brazilian "man-to-man" handshake, and can speak some Brazilian words. There are lots of players that visit this bar, and they all chat to him. He loves Raphael, and he is just gorgeous, but I feel sad that he is working the streets with tourists every night. The good thing is, is that his English will be fluent by the time he reaches his adult years.

Saigon is a great city for visiting, and has an abundance of services and imported products I can't find in Da Nang and Hanoi, but I could never live there, and I honestly think the traffic is deadly!!!

My other adventures have been at the three English centres that I work at. I have just started working at a fairly new centre, which is very modern and hi-tech. Each classroom has a widescreen flat tv on the wall, connected to Microsoft Windows and the internet. I can use the internet, play English games, and show pictures/documents while I'm teaching. I teach young ages (5-10 years), so I can be very interactive with the children while gaining their interest. Now the trick is to figure out how I can incorporate this new technology into my teaching. I haven't used any thing like this before, so I will have to be creative, and I guess the classroom is my oyster as I have many opportunities to be a better and up to date teacher.

Unfortunately, I don't have these resources at the other centres, which have plain classrooms with chairs and a whiteboard, so that's a lot more basic (but that's ok too).

I found an interesting You Tube video yesterday, about a Argentinian woman who teaches English in (I'm assuming) Argentina, using American sign language in her teaching. She talks about how the children's memory has improved just by learning basic hand movements to go with the word. It's a lot easier to teach "run", where the child can physically get up and run, than to teach "potato", which as no matching action. She has incorporated the sign language into teaching vegetables and I thought it was very interesting and effective.

That is all for now.
Love.
Cat.

I passed a crash site today.
A toppled truck carrying tonnes of bricks was on it's side, smashed into tiny pieces scattered on the road.
A weeping woman cried over the dead body covered with a blanket.
A huge gathering of people just stared. Stared and stared and stared. Doing nothing.

What exactly compells a person to intentionally stop their motorbike, get off, and look at a woman crying over the dead body of a loved one?
Is it entertainment?
Or just something to fill their day?
Don't they have somewhere to be?

Where's the respect?

In Da Nang especially, I've noticed a huge increase in the amount of electric scooters around the city. Young Vietnamese girls sport them on the streets, with a maximum speed of 60 and really small size and weight. But the thing that is frustrating me, is that the people that drive them (predominantly women), don't wear helmets. I'm assuming that this is the law, because i have not seen an electric scooter driven by a helmet wearer.

But shouldn't it be the law? Girls weighing 45 kilos zip around on these scooters, who, if hit by another motorbike, would be severely injured. A Vietnamese friend has a "Robo" brand electric scooter, who says she doesn't need a helmet because her bike is electric. She is actually under the belief that because the scooter is electric, that there is no way that she is at risk of accident or injury. I don't really understand this mentality, that the Vietnamese law implies.

Anybody living in Vietnam care to comment on this? Have you noticed an increasing trend of electric bikes in Hanoi?

I'm not talking about tiny electric scooters like these......

I'm talking about full electric scooter bikes, that look just like a petrol fuelled scooter only lighter and slightly smaller.....

Anyway, as the electric scooters wave in and out of traffic, police let them roam the streets with no protection. It's frustrating every time I see an electric scooter.

But it shouldn't be frustrating. They are helping the environment, plus helping themselves by saving money, but I don't think they are helping their individual safety.

Another problem with the scooters is that they are silent. LITERALLY SILENT. No sound whatsoever. They creep up to the side of you and dart out in front of you when you don't even know it. They contribute nothing to neither air pollutino or noise pollution, however, they need to have some sort of sound device to make others aware of their incoming.

Read this article on Japanese hybrid cars:

Source: BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8132548.stm

Japan rethinks silent hybrid cars

Toyota Motor Corp."s assembled new Prius rolls out at the Toyota Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota
Toyota has no plans yet to add noise-making devices to their hybrid cars

Japan is considering the introduction of noise-making devices for near-silent hybrid cars following safety fears from vision-impaired pedestrians.

"Vision-impaired people feel that hybrid vehicles are dangerous", a transport ministry official told AFP.

The top-selling hybrid vehicles run almost without any sound when they change from fuel to battery mode.

The ministry of transport has brought together a panel that will draw up a report by the end of the year.

The panel is considering forcing manufacturers of hybrid cars to introduce a sound-making function that alerts passersby to the presence of a vehicle.

"Blind people depend on sounds when they walk, but there are no engine sounds from hybrid vehicles when running at low speed," the transport ministry official said.

The world's most popular hybrid, the Prius, was launched by Toyota in 1997.

Paul Nolasco, a spokesman for Toyota Motor in Tokyo, told the BBC it had no immediate plans to add noise-making devices to the hybrid vehicles.

"But if it becomes a social concern, it is something we will have to address", Mr Nolasco added.

Read about the North American company that are selling scooters for far more:

Source: CNN News, http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/20/eco.electricscooter/index.html[/u]

Vectrix Electrics is another company that has been developing electric scooters, so far selling only in North America and Europe. While the performance of its scooters is comparable to KLD's, their models sell at a much higher price tag around $11,000. Earlier this month Vectrix reported financial difficulties and has been forced to make staff cuts.

I do actually like electric scooters, I like anything that's good for the environment. But it's increasingly annoying when authorities here don't actually realise what is important when riding one.

Anyway, that's my rant.

I'm off to the football.

Love.
Cat.