Moving to Vietnam

My name is Bill and I am about to embark on a new adventure to teach English in Vietnam. I leave my home in Colorado at the end of April (two weeks from now) and set up house in Da Nang, Vietnam. It's exciting but does come with a few anxieties. But before I get into the things that are happening as they happen, I want to lay down a little background about myself.

My interest in Vietnam comes as the result of my serving over there with the Marine Corps during the war. I was with a ground company along the DMZ during 1969. For many years after I returned from the war, I pushed Vietnam to the back of my life and became a professional photographer. But my experience with Vietnam had a way of popping back up on occasion. So, after selling my business in 1994, I decided to return to Vietnam and see what it was like now that the war was over. That trip changed my life nearly as much as did the war days and I have returned many times since. Most of the time I put together groups of veterans and helped them get to places that were important to them.

My wife passed away in March of 2007 and I needed to find something to focus on again. I had been a Photoshop instructor at a local college here in Colorado for over seven years and knew that I enjoyed teaching. I no longer had a job keeping me nailed down. And I still have pretty good health. In September, I returned to Vietnam and sought out a few places where I might possibly teach English for a year or so. I was more than a little surprised when after only a day of interviews, I had been accepted by a school in Da Nang. I just needed to get my certificate to teach English as a Foreign Language before I could start. I have done that now and am ready to head out.

Getting Ready
As of this writing, I am almost done with all the BS that has to be done before one can just head out. I have my home rented out, my bills paid, banking organized, TV, phone, Internet all notified. I have made out and legalized my will, power of attorneys, taken care of all my insurance changes. I've got my visa and passport in order and have my one-way ticket purchased. I have even gone to Kansas and Oregon to see immediate family within the past month. Now all I really to concentrate on is getting my bags packed. I don't have a clue what I need to pack yet but I am stacking up things that come to mind. Man, have we ever burdened ourselves with electronic toys; computers, cameras, IPods, accessories, power converters. It's tempting to just leave it all behind.

As mentioned earlier, I am only 15 days from departure and reality is beginning to set in. I have never done anything quite like this before. Sure, I have been to Vietnam often enough and recently enough to have an idea of what to expect as far as what it's like over there. I've done enough study on the history of Vietnam that I probably know more about it than most of the people who live there. But living and working in a foreign country is a lot different than visiting for a month. I speak no Vietnamese. It's aways been easy to find someone over there who speaks at least a little English. But I am learning the language via The Rosetta Stone program. It really is as good as they say it is. It's going to be interesting the first time I have to go out for groceries, however. I am hoping to trade private English lessons for Vietnamese lessons with one of my students. But, as a lady I know in Saigon always says, "Never try, never know."


That's it for now. I will try to keep this updated on a regular basis.