Kim is out of quarantine. Penny is with us. We are in our new apartment. I feel that I can finally say that the moving to Vietnam mid-pandemic is over. I’m so happy! The last few days I have felt an overwhelming sense of joy and contentment. We have had so many months of uncertainty and worry, with plans A through Z and then some, it is surreal to finally be on the other side of it all. And now, now we can go on with all the fabulous things that come with arriving in a new country. Setting up house, exploring all the areas, trying all the new foods, finding adventures in the every day, and enjoying the sense of newness. That is exactly what I am trying to do now, not rush through this special stage of aw and new. Like our first Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwich) or exploring our neighborhood or getting to know new fabulous people. 

School has been going wonderfully. It’s a rush to get the year started and an adjustment to these new grade levels. I am teaching 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade which is a shift from Middle and High School that I’ve taught for the last few years. But I’m not a newbie when it comes to this age range either. I’m slowly rearranging my room and starting to get it set up for proper student agency. I’m so use to just focusing on having the right resources but now I feel that I can actually take the time to make my room a beautiful and inspiring place. No hurry though, I feel I’ll be here for awhile. Especially with the open-access COLOR photocopiers/printers ; ) This was the first week collaborative artwork that I organized with my fellow art teacher (grades 1-2), Nick. Each student drew themselves or something that represents them. 

We had two more COVID tests, one and two weeks after our release. The last one was the absolute worst. The tester made me gag 3-4 times as he stuck the swab continuously down my throat. He was so rough with the nose swab that, for the first time in 8 tests, it continued to hurt for awhile afterward. I’m SO glad to be done with all of that. 

On Monday I signed the lease to our new beautiful apartment. I absolutely love it! My top three priorities were a place close to school, that allows Penny, and is within our budget. This fits all of those while being nearly across the street from school. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to walk to school for the past five years and I didn’t want to have to deal with a commute. Additionally we were looking for at least two bedrooms and we got three! One master, one guest bedroom, and one art studio room. We wanted a huge kitchen for Kim with a nice stove and oven. This kitchen is so big and lovely, it has 3 gas burners and 2 electric ones, plus the owner bought us the biggest toaster oven I have ever seen! It also needed to have LOTS of natural light which is abundant in this apartment. It has the master bedroom on the backside of the building so it is nice and quiet and faces the sunrise where the rest of the rooms have glorious huge windows overflowing with light. Plus one whole wall in the living room is just a big glass sliding door. We were also hoping for wood flooring, check, and nice lighting, check check. There is also a perfect entry area with built in storage which I realized was important to me after looking at many apartments that opened directly into the living area. The place is fully furnished with a modern look (most had hideous furniture that we would have had to keep). In addition, we have a bathtub, two balconies, stunning molding throughout the whole place, a pool, AND the owner bought us a dryer! I seriously could not ask for anything more, we are so in love with this place! 

Kim is so beyond happy to be out of quarantine. I took the day off from school to get her properly settled. It was such a joyous reunion!! To finally be here, all together, I just don’t have words. We spent the day walking around the neighborhood, buying pillows, trying some different foods, and wandering for hours around various grocery stores. 

Penny has been enjoying our new place and neighborhood. She is pretty hot so we take her for a walk early early in the morning and later in the evening when the sun goes down. I’m happy to be in a quiet area where she can wonder off-leash without any problems. We've spent a chunk of change at the vet already for a gunky eye and getting her regular meds (heartworm, flea, tick, etc). We decided to become "members" at the vet which means for a fee we get unlimited consults for the year - I'm certain we will get our moneys worth. We did get caught in our first monsoon the other day. Penny was very unimpressed. 

Over the weekend we ventured out of our area, District 7, for the first time. Friday night we went to a kitchen store about 15 minutes away and then walked around. We found a bustling street lined with food and drink stalls, produce sellers spilling out into the road, fish and meat sellers cutting up their goods (including plump still-hopping frogs), and so much more. It was rush hour which means there were motorbikes coming from every direction like a swarm of bees. It was insane and a bit much right off the bat. I was happy to return to our quiet, clean, open area of Phu My Hung. 

Saturday we went off to another area, District 2, which had a fun hipster vibe to it. We searched a few boutique house-goods stores for the perfect dishes. I’m hoping to take advantage of this opportunity we have to set up a home completely from scratch by being very conscientious of what we buy for it. I intend to curate our home carefully and make it a beautiful, inspiring, and lovely place. Which means we are on the hunt for beautiful, inspiring, and lovely things. It was fun meandering around and looking through the shops. We bought some dishes that I’m happy with but I might just have a hand at making my own as well. Later on, we stumbled on the American style diner and had our full of milkshakes and burgers. Kim was super excited to get a stack of pancakes (something she’s been craving for weeks). 

One of the fabulous things about Saigon is that you can get anything delivered. And I mean ANYTHING. It has become part of the culture here and is so convenient. We just got a beautiful new bed set delivered yesterday. Kim also picked up a big selection of plants for me and a new watercolor. I’m excited to start nesting and making this our ideal home. 

As I mentioned in the last update, it was a struggle to do everything without Kim. But she managed to find a way to order me flowers and get them delivered to school even before she was out of quarantine. 

Saw a rainbow while walking Penny and video chatting with Kim (while she was still in quarantine)

Went plant shopping and found this cutie straight out of a Dr. Seuss book

Breakfast time has been yogurt with mangos served in our drink glasses because we have not yet gotten any bowls. Plus a new notebook and pen for my morning pages. 

Bubble tea and pedicures is my new weekly ritual. 

​Freedom never felt so good! The day we were released from quarantine was such a celebration! We all staggered out of our rooms, squinting from the sunlight that we haven’t been exposed to in two weeks. And it couldn’t have come sooner because we were all starting to feel it, slowly becoming one with our beds and loosing all semblance of motivation to do anything. It hasn’t even been a week since then but it’s been a whirlwind of getting acclimated to the neighborhood, starting school, and enjoying social time that doesn’t involve a screen.

​When I first left quarantine and arrived at my airbnb I nearly had a breakdown. The security guards checked my temperature on the way into the building but it came up as 99.5* F (37.5*C) and they wouldn’t let me in the building. I tried to explain to them that I just came from quarantine and I just had a COVID test the day before, but they weren’t having any of it. No way were they going to let this strange foreigner chance infecting their entire building, even if it was only because it was my first exposure to SE Asian heat after 15 straight days in an air conditioned room. This was my first experience after the long long wait to get here and it was going horribly and I was about to break down when right then the new-teachers liaison called to check in. She arrived by my side within minutes of the call with a triage of help including the school’s head nurse. It took a few calls, the production of my quarantine certification, and a few more temperature checks, but finally they let me through.

After I dropped my bags and opened my welcome grocery bag from school, I joined the other new teachers in the area for my first real food out of quarantine, a veggie panini. Then I met right up with my real estate agent to see an apartment that was about to be snatched up by someone else. Afterward I headed straight over to the pet boarding house where Penny was waiting. Our reunion was as expected, without much excitement but with a lot of joy. The people who looked after her were so so sweet, one of them cried when we started to leave. But we made it back to the Airbnb fine and I took Penny on her first walk around the neighborhood. She was all about exploring her new turf. Although she is still just as stubborn about being on leash and has proceeded to lay down in the middle of the road while passing car drivers laugh at the two of us.   

​By the time I got back from the walk I was beat! I had only walked a mile or two but it was more than the last 15 days combined. I met up with my new friend Brianna for dinner at a craft brewery in my building before we did a quick shopping trip. I hate grocery shopping on a normal day, put me in a new foreign grocery store when I’m exhausted and the results equal two pints of ice cream, cereal, a dragonfruit, yogurt, bananas, water, and goldfish.

The next day I got to go into school for the first time. I met my new team of elementary specialists, along with a couple dozen other wonderful people. This is the largest school I’ve worked at with about 1200 students. I am one of three elementary school art teachers! It is fabulous to be a part of a team of teachers rather than the lone wolf tucked in a distant corner of the school that no one even knows where it is. And folks, brace yourselves, because I. HAVE. MY. OWN. CLASSROOM. Eeeeekkkk! For the first time in six years I will be able to take full ownership of my classroom space, get ready for a rainbow fiasco!!

​It was a day chock full of meetings, greetings, and HR presentations. So many forms to sign. It was no wonder that all of us newbies ended up at a Kim-recommended Mexican place with pitchers of margaritas, telling stories and laughing away. But seriously, my new school is all sorts of amazing. Not only does it value innovation, but it expects it. I can finally teach the way that I know is best and have full support to push the boundaries of the current practice of Art Education. Plus I’ve fantastic colleagues that are doing the same and keeping the expectations high. I feel that this is a place where I will finally be able to reach my true potential as an educator while being fostered and encouraged.

​Kim arrived early early on Wednesday morning. She is quarantining at the Holiday Inn and my school is doing an equally fabulous job at taking care of her, showering her with welcome baskets and fulfilling any requests she makes. We video chat every time I take Penny out for a walk so she is starting to get familiar with our neighborhood as well. I even took Kim on a long neighborhood walk the other day where we checked out the local restaurants and shops.

​On Thursday we had student orientation during the day, and at night, a fabulous social for the newbie teachers with the admin at a local pub owned by a former student from school. Friday was go day, the official first day of school. I haven’t been in front of students for FIVE months, but as soon as they came in the room I snapped right back into my teacher mode. It was invigorating having them there and so so nice starting to get to know them. By the end of the day I was so energized that I rearranged my whole room. I can’t wait to see what it will look like in a month or two from now!

​I started the weekend off by getting a very thorough two-hour long health check that included everything from a stomach ultrasound to teeth and eye checks. Then I went shopping for a care package for Kim. I tried to find the most strange and unusual foods I could which resulted in me getting seaweed Pringles, chicken nugget shaped chips, a Japanese poofy cheesecake, chicken flavored cheese spread, and ramen noodle snack bites. Plus a large range of ramen noodles including cheese flavored and a spaghetti version. Also a variety of local beers so she could have a little tasting party.

​We had another social Sat night at the craft brewery again. I brought Penny down to meet the crew since everyone had heard all about her long journey getting here. She convinced many people to give her pets and belly scratches.

​Sunday was all about apartment hunting and I’m so excited to share that I found a place that I LOVE! It fulfills all the requirements that we were looking for and more. It is only about 3 minutes from school and it is gorGEOUS!! We are working with the Realtor now to finalize the negotiations and will hopefully be able to move in next week! It also resulted in me taking my first motorbike ride with the landlord in between apartment buildings. It went well and was not scary at all! I think there is hope for me yet. I can’t wait until Kim can get a bike that we can take on all sorts of adventures.

It’s been a lot this week. But all good things. I’m just not used to landing in a place by myself. Usually Kim takes care of the home stuff so I can focus solely on work but I’m currently doing it all (well, doing as much as I can) as Kim waits eagerly to join. But I’m managing just fine and I’m simply glad that we are all finally in the same country. It has been such a long time coming, so many months of uncertainty and worry. And we are on the other side, nearly completely to the end of this insane journey. And you know what? I couldn’t be more glad. I am SO excited for this new adventure. (PS Here are a few extra snaps from the week)

I’d like to tell you what day of quarantine this is but honestly I’ve lost count, maybe day 10, or 11, or 32, or 87?? What I do know is that we are nearing the end and I am so grateful for that. I wouldn’t want to admit to you how many hours of these days I’ve spent in front of a device and I’m honestly a little worried about my transition back into the real world. But I’m excited, that is certain.

Andrea Simmons Photography

November was an exciting month when the country of Myanmar had the world’s eyes watching as it held its first fair election. The energy was electric leading up to the big day when the town was eerily quiet. As everyone anxiously awaited the news, we held our annual International Day at school and the connecting International Party at the teacher housing. At the end of the month we headed to the beach where we celebrated Thanksgiving and the Myanmar full moon holiday. 

Not my photo! Credited to BBC

I’ll start by admitting that I don’t know a great deal about Myanmar politics, so if you want a history and in depth explanation of the election start here.  There. Now, let me tell you about what I do know.
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First for a little background: Myanmar, otherwise known as Burma, was colonized by the British in the 19th century. They left behind a great deal of influences including colonial buildings, Brittish words that are still used today, bidets, and tea – lots of tea. The next great leader of Burma was General Aung Sun Suki, he helped Burma gain its independence and was held in high regard until his assassination and a coup d’etat in 1962. In the next five decades the military dictatorship greatly hurt the country. The whole country was mostly closed off from foreigners during this period. Thankfully in 2011 this leadership formally ended, however the government still was led by former military officers. Which leads us to now.
This year was the first democratic election in Myanmar’s history. HUGE, right? There was an extraordinary amount of worry and anticipation regarding the election. Everyone was worried about what might happen, that there would be unrests and the government would strike back painfully. No one believed that the election would actually be clean, but the world’s eyes were all looking at Myanmar and some countries even flew in specific organizations to see that the election ran successfully.
For the past few months there have been more and more political rallies. The main party that held these were the National League for Democracy. This is led by Aung Sun Suki’s daughter (of the same name) who has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for her stance against the government. The rallies were spirited events with supporters wearing the red symbol for the league in support. You could also see the golden bird holding arrows sprinkled throughout the city on cars, pins, banners at houses, and photos in shops.

In the weeks leading up to the election everyone blamed everything possible on the election. The internet is running especially slow today? It’s because the government is controlling the level of internet usage to not let election news out to the world. There is more traffic than usual? Lots of foreigners are flocking in for the election. You couldn’t do your homework? Only because my camera was taken by my mom to get coverage for the NLD rally for the upcoming election. It became a game with me and my friends to try and think of a connection between any occurring problem and the election.
In all serious though, even my school was setting up for a worse case scenario. ISM has a faculty evacuation procedure set that involves flying all of the foreign staff to Bangkok and camping out there until the said even dies down. They even have a plan in case we could never get back that involves packing or securing our belongings and sending our remaining pay home.

Although I would have loved to be out photographing the election events on Nov. 8th we were advised to stay inside and to certainly not go anywhere near the voting locations for fear of a riot. So I will include photos by other photographers here. On the day of Kim and I went to a friend’s gathering to share the excitement with our friends. When we taxied there the roads were completely deserted and every single shop was closed. I have never seen our street so quiet.
As you can imagine, there was a great deal of talk about the elections, especially on social media where my Burmese friends proudly showed off their inked finger - after someone voted they dyed their finger with ink so they couldn’t vote again. There was over an 80% population turn out for voting. Everyone was very excited! After the elections there was also quite a lot of talk about whether or not the elections were actually clean. There were reports of rigging the votes which may or may not have been true.

There was still some very apparent corruption like the fact that the vote of every soldier automatically goes to the military party and how there were people “registered” to vote that have been dead for years (seemingly so the military could just take those votes too). But after everything it was announced just two days later that the NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY WON THE ELECTION!!!

Not my photo! Credited to The National

​This means that the country finally gets to be run by Aung Sung Suu Ki, the lady of the people. Unfortunately in the Burmese Constitution it says that you cannot be president if you have a foreign spouse or children, which Suu Ki does. The word is that she is going to choose a person that will act as president but will actually just respond to her wishes. I have noticed mixed feelings about this when talking with my Burmese friends. On one side, Yay! Suu Ki is finally in charge, on the other side it seems unethical to have a president that is not actually in charge but just reporting to someone else.
Either way, the officers will be elected and put in office at the beginning of next year. Unfortunately none of the officers will have had any sort of political experience because none of them are a part of the military. It should be an interesting next five years. Also, 25% of the seats automatically go to the military and – get this – in order to change any part of the constitution you need over 75% of the votes.

Nonetheless, the energy in the country is one of hope, excitement, and relief. Myanmar finally has “our lady” leading the country and is looking forward to see what great things will happen. It was a special time to be here and experience this history changing election. Maybe now when I tell people that I am in Myanmar they might know where I mean. 

​Every year ISM chooses one day to celebrate the diversity in our school and our world. International Day involves the entire k-12 school coming together to showcase different cultures around the world. Students dress up in traditional dress representing their heritage or join in to learn about a different culture. A parade was held to show the variety of clothing and countries represented. After, all students and families got to enjoy the booths that each represented country set up. These booths were filled with games, information, and traditional objects available to teach others about the what makes that country different and unique. The PTA provided food of various cuisines and the band played music highlighting different styles. It was a fun and colorful day!

At the end of the month we had a long weekend where we were able to escape to Ngwe Sung, a small beach town about 6 hours West of Yangon. I got so much more than I expected from this trip.

We left late one Wednesday night and endured a twisting and turning and bumpy 6 hour bus ride to arrive at this little bungalow hotel. But every second was worth it when we saw the beauty of the beach. Almost deserted, it stretched lazily for as long as you could see. All along the shore were small restaurants that served up only the freshest seafood for insanely cheap prices. We spent the entire four days lounging in hammocks, playing with our favorite little kids in the sand, swimming in the perfect temperature of the ocean, and enjoying the crashing waves at night with some good friends. Thanksgiving night we enjoyed a seafood feast at a local restaurant with an accompanying fire show.
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I’ve never been much of a beach person but the simplicity and calmness that blankets Ngwe Sung is just perfection. Kim and I even got a motorbike one day and spent some time cruising along the quiet ocean roads. With so many places to visit in the world, there are few that I plan to return to but I know that I will see Ngwe Sung again soon.