We've MOVED

If you've been wondering what the heck happened to us... well, it's my fault. I moved the weblog and neglected to mention it. Duh. So you'll find out all the updates of our time in Vietnam at the main page of this site www.teresaandkids.com. So sorry!

Progress

We've got our one-tickets again (someday I'll be able to afford round-trip, but probably after the kids are grown!) and we officially leave at 7:50pm after a full day of work on June 11.

Today we are off to get our new visa pics and send off the applications asap. There are some incongruences between what IIG is telling me to send and what the Embassy is telling me is the cost of the visas. Like more than a hundred dollars difference, but I think that stems from 1-month vs. 6-month. There's no way I'm getting a one-month-at-a-time visa. Yuck.

I also got the contract, signed, scanned and the original packed into our luggage. Things are coming along.

We're heading back

It's official: We are going back to Vietnam! I will be teaching at Hong Duc University again starting June 15 and we're thrilled at this turn of events (to say the least). Plans are to live in Thanh Hoa and make visits to several of our places, including the Baby Orphanage and the Home of Affection in Tam Ky.

Right now we're working on getting visas and making arrangements to take care of things while we're away.

We're off on more exciting adventures in just 42 days.

spelling bee

Audrey participated in the PPS 5th Grade Spelling Bee on Thursday, which was quite interesting. She lost out when she was asked to re-spell earnest. She assumed they were saying that she spelled it wrong (she hadn't) and when she spelled it the second time she changed the last vowel. It was a shame, but watching was as much fun as participating.

The funniest moment came during the preliminary round.
Announcer: "Win. I hope to win the game. Win."
Stuart: "N-G-U-Y-E-N"

I just about died laughing at the American pronunciation of the distinctly Vietnamese name. Maybe you had to be there, but trust me... it was funny.

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We're currently debating between summer adventures. We'd been hoping for a stateside road trip, but two days ago I was asked to return to Thanh Hoa for a few months with a pay raise that would garner me nearly double what I make currently. Vietnam...California...Vietnam...California... It doesn't seem like a difficult decision for me, but as always, it's about the kids, too. Plus the finances of making it work.

Happy New Year!

more snow

As it continues to snow, the isolation is starting to wear on us, especially confronted with the biggest holiday of the year. Poor Audrey was so upset last night about (probably) missing Christmas with family and thinking we're going to freeze or starve to death "way out here." The novelty has surely worn off. But today, the kids are going to make a fake fireplace, a la Julie's family. It'll give the kids something to do and bring a little Christmas spirit to the house. We have no tree, no decorations and neither does Jennifer (our housemate). We'd both planned on getting it last weekend, but plans went awry.

So here's a visual recap of how it's gone over the past week


On Sunday morning, the plants were dusted. And the grape arbor has a nice layer of snow.

Today they're almost completely covered. (Yeah, the lump in front of the tree and the dark spot to the left.)

And the grape arbor is filled with ice-covered snow.


And it's still snowing right now.

hey look... we're still alive

It's been a week of snow here and I'm getting a bit tired of it, though I must say that it's been nice to catch up on some things. I've been able to do a bit of writing and finished several Christmas gifts. Of course, my to-do list still has a couple dozen things that I was supposed to get finished, but oh well. I've got two more weeks of Winter Break to cross off to-do items.

The snow has been crazy--coming down nearly every day which is unheard of around here. It's a dry snow, flying around the yard and down the street, giving us from 4- to 14-inches of snow depending on where you measure.

So here's what we've been up to...

Unlike her mother, Audrey is thrilled to have snow.


The kids adventured around the wooded areas by our house.


Check out those icicles! Some reach clear to the ground.


Hearing that ice would be covering the snow in the morning, the kids all decided that 8 o'clock at night was a perfect time to play in the snow.


Ryan's low-cut hiking boots didn't do a very good job at keeping the snow out. Brrr.

new photos

I finally uploaded the pictures from our family trip to the beach. My two younger sisters, plus all our kids, spent several days at a friend's beach house. We had a great time at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, visiting several other area attractions, as well.

I'm still working on web stuff, but at the same time I've had one essay accepted and another essay query accepted. So I've been busy writing and editing. I'll let you know when there's a web link to pass on.

changes ahead

Our lives are busy, but not in the way they used to be. I'm in the midst of changing things around and making teresaandkids.com's blog a personal/family blog and moving the weblog into a better system to be able to search for various topics. I'll be breaking it into essays more and less diary-style entries.

Meanwhile, I'm plodding away on the book about our adventures in Vietnam (and a few in China). The kids have been in California, with my sister for three weeks now and I'm thrilled to welcome them home tomorrow afternoon. It's been a good experience and I've been able to accomplish a decent amount and had a good time being completely single, but I'm really, really excited about them coming back.

I finally got my own page up for my life as a writer. You can see it at www.teresaandkids.com/teresa. I'm hoping to get one up for each of the kids as well, showcasing their photography and writing/art talents.

My to-do list is incredibly long, but it's getting shorter. Little by little.

Portland Rose Garden

It was cold and rainy during the all-school picnic on Monday, but the flowers that were in bloom were beautiful. You can see them all on Flickr.

Reunification Day

In Viet Nam today, people are enjoying a day off for Reunification Day, celebrating the fall of Sai Gon. Looking at the details of this day in history is difficult. So many people were left that wanted to go. Children were taken and parents were left. Tears and fear were everywhere, both with the American soldiers and the Vietnamese. Nowadays, the day is celebrated, like America's Independence Day, to mark the bringing together of the country. Just as Ho Chi Minh had long fought for.

It seems ironic as I think about the ensuing "Operation Babylift" and the current state of adoptions to America from Viet Nam. Lines have been drawn and American adoptions will be ending this fall if there isn't some miraculous agreement between the nations.

I can't help but wonder what will happen to the dear children in Tam Ky. So many of them were adopted to the States and that will end. The sponsoring of the baby orphanage will likely end as well (since the flow of funds/adoptions fees will stop). What will be the consequences? I worry that the volunteers of Tam Ky will fade as well, though perhaps it will require more help and elicit more volunteers. The kids will need them and the extra fruit and yogurt that they bring each day.

I want so badly to head back there, bringing along money, clothes, toys... It was so much easier to do so when we lived in-country, but now the transportation costs are a bit prohibitive, though I'm doing what I can to figure out how to do so. Part of it will be the rice bags that Mr. Tung's sister made. They'll be online soon and will help to pay for a gift-laden visit, ensuring that everything arrives to the children in need.

Today, I can't help but wonder about all the kids there and the frustration of so many and the celebration of others.

Inflation biting both sides

There's an interesting article in the NYTimes today about how the inflation in Asia (caused by the recession, coming recession-whatever you want to call it) is biting the U.S. due to our dependence on products made there. It highlights what's happening in Vietnam (!), as well as China.

Read the story here.

at long last

It's been eight months since we came back to the States and it's been a trying time to say the least. But finally, at long last, I've found full-time work that blends into my life with my kids almost perfectly. I was subbing at the schools for a while as a paraeducator (like an educational assistant) at the same time I was working for the web design company. Since that job ended and I started working at the adoption agency, I couldn't fit the subbing in. We were trying to make it work, but it just wasn't gonna happen.

Then two weeks ago, the principal at my kids' school asked me if I'd like to join the staff. One of their high school paraeducators needed to leave and they wanted me to take the position. I jumped on it and started work right away.

I'm still working for the adoption agency, in the early mornings and on the weekend. Then I work full-time in the high school part of the school (it's a K-12 school). So far it's worked out well; I have no extra commute time and I get to spend plenty of time with the kids, especially Stuart. We get to hang out for lunch and amazingly, he seeks me out, unafraid to be seen with his mother.

I was hired as a temporary replacement, but last Wednesday signed papers to return next school year. We'll have the summer off, though I will still be doing some work for the adoption agency. I'm planning to save every dime to go back to Ha Noi for a short visit before my students leave, then hoping that the kids and I can do something fun, as well, during the warm summer months.

Life trips and turns and every once in a while it feels like all's right in the world. Too often it doesn't, so for now I'll be basking in the ability to pay most, and possibly all, of my monthly bills. Delightful.

Pirates?!

According to VietNamNet, 77 fishermen were recently released after more than two months being held captive by pirates. Crazy! I guess it's been of a problem in the area for a while. Some are still being held. Really; whoda thunk?

Update--again

It's been a while, eh?

We're still struggling along, hobbling at this point. I had to change jobs and after searching for months, I finally found something. Of course, it's still not a full-time job and now I'm earning about $400 less a month than I was. I don't even make enough to cover rent and utilities. So I am continuing to look, every single day. I've been able to snag a few writing assignments, but the pay is intermittent. I'm afraid I will be giving notice on our shared housing on 1 March. There is simply no way to pay next month's rent. I'm not sure what we'll do, to be honest. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I will actually get a tax refund and be able to get through another month.

Audrey's been down with strep throat, missing an entire week of school. Finally, she got a prescription for penicillin and is on her way to getting better.

I've gotten lost in the worry about money and have neglected both this blog and my VietnamWithKids.com site. I've got to get it finished and market it like crazy so I can figure out a way to make money/get a book deal out of it. Wishful thinking perhaps, but I'm hoping.

In less than two weeks I will know if we are going to Hawaii or not. If we don't go, I don't know what I'll do. I want so badly to go back to Vietnam. Life was so simple, even when it was difficult. Life in America is sucking the desire to live right out of me. Nothing has made me feel quite so much like a failure as the last few months have. So frustrating.

With a bit of good news, I did get my first essay published in a glossy. And you read it here back in July.

Tung and I are still plotting on getting market totes made of rice bags (by his sister and a friend) over here to sell. Look for them soon-ish.

Happy New Year!

It's a bit different this year, celebrating in the States versus Viet Nam, but it's a lot less overwhelming, as well.

We attended two Tet celebrations this past weekend, though both were cut short by a flu bug that the kids can't seem to kick. Tomorrow, we're planning to have dinner at our favorite Ban Cuon Tan Dinh restaurant. And Friday will have me hosting a party to celebrate, inducting all my friends into eating lots of yummy and strange (to Western palettes) foods.

I've started a new job, writing for an adoption agency, and tomorrow I have a big interview for Teach for America. I'm hoping the good luck of Tet will rub off on me and things will continue to improve a bit. The last few months have been inordinately hard. If they get better, and I can pay rent without worry, I'll start tucking money away for a trip back to Viet Nam.

My former students are getting ready to head out to study abroad and none are coing to the States, so that means I have to visit them before they go. Time to start stashing the coins and bills away in hopes of getting enough to head back for a quick visit.

Give me a month and I'll have a lot better idea about what's going to happen to our lives this year.

Happy New Year with health, happiness and love to all.