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MBA Graduation: Reflection, Gratitude, and Adventure
What to do when you graduate from your MBA in the middle of winter and want to celebrate? Take an adventure trip to Lapland!
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Welcome
Thanks for visiting Expat Heather! I’m an international educator, writer, and expat mom currently living in South Korea. On this site you’ll find things about living abroad, teaching in international schools, travel, hiking, and expat life.
This past weekend a colleague and I went to Singapore for an AP English workshop. The workshop was all day Friday and Saturday, but we had evenings and Sunday morning to do some exploring. I flew back early Sunday evening so I wouldn’t be away from my 20-month-old son for that long, but I definitely wish I’d had longer. Reports from the nanny, maid and husband were that Gabriel was actually better behaved while I was gone and didn’t ask for me once, so next time I go for a PD trip I won’t feel bad about extending a day!
Middle School entrance at Singapore American School
The AP workshop was hosted at Singapore American School in Woodlands, the northwest area of the island. It was a bit of a haul from central Singapore, but the facilities are really nice.
More photos and travel tips to come when I get done grading the 130 essays students turned in to me via Edmodo while I was gone!
It’s hard to believe it’s already 6 weeks into the semester here, but the progress reports that are going out soon are a reality check to how long we’ve been in Vietnam.
My husband Duarte and I are teaching at ISHCMC American Academy, a secondary school located in An Phu ward in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 2. It’s a quiet, suburban area where a lot of expat families live. From the 6th floor or our school you can look down and see the surrounding residential compounds and villas with private inground swimming pools. You also see the Saigon River and the city skyline.
Pool at ISHCMC main campus
ISHCMC American Academy (known as AAVN for American Academy Vietnam) is in its first year as an American curriculum school. Previously it was known as City College Campus and offered IGCSE curriculum through A levels. AAVN is part of the Cognita network of schools, as is International School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC), the IB school next door.
My classroom is sweet. There is a built-in projector that I use almost everyday – it saves a TON of writing and rewriting on the board. All the desks and chairs are pretty new and there are big windows that let in a good amount of light when it’s not cloudy. Thankfully, the English Department is on the second floor.
My classroom when I arrived
Here’s what I’m teaching this year:
– AP English Language & Composition / WRT105 Syracuse University Project Advance
– Grade 11 English (2 classes)
– Grade 7 English
Other things I’m doing:
– Serving as English Department Chair
– Serving as SUPA Coordinator (Syracuse University concurrent enrollment program)
– Starting a Literary Magazine and running a Poetry Cafe with one of my colleagues
– Organizing a pen pal project
– Designing an English Department website to feature student work
One huge benefit of being at a school in its first year is that the English Department was able to choose the books and resources we wanted, and all of our books for this year are brand new. My 7th graders are currently reading Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, and I’m teaching a creative non-fiction unit to my 11th graders. Grade 12 AP is spending the first quarter on visual / rhetorical analysis with a focus on representation of global poverty.
So yes, these are the reasons why I have not been blogging so much! I’ve been spending a lot of time designing my AP curriculum, and of course in the evenings and on the weekends spending time exploring the city with my little G-man.
My grade 11 students are writing restaurant reviews for next week, so I’ll post the links to any good ones here to share with fellow travelers and expats.
Please don’t feed the hippos….or kiss my baby.
Here’s the low-down on going to the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens with a toddler. My son was 18 months old during our first visit. We went by taxi. I didn’t know the name of the zoo in Vietnamese (Thao Cam Vien), so I just showed the driver one of Gabriel’s toy tigers. He figured it out and it took about 10-15 minutes to drive there from An Phu in District 2.
Many local families come to the gardens to sit and relax.
Positives:
The botanical garden aspect of the park was kept up really well. There are lots of interesting species of trees and flowers, most of which are labeled.
Most of the zoo is accessible by stroller.
You can pay extra for a tram ride around the zoo if the kids are too tired to walk OR you don’t want them getting too close to the exhibits.
It’s a large area and you can easily spend a few hours there.
There is a lot of green space for kids to run around.
There is a small amusement park near the entry with rides suitable for toddlers and preschoolers.
Kids under 2 are free and the adult price was low. I can’t remember exactly, but I think it was less than a dollar.
It’s in a central location, so you can combine the zoo trip with other attractions in District 1.
Note: Only a small moat and a low fence separate you from the animals here.
Negatives:
The worst part about the zoo experience was the condition of the animals habitats. Some were okay, but any animals in water just had such dirty water to live in.
Safety was not always up to the standard I’d like when I’ve got my child around dangerous animals. In the Crocodile section, a child (or an insane adult) could easily jump over the fence and down into the exhibit. Some of the primates were only separated from spectators by a short fence and a little moat.
Not all sections are stroller friendly, so unless you want to take baby in and out of the stroller, you won’t be able to see everything. On the plus side, other visitors are very helpful with kids and will help you carry a stroller up some stairs if you need it.
People were taunting the animals, which is not an example I want my son to see. At the lion section, people were banging on the glass to get the lion to roar. At the hippo section, people were danging their hands down to feed the hippos junk food. Yikes!
With toddlers, you really need to keep them in a stroller or sling all the time for safety’s sake. Gabriel could think, “Hey let me feed the hippo too!” and end up getting his arm chomped off.
When I was there, a big event was happening in the central park area near the elephants and deer. It was extremely loud and the sound system was of horrible quality.
Random people kept coming up and kissing Gabriel, pinching his cheeks and taking photos with him. He is not used to this, so he didn’t like it. He didn’t mind the photos, but he didn’t like ladies (and it was always ladies) touching him.
He did like saying hi to all the Vietnamese babies and toddlers. Parents like babies to socialize, so several families came up to us and started talking to us, even though I couldn’t understand Vietnamese. That was actually a positive, as long as they didn’t want to kiss him!
Gabriel in the garden area.
The Verdict
Would I go again? Yes, I would go again with Gabriel, but probably not more than twice a year. I don’t want him to get used to seeing animals in such inadequate living spaces, and I really don’t want him to start imitating how the other zoo visitors treat the animals and agitate them.
Next time, I’ll probably spend more time with Gabriel at the amusement park area and maybe just take a quick tram ride and see a few exhibits that did not involve immediate safety hazards (giraffes and birds were the best ones).
Travel Tips for the Saigon Zoo
While looking for plane tickets for our move from Massachusetts to Vietnam, I really wanted to find an airline that would make traveling with a 17-month old a bit easier. Thankfully our employer booked us tickets with Japan Airlines, which has a lot of amenities for traveling with babies and young children. We flew on the 787 Dreamliner from Boston to Tokyo (13.5 hours) and then on a slightly smaller plane from Tokyo to Ho Chi Minh City (6.5 hours).
The 787 Dreamliner had windows you could tint to block out light. Each seat had an individual screen.
Child Seat
One of the reasons we were excited about traveling on JAL is that they provide a carseat for toddlers with booked seats. Babies without seats can still have bassinets, but the bassinets aren’t big enough for toddlers. The carseat provided was a Britax one and was pretty comfortable.
You need to request the seat at least three days before your flight, and when you call you need to tell JAL the child’s weight, height, and height from waist to shoulder so the seat can be pre-adjusted for you. JAL will then call you back to let you know if the request has gone through. You can also bring your own carseat if you wish.
Baby meal for 9 months and up
Food
For children with a booked seat JAL offers three different types of meals, a baby meal for infants up to 8 months, a baby meal for infants 9 months and older, or a child meal. The baby meal’s we got were perfect for him. They included sticky rice, vegetables, a banana, yogurt, a brownie and a muffin. Once he got a child meal instead of a baby meal, and that one included pasta and chicken as the main dish. Gabriel wasn’t so crazy about that one, but he did eat some of it.
Duarte sat across the aisle and would take Gabriel for drawing, doing puzzles and playing with stickers
Pre-Boarding
JAL pre-boards families with young children. In Boston, a stewardess actually came to find us about 30 minutes before regular boarding. Gabriel had had an “I need a nap” meltdown going through security, so he conked out right afterward and we let him sleep there as opposed to walking all the way to the gate. JAL staff were concerned about us, so they came looking for us, helped us get the stroller gate-checked, and made sure the carseat was ready so Gabriel could stay asleep while we boarded. Amazing.
Nursing and changing stations at Tokyo Narita
Nursery at Tokyo Airport
During our 2.5 hour layover in Tokyo, we found a nursery room that was perfect for breastfeeding, preparing bottles and diaper changing. There were four separate stations for nursing moms that could be closed off with curtains. Everything was really clean, and the nursing chairs were comfortable.
Other Amenities for Babies and Toddlers
Before traveling, we called JAL to request a diaper pack. For each flight, they gave us two Genki diapers size Large and two plastic bags for disposal. This was great because it was four less diapers we had to pack in our carry ons. All JAL planes have changing tables in the bathroom.
They also gave Gabriel a choice of toy for each flight. He got a small JAL plastic airplane and a set of stickers. Model planes were also available, but he wasn’t old enough for that toy.
You can see photos of baby meals and read about JAL services for babies and toddlers here:
I’d highly recommend JAL for travel with babies and kids! We will definitely be using JAL again, as they offer the most direct flight from Saigon to Boston. Every other airline does the route in three flights, while JAL does it in two.
There are two reasons why I have not been keeping up this blog:
The above photo is taken from the web cam on the day the movers came to get our stuff that’s being shipped to Vietnam. We think it’s about 5 cubic meters.
We got in the job search a bit late, starting in March after most of the major international teaching job fairs had already taken place. I was able to reactivate my Search Associates membership to get logged into the SEARCH database of schools and open teaching positions. We sent out about a dozen applications to schools all over the world, and within two weeks we’d made the decision to work and live in Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam hadn’t really been on our radar, but now that we’ve had a few months to prepare we’re pretty excited about the move. I’ll be teaching secondary English, and Duarte will be teaching secondary Math.
The school is involved with a Syracuse University program called SUPA (Syracuse University Project Advance) that allows high school students to take certin Syracuse University college courses for credit during high school. Tomorrow I’ll be leaving for Syracuse where I’ll attend a training program to become an adjunct professor of Syracuse University. After that I’ll drive back to eastern MA and our family will catch a flight to Saigon the next day!
We’ve already made arrangements to rent a house near the school and have hired a nanny for Gabriel. Because the Syracuse training is so late in the summer, we’ll only have six days in Vietnam before faculty orientation states. Eek!
Before we knew I’d be going to Syracuse we’d planned to arrive a month early to get Gabriel settled with the nanny and do house hunting. Due to the change of plans we wanted to do whatever we could so that when we arrive we can get settled and get Gabriel into a routine quickly. Last time we did long-haul travel with him, he took two days each way to adjust to the time change. I’m hoping we can all get over the jet lag quickly again this time!
I’m hoping once we get to Vietnam and have more help around the house I’ll be able to keep up with this blog more so we can share photos, stories and useful information about life in Ho Chi Minh City.
Thanks for reading!
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