Bill is Back!

[LoyalTubist]

Hello everyone in TubeNetLand...

You are probably wondering what happened to ElTee...

Wellllll....

I was teaching at both Le Quy Don Senior High School and the Singapore International School and doing well. I teach Western Culture and Political History (from an amazingly American conservative pro-Vietnam War point of view, which is what they want, which is strange for a public high school in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam). At the Singapore School I taught beginning English and choir. (Both schools are in Ho Chi Minh City, which is commonly referred to as "Saigon," its older name, locally.) And then...

The new administration at Singapore International School thought I was too American (my spellings and vocabulary confused the other students). They immediately hired an Australian music teacher (they use the Australian model for their guide in that school) and I suddenly had a lot of free time and about 66-2/3% less income per month. Yowch!

Almost immediately, I received a call from a university in Long An. They didn't want an English expert. All they wanted was a teacher of any field with at least two master's degrees. (I only have one but, with my major in music and my minor in clinical psychology, I was able to get a license as a Marriage and Family Counselor!) After talking with me and studying my record they decided I was what they wanted.

So now, in addition to teaching Western Culture at Le Quy Don in Saigon, I am an Associate Professor of Communication and Informational Technology at the Long An University of Technology and Economics in the province of Long An, about 30 miles southwest of the center of Saigon.

It is a brand new university, with the Prime Minister of Vietnam coming for the university's opening ceremony on December 20. The President and the Vice Rector of the University want me to give a speech but I am committed at Le Quy Don. It's too bad. If any of you with a satellite TV dish can pick up VTV4 (it broadcasts all over the world), I would be seen worldwide. Fame is not to be... yet...

In other news, the sharp fall of the American dollar has made life almost unbearable here in Saigon. During the month of November, property taxes are paid on rental properties. My apartment was previously valued at 1,000,000,000 (one billion) dong (about $63,000). It is now valued at $120,000. In the past 15 months I have lived in Vietnam, I have already moved three times. Now, my condominium (which I rent) is for sale. Because the condo is getting a new owner, we have to move. The next tenants will have to pay rent of $500 a month. I pay 4,000,000 dong now. We know of another condo in the building, which is the cheapest available (so far as we know), which will have a rent of $400 (a little more than one third higher than I am now paying). It might help to know that I earn about 25% of what I would be earning in the United States doing the same job(s) as what I am doing here.

I refuse to make any political statements here. But the situation has me angry and upset. I should be happy right now. It's Christmas. Everyone is well. My students are doing great. And I am miserable.

[LoyalTubist]

I'm adding to my own thread with some mediocre news...

The new owner of my condo is a young woman who is getting married at Christmas (sadly, a workday for me). My wife has told her how we signed a long term lease for the house and we don't want to move. She has agreed that it is difficult for me to move with the work that I am doing and that she has no intention of living in the place herself. So, she has given us five months notice to leave (the previous owner gave us 30 days). After that time she plans to rennovate the place and rent it for a higher price. We will still get the place for 4,000,000 dong a month until that time.

Whew....

but five months isn't such a long time...