http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess As of March 14, 2008, Steph is back in Hanoi, Vietnam! Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:50:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en   http://www.cafepress.com/travelgoddess http://www.cafepress.com/travelgoddess http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess/tangible-goodies-for-you.html ^^^ Cirque de Soleil is back in San Francisco. And although I am not generally a huge fan, I appreciate the creative promo that they have colored the city with, including taxis such as this. ^^^ Thanks to Nancy for sending me a heads up on this one. I am just ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess/class-action-lawsuit-re-mastercard-and-visa-foreign-transaction-fees.html November 13, 2007 ^^^ My new fav ESL teaching book; Ideas, teaching analysis and more!!! ^^^ "Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language" by Jerry G. Gebhard I love, love, love this book. Doing the CELTA was great, but there isnt much chance in the hectic, underpaid/overworked world of ESL, at least ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess/recommended-esl-teaching-book.html Random Vietnam Photo Hit my 3 week anniversary back in the US today. And am going through all the reverse culture shock moments I remember. I feel oddly unsettled by the quiet in the city, I am invading everyone elses personal space (instead of the vice versa in Vietnam), I am ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess/vietnam-where-did-you-put-me.html The 5 am Hoi An sky the day of the trip. It took... * 9-10 hours (in one day, starting at 5am) * too many bottles of water to count * a lot of AA batteries for my MP3 player * many stops to ask for directions during the first hour * many photo ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess/i-did-it-bicycle-trip-from-hoi-an-to-quang-nhai.html Going on vacation this wed. Going to try my first ever, long distance anticipated bicycle trip. I could never justify spending $2000 on a trip like this, so am flying (read, biking) solo. Have an itinerary similar to what a lot of the bike tours in Vietnam do, and it ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess/yes-i-really-am-going-to-do-it.html ^^ Ly (pronounced Lee),an ex-student of mine, and me (right)on an awesome day trip that the students organized. SO sweet! ^^^ I know I havent updated the blog in awhile. My excuses are as follows:(no one excuse stands alone) * first 3 weeks of teaching has kicked my butt and ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess/yes-yes-i-know.html Oh, we were SO cocky. Sitting around having drinks at a rooftop bar a few days before our CELTA course started. If I remember correctly the conversation went something like this: Cocky pre-celta student #1: "So, what do you think about this class? Can it be THAT stressful?" (cause the rumor had ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess/eating-my-words-loudly-hey-thats-an-adverb.html Hanoi is no stranger to visitors and it shows. The motorbike drivers are as persistent as the dirty old men hanging out on the street corner in Buenos Aires and our homeless population in San Francisco. But the fact that people from all over the world are drawn to this ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess/the-ease-of-the-unknown.html And I scoffed those who told me how intense this CELTA program is!!!! To be fair, its not that any particular component of the class course if stressful in itself, but when you have to pay SUCH close attention from 9am to 5pm and then go home and prepare for ... http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess/in-serious-danger-of-liking-my-life-in-hanoi.html