First Day of School

It has begun - not so much with a bang as a peep. We were all excited to finally get our school year underway.  The kids popped out of bed irregularly early and were itching to get on our bikes and get going with the new school year.  Then Vietnam intervened.  We've been working through the process step by step to get our housing situation approved by the government (all foreign renters must be approved by the powers that be).  Yesterday we took 40 photographs (8 of each of us), filled out our life history (including the lives of our children, who, last I checked, have never contributed to a rental payment in their short lives), and made 80 copies of our passports and other applicable(?) paperwork in preparation for a visit to the notary.  Then we waited for the call.  At 8:00 this morning the call came, "Be at the office at 9:00."   School starts at 8:30, but who am I to mess with the "powers that be" when all I really want is to get out of this hotel room.  Rather than trying to explain in Vietnamese that I had a prior engagement, it was much easier to beg the understanding of the families involved in our schooling arrangement.  They understand Vietnam, "No problem."

So instead of biking to school, we soon found ourselves (all five of us) biking behind a guy on a scooter who was leading us to the notary's office.  We did ascertain that the guy on the scooter was Mr. Bang, the owner of the house we are hoping to rent. We arrived at the notary's office to watch them stamp some of our papers before Mr. Bang whisked John off on his scooter to an unknown location and indicated that I should stay put with the kids.  We baked in the sun on a dirty step while we waited, and waited and waited for them to return.  A friendly face stopped by and inquired as to where John had gone.  "I really have no idea," I said, "but I think he is doing something with someone regarding renting a house."  The response I got was, "I hope you haven't given 'them' any money."  Reassured that my husband had been kidnapped and we'd senselessly tossed money to the wind, I just smiled sheepishly and nodded.  After listening to about my limit of whinging (oooh British again) about the hot sun and the long wait, John and Mr. Bang reappeared.  We went into the notary's office again, signed four pieces of paper and were sent on our way.  I have no idea why they insisted that the kids be present. I don't believe anyone even looked at them (apart from me glaring evilly at them every time they started to whine).  Now we biked back through the sun and traffic to the hotel where we determined that there is still another step in the approval process.  Tomorrow the stamped papers move on to the government office that will make the decision about our housing request.  A lesson in patience if there ever was one (as if I needed another after sitting in that baking sun just thirty minutes earlier).

Then it was off to school!  At last the school year has begun with all students present and accounted for in Hoi An.  The curriculum has yet to make its way to Hoi An, but in the meantime we are building our classroom community one step at a time.  A brief return to the familiar goes a long way on days like today, when you have absolutely no idea what is going on around you.  When a classroom on the first day of school feels like a pleasant respite from the chaos that surrounds you, you know you are in Vietnam.

First Day of School - No Backpacks!

Our Class

Chaos reigns after school: the full moon festival