Motorbiking Vietnam

I've decided, as of today, that I'm going to buy a motorbike in Vietnam. I've been doing some research and it looks like it's only going to cost about USD $400 for the motorbike - not too much. I don't know how to drive a motorbike, I've only been on one once, but I guess I'll just worry about that later, after I get my helmet and my leathers and my bike. I have also spent the day researching visas and it is quite complicated for Vietnam. The longest tourist visa you can get is 3 months but sounds like you can get extensions once in the country - but not always, and there aren't any real rules about how many extensions you can get. Either way, this is my new plan. Let's see how long this plan lasts!

It also looks like I'm going to be staying in Auckland until probably September 15th and then spend 6 weeks WWOOFing around the North Island. Now that I have these plans for Vietnam I really want to just save as much money as possible - since I want as much money as possible for Vietnam - but I think the experience of leaving Auckland for some WWOOFing will beat out the money of staying in Auckland in the long run. But either way, I have a few weeks to keep considering.

That's all for tonight. I had the day off today which I spent listening to This American Life and planning for Vietnam. I had a chat to my mother as well who is out in New Hampshire visiting her family. They're having a big party this weekend to celebrate my Grandmother's 90th birthday, my cousin Tim's recent marriage, and my cousin Matt's recent adoption of 4 children. And I just found out today that Tim and his new wife Ashley are expecting a baby in November. Lots of excitement for that crew!

Oh, and I'm back on Tinder.

Okay, that's all for tonight. Chat later!

Best!

P.S. It's my half birthday today. I'm not 24.5 years old and getting older. This bring to mind an interesting comment from a customer yesterday at the restaurant that I have to share.

So I regularly get customers asking me how my parents feel about me being over here or traveling or what not to which I always respond that they are very supportive and how lucky I am to have such a supportive family. Yesterday, however, I had a woman say "Aren't your parents like 'When are you going to come home and get a real job?'" I have never had anyone on this trip yet imply that what I am doing is not a "real job" - except myself - and that there is some reason my parents would/should not be happy with me not having a "real job." I was quite taken aback by the comment but quickly responded that I had a "real job" before I left that states but I felt too young to go down that path and anted to see the world instead. I wish I could have responded with "Well if I had a 'real job' right now you'd be getting terribly service from someone else." Of course I can't say that to a customer but it would've been nice. I have told a few people today about this comment and they've had a mix of feedback. My mother told me that herself and my father definitely don't think this, that they are happy for me. My friend Tom, who works as a server full time as his "real job," said he gets the same from people a lot and does not appreciate it. My flatmates said that maybe the women who made the comment was implying that I seem so intelligent/well spoken etc.. that I seem like I could handle a much more intellectually demanding job (this isn't exactly what they said but you get what I'm saying...). Anyway, as I thought about this today it would have also been to nice to reply with something along the lines of - "You know I had a 'real job' but this job I have now as a waitress makes me much happier than that 'real job' did." And I really think that's true. Not to say I didn't almost quit on Monday because I was working at the dessert restaurant and had so many rude customers I almost couldn't stand it a moment longer. And not to say that standing on your feet all day isn't physically exhausting. But I work with really nice and competent co-workers who work very well together as a team, something I am very grateful to have, and being with them 40+ hours a week is always fun. Even when there isn't anything to do work-wise, we always have great chats and good laughs and I enjoy being there.

Okay, now that's really all for tonight.

Best!

Oh, and Stephanie, right now I'm reading a book called Once Were Warriors. It's a classic NZ novel about a Maori woman's struggle to provide for her family while dealing with poverty and an abusive husband. It's not an uplifting book but a classic NZ one I feel I should read while I'm here. Other than that I haven't been doing much reading lately. I will be picking up my most recent book club book tomorrow at the library - My Sister's Keeper. I can't speak to how good the book is but I'm sure it'll be a fine read, as the vast majority of the book club books have been.

Okay, now I'm really going to bed as it's now 12:10 am and no longer my half birthday.

Damn it - one more thing! (This is the second time now I've come back to edit this post after publishing it) I may be having a radiator problem again. Tonight I went to pick up dinner and on the way home I noticed that my car was starting to overheat. I remember Ross, the car guy, telling me a few weeks back that if that happens you can always turn on your heat and that system has a small radiator in it that can help cool the car down if the other radiator isn't working. I turned the heat on - which should've been on anyways as it's freezing here but up until that point had only been blowing cold air so I'd turned it off - and my car heat indicator thing went down within 10 second to a below normal temp, so stopped overheating. I think I'm going to swing by and see Ross again tomorrow and see what he says. Plus I'm going to try and add water again in the morning - haven't actually done this since I did it was Ross a couple of weeks back. Maybe this is just something I'm going to have do on a regular basis now. Who knows! I'll let you know how that all plays out.