How to Get Started Living and Working in Saigion Ho Chi Minh City

Well, you're here.  If you haven't yet, check out my video of my arrival in saigon / ho chi minh city.   You'll be able to figure out where I took those shots, as you're probably on Bui Vien still acclimating.  But it's probably time to get a job.

Good times.

How to live here.

Step 8. Get a job.  Okay, maybe one more week of freaking out.  But, seriously, you can get a job now.

 Go out and do some politkin' and MAKE SOME MONEY.

These may recruit you before you even get here and pay $13-$18/hr.

• ILA -- CELTA.  You probably know about this one already.  Lots of rich kids.
• Apollo -- offers a CELTA. Affilated with Universities; offers advanced training (DELTA) to teachers.
• RMIT -- Australian University.  Only place I know that hires academic professors, in addition to regular ESL teachers. Some people knock RMIT, but I've hired RMIT graduates (both BA and MBA) and I'll say they're among the sharpest (perhaps because their families travel a lot, perhaps because of the training; I don't know).
• VUS -- everywhere: Vietnamese manged, in consultation with the City University of New York.  They like American teachers; Vietnamese people here really, really like this school.
• Cleverlearn -- everywhere: franchised, so experiences may vary.

Special note to VK's:  you can find work here.  There may be a bias towards "western-looking" people with lighter skin, but you can not only find work here, you can thrive if you're a good teacher.  You may need to get more experience and become better known as a good teacher before you are accepted by Vietnamese people as a good English teacher.  After talking with some VKs, I've learned that some schools will more readily offer this experience than others. IES (International English School) will hire VKs.

101 Nguyen Van Cu
Dist.5 Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM
Phone: 3923-4390

I've learned that (and this is great advice for anyone from anywhere (i.e., the Philippines), for that matter) if kids really like you and favor you, that their parents will do whatever they can so that you can teach their kids, regardless of where you are from.

There are hundreds of other schools here.  Hundreds.  Check out http://saigonesl.com/.  (That site should be a lot more popular than it is.  It may be getting out-dated by now but it's rich in info.)

After a while, people will start asking you to teach.  They may be Vietnamese dudes trying to run a school or actual students who think you stand out from the crowd of bozos and want you to teach them.  That happens almost spontaneously.  You're on your own.

If you want to purposefully get students you can, like some wise/charismatic men I've known here, hang out a shingle in Phu Mi Hung/Q7 and teach Korean rich-dudes' wives for $35/hr over tea.  In this latter case, it doesn't hurt to be confident, wise, and a bit flirtatious. 

If you have a BEd or especially if you are State Certified to teach back home, check out the international schools.  Live long and prosper.  I was a school teacher back home and may very well be again, so I'll say this: coming here with your teaching credentials confirms that whatever insanity led you to be a teacher has payed off, compadre.

Other avenues: get a corporate job.  That's what I did.  Though I don't get the Int'l School treatment, I get to practice my profession and hopefully better this world a bit before I go, which is what I'm here to do (in addition to living better than probably Alexander the Great himself did).  My students are all incredibly intelligent and attentive: their very future depends on my classes.  Classroom management = trying to get people to STOP taking notes and practicing so you can move on.  Occasionally they need to turn off cell phones because they're using their dictionaries or are texting their manager. 

Step 9. Rent a motorbike.
 
Old ladies and girls ride motorbikes here. Don't be a *****.   I'm working on "how to ride your motorbike in ho chi minh city" but I haven't solved some camera issues.  For now, I'll say that the basics are thus:

• Ride a xe om for a little while.  Get used to the traffic even though you look like a dufus (though that's okay).  
• Then rent/borrow a motorbike and go out and make a bunch of right turns in 3rd gear until you're ready to make a left turn.  Then make the left turn. 
• Catch your Zen.  In the time it takes you to say to yourself  "what the HELL does he think he DOING?!" you'll crash.  Catch your Zen, compadres.  If you play First-Person Shooters, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Xe Om (literally "vehicle hug").  Always ready to charge you 40K ($2) to take you to his cousin's shop so you can buy your first cell phone in Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City for a special price.

Costs to rent a motorbike:

Most people would lead you to believe that $50/mo for a (cheap and dependable) newer Wave is a good deal.  Ha!  I can refer you to some good, honest, people for 800,000 VND/ ($41 and change) per month.  You can go up from there -- automatic or whatever, but the price goes up steeply from the Wave just because everything besides a Wave is a lot more expensive.

Not a Wave, but it might as well be here.

Optional: Try to learn Vietnamese. I said try. You'll occasionally -- rarely, actually -- meet a foreigner who can actually have a conversation in Vietnamese with someone other than his forgiving and adjusted-to-his-complete-lack-of-tonality girlfriend. God bless these people. Vietnamese will appreciate your just trying. They will laugh at and with you in a good way. Chicks dig it.

I'm linking to Sing 'n Learn, on your left, for a reason: the tones are paramount.  I can recommend books and software -- all of which are available once you get here -- but I wish I would have just learned a few children's melodies before I got here.  In fact, even after trying to learn the language for months now, I'd still like to do so. If anyone gets this book, please ping me once you get here: I'd like to get my hands and ears on it.  Again, the tones are everything.

My favorite method for teaching English pronunciation, speaking, and listening, is focusing on the "music" of English.  Funny thing about teaching English here is that you get reacquainted with the language from a different perspective.  English is very much a tonal, melodic, language.  More on teaching English in other posts, but suffice it to say that learning the music of a language is by far the single-most important aspect of being able to use it to communicate.  Especially so with Vietnamese.

Step 10. Get a serviced room near your job. $300 - $400 /month. I recommend Jon. He's a pretty cool guy; lived a long time in the States and may have a lot of choices for you in this range.  Or contact me directly for apartments and houses at decent prices.

Step 10a. Get a better job. Get another serviced room near your better job. Or contact me directly for apartments and houses at non-expat prices.

Step 11. Extend your visa the expensive way.  You may be a bit desperate to get this done, as your Visa is about to expire, so expect to pay anywhere from $30 to $150, depending on the connections you've made up.

Step 11xyz (I can't make an infinity sign, so xyz). Get a work permit.  I've been here awhile and am still getting this done.  I did applied for my LOCAL police check (yes, here in HCMC today) and my docs are en route via FedEx from D.C. to San Francisco on there way back to HCMC are here!.  Believe me when I say follow step 3 exactly.  It is much, much easier.

Step 12. Stop renting and now buy a motorbike.  Get a second-hand motorbike, as you can sort-of "buy" these.  Probably do not try to get a new motorbike until you have completed Step 15.  Motorbikes are a whole other wonderful issue.  You can get a Wave (which I love), a fancy Yamaha, or an old-timey Vespa.  Or a stylin' old cub.  Or a freagin' 18,000,000 cc VMAX if you have the cash.

Step 13. Get a girlfriend.  This is extremely easy.  Too easy, actually.  I have interviewed good girls here and they say this.  There are gold-diggers and there are truly loving women.  Just like everywhere.  You'll have to adjust.  I can't say anything that will actually have an affect on your brain here.  I daren't give advice, as opinions and drunken anecdotal diatribes are a dime a dozen here, but I'll go ahead and say that I hope you find a college/university girl here from the countryside.  Best of all worlds.

Step 14. Get a motorbike license.  If you didn't bring a motorcycle endorsement from the US, you can either a. get creative with the license translation process or b. shell out about $100*.  Or not.

If you did get your motorcycle endorsement or if you are clever enough during the translation process, here are the steps to getting your motorbike license in saigon / ho chi minh city:

• Get your US DL officially translated -- : 150k VND at Hanoi Translation on Pasteur or wherever else.
• Get you signature and photo validated at the American consulate. $30, cash or US debit/credit card only.  
• Then go to the DL bureau and finish: 30k VND dong. You'll also need  two 4x3cm photos.  Bring your passport, duh. 252 Ly Chinh Thang.  They'll see you wandering in there like a lost puppy and will most likely guide you through.  Just be nice.  If you're in a bad/confused mood, fake it.  (This is a good skill here in general, btw).
• If you were smart, you got a 3-month Visa before.  If not, get one now.  You'll need a 3-month visa to get your motorbike license. 
• Details: http://sgtvt.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/web/data/news/2008/3/4501/case1.htm

*Or pay $100 to the right person.  In this case you'll most likely need to take the driving test, though your written test will be personally graded by said agent's cousin.

Gear up and go on adventure (to Da Lat in this case) with your loved one on your Wave and motorbike license.  Don't worry: this machine can handle it, though your ass (and ability to negotiate all this with your girlfriend) may be challenged.

Next steps (if you can call them that): thrive in Saigon Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.