I should be moving in a few days if everything goes according to plan. I'm still living in Le Than Ton Street in an area popularly known as the "foreigner ghetto." There are actually two such ghettoes- one for backpackers at Pham Ngu Lao and the one I live in, which caters more to expat residents. I'll be happy to move out of there and have access to a kitchen again and a measure of privacy. I don't like staying in a guesthouse- you can't cook and you don't have complete freedom of movement. The house I'll be renting and looking after is small, but perfect for one person or a couple. It's near a market, not too far from school, and in a quiet neighbourhood.

I have had sixteen and a half hours of Vietnamese language instruction so far. I think it is going well, as I'm starting to be able to put simple sentences together. I've got a good memory for vocabulary. The grammar is very simple- it is the pronunciation and getting the tones right that is so difficult.

I'm now playing tennis on a weekly basis either on Saturdays or Sundays. Last week's scores were 4-6 and 5-6 (doubles). A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a luncheon after playing. They had the biggest bottle of Johnny Walker that I have ever seen in my life. I think it was a 3.5 liter bottle. After many seafood dishes and much toasting, they got me to sing a song in Spanish. I only know the lyrics to a couple of songs. I sang "Alma, Corazon y Vida." They tried to make it into some sort of zarzuela or flamenco song with their clapping, but I think they enjoyed it in any case. The funniest part was that I translated the lyrics from Spanish into French and one of the gentlemen there translated from French into Vietnamese.

During the meal they tried to rope me into one of the inevitable "language interchange" arrangements where I'm meant to teach someone English in exchange for Vietnamese. I like the idea in principle, but I don't have the time for it. One of the ladies from work is

It has been interesting however in that I've been able to speak French with some old gentlemen and a couple of the students at school and Spanish with one of our teachers who lived in Valencia for many years.

When you've got so many motorbikes there are bound to be some accidents though. In February alone there were a reported 2,422 traffic accidents in Vietnam resulting in 2,870 injuries and 811 fatalities. Someone told me that it will be the law to wear helmets as of July 1st, but I doubt they would be able to enforce it.