Signs of Christmas

In a country that doesn't have snow or the usual natural clues of Christmas, we still see the commercial clues and are surprised by the decorations that appear in stores and malls.

But last evening Tim and Lisa had a real shock  -- two real trees in the grocery store! But the shock wasn't their presence as much as their price. The small one was selling for 8,000,000 vnd (about $450 CAD) and the tall-ish one beside Lisa was 15,000,000 vnd (about $850 CAD)!!!! The tag says these are from Norway.

"PTA Moms" and Dads

Shopping for supplies

Lisa has been supporting the SSIS community by volunteering on the PTA as the secretary. The PTA coordinates school-wide events for students, interest clubs for parents, appreciation activities for teachers, and support for High School and Middle Club activities. It has been a busy semester!

At Teacher Appreciation Luncheon with HOS, Mark Sylte

Registration Team at Family Fun Day

Canada Cultural Booth for International Day

Bollywood Dancing

Friday afternoon social

Digital Scrapbooking Club

New BBQ Grill for Booster Club

Another Birthday!

Tim's birthday lasted a whole week long this year! There were celebrations at school, at home, and with friends. This year his Admin team surprised him with comfort food from Burger King and Dunkin' Donuts! An hour later they all agreed that it is a younger man's food. 

Volleyball champions

During this first season of athletics Simon has played on the SSIS Varsity Volleyball team. The final tournament was held in Vientiane, Laos. Lisa and a friend traveled to Laos to watch the weekend tournament. It was a well organized and exciting tournament.
Two full days of play and the SSIS Dragons came out on top of the eight schools participating. The SSIS Varsity Girls and Varsity Boys teams were both champions!

HaLong Bay

About four hours east of Hanoi is a UNICEF World Heritage Site and one of the new Natural Wonders of the World. HaLong Bay is an area of the South China Sea with remarkable limestone karsts. It is a very popular tourist destination (as you can see from all the tour boats)!

We spent one night on a boat amidst this beautiful landscape. We had hoped to spend a second night but a typhoon moving into the area brought wind and rain which forced all boats to leave the area. Our evening entertainment was to watch the thunder and lightening from our cabin while the movie KONG 2017 was playing on our TV. The movie was filmed in Vietnam and HaLong Bay. It was a memorable movie!

The Bay also has many large limestone caves that give an interesting afternoon adventure and beautiful views of the landscape. 

Hanoi

During the school October break, Tim, Lisa and Simon traveled to northern Vietnam. They spent a couple of days exploring Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. It is a smaller city than Ho Chi Minh and has a different feel. We stayed in the Old Quarter and enjoyed discovering small cafes, restaurants and shops. We took in some of the local attractions and walked a lot.

Of course we couldn't resist the urge to eat at Bún Chả Huong Lien, the restaurant made famous by Obama's visit in 2016. Bún chả is a delicious pork soup and this small, very crowded restaurant truly makes a delicious bowl!!!

Volleyball Season

The first athletic season of this academic year is Volleyball. Simon is playing on the Varsity Team and recently took a trip to Bangkok, Thailand for a tournament. This was a new tournament for the team and the level of play was higher than the usual. Simon's team performed very well with a respectable fourth place finish. It was good practice for the end of season tournament, which will be held in Laos.