Scavenger Hung

So I’m in the middle of an Open Doors 3 test at the moment. Fortunately test days do not require me to do anything. So much so that I can bring my computer to class and type up another blog. The wireless network doesn’t appear to be available to me here, but I can type one up none the less.
I must keep on top of the blogging, because surely more things will happen. And the events of the past only get more and more vague as time goes on.
The most recent event was of course, the scavenger hunt. For this we headed to Saigon on Sunday night, and warmed ourselves up by staying out until 2 am for some, and 4 am for others. Why such an early night you ask? Well we had plans (unbeknownst to Adam and I) to meet for breakfast at 9 am. This got the kai-bosh right early in the morning when we locked Megan out of both her room and Suzie’s room, allowing the two of us another hour of rest, although sleep was out of the question because she haggled us the entire time.
Having only a vague idea of what was in store for us for that day, we decided to start it off with Bloody Mary’s. Some like them, some don’t. I don’t really like them, but at 10 am they are definitely a wake up call. We went to a place called Chi’s, which is where Adam bought his bike, and is also directly across from Bread and Butter, the bar that Quentin owns, and the starting point for our hunt. We started there with a crew of 5, which quickly grew to a crew of about 10. This large number of people ordering alcoholic beverages at such an early hour no doubt shocked Chi and her staff, but it didn’t stop them from creating amazing long island iced teas.
By 11:30 it was time to cross the alley way and meet the other competitors. Team Canada (as we were dubbed) had on matching shirts, although opposing colour schemes to improve the effect. And the print was, ingeniously enough, of a cyclo, which was our mode of transportation. I in grey with black print, Adam in black with white print. We also managed to attain firearms. Small pistols that shot little plastic pellets. Quite entertaining. Also to be part of our costume, were the little conical hats that traditional Vietnamese people wear. This item was given to everyone.
Twelve o’clock, and on our cyclo. The drivers weren’t too happy about riding two people, as they are designed for one, but they were forced to. We were handed our list and our egg (to protect), and so the 3 hour race ensued. Items on the list were given points, and the team with the most points wins. Items were things such as a pool cue, a toy from Lotteria (local burger joint) or KFC (yes it has infiltrated this country, one of the only western chains to make it), another teams egg, something to inflate, a block of ice, shampoo and slippers from a five star hotel.
I think Team Canada was a little leery at first about acquiring some of these items. But we had a big turn in confidence when we decided to go for the hotel items. You’d think that two young white men in matching t-shirts, sandals and board shorts, and conical hats, (not to mention Adams fake glock sticking out the back of his shorts) would raise some alarm and suspicion. However, there was no suspicion at all. In fact, there was even less suspicion from the cleaning lady that gave us both of the items we requested. This gave us an emotional boost. From then on it was a full on give’r, No holds barred.
After an hour of collecting some pretty good items, we went to the market to get some smaller items. ON our way we noticed the Johnny’s (some boys we know well) having a beer. So we joined in. Turned out that their cyclo driver took off on them after they entered the market. Their day was shot.
After enjoying the company, we continued on our trek. We deciphered the second to last destination as being the zoo, quite a way down a main road. We acquired some more items along the way, and made the checkpoint, where we and our driver were graced with a beer to get us through the final leg. It wasn’t very far, but Bop (our driver) had done tidy work of his beer.
We had to check in, which was sort of chaotic, but not nearly as chaotic as what was about to occur.
We had booked for us, the 9th floor of some building. It was a balcony of sorts. And there was a cooler and a barbecue. The cooler was always full. The barbecue lacked a little bit, in that it wasn’t ‘on demand’, but what was served was good.
If you’ve been following the times I’ve given, you may have noticed that we had a two hour hunt, and that it started at noon. You may also have noticed that when we arrived at the destination, there was a full cooler. This means there was a lot of beer being served to 40 ex-pats living in Vietnam at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. I never thought I’d experience anything like high school again, but this came really close. It was a gang of hooligans set loose. Talking and yelling. Games and stupidity. It was utterly fantastic. Everyone at the party, whether 23 and 43, was 16 again. At 6 or 7 they brought a guy in the play some acoustic songs. We jammed along and sang our hearts out for about an hour. It was quite wonderful. And at around 8 or 8:30, the decision was made that all of us animals would disperse ourselves into the streets of Saigon. Where do you go when you want to keep partying…??? Go 2 Bar!!!! I think (in fact I know) that we were the topic of many people’s conversations. I ended up chatting with several people who were sitting around, and they all asked me whey so many of us were, well, so drunk, so early. Not to mention in matching outfits and brandishing weapons. I once pulled my glock on an American girl and she nearly fell off her chair. She clearly didn’t know it was fake. Her and her friends were really nice. Another girl from Vancouver, and a couple from Australia. Looking back I was probably imposing myself on their conversation, but at the time they felt like my best friends. I also met a couple Dutch people, and they were really nice as well, and came down to the Bia Hoi with us for a bit.
Speaking of bia hoi, our trek to bia hoi ended up brining us back to Canada. As we past an international phone booth, we decided to make a call. Sorry to our parents, but I think it might have been a little dis-heartening for any of you to have talked to us, not to mention it would have been 10 am on Monday. So we called our dear friend Shannon Noonan. I’m sure she was shocked to hear us, not only to speak to us, but to try and understand what kind of frenzy we were actually in.
From then on it was fairly tame. WAIT. No it wasn’t. I now recall some more. Mainly being our search for a kick thing. I don’t know what to call it, but it’s a game played by the Vietnamese, similar to hacky sack, but using a feathered item similar to a badminton birdie. We had been offered them earlier, but hadn’t purchased one, and now at 1 am we decided we wanted one. Thanks to being in Saigon, we can get one. And our leader on this mission was a little boy, no more than 10 years of age, who could curse better than any teenagers back home. He hangs around the back pack district all the time, and has done well on learning the slang. He was nice though, and tried to find us our item. He wasn’t very successful, and after 20 minutes of following him around, Adam went down a street by himself to get one. Then we tried to play, which was a bad idea. We aren’t very good. Maybe we picked a bad time to start learning, but we’ll get better.
From then on, things were tame. Right? Yes. By 2 or 3 we decided to head home. After 16 hours of given’r, it was just time to call it. For we did have to return to Vung Tau and teach the next day. Poor students.
Anyway. Now that I’ve wasted a lot of your time (for this was a long post) telling you things that probably worry those closest to us, I will sign off. My kids are still writing. They have been staring at me oddly half of the time, and trying to cheat for the other half. Thanks to Thuy, they get away with nothing!!!!!
I love you all, and just wait for the next post. Sunday is ILA’s Christmas dinner. It has been described with four words by our dear friend, and superior, Jake. The first one was ‘Mate…’ – you know, with wide eyes and almost in question from. Then he followed with Buffet (for it is an all you can eat, five star buffet), and Open Bar. If bedlam can ensue with just 40 teachers on a ninth floor terrace, I only wonder what will happen with 100 teachers, 100 TA’s, and 100 office staff, and an open bar.
So until next time…. As the Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy states…….. Don’t Panic.
Dearly, Brandon.

P.S. As if it’s December 14th.

OH, and the picture website is http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m171/vandykandstevens/