Got a couple things going on

Doug in his room in Saigon

Living over here is interesting and at times exciting but it has it's frustrations just like anywhere else.  Let me share two of my recent vexing problems. 

Number 1 - been renting a room for the past 6 years at a boarding house style place on Le Thi Reing Street in Saigon.  Well now it ain't working, the lady who ran it married and moved to the USA, leaving her younger brother in charge, whose main qualification is that his sister was in charge before him.  I like living in this part of district 1 but even before the management change, my one room for a month was okay but after 2 or 3 months it was getting to me. So even before the management change, making a change is something that had been on my mind.  Anyway it's okay for now but what I'm really interested in is something better than what I have now  for a 4 or 5 month stay when I return in November, .

Housing is an ongoing problem here in Saigon, that is for guys like me who are not part of a large organization like a corporation or NGO (Non Government Organization). Those big guys with their deep pockets can and do pay the big bucks for housing and in turn drive up rental prices.  So if your like me and on your on your own dime, finding a reasonably priced place to stay in a convenient area of the city can be a challenge.

Number 2 - I also need something more in my life than the hours I'm spending at my key board Blogging or screwing around on the Internet and a way to earn a little extra money to help me live life in the style I've been accustomed too.  But money aside, I mostly need more contact with people, I'm a single retired American guy who knows very little Vietnamese but lives in a mostly Vietnamese neighbourhood and it can get lonely at times.  I've given my cloistered style of living a lot of thought and one option would be part time work or maybe just give my services to an organization in need of management/sales expertise  just to get out and meet some people. 

Of course there are a few problems to address before I race out of my room to my new fulfilling life.  The biggest is I don't know how to locate a part time work position or volunteer opportunities here so I goggled both topics. My Internet search for part time work came up with the same old gobbel-de-gok that always comes up when I'm looking for job resources on the Internet and it was much of the same for volunteering opportunities except they all wanted money from you first before you could volunteer.  Crap, if I paid the money they were asking to volunteer I’d probably meet some people but I wouldn't be able to eat. 

So I'm still here at the keyboard but with the thought that maybe someone reading this knows about working, volunteering or short term apartments here in Saigon and wants to pass it along.  

Thanks,     Doug