Tickets booked

We were finally able to book tickets for the 10th.  Now we can tell everyone that we are going!

Interview for Vietnam

I had a skype interview for a private school in Vietnam.  It was more involved than I had thought but went well.  The next step of the interview process is to present a 2 hour lesson plan.   Luckily it is based on a poem about a band.  These are the kind of lesson plans I like and it should be fairly easy.

We are not going to wait around for a job offer so decided to book a ticket.  Arin goes on the airplane website and finds out that my airline now offer trips to Vietnam, so we attempt to book on line for November 10.  For our flight, the web says there are 3 seats available.  By the time we finish the transaction, we get an error message stating that the seats just sold out.  I am in California and it is 10 pm on the west coat which means it is 1 am on the east coast.  Seriously, are there that many people in America booking flights to Vietnam RIGHT NOW!

So, we input for the next day and pay.  Right when I say to Arin, ¨Now we can tell everyone that we have a date... we are foiled again.  The reservation can not be completed and we need to call customer service.  Although I was impressed with the short hold time, the rep encounters information she has never seen before.  The third leg of the journey is run by a local airline which has seats available, but they are denying them.  I ask the rep what denying means and she says that sometimes they just deny seats.  I ask her to check for the 11th which the web also says has three seats.  She finds that there only one of the three seats is available which means, again, that two people were booking the fight at the exact same time as us.  She suggests calling back every few hours but I am very leery of this local airline.  I do not want the third leg of my trip cancelled at the last minute.  Of course, for these kind of reasons, I always purchase trip insurance, but we decide to sleep on it and make a new plan in the morning.  I can not believe an airline would deny available seats; in America, the land of capitalism, if money is offered for a product or service, the provider takes it.  Apparently, Asians are motivated by something other than the almighty dollar. Well, we already know that age is a big issue.

We first choose Vietnam, then have to switch to Taiwan

We have decided to travel to Vietnam.  Now it is time to choose a date.  Oops, my airline does not travel to Vietnam, so we change to Taiwan.  The cost is 35,000 bonus miles.  When I click on the purchase ticket link, the cost switches to 75,000 bonus miles.  Now I do not have enough miles to purchase tickets.  I will wait until tomorrow and try again.  I am hoping it is a glitch in the computer system.

Transportation options-frequent flyer miles

Most airlines, even those on which I flew in Mexico, have frequent flyer programs.  The mechanics of this program are that you earn miles by flying on the airline.  You can then use those miles to pay for future trips on that airline or one of its partners.  These programs generally have no costs. All you need to do is register with the airline.  My sisters flew for years on these programs  and I finally jumped on the bandwagon about 6 years ago.
 The problem is that it takes forever to accumulate enough miles using this method, especially if you always base your travel on buying a ticket for the cheapest airline of the day.  In fact, I never did receive any reward vouchers.
How to earn as many miles as possible:
1.  Read every piece of information concerning the FF program.  Rewards can be earned not only by flying, but by making purchases from program partners.  My sis and my brother in law take a vacation every year to the same spot.  Their FF program has a partnership with a restaurant on the driving route.  They have to eat somewhere, why not there!  If you are issued a frequent flyer card, present it at every point of purchase.  You never know when a new partner has been added.
1b.Take the round a bout way.  As I said, you earn miles by flying.  If you fly 2000 miles you earn 2000 miles.  My sis and bro in law take advantage of this by choosing the flight with the longest route to their destination, thus earning the largest amount of miles possible.   Warning:  Some airlines have changed this aspect of their program.  For example, Delta earned miles are now based on ticket price, not miles flown.
2.  Apply for an airline credit card.  There are many, many types of cards offered by each airline.  Some have fees, some are fee free for one year, etc.  But, what they all have is bonus miles which you receive just for joining and\or spending a minimum amount of money in a certain period of time.  Most will also give bonus points for flight purchases.
2a.  Most credit cards have added benefits. Here are some added benefits associated with my card:
priority boarding
discounts for on board menu items
free checked bag for all the people in my party
free companion ticket after one year of membership
As you can see, any fees associated with my credit card are gained back through these rewards.  When you have an airline credit card, you are treated better.  Recently on a trip back from Hawaii, I was upgraded to business class just by asking.   Also, one of my bags was retrieved with grease stains.  I complained to the airline and they paid for me to buy a new bag.

In my current situation, my FF miles saved me because if I had to pay $1000s of dollars, I would not be taking this trip at all.

Transportation options-Asian airlines

I asked my nephew for some names of local airlines and he came up with this:  Some cheap airlines are Spring Air and Air Asia, you can try checking the site ctrip.com for flights.  Arin also found one called Vietair. 

Transportation options -Cruises

I had the bright idea that we may be able to catch a cruise to Asia for less than the cost of an airline ticket.  I could not find anything leaving soon, but I did learn this:  Some cruise lines offer cheap passage on re-positioning cruises.  This type cruise will  have more days at sea and less days in port, but it is still a cheap way to go.  I found one from Asia to Australia for $800 which I am sure is cheaper than air.  It is definitely something to think about when I want to move on to a new place.

Flights to Asia on American carriers

To fly anywhere in Asia, from California, it costs from $1000 to $3000 for a airline ticket on an American carrier.  The exception is Shanghai.  For some unknown reason, Shanghai is only $400.  So, the best bet would be to fly to Shanghai and find a local airline to fly us to one of the less expensive countries.

Again, I asked my nephew for advise and he came up with this: If you are coming to Shanghai first you will have to pay $140 for the Chinese visa if you want to come into the country.

Well these prices are just impossible.  I only have $5000 and can not blow 1\5 of it on airline tickets.  I will need to search for alternatives.

Thailand, Taiwan or Vietnam, which one shall I chose?

Thailand
Biggest cities are Chiang Mai or Bangkok
Love the food!
Nice hotels $30


Vietnam
Biggest cities are  Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City or Da Nang
Love the food!
Vietnam has become a big tourist spot and the locals probably need English
There is plenty of American influence because of the war.
The alphabet is Romanized
Probably the most modern of the three countries.
Nice hotels $15 per night

Taiwan
Biggest city is Taipai
Hotels $40 per night
I do not know anything else about this country

Arin and I have discussed it and decided Vietnam is our best bet.

Back to the drawing board

Moving on to plan B.  Arin has already been sending inquiries and has several responses, but they are all from recruiting agencies.  Our current thinking is to find the cheapest country to fly to, then inquire around town like we did in Mexico.  My nephew responded and lists Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam as having the lowest cost of living, so our search will begin with those three.  My sister and brother in law are currently in Asia and also suggest Cambodia.

If the Chinese visa comes through while we are in Asia, so be it. 

 I waited another six weeks for that to happen and finally turned to my son Arin and said ``Start applying for jobs and other Asian countries”. I was really looking forward to having Chinese food everyday so I tell him to focus on the food and the ratio of pay to cost of living.

After some research this is the list.

Thailand: Reported to have the best food in the world, pay at around $10 per hour.

Vietnam: I love the Vietnamese restaurant in our neighborhood and the pay is $20 per hour.

Taiwan:  I've been seeing the label made in Taiwan since I was a kid so it sounds very exotic to me. Will the diet consist of Chinese food? The pay is $20 per hour. 

We settle on Vietnam because it uses the Roman alphabet and the living cost to pay is the best in Asia. 

China is a bust. I knew it was too good to be true.

.Here is my latest response from China.

The school said that your age was the one of the concerns for the government but they did not deny or approve yet. They are waiting too. Ms.Chang suggested that if after December they have not heard anything the chance the visa is going to be approved is very small.

I would like to know what happened to the guaranteed job in Zhongshan?  There is no mention of it and I was never sent a contract.  I certainly am not going to sit around here until Christmas on a hope and a prayer.  I have already wasted 2 months on this position and another 3 months on the cancer, so have been back from Mexico for almost a year now.   Ms. Chang informed me that the Chinese government is more strict this year than ever.  I do not know what they are afraid of?????  It is not like tons of Americans want to move permanently to communist China.  To tell you the truth, I was getting a little grossed out hearing about all the public spitting and farting anyway.
  
In the USA you are over the hill at 30, but I had always heard that the Asian countries honored older people.  Apparently that is just an urban myth.  When I get there, I will find out and let you know. 

put the next part here or next post

 I waited another six weeks for that to happen and finally turned to my son Arin and said ``Start applying for jobs and other Asian countries”. I was really looking forward to having Chinese food everyday so I tell him to focus on the food and the ratio of pay to cost of living.

After some research this is the list.

Thailand: Reported to have the best food in the world, pay at around $10 per hour.

Vietnam: I love the Vietnamese restaurant in our neighborhood and the pay is $20 per hour.

Taiwan:  I've been seeing the label made in Taiwan since I was a kid so it sounds very exotic to me. Will the diet consist of Chinese food? The pay is $20 per hour. 

We settle on Vietnam because it uses the Roman alphabet and the living cost to pay is the best in Asia. 

Waiting for over a month now

This wait time is getting ridiculous.  20 days was the estimate and it is now closer to 30.  I just sent an email to my potential employer with a veiled threat of desertion, and asked for a deadline.  I hope this will light a fire under them.   Arin and I are discussing alternatives.  He is going to send out more job inquiries which we should have done long ago.  I put all  my eggs in one basket and should have known better.  Also, I contacted my nephew who is currently living in Asia.  During a recent skype conversation, he had mentioned $100 per hour tutoring opportunities.

20 days to get a visa, I do not think so

It has been 20 days since the visa was applied for, and we have had no contact from the school.  I decided to write an email to make sure they did not forget about me.

It has been four weeks since our last e-mail communication. Do you expect to hear from the government about the visa application soon? Will you be sending a contract for Zhongshan, or do you have confidence in the ongoing Shanghai application?

 Thank you for your patience. We have not heard anything from the government yet. 

I was hoping for more information but I guess all we can do is wait.

This tip will save you thousands of dollars over your lifetime. Home made laundry detergent.

Homemade laundry detergent, 3 cents per load

Ingredients:
1\3 bar of soap
1\2 cup washing soda  (this box is found in your laundry section of any grocery store)
Optional: 1\2 cup borax

Process
Shred soap
Heat together soap plus 18 cups water
Once melted, add soda (and borax if desired)
When dissolved, remove from heat
In an unheated container, place 4 cups hot water
Add soap mixture
Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups unheated water
Let sit.
The final product will be a liquid with ribbons of slime
Use 1\3 cup for large loads

International neighbors sharing recipes.

My international neighbors like to share their native food.  I finally had Borsch.  It was not bad tasting and very pretty.  When I want to reciprocate, I do not reciprocate with American food because really what do we have:   bbq, hot dogs, hamburgers, pie, nothing that anyone else does  not have.  So, I must share with them, food from other cultures to which they have no association.  A couple months ago I made Tacos for everyone and this week I shared Hummus.  I even made roasted beet hummus for my Ukranian neighbors since the soviets are so fond of beets.  So far no one has approached me with a positive analysis of the beet hummus..  I guess tahini is something for which one has to develop a taste.

How to save money and how not to save money at the post office. Media mail.

How not to save money:  I went to the post office to check out an offer for $2 off a $25 gift card purchased at USPS.  Unfortunately this offer is a dud.  Come to find out, these gift cards come with a $5.95 activation fee. Why in the world do the post office marketers think that $2 off of $28.95 is a good deal for a $25 gift card when gift cards are sold everywhere else for the face value with no activation fee.  Luckily, I had to go to the post office anyway so did not waste a trip.  I was there because I had found a stack of letters from an old pen pal.  A pen pal is defined as a person with whom you exchange letters through the mail. There are no guidelines, you just tell each other about your life.   We became pen pals because we were both in girl scouts earning our pen pal badge.  I thought she might  get a kick out of reading them the old letters.  They were mostly about her cats.

How to save money: Use MEDIA MAIL, rather than first class, to send books and papers.  This can especially save you a lot of money if you are selling on Amazon or Ebay.  If you plan to send an excess of mail, you may require vetting by the postmaster.

Scotland, Girl scouts and Pen pals

Yesterday I joined my cousin Catherine and my mother for a fundraiser tea sponsored by the Daughters of Scotia.  We were first served pumpkin scones from a Starbucks copycat recipe, then finger sandwiches and three different teas.  We also enjoyed a silent auction where my cousin and I were bumping up the bids.  Luckily I was outbid on all my items, but she had to take home 4.  At the least a chunk of her Christmas shopping is done.  Cathy had tried to pay for our entire table but we all slipped checks into her purse when she was over at the silent auction bidding for her items.

Today I have plans with my old girl scout troop.  We still get together 4 or 5 times a year, usually to socialize during a meal, but sometimes we creative art or do something outdoors.  This time we are visiting Patty C. who lives two towns over.  Patty M is picking me up since my tires are almost bald.  I just need them to last a little while longer until I can park it at my Dad´s ranch.  It could be years before I return for the car, at which time I will need 4 new tires and a new battery so I do not want to waste money now.  I have already had to purchase two used tires in the past month and they were cheap for $35 each but I have been back to the shop 4 times because one of them was faulty.  In this blog, if I told you everything I did all day, you would see that there is a lot of time wasted trying to save money.  See next post for how to save money at the post office.  For instance, the post office sent out a coupon to received $2 off a $25 gift card purchased at USPS, but come to find out, there is a $5.95 activation charge. Why in the world do the post office marketers think that $2 off of $28.95 is a good deal for a $25 gift card when gift cards are sold everywhere else for the face value with no activation fee.  Luckily, I had to go to the post office anyway so did not waste a trip.  I was there because I had found a stack of letters from an old pen pal (A pen pal is a person with whom you exchange letters through the mail.  There are no guidelines, you just tell each other about your life.)   We became pen pals because we were both in girl scouts earning our pen pal badge.  I thought she might  get a kick out of reading them.  They were mostly about her cats.  By the way, you can save money by using MEDIAL MAIL, rather than first class, to send books and papers.

Shanghai comes to me in the form of lumpia

I can not seem to get to Shanghai so Shanghai has come to me.  My Filippino neighbor, Marianne, taught me a new dish.  Today, I learned how to make Shanghai lumpia which is my favorite of the Philippine dishes.  The receipe is very simple: place garlic, pepper, and ground pork in spring roll wraps, then deep fry.  This is much simpler than the dishes I learned to make in Mexico.  Marrianne has visited Shanghai in the past and wants to return just to go shopping because it is so inexpensive there.

My life in ´´The Cho´´ while I await news from China

The airshow was at Mather Air Force Base this weekend.  This is a yearly event.  I volunteered back in 2011 when I was looking for a husband (I wrote a blog about this and when I find it again, I will post the link) Luckily I do not need to drive to the airport because the planes fly right over my house.  This year, for the first time in my life, I saw a B'52 fly over.  I was surprised at  how low it flew and thought it was going to crash.   I  also experienced some other firsts this weekend.

 We had a big thunder storm one night.  Arin and I were in the kitchen and a roll of thunder crashed right over the house.  It was so strong that the kitchen window madly shook with rage.  I had never seen a window vibrate like that.  Luckily it was not enough of a vibration to crack it.  This event was complimentary to the lightening which struck a metal roof while shopping in a Oaxacan food market, not to mention the earthquake that rocked the 200 year old Oaxacan brick house while I was sleeping (see Oaxaca blog to read more about the lightening, earthquake, teaching, living, and playing bridge in Oaxaca, Mexico)

The other first I experienced this week was also while in the kitchen, I heard a loud screech outside, then saw a cloud of vulcanized rubber float by  my window.  Although I have heard cars burn rubber before, never have I seen a cloud of smoke 10 feet high.  I felt sorry for my neighbor who was walking on the sidewalk and engulfed in rubber fumes for a few seconds.  Later when I went outside, I saw a doughnut in the intersection.  A doughnut is when a car is driven in a tight circle very fast and debris from the tires leave a black circle on the ground.  This is usually done in intersections or large parking lots.

Goodbye furniture

Most of my furniture was listed on craigslist, but none of it sold.  I had several people say they were coming over but none showed up.  The only visitor I received was when I listed an item for free.  Oh, yes, people were all over that.  I offered it all to Salvation Army but of course this is a big corporation now, so you have to schedule the pick up on line and it is one month out.  Finally, a friend from church told me that Family Promise had recently been given a warehouse and are making it into a showroom of furniture.  I called them this morning and they have already hauled it away.  This makes me one step closer to renting out the house.

My home town Rancho Cordova is the most culturally diverse city in the world

I really do not need to leave home to experience the cultures of the world. According to many polls, Rancho Cordova is the most culturally diverse city in the world. For example, on the north side of my house are my neighbors from the Philippines Marianne and Brett. The neighbors on my south side are Ludbov and Sasha who just bought the house.   The two neighbors across the street are also Ukrainian.  What all my neighbors have in common is the fact that they owned farms in their original country.  Marianne raises chickens which Ludbov thought were mine, so when she saw Marianne 's yard she suggested to me, "You remain in United States and we can all raise chickens and have good life." Her husband Sasha is, and has been, raising pigeons for most of his life.  It is his hobby.  Every day Ludbov finds another reason for me to stay in USA.  I always tell her, "You got to live in two countries, now I get to."  The other day she found out that I had lived in Mexico for 6 months and said, "You already lived in two countries, you stay"  Now I need a new comeback....