
Over the Christmas and New Years holiday I took 9 of my Smith’s English School (スミス英会話 あざみ野) students on a trip to Vietnam. On December 21st we began our journey by departing from Tama Plaza(たまプラーザ) at 6am using the Haneda Airport Express bus. For many of them it was their first time to go to Vietnam and travel without a pack tour so it was a great experience for my students to learn how to travel cheap and put their English skills to good use. We first spent time in Hanoi exploring the city, seeing the sites, eating street food, and enjoying the night life. To get around we rented some motorbikes and went to many areas of the city often overlooked. It was quite an exciting adventure for everyone. Then we went from Hanoi to my wife’s hometown where they got to experience a few days living in a Vietnam village. In the early morning hours we went shopping

at the morning markets, walk around the beautiful scenic area, and later had an amazing traditional dinner. After that we traveled by bus to the city of Ha Long where we visited Ha Long Bay, which is a World Heritage site. We spent two days in Ha Long and stayed at one of my friends beautiful hotels and rented a boat for 5 hours to tour Ha Long Bay. Then just before New Years we went back to Hanoi so we could celebrate in the city. There we enjoyed the lively New Years Eve celebration, went to the night markets, did more site seeing, trips to museums, and enjoyed the city and its food. Overall it was quite a successful trip. We saw many beautiful sites and had many experiences pack tours often neglect. My students got to use their English and also gain confidence in organizing their own trip and traveling alone. Definitely a worth while experience!

Rob
Owner/Teacher (英語の先生/フランチャイズ店のオーナー経営者)
Smith’s English School (スミス英会話 あざみ野)
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