Queen of Hearts
All over town I always see these playing cards on the ground. The weird thing is, I don’t catch too many people playing cards on the street. This little known phenomenon is not unique to Hanoi or Vietnam. In fact, I’ve seen playing cards in Laos and Thailand, too. I just wonder how someone is so careless to loose a few cards from the deck, and then not care that they’ve flown out of their hands or bother to pick them up.
Every time I see these cards, I have half the mind to start collecting them to see if I can gather a full deck. I can start with this Queen of Hearts, which someone, some where MUST be missing right now. Right?
Gift of Giving
It always sounds a little weird for me to say, but I employ a maid. It’s pretty much the norm here in Vietnam, but it’s the first time in my life that I’ve had hired help. Hien comes to my house two days a week. She helps me keep things tidy, does my laundry and occasionally my grocery shopping. Even though I am a single gal and not particularly messy, my work schedule doesn’t really allow me the time to do these things. I have only Sundays off, and the last thing I want to do on my one day of rest is laundry! I’m super grateful for Hien’s help.
In my first apartment (the one that leaked really bad), she came to my house just once per week and I paid her 500,000 VN Dong per month. When I moved to my current home, I increased her salary to 750,000 VN Dong, as she could come twice a week, for a bit more than half a day’s work. I moved one year ago, and while I did give her a 13 month salary bonus for TET in February, Hien brought up the topic of providing her with a raise.
I knew before we negotiated that I would give her a raise, but I wanted to help her understand, too, that I am not made of money and that while I appreciate her services, having her help is a luxury for me. I could do these things for myself, I just choose to have her assistance. I also explained to her that if I gave her a raise, I hoped that she could think ahead (always a challenge in this country!) and make sure there was always milk in the fridge and that the bed sheets just get automatically washed on Friday. I usually leave her notes, but I’m a creature of habit, so there are some things I like to have done, which should be common knowledge by now.
She understood that with the raise, it meant just a wee bit more initiative on her part. I asked her how much more she wanted. She requested only 100,000 or 150,000 VND more. So I told her that I would be generous and would help her out a bit and give her now 1,000,000 VND per month. This is about $13 USD more than she makes now, and a total of about/just over $50 per month, depending on the exchange rate. You would have thought I actually was giving her hundreds of dollars more. She was so happy and promised that she would never ask for a raise again.
I wanted to make sure that Hien knew that I valued and appreciated her. Even though her job has not become more difficult or she’s working longer hours, it felt good to give her a raise. It was the right thing to do.
No love for HSBC
I ranted on twitter today about my visit to HSBC. And I feel like ranting here. I hate the fact that I get paid in Vietnamese Dong. This one fact has changed the entire way I have to bank and there is really no other reason behind it than it is less costly and more convenient for our company to pay us in dong than dollars. This unnerves me to no end, but that is a blog for another time.
I went to HSBC today to withdraw Yen for my upcoming trip to Japan. I have to have my passport, my ticket and if needed, a visa in order to “prove” that I need the foreign currency.
The tellers now think they are immigration officers. The idiot behind the counter today said, “I cannot give you money. You don’t have a visa.” I told her I don’t need one. Then she made a phone call. The person on the phone told her I needed a visa. She said, “You must have a visa.” I told her, “I am an American Citizen and if I go to Japan for less than 90 days, then I do not need a visa. I do NOT need a visa! Understand?” She made another call. “Ok, you do not need a visa.” Then she needed my original ticket to make a copy of, even though I provided a copy for her and showed her the real ticket with the copy.
Then she shuffled the papers, looked at the screen, looked at the papers and confirmed verbally the amount of yen I was asking for. And she said, “And it is Yen?” Trying to remain calm, “Yes. I wrote on the form that I will withdraw Yen. The ticket says I am going to Japan. So I need Yen.” So she made another phone call. “Um, I’m sorry, but we can’t give you that many dollars. You are over the daily limit for withdraw in US Dollars.” (This is a VND account policy) So I replied, “I don’t want US Dollars. I want Yen. I am going to Japan. They use Yen. I need Yen, not US Dollars.” And so she picked up the phone again.
After a few phone calls and a visit to the room where they keep the foreign currency, she returned with my Yen. I signed off on the papers and said, ” I realize you are just doing your job, but this is my money and if I want Yen, or Dollars or Dong, I should get it.” Oddly enough, she said, “I know. Sometimes the policies of HSBC are not very customer-friendly.” “My point exactly,” was what I said before I headed out the door.
I’m quite sick of having these headache-inducing interactions with my bank. I feel like just because I have a Dong account, my money is held hostage and I don’t have control over what happens to it. And that just pisses me off. I would love to hear suggestions of a bank which doesn’t penalize a person like me who lives in a foreign country, operates with foreign currencies and uses her credit card in foreign countries too. It really should not be that complicated!
VN holiday weekend
I returned from Singapore yesterday and into a 3 day weekend. The Vietnamese are celebrating Liberation Day and May Day together. While my friend Mette and I were at dinner last night, we heard the 20 minutes of fireworks to celebrate the occasion. I thought I would share a bit of history of these significant celebrations.
Liberation Day
On 30th April, 1975 the Vietnam People’s Army (NVA) captured Saigon, the South Vietnamese Capital. This day marked the end of the Vietnam War (Khang chien chong My), commonly known as the “American War”. It resulted in the reunification of Vietnam under Communist rule and Saigon was renamed Ho Chin Minh City. Those who supported the war remember it as the liberation of Saigon. Vietnam celebrates this day every year as Vietnam’s Liberation Day. The Vietnamese name for it is Ngay Giai Phong. Today it is one of the Major Vietnam Festivals & Events. It is also called the Victory Day or the Reunification Day and Vietnam celebrates it every year declaring it a public holiday. This day initiated the process of reunification of North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The reunification took place on 2nd July, 1976.
To the exiled Vietnamese who are settled abroad and the supporters of the Southern government Vietnam’s Liberation Day is the Ngay Quoc Han (National Day of Infamy) or the Fall of Saigon. In present day Vietnam, supporting the cause of the then southern government is regarded as betrayal to the nation and is punishable by imprisonment. For the Vietnamese who served the country and were in the process hurt and exiled overseas the Liberation Day in Vietnam is a day of remembrance.
May Day
May 1 is International Workers’ Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is a celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement. May Day commonly sees organized street demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of working people and their labor unions throughout Europe and most of the rest of the world — though, as noted below, in neither the United States nor Canada.
I love this plant!
I recognize I’m a total geek and a bit nerdy to post a photo of a plant – BUT – This plant (quite appropriately a banana tree) has been in my apartment since I moved in…I negotiated “potted plants” into my contract. I only got this one, but it is quite large and beautiful. I think it’s happy in front of this window, too. An it sort of serves as my divider between my kitchen and living room areas.
So this morning when I woke up and came out to the main room, I was delighted to see that a new leaf unrolled itself during the night. Isn’t it beautiful? Welcome new leaf! I really love this plant!
Hanoi Lifestyle
Sometimes people ask me what my life is like in Hanoi. What do I do in my free time, who do I hang out with, etc.
It was Matias’ birthday and so he had a little party at his place. The weather was perfect for an evening on a balcony overlooking Truc Bach Lake. It was the type of party any of us might have in our own hometowns, just minus the large crowds of friends we don’t have the luxury of seeing while living abroad.
We camped out at the table on the balcony, drank some beers, munched on potato chips, told stories. The main difference was that we have an international group of friends, and so we sang Matias birthday songs in other languages. That’s the fun part of living abroad. You don’t just learn about the culture you are living in, but also about the other expats who are right there with you….missing home, managing day-to-day, learning lots and having birthdays.
Silly Sunday
If last week was my social media Sunday, today was silly Sunday!!!
You all know or have met via this blog my dear friend Pete. Well after not seeing each other for a few months (our schedules are a bit nutty and he lives up in Sapa), we were able to squeeze in some quality Pete & Shanna time this week.
We enjoyed a leisurely lunch at the Metropole on Wednesday with Pete’s new iPad in hand and a few games of Angry Birds. (HilARious!!!) Quite a scene, the two of us giggling over an electronic device in the middle of a posh restaurant! Today, we met up for brunch at Joma.
Joma is this great coffee place which has its roots in Laos. They serve excellent coffee, fresh-baked breads and bagels and homemade pastries and such. Whenever I visit Luang Prabang, I usually make a stop at Joma. It’s simply delicious. I knew Joma had moved into Hanoi, but I didn’t know that they opened two cafes, one being just down the street! Woo hoo!
There’s no telling what will happen when Pete and I get together. You can count on the fact that we will laugh our asses off and chat up a storm. One fun thing Pete and I have in common is that we have both lived in Japan. So we can use some of the fun Japanese phrases and keep the language alive in both our heads.
Pete is one of those friends whom with I have no reservations. I am 100% Shanna Banana when I’m with him and it’s nice to laugh and be silly and feel the freedom to talk about anything and everything. I’ve just come home and while I’m sleepy from a late night and an early/noisy morning, my visit with Pete always puts a pep in my step and a smile on my face. I’m happy and super content with the world! Thanks Pete! Love you buddy!!!