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.
Peace and quiet please!
I haven’t been getting good sleep lately. The pattern of sleepless nights started about two weeks ago. There are about three dogs in close proximity who wish to be on American Idol and they belt out their numbers from about 10pm to 6am. I’m pretty sure they are following the real American Idol because they sound an awful lot like they are trying to master Hound Dog. (It was just Elvis for those of you who don’t follow.)
There is lots of construction going on around my house and at 1, 2 and 3am they use the heavy machinery they can’t drive through the streets during the day. That accounts for drilling, driving, grinding and I think a bit of gyrating hips.
Motorbikes whizz past and horns honk away. Ladies on bicycles announce by chanting what they are selling or that they are recycling stuff or picking trash up. Today, it was all of the above plus ear-piercing national music blaring over the community loud speakers. (Which oddly enough made the dogs bark AND howl.)
Last night I went out with my best gal pal, Mette, and after a leisurely dinner, walked around the corner to Tunnel Bar. We talked, saw some friends, swayed to the music of guests DJ Farai who is leaving Vietnam after a two month tour. Fun. And I rolled in at 2:30 a.m., much later than my intended, “I’m not up for a big night tonight.” When I fell into my pillows, I begged and pleaded with the ceiling for good sleep.
Sunday being the ONLY day to myself, I don’t set an alarm. And really, I don’t need to because everyone else in the ‘hood will wake me up, well earlier than I want to wake up anyway! This morning was no exception. And truly, it’s starting to drive me batty!!! I may begin a coalition for silence or something. Maybe I’ll call it Project Lets Hear The Birds Sing or something. Project Remember What Silence Sounds Like. Project PEE – Protect Everyone’s Ears. Anyone? God a good name? Post it!
Side Note
I should say here that the noise factor in Japan was minimal, except during local elections, when the candidate and uniformly dressed wavers would ride around in vans announcing the policies of the candidate and ever-so-politely (using the most formal Japanese) ask for support. That was always annoying on a Saturday morning. And while it was a bit loud, I never seemed to grow tired of who I called the Potato Man. The Yakimo truck. Small trucks drove around the town selling roasted yams. Each truck had a potato song and it always gave me a good giggle. “oishii (pause) oishii.”
Hanoi taxi adventures
Since I take a taxi everyday, I am considering a little mini-blog like Tales from the Taxi or Hanoi Taxi Tales. Vietnam Taxi Chronicles? Hanoi Taxi Adventures? (What would you name it?) Anytime I step into one, there is always story. And I have to say that the taxi rides provide some of the most hair-raising experiences in this country. So here is my little story (x2)from today.
…
When I looked out the window this morning, the color of the sky was still grey. I’m not sure I really expected that it would change. It’s been grey for five months, why would it all of a sudden be blue? But the darkness of the grey made me look at the rooftop across the way. Wet. A rainy day. Lately, the rain is just a drizzle, like the weather gods simultaneously sticking their tongues out to spit on everyone. It is most unpleasant. In any sort of rain, it is a challenge to get a taxi. So I walked down to the Syrena shopping center where the parking lots usually host a few taxis waiting for their next fare.
When I walked up, there were actually still five in the parking lot. A bit odd at almost 8am. And they all looked at me. I said, “Taxi please?” And they all looked at each other. They didn’t know which driver was next in line for a fare. So three of the drivers shouted at me at the same time, “Taxi?” They wanted me to pick, but I know better than to get involved in that mess. So I just stood there and answered their question with a question, “Taxi?”
Finally one driver took the initiative and pulled up to me. I got in on the driver side door. Just as we turned right out the driveway and started going along the road, the driver stuck his right finger in his nose, picked around a bit and caught a booger. He rolled down the window with his left hand, stuck the gooey finger out the window crack and flicked. I actually leaned into the car, fearful the booger may fly back into the car and land in my hair or something.
The driver wasn’t phased a bit. For the rest of the drive I watched to see how many people I could catch picking their nose in the car or on their motorbike. I got grossed out at ten, half way through the 15 minute drive.
…
Fast forward to this evening. It’s Wednesday. And that is the American Idol & Glee night. And you know, I’m a geek and I love these shows. It’s a nice mid-week break and I do my best to be home by 7pm. Mette was planning to join me, so I agreed to pick up the pizza and wine on my way home. I had to first stop at the ATM which is at the Metropole just a block over. And instead of taking the “normal” route, a straight-away from point A to B, the driver decides that he’s going to go the long way through town and gain an extra 20,000 Dong (yup, still laughing at that stupid currency name). I asked him to turn left, not right, but as are most drivers, he was stubborn and wouldn’t listen and pretended he didn’t understand.
With lots of huff, puffs and grumbles from the back seat, he dropped me in front of the wine shop. I didn’t even have time to yell at him, I just wanted to BE home! Got my favorite bottle, picked up the pizza I called in ahead of time and walked like a crazy woman on crack in my high heels, trying desperately not to twist my ankle on the uneven street, down and around the corner and through the mud-filled street of Lane 31. I kicked my shoes off, picked them up and nearly sprinted up the stairs. Got inside, threw everything down on the dining table and turned the TV on. Just in time. Caught the final commercial before the show started.
Wine, pizza, my indulgent TV shows and my favorite friend. Today was a good Wednesday, even though the taxi drivers are completely and frustratingly clueless and pigheaded. Can’t wait for tomorrow!!!
5 star wedding
My life in Vietnam has certainly been void of cultural experiences lately. I suppose this is why I so often look back at my posts from Japan. I had oodles more free time to travel, explore, hike and trek and basically, soak up Japan. I spend six days a week and far too many evening hours on work stuff that I have found it pretty difficult to “get with the program” here in Hanoi and really sink my teeth into Vietnamese culture. So I was incredibly happy this week when I received an invitation to our Financial Controller’s daughter’s wedding.
April 10th was considered a lucky day in the Chinese Lunar calendar. Our company “Madame” (I’m not really sure her job title, but she’s essential for all the community and government relations), had also chosen April 10th as the moving date for our Emeraude office. I’m sure the wedding was scheduled on the day for the luck factor, as well.
After the circus of idiot movers (see blog entry below), I rushed home to get ready. The wedding was at the Sheraton, walking distance from my house. As soon as I walked up, the courtyard was full of dressed-up party goers taking lots of photos near the central fountain and under the wedding arch, decorated with white roses. At some signal, all of the 500+ guests made their way to the dining room, deposited the money envelopes in the large heart boxes, and sat freely on either the groom’s side or bride’s side of the room. The ballroom decor was a rather “normal” set-up with the cake on one side of the stage and a champagne glass pyramid on the other, waiting for the champagne to be poured by the couple. The glowing ice-sculpture in the middle was a nice touch. Tables were decorated with tall center-pieces and lots of white roses. This sat, of course, on a large glass lazy-susan so that the traditional vietnamese food could served in the traditional manner.
As I’ve seen before in Japan, there was a host for the reception. He hushed the crowd and started the “show”. The parents came down the rose petal-sprinkled, red carpet and took their places on the stage. The audience clapped after introductions. Then the dry ice machine was turned on and with dramatic music, the couple walked through the foggy air and made their way to the stage as well. The fathers gave a speech. Then the cake was ceremoniously cut (it was never served). Then the couple poured champagne over the glasses, the top four of which had pieces of dry ice so that the whole charade looked like a living sculpture. The couple returned to stand in-between their parents, but with the couple having switched places so that they were standing next to their partner’s parents, symbolizing the unity of the family. The champagne was served to the family and the host gave the toast and everyone raised their glasses.
The united family then made their way through the tables to individually toast the guests. The classical quartet took their places on stage and began playing a very reined set of music. The food was served, people ate, ate some more, drank some more and then the tea was served. An hour and a half after we sat down, everyone was getting up and heading out the door. There was no dancing, no throwing of the bouquet, no garter toss and no possibility of a cheezy DJ showing off as emcee and playing the chicken dance. I was home by 8:30pm.
My understanding is that this was a very high-end wedding. Most are held in large halls, and there is plenty of beer, food and light-weight Vietnamese falling drunk off their chairs. So while I am glad I was able to enjoy a really nice Vietnamese wedding reception, I hope I have the chance to see a more modest celebration!!!
Office moving day
Today was the chosen lucky day for our Emeraude Sales Office to move across town and into a fine location right on Hoan Kiem Lake. I had a lunch appointment with a client today and so at 1:00pm, the lucky time for the movers to arrive, I was at the office to lend a hand to the team.
A few men arrived, dirty, smelly, and without any packing materials. No boxes, bubble wrap, box cutters, nothing. The truck didn’t even arrive with them. They made a phone call and another guy came with some tape. And so they used what boxes we had and started to throw things together, place them outside of the office and right in the pathway of the fire exit and doorway where they would need to haul the larger items like our desks, couch, chairs, etc.
I watched as the one little guy, who like the others immediately took their shoes off once they started working, taped the hard drives together with the keyboard and mouse for each work station. Two computer screens were taped together and set outside the office.
When one worker started to take things downstairs and line the sidewalk, I had to yell for them to stop and actually made them take things back upstairs. The truck still hadn’t arrived and lining up the sidewalk with the office valuables is welcoming an unwanted street market!
The boys insisted that the computers would be carried by the individuals, but I insisted that they be wrapped up. And so finally a man on a motor bike arrived with about 8 boxes and 2 blankets. Still no bubble wrap.
When the truck finally did arrive, along with a few more colorful characters to help, I then tried to orchestrate the circus of idiots to load the truck properly with heavy and large items first, then helped to arrange boxes neatly in the truck. I had to object to them setting the safe on top of the computers.
I let Kurt welcome the trucks on the other side of the project, as our new office has too many windows, glass, tiles and freshly painted walls to worry about. I’m sure I would have had a heart attack watching them take the bulky desks up the spiral stairs and over the railing.
The office manager tried hard to get a good quote on the job, I suppose, and I learned that it only cost $130 for the cross-town move. She learned this was probably a job we could have paid a bit more for, as the headaches caused in a cost savings effort just wasn’t worth it!
On the Bright Side,
Shanna
Sleepless in Hanoi
My apartment building is surrounded by buildings in construction. This is a source of huge frustration and many sleepless nights at the moment. Not only will these new buildings out the back of the house be blocking my view of the lake, but the construction practices in this country are totally ridiculous! Cranes and heavy machinery are brought in only in the middle of the night, as that is when the streets are free enough for such large equipment. So 2am is a busy time on these sights. And on any given day (including Sundays, my ONLY free day of the week), the banging starts easily at 6:30 a.m. I can even hear the building on the other side of the neighbors…which doesn’t say much for the thickness of the walls here!
What I can’t get over, though, is how poorly these places are built, the danger with which the workers surround themselves (welding with no mask, bamboo scaffolding, climbing up things with no harness, tools and trash strewn all over the site) and how little is learned from one project to the next. I’ve never seen people build a floor, and then tear it down because of a change of plans, or make a nice big opening for a window only to fill it in again and move the window to another part of a wall. It’s really pretty amazing. I’m thankful this is not an earthquake zone, as these places would crumble to bits in a heart beat! The construction is pretty shoddy. There is no framing, no insulation, no drywall, no stucco, just good old-fashioned brick-laying and sandy cement.
It all makes me so grateful that my house is at least pretty sound….sealed windows with screens, no leaks, no plumbing or electric problems…this building happens to be pretty decent. Not without imperfections, but it’s certainly qualified as a nice apartment.
No matter what, though, after seeing the manner in which these places are put up and finished off, I cannot at all believe that they can charge the rent that they do here in Hanoi. The average two-bedroom apartment is now about $1500 a month. And because we foreigners will pay this, the Vietnamese will continue to tear down old and beautiful villas to put up 4 – 5 story apartment buildings. With the location of my house, and the projects surrounding me, I think the two to my right and the two here in this photo may well be the last of the bunch in the neighborhood. But I won’t hold my breath!
Skies of Hanoi
After my half day in the office, I returned home to do some more work, but also catch up with my journals and correspondence. The room got brighter and as I looked out the window I could see that the sun was “shining.” The yellow light reflected off the rooftops. I was drawn to the window for a peek and when I looked out an up, all I could think was “faker!” The sky remained a hazy grey.
During the “winter” months of Hanoi, the sky is never blue. It’s been a good 4 months now, and this photo shows the brightest the sky gets. Frankly, I find this rather depressing. This San Diego chicka needs her blue skies and bright, bright sunshine!!!
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