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Do you remember the ants I mentioned in my August 20 entry? The ones the size of chiggers wearing tiny bamboo hats? Not only did Gordon not take care of this infestation, but I fear the infestation may have taken care of Gordon. I've seen neither hide nor tail of him in days…but I've seen plenty of those ants. I think the AC may have driven them to take up residence in the warmest spot left in the room—the interior of my new Toshiba laptop. Whenever I try to type something, they come boiling up out of the keyboard and swarm across the monitor on their little motobi's.
I've awakened to the sound of pouring rain several times since I've been here, but yesterday was my first chance to go out wearing my rain poncho. On the street there were rain ponchos as far as the eye could see. All my eye could see, though, was my expensive Ecco shoes getting ruined as I plashed along the potholed sidewalk. I'm thinking I should have left the Eccos home and brought the duckboots.
Humidity can be less than 100% when it's raining (look it up), but when it's raining and the humidity and the temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) are both over 85, an extra waterproof layer is not welcome, trust me on this. Before I plashed from my hotel to the corner I was puffing like a fat man in a steam cabinet. I had to throw off the poncho and continue down the street with the poncho twisted around my head and thrown over my shoulders like an Arab keffiyeh. All in all, I'm finding Vietnam a very hard country to stay dry in.
My CELTA course will be starting tomorrow morning. If the course is as intensive as it's rumored to be, I may not have much leisure for blogging in the next four weeks. Before I go all quiet on you, let me try to correct any impression I may have given you that Hanoi is nothing but one laughable vexation after another. Please remember that I'm a self-confessed curmudgeon and consider it almost a duty to sneer, laugh, or whine at just about everything. But there's a lot to like about Hanoi that I haven't mentioned yet.
A few good things, just off the top of my head:
- Since I've been in Hanoi I've heard no hip hop or rap music, no fast talking radio personalities reading those ads with the stupid 100-mile-a-minute disclaimers at the end, and not one single instance of the f--- word.
- I've seen no graffiti!
- Despite all the visible poverty, urban decay, and pollution the city smells better than New York.
- It might not be a universal pattern, but I see multiple generations (grandparents, parents, teens and toddlers) eating, shopping, and hanging out together as a family to an extent not seen anymore in the US.
- On practically every street corner you can find two men playing Chinese chess with half a dozen kibitzers looking on.
- Many if not most restaurants place a bowl of extra napkins and a container of toothpicks on your table before the meal starts.
- A restaurant check is not brought to your table. When you're ready to go, you get up and pay at the register on your way out.
- You may tip if you think the service is exceptional, but a tip is not taken for granted.
- There is no sales tax.
- Here's the best one: Everywhere you go, people make eye contact with you and smile—this goes for old people, young people, men, women, children, policemen—even teenagers. This feels like the friendliest town I've ever been in.
When I was taking photos in Lenin Park today, I noticed a group of young people milling about some sort of crafts display. One of them approached me and naturally I
expected a sales pitch. 
But to my surprise, the young woman merely invited me to take a photo of the display and in turn have my own photo taken in front of the display. Then she gave me, as a gift, a figure made of rice reeds and paper. Maybe it was a marketing ploy—turn the customer into a friend, since a friend may buy what a customer will not—but I shook hands with Phuong and all her colleagues and then they all, though I offered no money for the reed figure, gave me a warm and friendly sendoff with my gift. Tomorrow I'll take the figure with me to Language Link and get my friend Ninh to decipher the words written on it. Could it possibly say: "This person is a skunk. He accepted a gift and gave nothing in return"…?
I've awakened to the sound of pouring rain several times since I've been here, but yesterday was my first chance to go out wearing my rain poncho. On the street there were rain ponchos as far as the eye could see. All my eye could see, though, was my expensive Ecco shoes getting ruined as I plashed along the potholed sidewalk. I'm thinking I should have left the Eccos home and brought the duckboots.
Humidity can be less than 100% when it's raining (look it up), but when it's raining and the humidity and the temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) are both over 85, an extra waterproof layer is not welcome, trust me on this. Before I plashed from my hotel to the corner I was puffing like a fat man in a steam cabinet. I had to throw off the poncho and continue down the street with the poncho twisted around my head and thrown over my shoulders like an Arab keffiyeh. All in all, I'm finding Vietnam a very hard country to stay dry in.
My CELTA course will be starting tomorrow morning. If the course is as intensive as it's rumored to be, I may not have much leisure for blogging in the next four weeks. Before I go all quiet on you, let me try to correct any impression I may have given you that Hanoi is nothing but one laughable vexation after another. Please remember that I'm a self-confessed curmudgeon and consider it almost a duty to sneer, laugh, or whine at just about everything. But there's a lot to like about Hanoi that I haven't mentioned yet.
A few good things, just off the top of my head:
- Since I've been in Hanoi I've heard no hip hop or rap music, no fast talking radio personalities reading those ads with the stupid 100-mile-a-minute disclaimers at the end, and not one single instance of the f--- word.
- I've seen no graffiti!
- Despite all the visible poverty, urban decay, and pollution the city smells better than New York.
- It might not be a universal pattern, but I see multiple generations (grandparents, parents, teens and toddlers) eating, shopping, and hanging out together as a family to an extent not seen anymore in the US.
- On practically every street corner you can find two men playing Chinese chess with half a dozen kibitzers looking on.
- Many if not most restaurants place a bowl of extra napkins and a container of toothpicks on your table before the meal starts.
- A restaurant check is not brought to your table. When you're ready to go, you get up and pay at the register on your way out.
- You may tip if you think the service is exceptional, but a tip is not taken for granted.
- There is no sales tax.
- Here's the best one: Everywhere you go, people make eye contact with you and smile—this goes for old people, young people, men, women, children, policemen—even teenagers. This feels like the friendliest town I've ever been in.
When I was taking photos in Lenin Park today, I noticed a group of young people milling about some sort of crafts display. One of them approached me and naturally I
expected a sales pitch. 
But to my surprise, the young woman merely invited me to take a photo of the display and in turn have my own photo taken in front of the display. Then she gave me, as a gift, a figure made of rice reeds and paper. Maybe it was a marketing ploy—turn the customer into a friend, since a friend may buy what a customer will not—but I shook hands with Phuong and all her colleagues and then they all, though I offered no money for the reed figure, gave me a warm and friendly sendoff with my gift. Tomorrow I'll take the figure with me to Language Link and get my friend Ninh to decipher the words written on it. Could it possibly say: "This person is a skunk. He accepted a gift and gave nothing in return"…?
1 comment:
me gusta mucho tu blog lo visito a diario visita el mio y si t gusta deja un comentario y enlazamos nuestros blogs
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