Dinner and a lake side stroll

We went out looking for dinner last night.  We were determined to find something different than lunch.  Five blocks and 4300 motorbikes later, we lost the will to look for food and ended up at the same type of food stall as lunch.

Rice + pick 5
It is a mix of veggies and meat that make up the pick 5.  Once again we ran into the veggies that taste like day old dish soap.  Most of the veggies were great and the beef and chicken were delicious.  The owner spoke some English and with the aid of pantomime I explained the word taste.  I asked what the taste was on the bok choy and bamboo shoots (that made them taste like dish soap - which I didn't explain).  He showed us a plastic rice cooker and said "3 days" while motioning that they had shoved it in.  So it turns out that I don't like mildly rotted/fermented vegetables.  When they are fully fermented, like Kim Chee, I do like them.

As a fat Tay (Buleh/Foreigner)  They are nice enough to stack 2-3 of the 4 inch stools.  So it is almost as comfortable as eating lunch in a kindergarten classroom.

Bia = Beer.  

Ha Noi= Hanoi.

Therefore... Beer from Hanoi is pictured below.

We ate dinner next to a lake.  Hanoi has many, and looking across, Janet thought it looked like Lake Calhoun (Near where I used to live in Minneapolis).  Both are beautiful lakes.

Alas, we looked down (and I pointed out to a glassesless Janet) the following:

Yup, those fish are dead.

We did learn today from our real estate agent that people are paid to scoop out the dead fish every day. They die "because of the rain."  I am no biologist so I can't argue, I also don't want to question a source of jobs.  US Congress needs to look into 'dead-fish-after-rain-scooping' as a source of fixing the unemployment.

And that was the end of our first evening in Hanoi.

-Jeff

Crash Landing

We are here in Hanoi!  I felt like we came in for a crash landing last night at the airport.  It all started with our sprint through the airport in Seoul.  Our plane was late coming from Seattle but they held our next connection.  A man with a sign that said Hanoi was waiting for us when we got off the plane.  We had to sprint after him and through security.  I haven't run that hard possibly ever.  Panting and sweating we sat down on the plane just to find out another passenger decided to deboard the plane.  Did you know they have to do an hour of security checks after someone does this?  I didn't.  We finally got up in the air to arrive in Hanoi four hours later.  Needless to say, our bags didn't sprint as hard as we did and didn't make the flight.

Today we walked all over the Ba Dinh district where our temporary lodging is. First impression, it smelled like SE Asia.  Humid, dirty, and smokey.  In another word, amazing.  I could tell I was in the honeymoon phase of transitioning abroad.  The phase where everything is new and adorable. Like when you start dating someone new and can't see their flaws.  A million scooters coming straight at you?  Wonderful!  Eating gross food that tastes like dish soap?  Culture!  Getting soaked through your clothes?  Oh Hanoi, you charming rascal! You know how to show us a good time.

Great Advice and Good Intentions

We are blessed to have people around us who are very knowledgeable about teaching overseas.  We are also blessed by people offering advice with the best of intentions.  For instance, the old Vietnam veteran who let us know that traffic is horrible in Vietnam.  Thank you sir, but I already knew that.  It seems that when you embark on something "unusual" people are inclined to offer their two cents.  So far, the best advice I have gotten was to settle in and concentrate on teaching.  It may seem like common sense.  If I hadn't already *ahem* been planning at least five different treks through various jungles; I would have realized this advice was probably far from common for new teachers in a new country.  Focusing in on what is important (teaching) and doing our very best job is key.  Jeff and I have talked about our job goals quite a lot lately.  We both agree that our jobs are our primary focus.  We can't wait to get settled in and start teaching!