This garish red is far too bright to be either me or Jackie. These feet must belong to my aunt Thuy. 

My life, of late

So, a quick update: nothing new. Still teaching and still editing for Vietnam Investment Review and the golf magazine (the horror, the horror. I write headlines like "The Bold and the Beautiful" and "Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright"). The weather’s turned colder and it wouldn’t be so bad except that as motorbike/moped is the most common way of getting around, there’s no protection from the wind slamming into your face.

The bird flu furor has died down a bit since I last wrote. For awhile selling chicken was banned from all major cities (although I know at least one Indian place that never stopped serving chicken tikka masala), but some of the larger supermarkets were recently allowed to start selling chicken again. They presumably come from unaffected provinces. Still, I won’t order any chicken. Although there should be no problem if the food is cooked, the ones likely to get bird flu are those who slaughter the bird and prepare the food, so I’ll do my part not to put them at risk.

The government is taking the H5N1 virus seriously. If they find one case of bird flu in a town, they’ll destroy all the birds there. I recall watching a VTV news segment that showed people throwing ducks into a burning pit. It was pretty sad, actually, watching as the now black-feathered birds tried futilely to get out. The government reimburses the farmers, but farmers only get a fraction of what the birds are worth.

And last of all, my sister is coming for a visit! And my Northwestern buddy Andrea as well. I’m thrilled to have a reminder of home during the holidays. Not only that, but Jackie’s bringing Miracle Whip and ranch dressing. The only thing more American is apple pie.

Born to be wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiild...

Seriously, driving a motorbike in Hanoi is a brave new world.

When I came here, the one thing I said I would not do, under any circumstances, was drive a motorbike (mopeds back in the States). There are thousands of motorbikes and the only thing that seems to be lacking on the streets is, well, order. Remember, when I first got here I couldn’t even cross the street without a slight fear for my life.

So every time I get on my bike I’m a little bit amazed I’m doing it. After months of empty streets past midnight, I finally ventured onto the streets in the middle of the day and things just made sense. There are some rules here: follow the crowd, there’s safety in numbers; avoid all cars and by God, don’t get near the buses, they’re vicious; keep one eye constantly to your right in case a motorbike’s about to come careening out of some side alley, and slow down for the intersections where everybody is driving at once. It’s almost like being in a crowded mall or amusement park where you’re pushing past people saying “excuse me, excuse me,” except you’re on motorbikes, bikes shouldn’t actually touch, and no one says “excuse me, excuse me.” In fact, I know from experience they can take off a small piece of your pinkie and not even turn to see the look on your face.

But it is a pure thrill driving around Hanoi. I feel like such a local, except I’m going so slow I’m behind the bikers (and that’s an issue for another day. Frickin’ bikers should know their place isn’t the middle of the road). I rent a piece of shit Sym Power from Taiwan. Our first week together, a new thing stopped working each day: the ignition, gas gauge, horn and turn signal. That’s what you get for trying to save VND100,000 ($6.32) a month by not upgrading to the ubiquitous Honda Wave. I cursed and swore I’d get a Wave as soon as the month was up, but now I can’t let this piece of shit go. It’s really got a hold on me.


What picture blog entry would be complete without a cheesy shot of me?


And from the side...I no longer wear that awful helmet in the basket, by the way. I bought a much cooler one that completely covers my head and face, and no one can see me. I'm practicing taking it off in slow motion and shaking my hair out so that everyone realizes there's actually a hot chick underneath.


More traffic


And more...


And just in case you haven't had your fill of traffic yet.

There was a war? Oh, yeah

My friend Andrea, who is coming for a visit, wrote a letter recently where she talked about the Vietnam War (called the American War here). It’s funny to me that when Americans think of Vietnam they seem to think mostly of the war, when the Vietnamese are just focused on getting ahead. Every other article I read in Vietnam Investment Review is about the country’s economic reforms, all the foreign investment that Vietnam’s getting, what the country needs to do to join the WTO, etc. It seems like the war’s a distant memory, its remnants kept alive mainly for tourists.

But every now and then I’ll see a reminder. My former tutor once asked what I thought of the fact the U.S. wouldn’t compensate for dropping Agent Orange all over Vietnam’s forests. My aunt, while explaining a grammar concept, used the example, “The Americans dropped heavy bombs on Vietnam.” And my friend’s husband’s name is Chien Tranh, or “war.” His mother went into labor while hiding in the bushes as French planes dropped bombs not too far away.*

So the war memories are there. Sometimes there’ll be a soap opera or music video with actors who are clearly supposed to be soldiers (although I’m surprised at the amount of makeup Vietnamese female soldiers wore). One of the main streets near my house is Kham Thien, which caused an uproar in the States when it was bombed. My current tutor said the Kham Thien bombing killed many civilians, mostly the very old and young. Now I just see it as a perpetually busy street that’s a pain in the ass to drive on.

*I originally wrote had his name wrong (Chien Thang instead of Chien Tranh) and also had the war wrong, claiming it was the Americans and not the French who bombed away. Chien did fight in the American War, though.