Saying goodbye
I’ve never been a fan of goodbyes (who is?) so I tried as much as I could to say “see you later” when I left Hanoi a couple of days ago. Any of you who know me or have been following this blog will know how much I love Hanoi as a city. It challenged me, welcomed me, provoked me, calmed me, fed me (a LOT!) and gave me some incredible friends and experiences. Right now I’m in Laos, chilling in Luang Prabang and it hasn’t really registered yet that I’ve left Hanoi….part of me feels like I’m on holiday. This may have been planted in my brain by my loving housemate who also convinced herself that I was “just going on a short trip”.
I didn’t want to organise a big “leaving do” as such. I had to plan very carefully where I wanted to eat in my last week, as food was a massive part of my life in Hanoi and big reason as to why I loved it so much there. It was a social thing too, eating on the street or in a restaurant or Bia Hoi, sometimes with big groups all sharing what we had, nearly always cheap and almost certainly always delicious. I also had no idea where I wanted to drink…just too many favourite spots. To be honest, my last few days I wanted to be everywhere and nowhere all at once. My stomach was in knots and I felt on the verge of tears or crazy laughter at every point, I also couldn’t sleep properly which didn’t help with my emotions. At Track bar in the early hours, around 3am or so, the tears came and I realized what I was leaving…(the booze may have helped). I kept a brave face most of the rest of the time, but then on the bus out of Hanoi and in the last day or so in Luang Prabang I have found myself suddenly welling up without any notice or provocation. So I’m writing this blog post for a kind of therapy, it might not end up making much sense, but neither do I a lot of the time.
View from Hang Gai to Hang Bong….the street where I lived
When I left Brighton to come to Hanoi I was in a similar state, but this time it’s different. I will always return to Brighton, to the UK, to friends there (even though in actual fact many are abroad now)…but even if I return to Hanoi again in the future, it won’t be a permanent thing, and it won’t be in the same house or with the same people in my life. I’m having to get my head around the fact that this chapter of my life is now over. It was an amazing chapter, with so much learnt, so many adventures, moments of pure comedy, times of stress, homesickness, crazy dancing, rice wine, motorbike scrapes and 3am fried noodles.
One of the things I’m finding the hardest is leaving the people behind. I knew this was going to be a part of expat life and that people come and go; I had seen sooo many good friends leave already, some who I will see again, others who I won’t. The thing I feel sad about is that I won’t be living in the same city as many of these people again. I won’t be able to simply meet them for coffee randomly, call them to head to Ete bar or Bia Hoi corner, or drive around west lake in the sun with them. I’ll be able to skype them, or meet them occasionally for holidays in other cities or countries, but they won’t be on my doorstep anymore, and that makes me sad. I have this with my friends in the UK too, I’ve missed them incredibly since I’ve been away, but now I’ll be going back to them for the summer, so its swings and roundabouts. A friend said to me recently, we can’t always have everyone we love around us all the time, we’ll always miss someone. It’s true.
However, some of the Vietnamese people I have got to know, colleagues, friends, students, street food vendors…I may not see some of them again unless I come back to Hanoi. Many of them cannot afford to go to Europe or even outside of Vietnam. Those Vietnamese people who I have formed proper friendships with are obviously fluent in English (seeing as my Vietnamese never got above about 20 key phrases), are westernized to a certain degree and have more chances of being able to leave Vietnam and crossing paths with me elsewhere, but there are still many who I won’t see again. This again is something I have to come to terms with, appreciate that I met them, and keep in touch in by the means that I can….thank goodness for the internet!
Not seeing the streets that I am so familiar with will also be strange. I can picture in my head the routes I’d take to my favourite places, the way I drove to work, the dusty streets of My Dinh, the chaos of Cau Giay street and Kim Ma in rush hour, the peace of Westlake on a Sunday afternoon. I meticulously photographed every angle and view off of Hang Bong street cos I’m scared I’ll forget it!
Not being in my house will be very very odd. I really made my bedroom my own, I bought gorgeous green silk bedding, put pictures all over the wall with my Brighton calendar, and had all my books and teaching materials in an organized chaos at the end of the room. My landlord was an artist, so I had a beautiful dreamscape oil painting next to my bed which was calming when I’d had a stressful day. Our cat Maya was constantly trying to snuggle into my knee pits, or get under the duvet with me in the cold winter. It was my cubby hole, it really was a home.
I had wonderful house mates while living at our beautiful house on Hang Bong. The one who was here from beginning to the end, Alice, is one of the people I will miss most in Hanoi. We had the same weird sense of humour, did impressions of our cat, made other strange animal noises, burst into song or dance for no reason, spoke in stupid voices and confused the hell out of most people who were in our presence. She made life enjoyable from day one, showed me the best places to eat, helped me through the rough patches, brought me back to reality when I needed it and always made sure we had English tea. We are very different people in many ways, but that might be what makes us work.
Other housemates have come and gone, notably our Australian housemate who shall remain nameless, but who provided much entertainment with his debauched behavior (you know the stories!). He was also a great tea buddy and again was there whenever I needed him. My original housemate Boris, the inquisitive German who always had a question for us, and a big innocent smile on his face. Ingrid, my latest housemate, I unfortunately did not get to know as well as I’d have liked to due to conflicting work schedules. But we had our silly moments, lunches, coffees, swimming pool trips, and she held my hand when I recently had an emotional breakdown.
I cannot of course forget our random and wonderful cat Maya. Any of you who came to my house will know just how strange and special that cat really is. Often it sounded a bit like she was miaowing “ I wanna cuddle” which was probably right as most of the time as soon as you out her on your lap she’d shut up and start purring. She walks in a special way as it seems her back legs are too long for her (Alice does a great impression), and she’d bring in other cats from the neighbourhood for fights at 2am which would go into my bedroom, or for parties (Alice and I came home one morning at 3am to find Maya had turned on iTunes on Alice’s laptop and had a guilty look on her face).
To summarize my feelings on Hanoi, I’m going to write two lists. Things I’ll miss the most and things I won’t miss…and then I’ll move on. It’s time, but it’s going to take time. I love you Hanoi, and I promise I’ll be back one day.
Things I’ll miss most:
- Street food (see earlier blog post for details) particularly chicken street, Hu Tiu, Pho Ga on Hang Hom and Xoi Ngo at 7am from the lady on Hang Gai.
- Tropical rain storms followed by bright sunshine.
- Cups of tea with my housemates.
- Puku at sunrise after a heavy night out.
- Riding on the back of a good friend’s motorbike around west lake on a Sunday.
- Dancing at Hanoi Rock city.
- Mao’s Long island Ice Teas.
- Sitting on tiny kid’s plastic chairs and drinking 5000Dong (25p/25c) bia hoi.
- Walks around Hoan Kiem lake when I need to stretch my legs.
- Sipping Tra Chanh (lemon iced tea) and munching sunflower seeds by the cathedral (shout out to Lizzy-oi!)
- Hearing “oi!” after every name, chi, anh and em. Please please please call me Karen-oi from now on!
- My ever eager, mostly hard working, adorable adult students at CNR, who almost always made me laugh, despite sometimes being lazy ;)
- Seeing random games of chess/chequers on the street, literally ANYWHERE. Like they just had to play right there, right then.
- TRYING, and often failing, to speak Vietnamese (makes locals happy anyway, having a laugh at the Tay)
- Track bar with friends until 4am at weekends.
- Escaping to the countryside.
- Chats over a lemon slice at Joma café.
- Sunny afternoons/evenings at Picnic Electronic in the summer
- Driving my Honda wave.
Things I won’t miss:
- Driving my Honda wave in rush hour behind a bus choking out black fumes into my face.
- Pollution.
- The “ding ding ding”of the rubbish lady coming to collect our garbage.
- Tales of drink driving accidents.
- Lack of table manners by some Vietnamese people (e.g dribbling on the floor between mouthfuls)
- Getting up at 6am to teach teenagers on a grey, drizzly day.
- Accidentally ordering animal intestines or other innards.
- Driving to and from Xa Dan street to My Dinh twice a week, ooooh the dust!
…………..Fin.
We must play this game right now! yes…here, crouched on the street for an hour….what’s the problem?
Bye bye motorbiiiiiiiiiiike
Tra chanh with two of my favourite people, Alice-oi and Christian-oi, by the cathedral on my last night in the city.
Ha Giang motorcycle diaries
When my friend Nora said a while ago that she wanted to go away for her birthday this year I seized the opportunity to persuade her to going to my last “must-see” place in Vietnam, Ha Giang. Luckily she’s one of my most laid back friends and was easily persuaded, so we got planning. Background info for those of you not in the know, Ha Giang is a northerly province in Vietnam which shares a border with China. I had read various blogs about amazing motorbike trips there, but it still remains relatively untouched and barely mentioned in Lonely Planet guides etc.
So, last Thursday four of us set off on a 5am bus from My Dinh bus station in Hanoi to Ha Giang city for the cheap price of 120k Dong per person ($6). The bus was small, and we knew it was going to become very cozy. A bus which would comfortably take about 25 adults westerners managed to cram on about 50 to 60 Vietnamese people. Nora counted 7 in her row alone at one point , and Seb had two people virtually sitting on his lap if I remember correctly.
After 7 hours we rocked up in Ha Giang city, took a stretch…and went to find out about motorbike rental. I had previously worked out a route we could take, so now we just needed the gear. We found a man called Nam who runs an agency called Rocky Plataeu in a motorbike rental, tour and florist shop (I think his wife is the florist, it was a cute combo). The bikes cost us 220k Dong a day each and were Honda Wave RS 110cc, much smoother than the clapped out Alpha I am used to back in Hanoi!
We filled up on a rice kitchen lunch, filled up the bikes with gas, sorted our permits from the local office (Nam helped us with this, $10 each, you need a passport) and got on the road. The first stretch we did was 50km from Ha Giang city to Quan Ba/Tam Son. We took it slow at first, getting used to the bikes and taking in the greenery and CLEAN AIR! We passed traditional stilt huts, buffalo and small communities as we slowly started to climb higher in the hills.
The roads were windy, which was fun to drive, as long as you are careful not to hit any pieces of wood in the road (as I did and had a wobble!). The weather was misty and atmospheric and it felt a bit like the film set of a fantasy film. Just before we reached Tam Son it started to get reeeally foggy and we had to slow right down and put on the headlights as visibility reached only about 3 meters ahead, eep! After two and a bit hours of driving we descended into Tam Son and decided to stay the night as opposed to pushing on to Yen Minh.
We found a Nha Nghi (guest house) which would house the four of us in one room for 300k Dong ($15) in total (er..bargain) and took a little walk around to explore. Of course we were greeted by plenty of “hello!”s and “hey!”s from local children as we may have been the only westerners in town. It turned out the local school had a talent show on that night and we befriended the legendary local breakdancing troup Die Crew. They were 7 teenage boys and their older brothers, and they had some moves to show us! Unfortunately we were rubbish and missed their performance as we stuffed our faces with ginger friend beef, garlic fried greens and rice at dinner…but we got to see a little encore in the street afterwards. We felt a bit guilty for missing them (dinner was delicious though!). After the long day we were tucked up in bed by 9.30pm…sign of things to come!
Day 2: Christie and I got up early and went for breakfast at the local market. We discovered egg Banh Cuon which is basically a poached egg in a rice pancake served with beef broth. Dee-licious. We got on the road around 9am and started the drive to Yen Minh, 50km away. After about 10km the sky started to look a bit threatening, which thick dark clouds
….and just after we passed a small settlement of houses just outside of Tam Son the heavens opened. Big Style. We rushed back to a Giai Khat soft drinks place and sheltered under their canopy waiting for the downpour to finish. Not only was it a downpour, but there were also extremely strong winds, we were lucky we were at a spot where we could retreat to shelter! It thundered down for around half an hour, in which time the mountain directly in front of us disappeared in the fog.
When it cleared we continued the drive to Yen Minh, which at first ran along the banks of a river with limestone cliffs jutting up into the sky.
The weather was still drizzly and grey but conditions were safe enough to drive. The scenery varied from green paddy fields, to black rocky mountains and pine tree woodlands as we ascended and descended at every turn of the road; winding our way around the mountains.
We reached Yen Minh for lunchtime, cold and wet but happy from absorbing the gorgeous scenery. I literally could not feel my hands from the cold and wet, and my leggings were an extra layer of wet skin, so I vowed to buy a proper big plastic poncho after lunch. Man did we FEAST! Stir fried beef, crispy fatty pork, rice, greens, omlette and bread. One thing we did well on this trip was eating!
After lunch we filled up on gas and set off for the town of Dong Van, the most northerly point we would go and the closest to China. Just a few kilometers outside of town we came across a road being re-done…but in the rain it had become a muddy slide, this was going to be fun to get the bikes up. Seb drove up with no problems, which led myself and Nora into a false sense of security….as I was slowly driving up in third gear I saw Nora tumble from her bike, but I couldn’t stop to help, or my own bike would have fallen or rolled back down the hill. She got back up and carried on, but her bike fell again, this time a Vietnamese man helped her wheel it to safety. I managed to keep my bike up, but then jammed my wheels with stones and mud which I had to then scoop out with my hands….nice!
We carried on driving up hill and came across more gorgeous scenery from up high. It really felt like Lord of the Rings territory now, as Nora said it felt like we were heading into Mordor with tall black rocky mountains and a noticeable lack of green. The landscape was unforgiving, and the people were visibly poor. Small settlements were dotted along the road, but they all felt a bit grim…..must be harsh conditions for those who scrape together a living out here. Having said that it was still breathtakingly beautiful and like nothing I’ve seen since the volcanic landscapes of Iceland…but on a grander and taller scale.
We arrived in Dong Van at around 5pm, cold and in need of warmth. We went straight for a coffee where the lady of the house also provided us with glasses of hot water which we eagerly wrapped our freezing fingers around. Turned out the hotel across the road would be $5 a night each and had a HOT shower and duvets…..divine! We quickly retreated to the room for a snuggle under the duvets. Dinner that night was beef hot pot for us carnivores and massive plate of fish for Nora, accompanied by a bottle of rice wine, naturally! Another early night.
Day 3: we woke up to see the clouds were white and high, and it seemed like the sun might come out. Despite being full still from the previous night’s hot pot feast, Christie and I managed to squeeze in the egg Banh Cuon. Seb returned from the market with socks and gloves to make our driving experience that bit more comfortable and we took to the road again after a caffeine boost.
The drive was rumoured to be the best part, the pass to Meo Vac. It was certainly epic! The weather was on our side, so we could see for miles as we climbed to some of the highest spots we had experienced yet. I often had to stop and turn off my engine and stare at the landscape and soak up the peace; it was pure bliss. I think pictures do it more justice than my inadequate words, but it still has to be seen in real life to be believed.
It was only 20km to Meo Vac, so the journey didn’t take us too long and after a quick pit stop we continued on to Yen Minh on the return leg of the journey. Along this leg of the drive we passed many H’mong people who seemed to be either going somewhere or returning from somewhere; it turned out there was a large market just around the mountain, Lung Phin. The market was crazy. There were goats strapped to the tops of buses, luminous pink headscarves for as far as the eye could see, slabs of meat and animal organs on wooden tables, spices, dried shrimp, silverware, shampoo, piglets, noodle soup, and delicious fried potato snacks. We stuck out like sore thumbs as the H’mong people seem to average at about 4ft in height!
After the market we carried on the way to Yen Minh, with the weather still on our side. The landscape was rocky and mountainous, but then descended into green paddy fields once again.
One type of tree consistently caught my eye as I wove my bike around the bendy roads, it had a bright red blossom and looked stunning against the greens of the fields and the blue sky. The land became flatter again and we were again surrounded by green farmland, water sodden rice paddies, blossom and leafy palms.
We arrived in Yen Minh to clear blue skies and sunshine, and to find the previously mud slidey road was dry and much more easy to navigate on the way down! We went back to same rice place for lunch and were greeted with equally delicious food as we had experience the day before…but this time the bread had been gently fried….so.delicious. We shall forever dream of this bread! A local crazy sat with us for our meal, which was mildly entertaining. He was chatting jibberish that wasn’t even Vietnamese. The lady of the house tried to shoo him away, but he wouldn’t move. He was harmless though, we gave him some bread and nodded and smiled occasionally at his rantings.
After lunch we did the final stretch of the day, 50km back to our spiritual home of Tam Son. We had done this journey in the other direction yesterday, but in the sunshine it felt like a totally different place, we could barely recognise it!
10km outside of Tam Son we stopped at a Bia Hoi near where we had sheltered from the storm the day before , and had a drink before doing the last little climb into Tam Son. I think it’s safe to say we were all deliriously happy after a great day’s driving. We stayed the night again in Tam Son at the same Nha Nghi and prepared for our first lie-in the next day, no alarm clock!
Day4: We had a leisurely morning getting coffee and breakfast in town then going for a walk through the, now livelier, market place. We decided to take a walk through the fields and took a turn across an unfortunate local dumping ground (about 40m squared of plastic bags, packaging etc….the unromantic side of the Vietnamese countryside) to go up the mountains and stretch our legs. We walked behind some local H’mong women who must have been in their 60’s or 70’s and were still agile and storming up the hillside. They definitely put me to shame with their fitness!
Around 1.30pm we started the slow drive back to Ha Giang, the last 50km of our trip. I was more than half tempted to turn around and drive back to Dong Van! We had a lack of gas and there was a power cut in town so we couldn’t refuel at the gas station, so we had to gently roll down the hills until we found some people selling it from bottles by the roadside…gotta love Vietnam for that! As we reached the end of our journey we stopped by the roadside for a final drink and absorbed the warm sunshine and peace before heading back to Hanoi.
Nam had arranged tickets for us for the sleeper bus back to Hanoi at 8.30pm. The bus was so much more comfortable than the one we had experienced on the way up to Ha Giang, with reclining beds and blankets, I slept well!
I don’t know how to summarize the trip to Ha Giang. It really is the most incredible thing I have done in Vietnam. The landscapes were breathtaking, the people so friendly, the food was delicious….I would do it all again now if I could. If there’s one thing you do in Vietnam, make sure it’s this!
Food is the way to my heart
Before moving to Hanoi I hadn’t really tried any Vietnamese food, bar a bowl of Pho in Brighton, and I didn’t really know what to expect either; I just knew it probably wouldn’t be very vegetarian friendly. I have been both delighted and horrified by the food out here. I love all the things the Vietnamese can do with noodles, rice and meat; I am also revolted (but kinda respectful) by their capacity to eat literally every part of an animal in some kind of dish. This was reinforced lately when my housemate and I checked out a local rice canteen and she added what she thought were mushrooms to her plate….they transpired to be some kind of animal intestine in disguise….cue much heaving and gagging.
On the whole though, I adore Vietnamese food. Anyone who knows me will know that my life is pretty much ruled by my stomach; if I cannot eat I get cranky, if I can’t eat what I want….I get cranky, if some takes my food from me, I get nasty. Food is one of my greatest pleasures in life and I often plan what I want to eat for the rest of the day just after breakfast. On holiday I often plan my day around food and try to schedule in as many meals as possible. How I am not obese is a mystery. Anyway, I digress, this post will from now on be dedicated to some of the wonderful food I have been lucky to be introduced to in Vietnam, and which I will forever crave once I leave this country.
Let’s start with the basics. Phở is probably the dish most of you will have heard of and even tried outside of Vietnam. It is a very simple dish, a bowl of broth, usually either chicken or beef, with your choice of meat (again usually chicken or beef), flat white rice pho noodles and chopped spring onions garnished with lime, fresh herb leaves, garlic and chili to your taste. Very simple, yet so delicious. I am lucky enough to have an excellent Pho Ga (chicken) street food joint near my house which serves the best pho ga I have ever tasted in Hanoi. Juicy tender chicken, and plenty of it, with a beautifully delicate chicken broth. BIG thanks to my friend Thomas for introducing me to this place, I am eternally indebted! A bowl of Pho is Hanoi will set you back around $1 or $2 on the street.
The second street food dish I ever tried in Hanoi was Bun Cha, to which I quickly became addicted. This is a northern Vietnamese dish, and there are plenty of places that serve it in Hanoi, all varying in quality and price and portion size.
The main ingredients for Bun Cha are bun vermicelli noodles and barbecued pork in a garlic and fish sauce broth, served with pickled vegetables and garnished with chili, garlic and fresh salad leaves and herbs. Often you can get a side order of nem, spring rolls, which complete the meal nicely. Deeeeelicious. Often costs about $1.50 or $2 with nem.
Next on my list is Hu Tieu, which I have been told by my students actually originates from China. We have a great place near my house which serves it up for $1.50 a bowl.
This dish can vary in content I am told, but the one near my place serves a bowl of white flat noodles, thinly sliced pork (no fat!), bean sprouts, salad leaves and peanuts, served with a pork and crab broth with spring onions. I add lashings of chili sauce to this light and tasty dish to perfect it for my spice-craving palette. Variations include wantons and shrimp, which I have also tried and was equally delicious.
A favourite of my housemate’s is Phu Ly. This is a plate of thin, flat wide noodles (similar to what is used in Banh Cuon) with slices of grilled pork meat on top, similar to British back bacon, and sprinkles of dried fried onion. This simple combination is served with a bowl of fresh mint, a bowl of warm fish sauce and some chili and garlic. It’s a very light and simple dish, but oh so tasty! Perfect for when the weather is too hot for large portions.
For the fish lovers out there, my favourite dish has to be Bun Ca. If you go to Nha Trang you will get the BEST Bun Ca with fresh fish from the sea, but it is still available in Hanoi (hopefully not with fish from West lake, but you never know….whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger I guess).
This soup has a tomato based broth with bun vermicelli noodles, crispy pieces of fish, fish cakes and tofu. There is a green vegetable of which I do not know the name, but kind of resembles a fibrous cucumber?! It’s very very tasty, and goes well with the fish, along with spring onions and dill. The best Bun Ca I have had away from the coast has to be in the market in Yen Chau, which was a bargain at 15,000VND (75cents).
Very popular for get-togethers and special occasions, especially in the winter, is Lau hot pot. Lau is served as raw ingredients which you then cook at your table.
You are presented with a plate of your chosen meat or fish (I have tried beef, chicken, fish and frog) with chili and ginger, alongside plates of green vegetables, tomatoes, tofu, noodles and a big pan of broth. The broth is heated over a stove on your table and you add the ingredients to be cooked together in a steaming bowl of delicious smells and flavours. It’s a communal thing, so best done with a larger group. My favourite hotpot again was probably seafood by the coast….yummy. Frog was surprisingly tasty, but the frog feet and toes did weird me out a bit!
Breakfast in Vietnam varies, but often is noodle soup or rice based. My favourite rice-based breakfast has to be xoi, sticky rice.You can get it with meat, peanuts, corn, egg, or by itself.
My favourite has to be with sweetcorn, xoi ngo. It’s served wrapped in a banana leaf, which is in turn wrapped in newspaper and a plastic bag (The Vietnamese do enjoy their packaging and wrapping),and costs about 10,000VND (30p). A very filling and satisfying way to start the day!
One thing Hanoi does extremely well is street BBQ. I am very lucky to live very close to two very good barbecue places. One of the roads off Nguyen Thai Hoc is entirely dedicated to barbecue chicken, and is aptly know by expats as “chicken street”. Each place varies, and I frequent two different joints depending on what I’m craving. At the top of the road is a place where the chairs are bigger (adult size) and the meat has…well…more meat on it. It’s the only place where u can get chicken breast, to western tastes. The chicken is glazed in honey and spices and served with chili dipping sauce, slices of cucumber and if you so desire you can order roasted potatoes on a stick, or flattened, honey-glazed, barbecued French bread. My mouth is watering just thinking about this bread, it’s amazing. Further down the road there is no chicken breast available, the meat is less meaty, but the seasoning is more tasty, you also have to opt for the Vietnamese style child seating of small plastic stools. This end of the road is more popular with Vietnamese.
Literally next to my house is another great street BBQ place. This time it is not chicken specific, but has a wiiiide variety of things you can order to be barbecued and brought to your table, including many vegetarian options. Some of my favourites include stuffed crab, tiger prawns, okra, aubergine with garlic, sweetcorn, chicken and cherry tomato skewers, beef and okra skewers, tofu, mushrooms and of course the honey bread. Prices vary, as you can get delicacies such as oysters, salmon or frog as well as the normal chicken and veg options. All this is served with pickled vegetables (Korean kim chi) and spicy dipping sauces. As you can imagine, I regularly frequent this spot as it is so close to my house and so damn tasty!
Friends enjoying the Hang Bong street barbecue by my house
So, that’s a brief intro to my favourite food in Hanoi, there are several more that I have not mentioned and may have to be written about at a later date, such as bun bo nam bo (sounds like a dance or song), mien ngan and mien luong. Hanoi has introduced me to so many new flavours and smells, and made me try so many new things with not too many unpleasant experiences. One of the things I will miss most about Vietnam when I leave will be the street food and the culture surrounding it. There’s nothing like getting a numb ass sitting on those tiny tiny stools out on the street, negotiating with your chopsticks to eat such delicious noodles, soups and rice dishes. Vietnam, you have not let me down with your wonderful cuisine.
To read a slightly better blog about the food in Vietnam, please see Sticky Rice, he does the food here much better justice!
Teacher Oi!
“Teacher!” “Teacher!”……a name I never thought I would have been called if you had asked me 10 years…maybe even 5 years ago. Teaching was never a career that appealed to me cos I wasn’t the nicest of students at school. I wasn’t rude to my teachers as such, I just chatted…all the freaking time, didn’t listen much and distracted other students. I was also pretty intelligent and got good grades, which must have annoyed my teachers a bit, considering it seemed that all I did was chatter to my best friends.
I’m going to fully admit that the main reason I took the CELTA course and decided to teach English was because it was my key to being able to travel and earn at the same time. I’m privileged to be a native English speaker because my mother-tongue is “the” international language, and there is quite a large demand for native speakers to teach it all over the world. I also was kinda sick of sitting at a computer all day every day and wanted a job which meant more interaction with people, but outside of the service industry (oh the joyful memories I have of bar work with drunken, rude customers).
On January 12th last year, just around a year ago, I started my teaching career at ILA school in Cau Giay. My first classes were Juniors, aged between 7 and 11 years old and with between 15 and 18 in a class. I. was. Terrified. In the CELTA course we had only been taught for 1 hour on teaching techniques for young learners (including the “quick flash” and the “slow reveal”….my CELTA instructor’s slightly badly named technique for showing kids flashcards) , and I had observed my predecessor for one day the week before I started. I also had a high school class which I was to teach twice a week. I was initially looking forward to this with naive optimism, oh how things changed!
The high school weren’t “bad” kids, not in the same sense as teens can be in the UK, but they were hard to please. I did find them kinda sweet, there were a few wannabe gangstas who would come into school with their beanie hats, hoodies and high top trainers, blasting out Snoop Dog on their phones and rapping about bitches and ho’s. In class they would be cheeky sometimes, but in a semi innocent way, like 12 year olds who thought they were 16 rather than actually being 16. My prime example is a student I taught named Hieu. He wanted to be a hip hop music producer, shaved his hair into weird hairstyles, wore THE tallest beanie hat and THE biggest trainers and walked with the gangsta swagger….but he ruined his street cred by giving himself the English name Cifford. Clifford….! The class also had an obsession with toilets, and would talk about them at any given opportunity and make constipation noises as the “buzzer” sound any time I did a quiz with them.
In May I started work at my current school CnR. At this school they mainly teach adults, often of university age who want to take the IELTS exam and study abroad. I have definitely enjoyed teaching adults a lot more, despite the more intensive planning that is needed and the larger expectations that they have from you as a teacher. I find often that the games I played with kids work just as well in adult classes; a game where they have to rush to the board and slap the correct vowel sound or write the correct vocabulary can often end in much hilarity (and occasionally mild violence!).
My favourite guilty pleasure as a teacher though has to be the pronunciation and vocabulary mistakes people make. It can be very hard to keep oneself composed when a young male student tells you they’re going to a beautiful bitch for their holiday! I’m not going to name names here, but here is a short list of a few of my favourite pronunciation and vocabulary-oi’s (I’ve coined the phrase grammar-oi, vocabulary-oi etc for any errors made, as the Vietnamese use “Oi!” A lot in every day life).
“Teacher, your mother she is like coffee, yes?” (I think this student meant to ask me if my mum likes coffee)
“ My birthday is on the turd”
“ sick” instead of the number six
“ I put the shit on the bed”
“In ten years time, I’m going to look like my nephew” (this was said to me by a 42 year old woman….I dunno what she thought the question meant!)
“ At Christmas Santa Claus only does the good children”
“ I only have one shitter” as opposed to sister. (This one is stolen from a colleague, made me laugh in the staffroom!)
And then there is the plain bold honesty that Vietnamese students have displayed in my time here. It’s lucky I have a thick skin and good sense of humour as these are some of the things they have said to me:
A Junior student once said to me, while patting my belly, “Teacher, baby inside?”
“When are you going to get married miss Karen? You’re getting old and soon it’ll be too late”
“I think you’re 32” and then when I tell them I’m 27 “ Wow, but you have so many lines in your skin”
“ Miss Karen, are you fat?”
“ Teacher! You have spots!”
Most of the time however, my students here are just such lovely, innocent, kind people. They make me laugh and smile on the days when I think I don’t want to teach, and they can brighten my day by telling me I’m beautiful or that they have the most fun in my lessons. They are never malicious, they can be lazy and cheeky, but I don’t have to put up with too many bad attitudes.
I only have another couple of months teaching Vietnamese students out here before I head back to the UK, and I think I may have taken for granted their sweet nature and eagerness to learn. Teaching in another country later this year, wherever that may be, will bring a while new culture of learning and new kinds of students. I look forward to a new challenge and a change, but I will never forget my Vietnamese students, as they are the ones who have taught me how to teach.
(Any EFL teachers reading this, please do leave a comment with your best student mistakes, I do enjoy hearing others :)
Happy Hanoi-versary to me!!
A year ago today I had been in Hanoi for about 2 weeks. On 8th November 2010 I landed at Noibai airport, tired and delirious, excited and scared, not sure what to expect and with a return ticket to the UK booked for February just in case. A year on I celebrated my one year Hanoi-versary, marking the 1st year of my love affair with this city. It’s been a relationship of extreme highs and lows and other unpredictable and weird and wonderful experiences; a voyage of discovery you might say. But the year has been a fantastic one in all and I feel genuinely at home in this mad-cap metropolis.
Coming here was a big thing for me, but it was something I genuinely needed, a change of pace, a change of job and a change of scenery. It was incredibly hard to tear myself away from my family, friends and the beach in Brighton, but it was time to take the plunge.
Teaching in Vietnam has been an amazing experience. I feel much more suited to this kind of work than I was sitting in front of my computer 9-5 every day. It’s a challenge a lot of the time but it can be incredible fun too, especially with the right class and the right attitude. Obviously there are sometimes “wrong” classes and wrong attitudes, but that’s to be expected from time to time (especially when teenagers are involved). There were days when I got the stomach sinking feeling of not wanting to go into school, but that was mainly at weekends when I had long hard days teaching mad children….so I dropped the kids classes in July and now work with adults, with a few teenagers on occasion. I’ve found this suits me miles better, and also means I have my weekends off so I can explore Vietnam easier. Teaching adults is great cos you can really have a laugh with them and get to know them, but sometimes they can be harder to please in terms of what they want from a class; however that’s a challenge I enjoy. I’m still learning to teach, every lesson in fact, so I take any criticism in a constructive light (with a bit of grumbling and kicking myself).
In terms of life outside of work, things have been pretty fabulous. I live in a beautiful house, near the old quarter but off a main road so it isn’t too noisy. I have had the pleasure of living with wonderful housemates and a slightly bizarre cat who chews plastic bags, and our house is surrounded by amazing street food vendors. I have made lots of great friends who I can watch films with, get merry with, sit in coffee shops with and drive around Westlake with on the sunnier days. People have come and gone, which I have found hard, but I’m learning to get used to it, I have to if I’m going to live as an expat. It can feel sad though, when I go to my favourite coffee shop, and look at empty chairs near me knowing that I used to hang out in that same place with 5 or 6 people who are now no longer in this city. I’m having to try and get back in the “making new friends” state of mind, and now I’m settled I have to admit I’m finding it a challenge to motivate myself.
As for the city itself, it never fails to surprise me, on a daily basis. Whether it be the 70 year old man walking down Hang Bong in the afternoon wearing striped pyjamas, a bowler hat and Nike shoes, or the weedy Vietnamese student volunteers who stand at the traffic lights with tiny red flags attempting to stop the traffic, Hanoi gives me plenty to giggle at.
Vietnam as a country has sooo much to offer, and I’ve had a great time exploring the countryside outside of Hanoi, going to Mai Chau, Tam Dao, Cuc Phuong and of course on multiple occasions to my escape hole Yen Chau. Yen Chau will always have a special place in my Vietnamese memories as it’s where I have been made to feel the most welcome outside of Hanoi, thanks to my friend Ha and her colleagues and friends there. They drove me around to see the most gorgeous views of the mountains and farms, and entertained me with nights of karaoke accompanied by lots of rice wine!
I recently went back to the UK for a passport renewal and to see everyone back home. Leading up to the trip I was sooo excited, but also terrified of the prospect of reverse culture shock…but more importantly the fear that I might not fit in back at home anymore. Those fears were abated as soon as I got back cos, as everyone predicted, nothing had really changed and it was great fun catching up with everyone and the endless cuddles were just what I needed. But I knew from the visit that the UK was not where I want to live right now, which was a scary realisation, but also a positive one as I’d been beginning to have doubts about Hanoi and how long I should stay. I have come back refreshed and looking forward to my final 6 months here, settling on going back to the UK in May for weddings and summer schools before heading off to new horizons in the Autumn. I miss my friends from the UK so so much, but they’ll be there when I get back and we all have our own lives to be getting on with in the meantime, odd skype calls and facebook messages make my days complete here.
This blog post does not detail enough all my feelings about the past year, I didn’t know where to start and I’m sure I’ve not done it justice, but I felt I had to write *something* to mark this Hanoiversary. Not to mention my blog has been pretty dead since the summer…but that’s probably a sign that I’m settled and happy! I’m hope to take full advantage of the opportunities that come up in Vietnam in my last 6 months here, and I’ll try to keep a better record of them on this blog….providing the unreliable Vietnamese internet behaves itself ;)
Here’s a piccie of what’s left of the CELTA crew, the first lovely people in Hanoi who I bonded with and who have had to deal with me from day one. Taken at our favourite bar, Mao’s. Photo courtesy of Michael….(@Pidge) Love ya’ll
Escape to the countryside
Living in Hanoi takes a certain type of character I think. You need to be able to appreciate, or at least tolerate, the chaos. You must learn to deal with the cramped conditions in certain areas, and your lungs need to toughen up so that you can breathe through the car fumes and dust. I think I’ve almost mastered all three, as I love this city and can deal with all of the above, but I occasionally have to leave the smog, noise and crowds and run away to the beautiful countryside that Vietnam has to offer, literally on the doorstep of Hanoi.
When Tessa came to visit me in April we went to the mountains and farmlands of Mai Chau in Hoa Binh province. After just one hour in a mini bus we were out of Hanoi and I could see green space, limestone mountains, wild birds and blue sky…..it was gorgeous and a literal breath of fresh air. We only spent two days and one night in Mai Chau, but I could feel my head clearing, my lungs breathing in fresh air and my sense of smell returning to appreciate the refreshing smells of the countryside. We met local people, drank tea and rice wine with them and smoked the long wooden pipes I’d so often seen men puffing away on while playing Chinese chess on the streets of Hanoi. It was one of my favourite places in Vietnam to date.
Recently I took a trip a weekend trip a bit further on from Mai Chau, to Yen Chau in Son La province near the border with Laos. My friend Ha has been working there on a project which monitors and reports on pesticide and other substances in the water and soil in the area. With my new job I now have two days off in a row, so I decided to take a break and took the bus on the Friday afternoon and made the six hour journey to meet Ha in the mountains. The bus journey itself was lovely, with reclining sleeper beds to stretch out on while I gazed out the window at the green landscapes passing me by. I arrived in Yen Chau at around 8pm and was met by Ha and immediately taken for dinner with her friends and co-workers at a Com (rice) restaurant. Even though I couldn’t understand the Vietnamese conversation I was immediately made to feel very welcome, and they all made such an effort to speak English to me when they could.
On the Saturday morning I awoke to the sound of the public announcements on the street speakers at 6am…..nice and early! Getting out of bed I was greeted with the stunning view of the mountains and low cloud and mist. As we walked to the market for breakfast the heavens opened but we made it undercover before the worst hit. There we sat eating our Bun Ca fish noodle soup as we watched the workers in the paddy fields carry on with their work despite the torrential downpour. The rain ruined our plans for a drive around the countryside so I visited Ha’s lab house to see her work for the morning and met more of her colleagues.
After we’d had lunch the weather cleared up and we had to go to one of the farms where Ha has to collect soil samples, which was 20km away around the mountains. They at first wanted me to drive one of the motorbikes, which was NOT going to happen, it was far too heavy and powerful, no way I’d feel confident on those steep windy roads! So one of Ha’s friends Hung drove me, which I am glad of as I got to fully appreciate the spectacular scenery around me. Unfortunately, being a bit special, I had forgotten to bring my camera battery to Yan Chau, so I have no photographs to share with you just how gorgeous it was.
The farm we were visiting is owned by a Thai farmer, the Thai are one of the ethnic groups who are native to the northwest mountain regions of Vietnam. The farmer’s house was a traditional wooden stilt house, and his main crop is maize so we were treated to delicious corn on the cob. While Ha went to the fields, myself and Hung went to attempt to walk to a cave…however the mud from the rain meant that my Birkenstock sandals weren’t really appropriate footwear and we had to turn back, covered in mud. The motorbike also didn’t enjoy the mud and skidded over several times as we attempted to get back up the hill, fun times. We made it back to the house though, if a bit more covered in mud, and waited there for Ha to return. The family was very generous and cooked up lots of delicious sweetcorn for us to eat, and the kids even put on the karaoke machine which kinda contrasted the beautiful peaceful landscape with the thumping music. When traditional culture meets the modern world, illustrated at its best I think!
Early evening we made the journey back to the town for a BBQ party being held by Ha’s colleagues. The drive back was just as spectacular, and again I kicked myself for not brining my camera battery. We had a lovely evening at her friend’s house, everyone brought different food and we ate, chatted and of course did many shots of locally brewed rice wine and banana wine. This naturally resulted in us going to the local karaoke bar of course, where, as a westerner, I was forced to sing Britney Spears……and totally rocked it obviously…. *ahem*.
The following day I was greeted by many sad hungover faces as they struggled to stomach their noodle soup and rice and guzzled coca cola. Being as I am British and well used to hangovers I was fine to go off on a walk with Ha, and we strolled along the paddy fields and she told me about the cultivation and farming processes. The rice plant is probably my favourite hue of green, it’s so vivid and bright, and against the grey blue mountains it looks even more gorgeous. After our walk it was sadly time for me to wave goodbye to the fresh air and new friendly faces and head back to Hanoi, with 5kgs of mangos and 2 liters of banana wine in tow of course :) The mangos were in season and I managed to buy 5kg for 50,000VND (about $2.50)….how I love the local seasonal fruit in Vietnam!
Six hours later I was back in my beloved dirty, smoggy Hanoi feeling refreshed and ready to face the chaos again. Planning my next trip out already, maybe back to Son La or to the Chinese border to see the mountains of Ha Giang…..can’t wait!
Mai Chau, and what I like to believe are Vietnamese versions of my mum’s allotment back in Dorset.
Summertime and the living is…..sweaty
I remember when Alice my house mate warned me about the summers in Hanoi, she informed me that walking to the local shop and back (2mins) would cause you to be soaked in your own sweat. I giggled nervously; surely I would learn to adjust to such temperatures? I’d be fine. Sure, maybe shower three times a day and forget about wearing make- up or having normal sized hair for the season, but sacrifices have to be made right?
It is now proper summer in Hanoi, and every day averages at around 30-34 by day and 27-29 by night. It’s humid (usually around 100% humidity) but the sun is out a lot of the time, which makes me happy! I am sweating. A lot. I’m seriously reconsidering having a fringe but growing it out might make me hotter. My appetite during the day is declining a little and I am having extreme cravings for Calippo lollies which I cannot get out here. However, I have actually adjusted ok, and the heat very rarely gets to me….these have been my ways of coping so far:
*Early mornings and evenings are my friend. At 8am the sun is out, it’s only around 28c (never did I think I’d say “only” with that temperature) and it’s nice to sit by the cathedral or lake and drink an iced Vietnamese coffee and people-watch. At 6pm at the same spots it’s nice to enjoy a balmy evening drinking iced lime tea.
*Showers….multiple times. I often shower once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and sometimes before bed.
*Nap. I’ve taken to napping after lunch, siesta style.
*Get used to the feeling of sweat and learn to enjoy it….as much as you can anyway! Getting annoyed by feeling sweaty only makes you perspire more.
I’ve been mocked by Vietnamese friends and other longer staying expats because apparently the worst is yet to come. Last year I have been told the hottest on record was 42c by day and 37c by night. Ouch. With July and August comes the rainy season, big storms and all that. But I think that may have been brought forward this year as I’ve witnessed several spectacular storms since early June in the afternoons or evenings. These storms entail massive swirling black clouds gathering over the city within minutes, gusts of wind shaking everything up, followed by an unleashing of thick walls of thundering rain which end up leaving 2 to 3 inches deep in some areas of the city in under an hour! They’re so much fun to watch but not so great to get caught in when you’re on a motorbike on your way into work….
So far so good, I’m coping better than I anticipated, but if the worst is yet to come then expect another blog post later in the summer months where I point and laugh at myself for being so damned naive.
Here’s a piccie of one of those crazy summer storms, taken from my doorstep.
A visit to Friendship Village Hanoi with Vietnam Relief Services →
I visited the Friendship Village along with Phuong from VRS to capture the daily lives of the children who live there. Many of these kids live with cognitive or physical disabilities, many of which are suspected to be linked to exposure to dioxins present in Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the states in the Vietnam war. We’re hoping to campaign for greater awareness and help raise funds for the care of those affected. It was a lovely morning :) The kids are so friendly, positive and motivated, and they deserve a high standard of care and a lot of love back!
Follow the link to take a look at the photos, and take some time to have a look at Vietnam Relief Services website. Thanks :)
Easy come, easy go
When I came to Hanoi it was initially to take the CELTA course and experience living in a new place for a while, I booked a return flight home just in case and told myself I wouldn’t make any decisions until I’d been here a month at least. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it or if I was going to want to stay, but it turns out almost 7 months down the line that I am planning on staying for another year or so. I think Hanoi might be one of those places where people either leg it immediately after being here for the specified amount of time they were planning on being here, or end up prolonging their stay a little. I met a girl in my first week or so who had been here for 3 months and clearly was not enjoying it much, and one of the teachers I replaced at my school was also gagging to leave. Maybe Hanoi is a bit like Marmite, you either love it or you hate it.
As an expat, on the whole the people I’ve met here are here for a few months, a year maybe, sometimes more….mostly though many of us don’t really know and haven’t set a definite deadline. My plans change every time I talk to someone about it, and I’m sure this is similar for other expats. One thing is unavoidable though, the fact that my friendships here are going to come and go and change a lot in my time living here. My housemate wisely warned me about this a while back; Hanoi’s expat scene is transient in nature, you bond very quickly with people and then one of you leaves.
My first real experience of this was with our housemate Boris. He’d been living with us since January and was a hell of a lot of fun to have around. We corrected his English (he’s German), taught him slang and inappropriate uses of language, Alice taught him Backstreet Boys dance moves and we ate BBQ chicken together. We didn’t have exactly the same friendship groups, but we complimented each other and had lots of silly random chats in the kitchen. His farewell party was a lot of fun, and it was not a sad occasion at all. But when I said goodbye to him before he left Hanoi I knew that this was very likely to be the last time I’d see him, realistically. He might decide he doesn’t like sanitized Germany and come running back to the madness of Hanoi, but it won’t be the most likely thing to happen. The other possibility would be that we see each other in Europe sometime, but it’s hardly a small place, and would we ever make time for it? The beauty of the modern world though is we have skype and facebook, so we can have our virtual friendship.
I also said goodbye recently to a colleague who is leaving Hanoi for health reasons, and a girl I met through my housemate who has been a fun dinner and drinks companion. The colleague I again am unlikely to see again unless our paths cross in SE Asia, but I hope to see the lovely Laura again someday back in the UK.
It’s very easy to meet new people in Hanoi, and hopefully some of these meetings turn into friendships. I’m the kind of person who can get attached to people very easily, my friends mean a hell of a lot to me and I miss people lots when I’m not with them. But I think Hanoi is toughening me up, and making me learn to enjoy people’s company while I have it. My life here is temporary, and that’s the kind of life I will be having as an EFL teacher for a while.
Talking of teaching, things have changed a wee bit in that area too, not without its own set of goodbyes. My high school teenage class came to an end a week ago, after 5 months of highs and lows and questioning my ability to teach that age range. They made me laugh, they made me cry, they made me severely frustrated at times, but I think in a weird way I will miss them. I will miss them as individuals, but I don’t think I’m going to miss teaching them as a class. The school was limited in equipment and resources, which limited how fun and engaging my lessons could be, I’m new to teaching teenagers, and they were at the end of the day….teenagers! Nothing I was ever going to do was ever going to please them fully, they loved to complain (this seems to apply teenagers worldwide). When other colleagues covered my lessons while I was on holiday, my class apparently missed me…and on the final day last week they wanted pictures with me and many of them hugged me goodbye. I know I’m unlikely to see them again, and will have no idea what they end up doing with their lives, and this is something I’m going to have to get used to as a teacher.
I am now teaching at a new school during the week. I have kept my weekends working with the Juniors at ila, but now teach adults during the week at an IELTS school. The first class I have been given are at pre intermediate level, and are great. They are cheeky like teenagers, and I think I’m gonna have my work cut out in keeping the work engaging, but the beauty of it is that they WANT to be there. They are paying for the course and they want to learn English. The lessons are longer, but funnily enough I’m finding it hard to fit in all the material, rather than worrying about padding out my lessons, how the tables have turned!
I was going to call this blog post “An ode to Boris”, but thought that might inflate his ego too much. Instead here is a photograph of one of his most favourable memories in Hanoi….I mean, how lucky is he to be sandwiched between two such stunning women?
Page 1 of 3
