Pho Bo rules!

Oh, this is the end of the Orientation month...and to celebrate it, as part of our language class, we had a cookery lesson. Here in the picture you can see one of our teachers, Co Thu and my friend Mary with a scary knife in her hands. Here we were supposedly learning to make Pho Bo, of which I had three bowls...mmmh DELICIOUS!!!!
Not very inspired today, sorry.
Miss you all, as always.

cheers nic!

I wish....

I wish I could capture the happiness of Hanoi people...

mammmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh

This is a quite afternoon at the scariest junction near where we're staying in the Old Quarter...view from the safe cafe up on the fourth floor of a high building.

My friends couldn't believe it when I was screaming "Mammmmmmaaaaa!" as we were crossing the roads...an Italian, scared by the traffic?

Happy 1st month in Ha Noi!

Today we're celebrating our first month in Ha Noi, and as part of our language training we went to a park which is now called Union Park, but known to all as Lenin Park in order to practise our (very limited and extremely amusing) Vietnamese....basically we were to stop random people and find out stuff about them...I stopped these lovely three ladies, who were dead keen to let me know everything I wanted, trouble was, I couldn't understand a thing, so it was general laughter all the way, and when I got back to report on my findings, I just resolved in making up a story for each of them.

Co Thu (our teacher) was well impressed, and as a reward to our efforts, she took us to buy material to get some clothes made, and after that we went to have Bun Cha:






it was well exciting! we had it at one of these street eating places, there where only Vietnamese people go and squat or sit on the tiniest stools ever....it was something that I was desperate to do, so I was well vui! (oops sorry, can't help speaking the lingo!)

On a less happy note, we went to visit another VSO volunteer, who's not very well...but that's another story.

mmmh, back to food and drink, this is currently my addiction and it's called Pho Bo:

















and this...



















is it dinner time yet?
ooh, what a great way to end my posting...Franz Ferdinand. Life couldn't be better!

a few initial pictures

Photos of traffic and more will come soon!
love to all

happy s patrick's day!!!

I have sooo much to tell you! but before I do, I think I need to explain myself a little better as I don't think the message came across as I wanted it to (although I begin to think that never actually happened, and now I'm just going to carry on digging....euh). So yeah, basically the fact that they don't particularly like confrontations over here, doesn't necessarily mean that it's wrong because it's different from what we do, and secondly, people don't ignore accidents, on the contrary, they deal with them in a very silent and respectful way, the reason why the traffic carries on is because there's billions of vehicles going at the same time on exactly the same spot, so they wouldn't know. But I promise I will post pictures..in fact, I'm really excited cos I've started talking to the people in the computer shop just downstairs from our language class about a WiFi card for my computer.
DUring language I can't help fantasising about sitting in cool Puku cafe with my laptop and just generally look cool.
anyway, moving swiftly on, happy s. patrick's day to all the beer drinkers in the world! I certainly missed the celebrations Welsh and Munich style, but we had a great one over here too!
Dee, who is the only Irish in our group, got invited by the Irish embassy to an informal S Paddy's celebration in the Hotel Hilton - we tagged along, as you do, and met loads of really nice people, drunk guinness and raided the buffet.
it's hot and clammy and my fingers are sticking to the keyboard, so I'll better go!
kisses to all muac muac (stop pulling that face)

same same but different...

och here I am again, a bit more alive than last time, with still loads to write, and still totally uncapable of doing it the right way...ie that everyone can understand without getting into my psyche.
At 6.30 this morning we all (in the hotel) got woken up by loud yelling coming from outside, it lasted 30 minutes or so, and after a wee snooze at the end of it, I was due to get up anyway and that was that.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not appreciate getting woken up by yelling...in fact I don't like getting up at all, so if that had happened at home, I would have yelled something back and that would have been the start to a very very very bad day.
well, in Hanoi this early morning yelling did not have the same effect on me...it was so surprising to hear somebody actually getting angry at something, that I wished I understood what he was saying.
Confrontation is not part of this culture (Vietnamese, Asian....?? don't know) and to be confronted in any way and under all circumstances may cause loss of face. I think I have experienced a loss of face situation, and it's not a nice thing.
which is why, the one thing I keep banging on about, ie the traffic in Hanoi, still doesn't cause any road rage, and everyone keeps honking horns and smiling at each other, despite seriously risking their lives.
each one of us new volunteers saw an accident during these two weeks, from mild to almost serious serious, and the reaction was always the same: a big crowd gathering around the wounded, the person being taken away, and everything going back to normal.
Osie, just to let you know that I think and talk about you all the time, cos the "same same but different" thing now makes total sense.
cheerio

Who's for karaoke?

what a week! certainly a lot less happening in terms of drinking at night (although I can't do without a Ha Noi beer a day, keeps the doctor away) and just general late nights, but very intense as far as language teaching and general exploration of the city, the culture and a bit of history.
but the best was the get together at the karaoke on saturday night, which was already the second time....and would you believe, I actually sang!!! obviously I managed to stay away from the microphone, much to my friends' disappointment, but what they don't realise is that I was trying to save them from the risk of losing their hearing...anyway, no doubt one day it'll happen and then I will be denied getting even close the mic.
then had the most amazing day yesterday staying with a Vietnamese family, who cooked the lovely Pho Bo (noodle soup with beef) and I helped in the making, and most of all eating, of Nem (Vietnamese springrolls). The two girls, nicknamed Tom and Jerry, are the best, the funniest girls (8 and 5 year-olds), and I had the best laugh with them...
I can't wait to get to use my own pc so that I can post some pictures....no doubt that will happen soon. In fact, we have another two weeks training and then real life will begin.
TO be honest, I can't wait for that to happen, as, for as much as this is a very nice holiday, and an excellent preparation to life over here, I do feel that we tend to go back to find our comfort zone and get exposed to very little real Vietnamese lifestyle. But maybe it's just me? mmh, don't know.
I feel (very soft now!) very lucky to having been placed here in Hanoi, as there is a large support network amongst VSO office and volunteers...possibly a good introduction to social work? who knows, I'll keep you posted.
I'd like to apologise to all of you for being so crap at keeping in touch, I hope that I'll be able to catch up with youse properly once I settle in!
Missing you all loads (even if it's just on skype or msn messenger).
buaaahahhhahhhh

Hi everyone again,
so here we are, last friday we celebrated our first week in Hanoi, and things are getting better every day.
When I first read about Viet Nam and about the culture back home, I was surprised (to say the least) by the notion of the Vietnamese being very curious about just about everything, especially about what most Westners view as the most intimate details of one's life, such as age, whether one is married, why aren't they married, and so on...
It took me a week (I know, the neurons were busy studying japanese instead) to get a fairly clear picture of what is really going on. There are about 10 ways of saying hallo to someone in Viet Nam, this depends on the gender and the age of the person you're saying hello to in relation to yourself: not only that, these are all family relations: "em" as in you "little sister" or "anh" as you "little brother" and so on. They are generally curious, but most of all the most sociable and friendly people, because everything happens in and with the community....they need to know everything about you because you are part of that community and will (eventually/hopefully) be seen as part of the family.
We had the opportunity today to listen to a very famous and incredibly charismatic Vietnamese writer today, who summarised in one hour the entire Vietnamese history and the context we are about to get involved in. One point that struck me was how the new "open door policy" (open to foreign markets, etc) was indeed very good for the country's economy, but it is also starting to instill the Western Individualistic philosophy against the Asian Collectivistic "Never alone in your thinking"...a lot of food for thought, but I kinda get the feeling my neurons will go on strike soon, so goodbye, and thanks for your patience as always!

xin chao everyone!

Wow! this is my first post from Hanoi, and there's so many stories to tell...!
first of all,things could not be any better! the group I've arrived in Viet Nam with, and with whom I'm sharing the five weeks in country training are just fantastic! We had the most amazing welcoming over here, from the VSO staff and the local people in general. Hanoi is such a beautiful city and every time we walk places there's always more to discover, whether it's to do with what people do in the streets (erm...an awful lot to say the least!), or generally discovering the city's hidden corners and everything that comes with it. Oh, and there's a massive sense of achievement when you get back home safe and sound at night (albeit with no voice) after having crossed the roads....soon I'll post some pictures so that you get an idea.
so, apart from the typical touristy things that one does, we've started Vietnamese language courses....mmh, yeah....exactement my friend. a bit of a nightmare, but certainly a challenge worth taking on! and as far as I'm concerned, I managed to adapt my tastebuds to the Ha Noi beer flavours from the very first night!
I am thoroughly enjoying this experience, and can't wait to start work in 4 weeks time...
sorry for the bland post people, but it's just so that you know that I am well, and everything's going better than ever expected!
so long...i'll post again when the internet is free and the keyboard easy.
miss you all loads!!