It’s freakishly and rather worryingly warm in Hanoi right now.
I should be wearing four or five layers and I’m sweating in one.
It’s disturbing but, then again, it’s beautiful out there.
VietNamNet has an occasional weekend series entitled “My Vietnam”. In short, a foreigner outlines how he sees the country and gets to describe his relationship with it.
I’ve stepped up and you can read the full article here.
But the important bit is cut and pasted below.
I think it’s fair to say that I used to see Vietnam as somewhat rose-tinted. Inrecasingly, however, it appears more black and white and increasingly I see good versus evil struggles at all levels.
Earlier in the series Michael Brosowski of the wonderful Blue Dragon NGO said:
My Vietnam is a complex country, where hope and sorrow co-exist…
I agree entirely.
I think Vietnam is damaged and it goes way beyond physical scars. I think Vietnam often, understandably, acts out of fear.
But, in the end, it always seems to me that there is too much good here for it not to prevail. Long may that be the case.
Anyway, that snippet:
People often talk of Vietnam as a country of contrasts and they tend to mean rich and poor or city and countryside.
But I see it everywhere and in everything. I’ve been the victims of scams but also of humbling kindness. I’ve seen individuals who devote their lives to serving others for little reward and I’ve seen lazy and deceitful people who take.
I read of child traffickers, and poachers of near-extinct animals, and I can’t square such cruelty with the incredible, honest, warm people I meet every single day here.
I think this conflict is always at the heart of Vietnam. The country’s continued development could take either route. Vietnam can be a country of social responsibility, environmental concern and responsible and sustainable growth.
I am sure these ideals would have sat well with those that President Ho Chi Minh wished to build this nation on.
However, conversely, Vietnam’s continued growth could yet be characterised by greed, selfishness and cruelty.
But “My Vietnam” remains a place of warmth and smiles, kindness and humility. A place where ambition is honest and growth doesn’t come at the expense of warmth and beauty.
Finally, as a foreigner who loves Vietnam and now calls it home – I hope I will always be welcomed here.
Yesterday I met a mate for coffee and he relayed his weekend.
The day before he’d been out in Hanoi with his family, when one of a bunch of kids messing around on motorbikes couldn’t stop and hit a tree – injuring their face.
While I guess there was some gallantry in hitting the tree and not my friend’s family, his normally calm wife was still understandably furious and went ballistic.
He then told me of a friend, who was out for a Sunday morning bike ride, when a motorbike came out of nowhere and hit him side on.
His wife told my mate that she had never seen him lose his temper and, to the best of her previous knowledge, physical violence was something he wasn’t capable of. Nonetheless, he stood up, dusted himself off, and decked the guy.
Other reports include fist fights on the streets and while I try to be a Zen-like as I can, I will admit to raising my voice a couple of times recently. Face well and truly lost.
Elsewhere everyone is chasing extra cash. Bizarrely I just saw my apartment advertised on the internet at $200 a month more than I pay. I’ve decided that ignoring it is far easier than trying to seek an explanation from the landlord.
More worryingly, while normally there are few places safer to live than Vietnam, a friend recently woke up to see a burglar holding his camera. He fled. Remarkably, however, the Police found the villain and returned the camera.
Or at least, if I understand his Facebook updates correctly, they returned it once they had used the camera to record a number of other crime scenes as it was better than the one they had.
The reason for all this?
Tet is almost upon us and while, nearer the big day, Hanoi becomes a ghost town, now is a time of utter and increasing madness.
Once the festive season starts we’ve booked a ten-day escape to Thailand. Hanoi is home but sometimes a Thai island can be the perfect antidote.
However, there’s still ten days to go.
I’m going to stay in doors.
It’s the start of the V-League football season today.
I started watching Hanoi Hoa Phat FC because their stadium was near the KOTO restaurant where I worked.
The stadium is open and yellow and you sit on a concrete terrace. It’s nice. It’s how a football ground in a hot country should be.
The crowd numbers only a couple of hundred and, when I last went, the classic formation was a big goalkeeper (African of South American) and a big centre forward (again African or South American). In between those two were nine much smaller Vietnamese.
It dawned on us fairly early on that we had picked a dud team. Later, when they got relegated, our suspicions were confirmed.
But that’s the trouble with football. Unless you’re a Johnny-come-lately-satellite-TV-viewing-glory-hunting-Man U-fan-in-Brighton you didn’t choose your team. It chose you.
It has been suggested that perhaps we switch and support another side.
No, my mate said, we can go and watch another team, but we can never support them.
Wise words.
Phat and proud.
I’ve been meaning to write this for some time on here.
It follows this mention for The Cart in the piece I did for Travelfish and assorted online activities on their behalf. It’s time to declare an interest.
The Cart was set up in March 2009 by my friend Martin and his business partner Loan.
Sadly, as regular readers of this blog will know, Martin died on Christmas Day just gone.
To cut a long story short, Martin’s business partner has become my girlfriend. We’ve supported each other in terms of our loss and I’ve done what I can to help her keep The Cart up and running. Partly because it was my old mate’s place, partly because she is now on her own and has wages to pay and finally because it has become my hang-out too.
It’s hard to describe the role I have there now. I think every expat/tourist aimed business needs a set of western taste buds around as well as a sounding board for ideas and customer service issues. I’ve certainly tried to do all that – even if it’s just eating pasties and mmmm-ing my approval.
It’s a hard life.
But, there’s another issue that she’s had to compete against. Firstly with no Martin that link to the expat community disappeared a little and I’ve tried to help maintain that. Secondly, Hanoi is littered with businesses which were set up by foreigners and then, when they left, people lined up to voice their disapproval …it’s not like it was when…
Doing what I do, my efforts haven’t really gone beyond the setting up of a very low tech website, a Twitter feed (with daily specials), and a Facebook group.
In short, I did the easy bit. Loan stepped up and started running the business on her own and has drafted in her two sisters who are doing a great job alongside the ever fabulous Miss Thuy.
At Tet, Loan will finally take some holiday, her first real time off since martin returned to Australia in October.
The current situation means that I spend an awful lot of my time there. It’s been heartening in particular so see so many of the regulars stick with the place. In particular I enjoy the chat between expats on the four chairs downstairs as well as the banter with the staff.
The other reason I wanted to help was the place has really got something. It has genuine potential and I’d like to see it grow. In particular there’s not many places that do a decent lunchtime sandwich delivery. There’s even fewer places that do nice cakes. And as you might imagine Cornish pasties are not often seen in these parts.
My involvement will only ever be on a friendship basis and that’s all I’d ever want it to be. But The Cart is looming large in my Hanoi life which continues to very very happy and increasingly busy.
Right. Anyway, I just wanted to put that straight.
See you at The Cart then.
