Laurent a Hanoi

Laurent a passé quelques jours avec nous, on a bien rigolé. Dès qu’il est arrivé, j’étais toute contente de voir qu’il avait déjà masteurisé pas mal de mots Vietnamiens ainsi que l’art de marchander, donc super. Le pauvre n’a pas eu que des bons moments chez nous : il a quand même été malade toute une soirée, à courir à la salle de bain toutes les dix minutes, et le lendemain Dan l’a fait tombé de sa moto et lui a bousillé le pantalon et le genou) mais impertubable, Laurent a coupé son fut en short et a gardé le sourire. Il est très positif et facile à vivre, tout lui plait. Je l’ai emmené se faire faire un shampoing vietnamien, se ballader dans le marché à côté de chez nous, prendre un café sur le lac et meme dans une soirée organisée par mes potes sur le thème des années soixantes... bon joueur, il s’est enroulé une écharpe hippie sur la tete et a parlé avec tout le monde, en Anglais. Tout le monde m’a dit qu’il était très cool. Voila. C’etait sympa de l’avoir à la maison.

Congratulations

My mum and some random bear

A big call out from Hanoi to the old lady who has just graduated.

Congratulations!

You have had some trying times of late and to finish your degree in around that is an awesome achievement. I hope you enjoyed the day.

Idiot of Hanoi competition

You may be interested to know that there is a new Idiot of Hanoi competition currently running. At the moment there is only one contestant; me. There may be other like minded fools around the city that continue to do stupid stuff but at the moment I am only aware of myself.

My latest gaffe was to throw 3 weeks worth of wages in the bin and subsequently take the bin downstairs for disposal. I spent 3 frustrating hours turning the house upside down looking in completely irrational places and saying words I shall not repeat. Hungry, tired and with sweat dripping, the small and pained bit of mass that calls itself my brain remembered taking out the rubbish earlier that morning. Surely I wouldn't have thrown a wad of Vietnamese bills, totalling well over $1,000 into the bin. Only an idiot would do that. Well, as it turns out that is exactly what I did and hence why I am the lead runner for biggest idiot prize.

Holding my nose to block out the stench I prodded and pocked my way through the disgusting rubbish to find at the bottom, amongst the rotten apple and bin juice, my money. Drenched in filth I had to individually hand wash and dry each bill. It was not an enjoyable process but I was happy to know my last few weeks of work were not in vain.

Idiot!

CouchSurfing experiment

I heard about couch surfing through a book I read, sleeping around the world, and subsequently met some couch surfers who my mates in Sydney were hosting. If you are still wondering what the hell I am on about let me explain.

Couch surfing connects travellers around the world and, if you so desire, gives you the chance to let them crash on your couch. You can also be hosted when you are travelling which in my opinion is a great way to see the world. For travellers and hosters this is a great way to meet people and share travel and life experiences. There is no obligation and you decide if you want a particular person to stay. There is more to the couch surfing project than hosting or staying on a couch so check out the website, couchsurfing, for more details.

We currently have our first couch surfers staying with us. They are a great couple who are travelling much of Asia. Miguel is Spanish and his girlfriend Asta is from Finland. They left Europe and have spent 3 months navigating their way through Russia, Mongolia, China and now Vietnam. Listening to their stories over a few beers has been really enjoyable. Hopefully I have been able to make their trip in Hanoi fun and interesting as well.



All in all our first couch surfers experience has been a success and we plan to continue having people from around the world come and stay with us. If you are a traveller coming to Hanoi, are laid back and enjoy a laugh you can log onto the website and check out my profile.

Soirée 70s

Vendredi soir il y avait une fête chez Lindy et Matt. Lindy est ma copine à l’école, elle est néo Zélandaise et fetait hier son anniversaire/ départ sous peu pour... Toulouse. Si, c’est vrai, il y a des kiwis qui partent vivre à Toulouse, apparemment. Pour aucune raison spécifique, juste parce que ça a l’air joli. Ces derniers mois je l’ai un peu aidée avec son francais, elle le parle bien. A chaque fois que Matt et Lindy partent s’installer quelque part, ils apprennent la langue : voilà deux ans maintenant qu’ils sont à Hanoi, ils parlent tous les deux pas mal vietnamien. Le problème c’est que Lindy se mélange et met des mots de vietnamiens dans son francais, ce qui donne un resultat hilarant que si moi je comprends bien, Laurent lui par exemple... moins.
La fête était sur le thème des annees 60-70, autant vous dire qu’il m’a suffit de mettre mes habits de d’habitude et tous mes colliers/bracelets en même temps. Je ressemblais à une vraie hippie, encore plus que la dégaine baba normale que je trimballe depuis mes 15 ans. Tout le monde a fait un effort et on a passé une soirée chantmé. C’est cool à l’école maintenant, la plupart des autres profs sont des potes, et aller au travail c’est presque juste aller voir mes copains pour quelques heures, c’est bien quand on a atteint ce stade, un peu comme ma maman : elle aussi a ses copains au boulot, ca rend les journées plus sympas.
En ce moment nous avons Miguel et Asta à la maison, il est Madrilain, elle est Finlandaise : ce sont nos couch surfers. Eux aussi se sont déguisés : j’ai prêté une de mes robes fleurie à Hasta et une de mes écharpes hippies à Miguel... et une autre à Laurent, qui est venu lui aussi. Entre les bourrés et les chtarbés, on s’est bien marré tous les deux à cette fête.
Je poste ces photos qui sortent directement de l’appareil de Miguel : l’appareil photo de mes rêves, il fait des photos sublimes.

Friday night there was a theme party at my friends Lindy and Matt’s house. The theme was the 60s-70s, meaning yes I only had to wear my normal clothes and accessories, only all at once. Lindy was celebrating her birthday and her imminent departure for… France. Why is she going to leave Vietnam for Toulouse to spend a few years there? Well I don’t know, other than… well, I was born there so she probably just wants to be right in the place where all this wonder started… what can I say? I get it.
She speaks quite good French, although she does mix it up quite nicely with Vietnamese, the result being understandable for me and other expats of Vietnam only: Laurent for instance (my uncle, he spent a few days with us this week) has no idea what she might be talking about. She doesn’t even realise that a third of her french sentences are vietnamese. Hilarious. Especially when she’s a bit drunk.
Anyway, everyone made an effort dress up-wise, and the party was a lot of fun, I loved it. I feel like I have reached the stage now at work where most of the other teachers are friends and going to work is just going to hang out with them, it’s nice. That’s the same with my mum, she works with her friends, it’s great it makes the days so much more enjoyable. Miguel and Asta, are spanish slash finnish couch surfers, came to the party as well, dressed up in my hippie clothes as well, and from their state of the art wonderful camera, I give you these beautiful photos. I want this camera!!

Confessions on a motorbike: Part 8

grazed elbows and bruised legs......the life of a Hanoi rider

I have had a few bumps and even a small fall since arriving in Hanoi but yesterday was my first decent crash. I hit the road before I knew it and realised at once the importance of a helmet. It was not my fault, which really doesn’t matter that much, aside from easing the guilt I had for my helpless passenger. The helpless passenger was Celine’s uncle, Laurent.

Staying with us for a few days I decided to show him some of the sites while Celine was at work. We visited 40 years dead Ho Chi Minh and rode over the Long Bien Bridge. We stopped for photo’s and explored random streets. Coming back into the Old Quarter, heading towards the City View Café, we had our fall. A guy on a bike packed with empty water bottles came darting on the inside of us and when cutting back a bottle caught on my handle bar. Before I knew it I was making out with the dirty Hanoi road. I went head first and because of the helmet I only have a small cut on my lip. Laurent smashed his knee and tore a big hole in his favourite pants. As I looked at his grazed arms and bleeding knee I thought this is great for family relations.

We are both ok, walking away with a few cuts and bruises, but I am now more acutely aware of what can happen. As Laurent told me, an avid motorbike rider himself, things can turn from good to bad very quickly. It turns out the bad was sticking with me for the rest of the day because a few hours later, when driving to work, a taxi drove over my foot. Cheers!

I can’t help but feel guilty wondering, as Laurent limps around the house in his newly cut off shorts, if I could have avoided the situation. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but if I can offer any words of wisdom; please wear a good helmet, be attentive to what is happening around you and if a taxi is driving very close to you, don’t put your foot in a compromising position.

Children of Vietnam (1)

J'aime les enfants ici: toujours heureux. Ce post est le premier d'une serie qui continuera dans le temps, puisque je prends les enfants en photo tout le temps.
Ici, les enfants du Lac Ba Be, ou nous sommes alles passer quelques jours en Janvier.

I just love children in Vietnam. Always happy and adorable. This is the first post of a long serie, that will probably never end as I continuously bombard kids with pictures, wherever I go :)
In this post, the children of Lake Ba be, where we spent a few days back in January.