Smash

Apparently I’m not very good at updating this. My kind brother took liberty to inform me so here we go...another update! I think I’m still drunk from last night so my ramblings will be top notch quality. I’m sure being intoxicated by anything is the best time to write about life, the universe and motorbikes so it’s all good.
I took my motorbike out for the first time on Tuesday. I’d had it for 2 weeks and not touched it. Having a mix of fear and bad weather delayed me getting on it and whizzing round. It was getting ridiculous so I asked my housemate Zaak to give me a lesson and he agreed. At first I was terrible...seriously. I looked like a complete tit! I sat on it and didn’t know whether I was going left or right, whilst moving forward! In the space of 3 seconds I nearly hit a taxi and another motorbike. Due to my exquisite performance, Zaak thought it better to take me to Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, which isn’t too far from our house. There is a long road which is partly blocked at one end so there isn’t much traffic on the road. It was perfect for me to do a couple of laps on and within minutes I was a lot more comfortable driving round so Zaak jumped on the back and we drove round West Lake, which is the biggest lake in Hanoi and not far from where we live. We live in a great location. We’re round the corner from West Lake and the Botanical Gardens, I’m 10 minutes on a motorbike from work and 5 minutes walk to a local expat bar! Sorted. I haven’t dared the drive to work just yet. It’s pretty mental and very busy so I’m going to drive myself to the gym and get a bit more comfortable before I start ‘running’ so to speak.
Since my last update I’ve been out a few times. I had a really good night out on Saturday night, which is a rarity in my world because Saturday and Sunday and my busiest days. That’s the way it works in a language school as most of the students are at normal school during the week so don’t have the option to come then. The weekdays are more for teaching adults and then the weekends are for teaching kids. I’d booked the Sunday off weeks ago as it was my house mate’s birthday and had been told we were going to have a party. Whether I wanted to party or not, there was no way I’d have gotten any sleep and be able to teach for 6 hours on the Sunday. However, as time went on it was decided we weren’t going to have a party, but instead go to a place called Rock City, which is one of the few clubs in Hanoi. It’s a cool place and there was a night called Electric Hanoi on, which meant a load of fucked people dancing to hefty beats and spinning fire. It was a great vibe and I even got to have a dance to some drum n bass!  We all partied til the sun came up but at the end of the night we all went our separate ways. I came back to the house with some friends and one friend managed to go home with my phone. I was woken up the following morning by my 2 housemates knocking on my door asking if they could use my phone to ring for food. Of course, I didn’t have a phone they could use. They then told me the reason they had no phone and it was quite possibly the best story ever to wake up to. After they had left the club they went to another bar, and then down to the river where they found a fisherman’s boat. They decided to steal this boat and take it out on the water...where ‘said’ boat then decided to sink! I’m not quite sure why but the boys had decided to strip down to their pants before taking the boat out so they had to swim back with nothing but boxers to hide their dignity. They lost pretty much everything they had on them but on the up side they did come back with a great story to tell and certainly gave me a good laugh the following morning!

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A few days have passed since I wrote that and a lot seems to have happened since. I’m still getting used to how much can happen in a day in this country. I’ve been meeting more people and having more fun. I had a few days of serious homesickness but those feelings seem to have passed now and I’m loving every day in this country. I seem to have found the peace of mind I needed when I was in London. I want to learn Vietnamese so I can communicate properly here but at the same time I love the feeling of being in my own bubble. You get a lot of looks here but that is expected and I don’t worry about people judging me. Maybe I’m just growing up... I’m not sure. I don’t want to grow up too much though! I’m sure I’ll still have my fun, twattish qualities no matter how grey I get.

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Another new day...

I crashed my bike this morning. It’s a very common thing here and it wasn’t serious but I hurt myself and was left pretty shaken afterwards. I was on my way into work (it was the first time I’d taken my bike out during the day) and came to some traffic lights where the bike stalled. The lights turned green and I was trying to get my bike started again. As I was doing this a road washer came past and soaked me, as well as the road. I had no idea road washers existed but clearly they do! All of a sudden the bike revved up and took me with it. I skidded across the road, falling on my side with the bike landing on top of me. I haven’t broken anything but I’ve bruised my hip, leg and grazed down my left arm. If anything I was left shaken but I had to get up and out the road straight away as I was in the middle of oncoming traffic.  Nobody stopped to help me and that’s a common thing in Vietnam. I guess they’re just so used to seeing people crash their bikes. I need to practice more as I’m not confident on it but I just don’t have the desire to go out on it yet I’m paying $40 a month to rent it. Tit bags. I seem to have found myself in a situation where I have £30 in my bank to last me the week. I’m not quite sure how this has happened but I have been doing a lot recently and drinking has been a big part of that. Figures, I suppose! You can’t have fun without consequence.  Ying yang or something...

Hanoi seems to be the city of possibilities. I’ve met a few people who have been here for a short period of time and gone on to bigger, better things. I have had a few interesting opportunities approach me too. I’m not going to go into anything just yet as I’ve still only really just got here and I’m not sure what the next step is but watch this space. My contract with Apollo ends in September and I would like to go back to the UK for a visit then I’m pretty certain I’ll come back to Hanoi. This city is just on the cusp of becoming something big. A few people have said it’s like Thailand 20 years ago so now is a great time to throw some ideas out and stick your fingers in the pie...the pie of potential, if you like!

Well, there’s a selection of recent happenings spread out over a number of days. There will be more to follow but I thought it best to post this before you grow tired and forget I am here and I can write stuff.

Chào!

Smile Around The Face

I’m sat here munching chocolate biscuits for breakfast, a clear sign of the morning after the night before.

I haven’t updated this in 2 weeks and so much has happened! I can’t believe I have been here for a month now. It still feels like yesterday that I arrived.

Last night I went round to a friend’s new house for a big gathering of people eating and drinking. One of the girls had made spaghetti bolognaise which was lovely and that was accompanied by a load of fresh spring rolls, bread and various meats. The spring rolls aren’t typical of the type in the UK, which are pretty shit if I’m honest. The fried ones are amazing but you can get a load of different types. Last night we had fresh spring rolls, which are cold but really good. They’re called gỏi cuốn - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_roll - and very tasty! There were a lot of people out last night and I met a lot of new faces too. I have met some wonderful and interesting people here so far. I even, randomly enough, bumped into a guy I done my degree with when I was in a bar last night...and he is also teaching at Apollo! Crazy! There are a lot of French people in Hanoi. I think most of them were out last night! There’s definitely a good mix of cultures in this city.
I made some plans last night to go out tonight to a place called Snake Village, which is about 25 minutes out of Hanoi and consists of a load of restaurants all specializing in...well, snake! You can eat various dishes (I think they serve food other than snake although I’m not sure) and they present you with shots of snake’s blood and snake’s bile, mixed with rice wine. Apparently it is good for men’s fertility and can bring you good luck. I’m not sure of the influence it has on women but it’ll be an interesting experience if anything!

I’ve definitely felt myself change over the past week. I’ve just felt a lot more relaxed in my surroundings and more open minded to discover and learn new things. This state of mind was something I was yearning for when in London but I couldn’t find it. I didn’t feel like there was anything new to learn. Of course, London is an amazing city and it will always be a home to me but having lived there my whole life, it was all I really knew and when you’re kept inside your comfort zone for so long you forget you can find happiness in other things. I had to throw myself out there and find out what else there was and so far, the discovery has been amazing.  

On Tuesday I went with a couple of friends to a place called Perfume Pagoda, out of Hanoi. It’s a temple in the mountains and gets its name because as you go up the mountain there are a lot of aromatic flowers, although now there is more just a long trail of stalls all selling the same useless junk you don’t really want but think could be good to take home. I’m glad I’m living here and already see the unimportance of these things. I used to waste so much money on buying useless crap. I still love to shop, but I’m learning to buy what I only really need. Too many materials will just weigh me down, in my mind and in my bag! Anyway, back to telling you about Perfume Pagoda. We took a 2 hour bus ride out of Hanoi and then a boat ride for about an hour, which pulled into a port full of loads of Vietnamese people selling food. With most of the stalls here, they will kill their meat there before cooking it, so to keep it fresh but the site can be pretty brutal. There was one stall which had a cage with a deer in it, then a few feet away there was a freshly killed deer hanging by a hook, and then a few feet from that there was a deer’s carcass hanging from a hook. The evolution of a tasty Vietnamese meal... It is pretty intense to see but you have to remember that that is how people work here and I don’t want to come to a completely different country only to challenge the culture and refuse to accept it. I love animals, but I highly doubt there are many animal rights activists living in Vietnam.
There were a lot of people there due to a Buddhist festival happening. At the first pagoda, which went down into a huge cave, there were hundreds of people gathered, all praying. There were also a lot of monks walking round. It was a very spiritual place to visit.
The tour was good fun and I met some interesting people from all different places and of all different ages. Some people had great stories to tell. There was a lovely Vietnamese couple who became everyone’s friends. They brought fruit for us all on the bus during a quick stop off, and they were very fun to talk to. I met quite a few people who were also travelling alone, old and young, travelling around and seeing different parts of the world. It was really nice to see. Before I left London I was very excited but also very scared because I had no idea what I was getting myself into. A lot of people thought I was crazy coming here alone but you’re never really alone. When you’re travelling with yourself and nobody else, strangers become friends very quickly. You find yourself spending a long time with someone and you don’t even know their name.

I moved into my house last week. At the moment I am living with 2 guys and 2 girls but the girls are moving out in the next month and 2 guys moving in. Me and 4 men! Haha! But it’s all good. Everyone is really nice and we have a maid too who comes 4 times a week so the house is always pretty clean. She is very nice and speaks good English. Yesterday she took me to the pharmacy to help me buy medicine as I started feeling really ill. Today I’m feeling fine! She does everything, even my washing. Life here is like luxury! Although, I’m sure my mum will despair that I’m still not doing the washing up.
The house is very big (4 floors) and really well kept. We have a huge wooden staircase that goes up the middle of the house. On each floor there’s 2 bedrooms and a bathroom and on the top floor there’s 1 bedroom and a roof terrace, which is lovely to sit on and eat breakfast in the morning. We live down an alley which is nowhere near as loud as the main roads. People ride bikes down it all the time but you don’t get the constant beeping of horns you get on the main roads. There are women just outside my gate who sell vegetables and tofu in the morning and then as the day goes on they are replaced by different women selling motorbike masks and various other random bits. It is a nice alley to live on. People around have started to recognise me so I always get a smile from someone when I leave the house. I seem to spend my nights sleeping to the sound of dogs barking and crying but to be honest I’ve just become used to that now and I actually sleep very well. My mornings are greeted with the sound of roosters and the hustle and bustle of life outside, but it’s a pro rather than a con as it wakes me up naturally, rather than having my alarm jerk me out of sleep and drop me into an early morning start.

I joined a really fancy gym yesterday, which even compared to London gyms is ridiculously expensive, but as it was Woman’s Day on Tuesday I got a good discount. I’ve signed up for 6 months and I think it will do me good. It is very new and expensive, with great air con too so when it gets really hot and humid here I will be able to find solace on a treadmill.

I’ve also booked a man to come round later with a bike for me. Yep, that’s right. Today is the day I sign my life away. I’m kidding...I think! I’m going to rent a bike for $40 a month but that will give me complete freedom and means I won’t be spending money on a  xe om every time I want to go somewhere. I’ve become quite used to the xe om here and most of the time I don’t need to hold on to anything whilst being driven so I’m hoping I’ll be OK on a motorbike. Small steps though. I’m not going to tackle the big roads just yet!

For now I’ll leave you with some pictures of my journey to Perfume Pagoda. It was dry but actually a pretty cold day. As for the sky, there is never any sun here...the sky is always grey! That’s Vietnam, baby.