Week 1: Getting used to Hanoi

Note: our dorm internet has been down for days now, so this post is hella behind schedule. Also i cannot put any pictures up due to this fiasco. So enjoy!

Here are some interesting things about Hanoi that I've observed over the week:

1. People get up hella early. Like 4 or 5 AM. By extension, breakfast is no longer served by 8 or 9 AM. So for us college kids who would like some breakfast, we would need to shift our biological clocks just a bit. For this week this has been no problem due to jetlag, but who knows how long this would last...

2. Automobile drivers like to honk. A lot. Especially truck drivers who have the loudest horns at their disposal. The streets are booming with honks continuously. There is no moment during which there is no honking. Truck horns are so loud that they send chills down our spines, especially this time when we were eating lunch and a giant truck squeezed its way through the tiny alley designed for pedestrians only, and then honked for 7 seconds straight without stop, which scared us shitless. We have all resolved that we would probably be deaf by November.

2A. Traffic here is quite frightening. We had an entire orientation session dedicated to how to cross the street. Basically when wanting to cross the street, one should look both ways (because one never knows when some dumbass mofo is riding her/his moped the wrong direction) and let all big vehicles (cars, taxis, buses, trucks, etc) pass first, since they have a harder time maneuvering. Then, step into the blurring traffic. Walk slowly so the moped drivers can maneuver around you. Be on constant "negotiation" with the moped drivers by maintaining eye contact; this way, the driver will know you want to cross the street and maneuver around you. DO NOT STOP, or else you will get run over and die.

2B. The basic rule of thumb is that the larger the vehicle, the safer it is to be on it. Therefore, buses are the safest mode of transportation, followed by taxis, cars, mopeds, bikes, and foot.

2C. Because bikes are the smallest vehicles operating the road, they receive no respect from all other vehicles and thus we were recommended to NOT use a bike (unless we like to be disrespected).

2D. There are no such things as traffic lanes in Hanoi.

3. Ahh the bus system. It's actually quite useful and efficient for what it's worth. We can access downtown Hanoi and the Pho Co (Old Quarters) with the number 2 without the hassle of transfers. We also received bus passes as paid for by our program so we essentially ride them for free. Otherwise it's VND 3000 each ride, which is still extremely cheap. Each bus line operates on a 15 minute interval, so it's pretty frequent.

3A. Hanoi buses operate on a strict schedule; if the buses fall behind schedule, the driver is penalized. Therefore, the drivers usually have a (monetary) incentive to make sure they are on time and THEREFORE, they do not like to stop at bus stops. If you want to get on the bus, you need to run to it and step onto the steps before the speed picks up again. If you want to get off the bus, you cross your fingers that you won't trip and get run over by a moped or truck driving between the bus and the curb.

3B. Hanoi buses don't have a fare collecting machine. Therefore, on each bus there is a fare collector who collects money from new passengers and inspects bus passes. The fare collector usually sits or stands by the back door.

4. Taxis are generally trustworthy. The trick is to find one that has a working meter, and to make sure the driver turns it on. If the driver offers a price before driving you, AVOID IT because it's not legit. Also, always keep an eye on the meter. If it goes up too fast, it's rigged and you should get out of there as quickly as possible.

5. Hanoi men do not dance. Unless they're drunk. In such case, they put their hands up and down and shake their waists.

6. Bargaining is a tricky business. If you're lucky, you may save about VND 10000 or 20000 on your purchases. If you're unlucky, you get yelled at and shooed by the salesperson. If you're a crazy insane professional haggler, you may save up to 60 or 70% of the original price.

7. Hanoians are just hella chill people. During after-lunch naptimes, some people just lay down wherever they were conducting business and go to sleep. In afternoons, people flock to parks to play basketball or badminton. Some use sidewalks of major roads for such recreational activities. There are always people in cafes or shops enjoying tea or sinh to (smoothies) or beer. Even though things run on a schedule, people still know how to relax.

So a lot of crazy shit happened this week. We had full-on morning-to-night schedules everyday, so most of us were dead by the time we returned to our rooms. It was mostly orientation crap: sessions on how to cross the street, cross-cultural sensitivity, class availabilities, and internship/volunteering opportunities. We also had tours of certain parts of the city conducted by Gerard, ate a shitload of food, and had fun activities like going to bia hoi (basically a place for drinking beer/alcohol and eating snacks) with local HANU students from our class and karaokeing. At the bia hoi, I tried this Vietnamese distilled alcohol that had hella ginseng, herbs, and worms soaking in the bottle to add to the taste and nutritional value of the wine. It looked extremely gross, and it was hella strong and burning, but the aftertaste was quite enjoyable. It was definitely better than american alcohol, hands down. At karaokeing, it was mostly us american kids singing old american songs like "Oops I Did It Again" and "Hotel California." Some of us attempted Vietnamese songs but that was a bust.

Friday night we went clubbing. Well if you can even call it that here. The so-called "club" we went to was HELLA SMALL, with barely any room for dancing. That was probably good for the locals, since none of them freakin dance; they just stand at their tables and drink. Hella boring. So some of us cool american college kids got up on the small stage thingy in front of the DJ and shook it like a saltshaker. That ought to show them how it's supposed to be done. Eventually a group of drunk guys did make their way on stage to "dance," which consisted of an up-and-down movement of their arms. Not attractive at all. I heard that Saigon's clubs are hella better than Hanoi's. I certainly hope it's true!

Then on Saturday afternoon for 3 hours, we had an activity called "Survivor Hanoi." It was essentially a scavenger hunt of completing tasks. We were all divided up into 7 teams, each having 2 UC students and 1 HANU student, and we had until 6 PM to complete as many of the 15 tasks as we could and meet up at some cafe place in central Hanoi. We had to film almost all the tasks. Coincidentally my roommate Chanh was on my team, and our HANU teammate was a girl named Trang. We came in 4th and completed 14 tasks. The task we didn't complete was haggling for a moped (it had to be a specific type of moped too...so if we couldn't find a dealership we basically couldn't complete this). Some of the more interesting tasks include pedaling a duck-boat thingy, pedaling someone's cyclo (with the driver sitting in the passenger seat), breakdancing in Lenin Park, and my favorite: putting my arm around a cong an (police officer) and saying "Toi yeu Viet Nam!" or "I love Vietnam!" What was even cuter was that the cong an also put his arm around my waist and exclaimed "Toi yeu Viet Nam!" It was like we were BFFs.

Week 1 in Vietnam: I can't believe it's over! Classes are starting soon. Ugh, so not in the mindset for that shit right now. Also starting next week, we have to pay for everything ourselves. Wonderful.