Kids like ninjas

So, I've been spending a lot of time with children lately...ah, yeah, new job. When I told David, his first reaction was to burst out laughing.

It's not that I don't like kids, it's just..well, I've never been around many. When do I get to hang out with children? In Brisbane it was rarely..on public transport..and that's an experience I'd rather not have every day.

Anyway, if I wasn't totally broke I might not have put my hand up, so I'm happy about that at least. Working with pre-teens, well, so we'll see how things go.

On a positive, I'd totally forgotten monsters and ninjas existed, how fun it is to play annoying and repetitive games, that princesses and super heros are cool, and what's it's like to have energy to spare.

And...that 12 year old boys are repelled by 12 year old girls! I can almost see the force fields put up by each group.

It takes a lot of energy teaching kids and you'd better have extra activities in reserve. At this stage I think I prefer teaching adults, but teaching kids is a good way to expand the bank balance and the mind...

...and with Viet kids gain a new perspective
on the thousand ways a child can amuse
themselves with string and a rubberband!

From working with this 10 - 12 age group
I've learned:

1. If it's easy, don't complicate it
2. Vietnamese boys love video games, Ben 10, and ANY super hero
3. Vietnamese girls love Barbie, princesses and ANYTHING pink!
4. Kids are smart and smart asses
5. Set rules from the start and be consistent
6. Never get into an energy battle with a teenager, you'll lose
7. Learn (and double check) names
8. Action games are great - Simon says, red light/green light etc
9. If there is lots of noise during activities, you're doing it right!

Did you say..oh never mind!

I just got home from a session with my intermediate class and I'm STILL laughing. We were doing a pair activity and everyone was working quietly. There was a slight commotion from one of the pairs, I saw a female student looking completely uncomfortable, and heard her partner repeating..

"I want to embrace you, embrace you!" and gesticulating, obviously frustrated.

The whole class fell silent.. poor guy! He had to spell out that all he wanted was to "impress her".

~ Hanoi's been getting funnier lately ~

I walked past a hospital yesterday and looked up to see a sign in block lettering saying... IMPATIENT...


I nearly fell over laughing.

Bohemian Soft Openings.. ah bah da ta...

Last night saw us playing at the soft opening of a very hip poetry cafe/art gallery..another gallery has sprung up in Hanoi!

Eager poetry lovers and artists crushed close into a hazy retro brick walled room for a multi-lingual bonanza of poetry, art and music... (there was at least one beret.)

American poets spoke passionately about the death of honey bees, tortuously beautiful Vietnamese poems, a Rastafarian rap, a humorous ballad to 'the Bitch That Broke My Heart' and a tribute to Joni Mitchell (including an all in love fest sing-a-long) ..

...and ending with an avant-garde Vietnamese contemporary something... involving throat singing, space and well, whatever it was, it was a pleasure to watch.

We contributed our small part to the overall bohemian vibe playing rhythmic spiraling beats that had people on their feet, salsa-ing and generally shaking it in the centre of the narrow bar.

In a communist country emerging, cutting edge creators and free speech wielding poets are a unique breed. It was exciting to be around so many passionate artists!

And reminiscent of the rare, raw, artsy underground bars I've visited in Spain.. so, all in all a very nice find in Vietnam...

...plus they served excellent pastries :)

Tadioto Bar
113 Trieu Viet Vuong
Hanoi

Watch out Hanoi...

Look out Hanoi! An expat Christmas includes serious Bike Bling!!

My friend Christine decided her bright red minsk motorbike simply wasn't loud enough for the festive season. The creative lass used tinsel in a way I have never seen it used before. Isn't it beautiful, Hanoi simply wasn't ready for it!




Photos: Christine Andrews, her red Minsk (and a family of reindeer)

6 months in Nam

Yep, it's been 6 months already.

October held many ups and downs, such a shocker it took deep breaths and the majority of November to get back to some semblance of normality... but change is what life's about right..!?

Work wise, my contract with the Yamaha corporation ended and October saw me working with Teach International.. again, assisting in the set up, organization and delivery of their Hanoi TESOL course.

12 Australians teacher trainees flew to Hanoi to complete the course here :) It was a very busy two weeks ensuring the teacher/students were oriented and settled. Definitely hectic at times and I was in a constant state of busyness!! But there were amazing friendships formed and a lot of support during prac week as the teachers headed into the schoolroom for the first time.

Two teachers have decided to stay on in Hanoi for the long term and have both been offered jobs already, I'm sure more than a few others will be back in the near future!

Most of my time off recently sees me drumming with a group of djembe drummers. We're learning traditional West African rhythms. The group performs in Hanoi (recently at the multicultural festival). I've purchased a Vietnamese made drum, it sounds good. And I've been having loads of fun, but, even after 5 years of hitting skin, my left hand still does exactly the opposite of what I tell it.

Musical instrument and mat street :)
Hang Manh
Old Quarter, Hanoi

Get a hobby

If you've ever wanted to be a multilingual, jazz guitar playing, belly dancing martial artist who cooks a mean Pho noodle soup... you've come to the right city!

With so many extracurricular activities offered in Hanoi it's hard to simply choose ONE to do. (Although it seems the favored past time of the average expat drinking more than anything else.)

I'm a huge fan of accumulating pointless knowledge. Over the years I've learned more than my fair share. Let's see.. skateboarding (a lost art), stilt walking, pan pipes, guitar, crochet, fire twirling, basket weaving, oh and my recent favorite a hell-bent desire to perfect contact juggling (yes, I loved The Labyrinth), none of which I can perform with any skill.

Anyway, for the eternal procrastinator you may find yourself learning a language (Spanish anyone?), tango, Shaolin kung fu, Viet cooking, performance art, photography etc etc the list is endless.

... there are even drinking clubs... if your average weeknight/weekend bar crowd just isn't dedicated enough for you, join the Bia Hoi Appreciation Society.
http://newhanoian.xemzi.com/en/group/show/21/Bia-Hoi-Appreciation-Society

For art lovers Hanoi is scattered with arts museums, galleries and alternative art and photography (it's big here, everywhere you see dudes wearing khaki vests with serious lenses rivaling small artillery).

There's the Geothe Institute, the Cinematheque, bowling, roller disco, Tay Ho amusement park, karaoke, opera house and jazz clubs...

My favorite way to spend a Sunday afternoon is to hoof it down to tree covered Lenin Park and spend an afternoon in the sun with fire twirlers and drumming circle or hang around a little later in the twilight to perfect that Thai Chi stance with a personal teacher.

www.newhanoian.com
Hanoi Grapevine

Hanoi Cinemateque

Apsara Dance Studio
Nghi Tam

Lenin Park - Cong Vien Thong Nhat

Light in my eyes and winter on its way!

Hanoi has become one giant city of LIGHT! There's light doing amazing stuff everywhere here. Each day is more beautiful than the last with bright, blue skies, wispy white clouds and gorgeous dappled light filling the city. November's a popular time to travel to Vietnam and I can see why!

Apart from the spectacular deluge that hit the city a few weeks ago, days here are sunny with a cool, crisp feeling in the air. And with the steady stream of new tourists in the Old Quarter each day, it's obvious most people enjoy travelling in the cooler weather. Personally, I enjoy a tropical environment and have been quietly freaking out about our steady journey into what will be a cold, cold winter.

For weeks shop fronts have been displaying padded jackets and fur lined coats, colourful scarves and gloves and the inhabitants of the city are rugging up and showing off their winter attire. I've invested in comfy tracksuit pants, mittens, head gear, socks etc etc ... Since this is my first Hanoi winter, I don't know if I'm overreacting, but there's nothing worse than being too cold in my books.

Speaking of cold, I've just gotten back from a few days chilling in the mountains. I visited Sapa.. July I think.. it was gorgeous but the weather was cool even in the middle of summer. So again, I packed my backpack and caught the night train to the town of Lao Cai then up the snaking mountain to Sapa.

I stayed in a nice guesthouse with a balcony overlooking the mountain range shrouded with bamboo and white mist. I was literally, chilling, haha, an Aussie icicle, and glad I packed a few extra pairs of warm socks. Because of the fog and the cloud that envelops the high mountain town most tourists have stayed away ensuring I had a full few days of peace and quiet in the fresh air. It was as beautiful as I remembered it.

Living in such an aggressively busy, smog filled city really affects your sense of inner calm...throw in the traffic, a few constantly barking dogs, one very sick sounding rooster, crying babies and the occasional jackhammer and you find that stress builds up quite quickly if you don't take a break.

A quick visit to the mountains is always a good way to reconnect and stay sane :)

Independent travel to Sapa is easy as pie! A train ticket to Sapa will cost you 200, 000 for a soft sleeper. Guesthouses scatter the town and you can find a nice, clean room for around $4 - $6.

Tickets can be bought directly from Hanoi Train Station (Ga Hanoi)
Le Duan Street and bus tickets from Lao Cai station to Sapa town are 30, 000, easily purchased when you arrive in Lao Cai.


Photo of St Josephs Cathedral from Ben Payne.

A Tribute to Hanoian Ingenuity

The statement that necessity is the mother of all invention certainly rings true for these creative Hanoian 'pedestrians'.

These pics of how people got around after the recent flooding in Hanoi gave me a laugh!




Photos from VN News: VnExpress - Người Hà Nội với những kiểu vượt ngập độc đáo - Nguoi Ha Noi voi nhung kieu vuot ngap do

Rain + more rain = FLOOD

Hmm, a more updated perspective on rain. I take back many of my warm goozy feelings about rain from my September post below where I was being naive...

Now that we are well past 25 hours of non-stop, unabated torrential rain, my feelings towards rain in general have changed somewhat!! I know where all of Australia's water has gone. It's here! and none of it is draining...

The rains came on Thursday, grey skies and cold but humid weather ensuring that nothing wet dries and the smell of mould permeated cupboards and clothing. The city was grey and most of us hoped the rain would simply wash the pollution away. It rains often this time of year, but usually.. IT STOPS!

Hanoi has notoriously bad drainage, and now by Saturday, well, the city is a smelly, watery brown puddle. The road outside my alley has become a vast brown river, water waist deep in parts. Hanoi is filling steadily like a blocked concrete sink trapping its occupants in their homes (the pub or wherever they happen to be).

I'm home with no cable TV (sigh), gas or food to cook with anyway. But high and 'dry' and happy to have power, fingers crossed. Around the city, there are people in bad positions, as many lakes have burst banks. So far more than 80 people have died, including a few electrocutions due to shoddy wiring hitting wet streets.


We all hope it let's up soon, I've never seen so many Hanoi expats on Facebook at the same time!

Photos from VN News: www.vnnewsw.com