Somewhere between Vox & Hunter S. Thompson
Viewing entries in
Hanoi
I could go 'stream-of-consciousness' about this for pages, but I'll spare you my existentialism. The point is, I loved Hanoi, and I will miss Hanoi, because it challenged me. And I think that was the whole point of coming here, although I didn't expect it to happen quite in this way.
While I was between jobs I begrudgingly began working for a company called TOPICA. This company employed teachers to do classes online. It didn’t pay the best but it was easy money, had no commute, and they could make international direct deposits. One day I got an email from them telling me that I was a “cool teacher” and asking if I would be interested in being in their upcoming commercial, which was to be filmed from 7am to 11pm on the 4th of July.
During one of my rainy days in Sa Pa, one of the hostel workers told me about an organization that had just been initiated that allowed foreigners the chance to have a question and answer session with former Viet Cong soldiers, and interact with children who were growing up with disabilities caused by Agent Orange. I was beyond excited to hear that such an organization existed. This was going to be the real deal.
Sorry guys, this is gonna be a gross one. It all started one particularly hot week in Hanoi... er... well, the symptoms did at least.
This is the story of my worms. R.I.P.
Considering making Hanoi your home for a while? Awesome! It's a great place to live, but it can take some getting used to, and knowledge is power. This guide should answer all the questions you could have about moving to Hanoi, but if you're still feeling uncertain, don't hesitate to reach out and ask me yourself!
Just passing through? Looking to explore and have some fun? This guide will give you a peek at some Hanoian favorites from the perspective some more permanent residents. Trust me, hanging out with the locals and the expats is a totally different world than Hanoi’s rowdy backpacker scene.
You wake up. It's a normal morning and you need to make breakfast before you head off to work. After you freshen up, you trudge downstairs to make yourself an omelet. You put the pan on the stove. You get the carton of eggs out of the fridge, and when you crack open the egg, instead of yolk coming out, a fully-formed bird fetus falls out.
Actually take a moment to imagine that plopping down onto your frying pan.
This is the first in a 3 part series. This first installment is about my first 72 hours in Vietnam. And I don't write this for the sake of trash talk, (the company in question is earning a bad enough reputation without my help) rather, I write this to let you know some of what can go wrong out here. Working abroad in the developing world carries a different set of challenges that growing up in the West does not prepare you for. Hopefully, if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, you will have learned a little something about how to sort it out from reading this.
Welcome to the 2nd installment of the ESL Teaching “Story Basket.”
Make some popcorn / get nice and cozy / go to the bathroom now because this one is a bit longer than the last one.
We'll start with the story of me giving a terrified student the "get-out-of-jail-free card."
In buying my first motorbike I chose the path of least resistance and bought an automatic transmission bike called a Nouvo. However, in addition to being a gas guzzler, this bike was considered to be 'unmanly'. Eventually I gave into societal pressures and graduated to a semi-automatic transmission bike called a Wave, which I rode for a short time. Semi-automatic bikes are undoubtedly the most practical bikes for city driving, but I really wanted to learn to drive a manual transmission bike. Go big or go home, right?
