Christmas In Vietnam

(PICTURE: Santa's motorbike helpers.)

I apologize for the extended hiatus but starting today Ahoy Hanoi will be up and running again. I've got about 1,000 potential posts from the wedding but before I begin those, I'll just comment on Christmas in Vietnam.

You might be surprised to hear this but Christmas is a big deal in Vietnam. Sure Christianity is a minority religion but that doesn't stop the majority from feeling Christmas spirit. All over Hanoi, Christmas lights are twinkling from the trees, telephone poles and cafes. There's even a temporary Christmas decoration street in the Old Quarter where you can buy Santa outfits, Styrofoam snowmen and basically anything else you could imagine for the holidays.

Last night, we tried to get a taxi to go to dinner with my parents and were told that all the taxis were busy for Christmas Eve. Eventually Huyen got us a small taxi which meant that Su and I had to ride on our motorbike. From the best of my understanding (and questioning), people here just like to celebrate Christmas as a chance to go out to dinner and drive around. No Vietnamese people I know give each other presents, they just say "Merry Christmas" and leave it at that. Being a Jew, In America I never totally got into the Christmas spirit. Sure I love the decorations and the movies and the parties, but beyond that I always felt like an outsider on the holiday as I ate Chinese food with my family. However, in Vietnam we're almost all outsiders so it's fun to smile at one another, send texts and wish each other a Merry Christmas. So, Merry Christmas everyone!

Two Day Hiatus...

We're off on a quiet honeymoon in the middle of nowhere with about 20 family and friends. Ahoy Hanoi will be back in probably two days. To pass the time I suggest going back and rereading some of the old blogs about Huyen and me. I think it'll be like watching the first few Star Wars movies again before watching the new ones.

Ben

Childhood Obesity

Last week Obama signed the Child Nutrition Bill. No news flash here, but Americans are some of the fattest people in the world. Coming from the US to Vietnam was a slight shock seeing how skinny and seemingly fit everyone was. However, that was three years ago. Recently, I've noticed something around Vietnam -- there's a lot of chubby people here now.

A couple of years ago I had no heavy kids in my classes; now it's irregular not to have a few. I've been noticing this change recently and brought it up to a few friends who have been here for a while. Apparently I'm not the only one noticing the waist lines increasing out here especially on children. Huyen and I live by a high school and every day I see some kids who would definitely be considered obese. I'm not a nutritionist but I don't think it takes one to know that it can't be a coincidence that KFC and other fast food places have been popping up all over the place over the last couple of years. Furthermore, I constantly see kids snacking on packaged foods like chips and candy which clearly are contributing to the problem.

Clearly I don't have a say in Vietnamese governmental policy but if I was was the Vietnamese government, I'd start putting together a child nutrition bill of their own ASAP.

Off getting married...

Here's the first picture Huyen and I ever took together:


And today we're getting married...

It must have been my totally awesome wrist band.

Hanoi Citadel

(PICTURE: Huyen at the Citadel gate.)

This year the Hanoi Citadel was named a world UNESCO site. Why? Well, I'm not totally sure since it definitely doesn't seem to be one of the more historic places in the city. That's at least the opinion I came to after scouting it out to add to our "Tour of Hanoi" for wedding guests.

Neither Huyen or I had been to the citadel before and well, we probably won't be going back after we take the wedding guests there. There just seems to be a hole lot of nothing at the citadel. Sure there are a few things that are a pretty old, but in general it felt like a lot of empty space and just a little bit of history.

The cool thing about the citadel though is that:
1. It's free.
2. It's next to the Army Museum so you can just walk over.
3. There's some good picture opportunities to be had there.

Belated Thanksgiving Post

(PICTURE: Thanksgiving '10 with Su. Huyen, the chef, took the picture.)

This post is long overdue. I just wanted to say how awesome my soon-to-be wife was during Thanksgiving. She made some amazing mashed potatoes, eggplant french fries, stir fried pumpkin, a delicious beef dish as a substitute for turkey and apples and cinnamon for dessert. I can't wait for Thanksgiving '11 when Huyen can help prepare her first ever American Thanksgiving!

WTF? Falcon? Really?

After living out here for nearly three years, I don't have too many "WTF" moments anymore. However, the other day I sure had one.

Huyen and I were scouting the hotel my family and friends will stay at when I looked out the window and saw this:


I'm pretty sure that's a falcon but I can't be sure. What I am sure of though is that it is a HUGE bird and it is living in a cage on someone's balcony. This bird brings to mind a lot of questions:
1. Why a falcon?
2. Do they let it free at night to fly around Hanoi and eat the millions of rats roaming the street?
3. Where does one get a falcon?
4. Do the owners hang laundry on their balcony too?
5. Do the owners have to wear one of those huge falcon gloves?
6. Again, why a falcon? What's the fun in having a giant bird who can't actually fly.

I've always said that the worst pet to have is a bird. To me there's something completely strange about having an animal that flies, not be able to fly. It just seems wrong. And sure size shouldn't matter but having a giant bird in a cage just seems a little bit wronger.