Cars, Cars, Cars

Despite the government changing the traffic patterns in the city, traffic is getting worse. In theory, the traffic patterns might have worked but there is one intangible the government didn't take into account -- cars.

I arrived in Hanoi in April of 2008. In nearly two years, I would say that that amount of cars in Hanoi has at least quadrupled. Two years ago nearly every car you would see would be a taxi. Now there are less taxis than regular cars. It seems that every upper middle class family and higher has bought a car. This morning I consciously took note of all the different brands I saw. There were GM cars, BMWs, Mazdas, Mercedes, Toyotas, Lexus, Mini Coopers and a few other companies I didn't recognize.

The increase in cars is a huge problem. Besides the fact that they take up more space on the road when they are being driven, they also take up space when they're parked. This city wasn't built with car parking lots which means cars are parking on sidewalks, sides of the road and basically any free space they can find to occupy.

Are You Serious?

(PICTURE: A garbage can in the stands.)

I've mentioned on my blog before that the Vietnamese like to throw garbage on the ground. It is just what they do here whether it be on the street or in a restaurant. It's part of the culture. You're in a restaurant and blow your nose in a napkin, chuck it to the ground. You're on the street and finished with your water bottle, toss it on the curb. This is the hardest part of the culture here for me to adapt to. I've gotten more than a few looks when I've kept a dirty napkin on top of the table rather than chucking it on the ground where it belongs.

Well, at the soccer stadium I got a taste of my own medicine. When we went to the Vietnam vs. China soccer game, Huyen and I had bought some roasted nuts outside of the stadium and brought them into the game with us. After I shelled a nut I threw the shell under my seat -- you know how we do it in America. I immediately heard a gasp to the right of me followed by, "What are you doing?!" Huyen was appalled that I would throw the shell on the ground. I actually wasn't sure if she was serious and brilliantly asked, "Are you serious?" She said yes and told me to put the shells in the garbage. Sure enough, there was a garbage a few feet in front of us. If only there were garbage cans on the streets in Hanoi...

By the way, one thing I found really interesting about the soccer stadium was that they made an announcement banning smoking at the stadium. Smoking isn't banned anywhere in Vietnam. To me this was a huge progressive step forward for the country...that is until seemingly every male lit up a cigarette at halftime (not in the stands but in the corridors, bathrooms, refreshment area, etc). Even worse than people smoking though was that the vendors were selling cigarettes despite the ban. One step forward, two steps back.

Vietnam vs. China

(PICTURE: Huyen and I at My Dinh National Stadium.)

Last week Huyen, me and about twenty foreigners went to My Dinh National Stadium to cheer on the Vietnamese national soccer team against China. The game was a qualifier for the 2011 Asian Cup. Unfortunately Vietnam has already been eliminated from qualifying and thus the stadium was 80% empty. Regardless we saw a really exciting game.

Vietnam put early pressure on China and had a few very close scoring chances. However, China quickly countered and scored two goals before halftime. In the second half, Vietnam came out with a fire that they didn't show in the first half. The Vietnamese team turned up the physicality level of the game and it seemed like a minute didn't pass without a Chinese player dropping to the ground while I Vietnamese player was issued a yellow card. The medical cart came out no less than four times in the second half. If you ask me, the Chinese players have been watching the Italians play too much. In fact, after about the fifth yellow handed out to Vietnam, the refs issued a yellow to a Chinese player for diving.

On one play a Vietnamese player was issued a red card for some apparent foul. Clearly the fans didn't agree. However, playing shorthanded seemed to inspire the Vietnamese. I could go on and write a blog how the Vietnamese historically like to be the underdogs in battle but will only just state the fact that Vietnam dominated the second half once they were down a man. With only fifteen minutes left a Vietnamese player was fouled in the box and issued a penalty kick. The player took the kick and it was saved by the Chinese goalie. However, a Chinese player had entered the box before the kick and the referee granted Vietnam a do-over. The player didn't miss again and Vietnam halved the scored.

In the final few minutes Vietnam had a couple extremely close chances. Twice the ball skidded along the goal line, somehow not going in. In the end, China held on and won 2-1.

Goodbye Long!

One of the hardest parts of living abroad is that friends come and go. Out of all my close friends from last year only a couple are left in this city. Sadly, that number is about to drop again. My good friend Long is leaving Hanoi today.

Long leaving is personally sad for me. However, Long's departure is actually a huge loss for all of Hanoi. More than anyone else I have met here in the last couple of years, Long is the nucleus of the Hanoi expat world. In Hanoi we don't play six degrees of separation to Kevin Bacon. We play six degrees of separation to Long. It seems that every single person in this city either knows Long or has a friend who does.

As I've written on my blog once or twice before, the best thing I can say about someone is that they're a good guy. Long is great guy. Since I met Long, I've never heard him say a bad thing about anyone. How many people can you say that about? I guess Long can find the good in everyone...which is probably why he has so many friends in Hanoi.

Good luck back in Australia, Long!

Dengue Fever

I was too nervous to blog about this when it happened but I'll blog about it now:

One night when I was in Japan, I skyped with Huyen and she didn't look so good. She said that her head was hurting and actually started to cry while we were on Skype. I was extremely worried and encouraged her to call her sister and to go to the hospital. Huyen is as tough as they come and seeing her cry I knew something was wrong. There's nothing worse than being far from someone and feeling totally useless when they are sick.

Huyen went to the doctor and got diagnosed with "Petechial Fever" from a mosquito. She ended up having to take ten days off and go for IV drips ever day. The first few days were really scary and I started to look into flights back to Vietnam. Luckily Huyen rebounded and soon got better. I had never heard of "Petechial Fever" and did some research online and emailed some doctor friends. There was very little online except for talk about a rash that occurs during the fever. Well, after some more research I asked Huyen if she had Dengue Fever. Huyen looked at me on Skype and said that's exactly what she had. Apparently she had looked up her illness in a dictionary and it had two translations. The first was Petechial and the second was Dengue. As soon as I learned that she had Dengue I started to freak out. I don't know too much about Dengue but I know it is really painful and potentially fatal. I emailed my mother's cousin Herb who was a US Army doctor in Southeast Asia for many years. He emailed me right back and told me that Dengue is often called "Break Bone Fever." Herb told me that he had Dengue twice and wasn't embarrassed to admit that it brought him to tears because of the immense pain.

This was a few months ago and Huyen is now back to 100%. However, dealing with Dengue was very scary and something that most people outside of Southeast Asia have not heard of. Unfortunately that might now be changing because Dengue has been spreading outside of this region. My sister emailed me this article in Newsweek:

Dengue Fever Could Be Next Public-Health Threat

Andrew Bast

Last Spring the threat of swine flu sparked a panic: the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, universities and drug companies kicked into overdrive to develop new vaccines, and governments raced to stop the virus's spread. Meanwhile, another global public-health threat proliferated virtually ignored: dengue fever, a potentially lethal mosquito-borne disease traditionally found mostly in Central America and Southeast Asia.

The numbers on dengue's expansion are staggering. While the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported that H1N1 had killed 11,749 people as of December 2009, the WHO reports that "explosive outbreaks" of dengue hospitalized half a million people last year. Forty years ago, the disease struck only nine countries; it is now endemic in more than 100. And it's not just a disease of the poor south. Dengue has spread into a large swath of the U.S. (39 states) and has climbed to the second most common illness that European travelers bring home. If global warming continues and the mosquito's habitat spreads, more than half the world's population will be at risk, according to the Sydney-based Lowy Institute. While London, New York, and Beijing pour millions into warding off swine flu, dengue's scourge--and spread--continues. It may not threaten to shut down the global economy, but it's a growing killer that deserves some attention of its own.

Universal Health Insurance

Congratulations Scott Brown on winning the Massachusetts senate seat and most likely fucking over universal health care.

In a case of perfect timing, today I had to go to the hospital with Huyen. Huyen woke up this morning and had a big cyst-like bump under the skin on her neck. I immediately freaked out and told her we had to go get her checked out at the hospital.

I've written about Vietnamese hospitals before and told about how crowded they are. The hospital we went to today was packed but in the span of less than two hours, Huyen was able to see two doctors and have blood work and a biopsy done. I'm happy to report that the thing under Huyen's skin is benign.

Vietnam has universal health care. The hospitals might be dirty but at least anybody can come into the hospital and get treatment without having to mortgage their house.

I try to keep my blog from being too political but I just felt like today was a great example of why America needs to look itself in the mirror from time to time. There is no doubt that if you have money in America you can get the best treatment for any condition. However, for those who don't have the most money, you're screwed when you don't have good health insurance.

I'm not saying that the Health Care Bill is perfect. In fact, I think it is too compromised because way too many Democrats sold out. However, what I am saying is that today I saw dozens of poor people at the hospital in Hanoi who got treatment and only had to pay a minimal fee. In America, that doesn't happen and now won't happen for probably a much longer time.

Hanoi Gyms

There are a few levels of gyms in Hanoi.

Level 1: You have your basic, dirt cheap Vietnamese gym. These places resemble American prison gyms but not nearly as nice. These gyms cost about $10 a month to join and are usually open from 5-7 AM and 3-9 PM. These gyms usually have ten shirtless dudes standing around every free weight, waiting for their turn to lift it for thirty seconds.

Level 2: Hotel gyms. There are many hotels that offer gym memberships. The problems with these gyms is twofold: 1) They're expensive 2) You have to go to a hotel to work out. There aren't too many hotel gyms I've been to in my life that make me shout out, "This gym is awesome!" Certainly there are none that I've been to that are worth paying over $100 a month for.

Level 3: The recently opened super nice gym in Vincom Tower. This gym has everything including a lap pool and a $200 a month price tag.

After scouting out a whole bunch of gyms, I finally found a "western style" gym called Actilife. I joined for the year for about $400. The price is pretty low because I joined for off-peak hours which means I have to work out before 2pm every day. The gym has been pretty good so far but there have been a few reminders that I'm still at a Vietnamese gym:

Reminder 1: The other morning a guy was smoking a cigarette in the locker room. In defense of the gym, there is a no smoking policy in the gym. In defense of the guy smoking, he's Vietnamese so he thinks he can smoke anywhere.

Reminder 2: There was a guy running on the treadmill completely shirtless. Men love being shirtless in Vietnam. Eventually I'll have a post about guys who take their shirts off at bia hoi restaurants. It's always one of my favorite things.

Reminder 3: The other morning I showed up at 7AM and all the lights were off. I thought I had come too early but actually the power was just out. I asked the staff when it would come back on and they told me 3pm. I worked out by candle light.