Hanoi Weather

Check out today's weather from now till when I have to go to school. Keep in mind, this is basically the same forecast for every day this week...and probably month. According to weather.com there will be scattered t-storms every hour here.

Wed, June 11

Time

Condition

Feels Like

Chance Precip

Dew Point

Humid.

Wind

Morning Commute

Interstate Forecast

9am

Scattered T-Storms 84°F

93°F

50%

76°F

77%

From E 5 mph

10am

Scattered T-Storms 86°F

97°F

50%

77°F

74%

From E 5 mph

11am

Scattered T-Storms 88°F

100°F

50%

77°F

70%

From ESE 5 mph

12pm

Scattered T-Storms 89°F

101°F

50%

77°F

68%

From SE 6 mph

1pm

Scattered T-Storms 90°F

103°F

50%

77°F

65%

From SE 6 mph

2pm

Scattered T-Storms 90°F

103°F

50%

77°F

65%

From SE 6 mph

3pm

Scattered T-Storms 89°F

101°F

50%

77°F

68%

From SE 7 mph

It's Official: Vietnam Has It All

Three days ago I was talking about different foods to Huyen. Huyen, like many Vietnamese people, thinks that Vietnamese food is not only the only healthy food in the world, but also the only good food in the world. For example this is a typical conversation:

Ben: Huyen have you ever had a hamburger?
Huyen: Yes. I don't like. It's very fatty.
Ben: Huyen have you ever had pizza?
Huyen: I don't like. It's fatty.
Ben: Do you want to get Indian food?
Huyen: I don't like.
Ben: Have you ever had it?
Huyen: No but it's unhealthy.

The other day I made Huyen a bet that if she could get an A on a listening section of the midterm test I gave my upper Elementary level teenagers I would buy her sushi (basically I played a tape twice and she had to answer twenty questions about it). However, if she scored a C or lower she would have to buy me sushi. Well, she got a C which means I'm owed sushi. However, Huyen told me that instead of going to the restaurant she would look up the recipe for sushi and, "cook it" for me.

With her love of only eating/knowing Vietnamese food she reminds me of my sister in fourth grade who would only eat hamburgers for breakfast, lunch in dinner. I can only hope that Huyen will one day have the same reaction Hannah had after maxing out on one meal: she'll never want to eat it again. Okay, that's not completely true since I still love Vietnamese food.

Anyway, the point is, we were talking about food and I mentioned bagels. Of course Huyen had never heard of bagels (and had a hard time pronouncing it). Well as soon as I mentioned bagels I couldn't get them out of my mind. I was like Bubba in Forest Gump: "Huyen there are so many types of bagels. There's poppy bagels. Sesame bagels. Raisin bagels. Pumpernickel bagels. Onion bagels. Garlic bages. Everything bagels. Salt bagels. Even chocolate chip bagels!" For the next four eight hours I kept thinking about hot bagels smothered with white fish salad or cream cheese and lox. I kept thinking that if I was home in Jersey I could expect to wake up with a fresh bagel waiting for me on the kitchen table care of Mother August taking an early morning drive for her son to the bagel store.

Well, on Saturday afternoon while I was taking a breather on the ultimate frisbee sidelines, I happened to blurt out: "I would kill for a bagel." The fact that it was on my mind in the middle of a frisbee match shows exactly how obsessed I've been. Luckily my friend Laura who has been in town for a while overheard me and said, "Go to Puku. They have bagels." Turns out there is a New Zealand breakfast spot that is extremely well known with the expats. The next morning I met Laura there for brunch and ate this:














Sure, it's no New Jersey bagel but damn it was good. The bagel itself was sort of just thick bread with a whole in the middle but the cream cheese and the lox were amazing. Oh yeah, see that plate of food in the background? That was my second breakfast. All in all, this was one of my most expensive meals I've eaten in Vietnam (two breakfast plates and a fresh squeezed pineapple juice for exactly $10) but it was well worth it.

Ironically later in the day I told Huyen how I found a bagel and she said: "You found a bagel and didn't take me? You're so selfish!"

SIZE MATTERS

(PICTURE: I was never good at math. How many inches is 8 centimeters?)

Dear Ahoy Hanoi Fans,

"They" say size doesn't matter but we all know -- some of us sadly better than others -- that isn't true. So, in an experiment to see how big my site is I've added a counter today. Please click on my site at least twice as much as usual so I can feel good about myself. Thank you.

Ben

"Come Wash My Apartment"

(PICTURE: Huyen's new apartment. The person taking this photo had his back basically against the far wall...which isn't very far from the front wall)

When people get something new in Vietnam they are supposed to "wash it." No they don't physically put soap and water to the object. It's just an expression which means they must celebrate by buying others food/drinks, etc. So, Huyen moved apartments the other day and invited Ryan and I over to "come wash my apartment."

Let me just say, if you ever want to feel really good about where you live you should spend some time in a locals' apartment. Huyen's apartment is roughly 7 foot by 12 foot. Sure, it's probably just a tad smaller than a $1500 a month place in the village but it's lacking a few amenities like:

a) A mattress. There's a bed frame with just a rock hard "bed" on top of it. Basically it's just wood slots covered by a straw mat.
b) A toilet. There's a hole in the ground in a separate "room" but nothing to sit on. I just don't understand how the Vietnamese get any reading down.
c) A shower. There's a faucet which you use to fill up a bucket and then pour on yourself with a large spoon.
d) Air conditioning. Huyen's place is roughly 112 degrees Fahrenheit.
e) Window screens. Bugs/lizards just fly/crawl in. That said, it does come with a nice mosquito net.
f) A closet.

On the plus side the apartment costs $20 a month. Huyen splits the place with her sister so they each pay $10 a month. That's right, $10 a month. And yes, two people live in this tiny room. That's also the norm here. People always share their beds with friends and family.

Now I know why Huyen keeps coming over my apartment during the day -- she wants to use my bathroom and bask in my air conditioning.

Would You Like A Little AIDS With Your Goat Hot Pot?

(PICTURE: The literature my waiter handed me)

Two nights ago I'm sitting outside at my favorite goat hot-pot restaurant waiting for Ryan to show up. I had a couple minutes to spare so I took out midterm exams from my backpack which needed grading. I started to mark up the tests when a waiter came up to me and started to try and talk. He knew ZERO words in English and my twenty word vocab wasn't getting us too far. We said our names, shook hands, had a few chuckles at our lack of communication and then he wandered off.

I went back to grading my midterms when after about a minute the waiter returned holding a piece of paper. He handed me the paper with a huge grin and pointed at himself. I quickly glanced over the 8X10s and got the gist of what he was handing me. Basically it was a four page document printed off the internet about AIDS. He kept smiling at me and pointing at himself. I asked him, "Do you have Aids?" and he kept smiling and pointing. He gestured for me to keep the paper and meandered off, looking quite proud. I couldn't figure out if:
A. The waiter actually had AIDS
OR
B. He figured I was a teacher and wanted me to teach my students about AIDS
OR
C. Both

No real point to this story except that it was just another strange incident. And yes, I have a favorite goat hot-pot place.

It's Time To Be Taken A Little Seriously

All of my classes are great except for one teenage class. There are 19 students in that class and all of them are well behaved except for four boys. Yesterday as they were being obnoxious two thoughts popped into my head:

Thought 1: One of my favorite children's books -- I'm blanking on the name (help, Mom)-- is about a teacher who is really nice to her students and doesn't get the respect she deserves. So the teacher calls in sick to the school and dresses up in all black and comes into the class as a "substitute." Her new personality is extremely mean and she disciplines the children. After a week or so of this the kids are dying for their old nice teacher and when she reappears they are the ideal class.

Thought 2: I read an article about a police force in Mexico who were required to grow mustaches. In fact, I think they were fined if they didn't have mustaches. The reason behind the facial hair demand was that they find in Mexico people with 'staches get more respect.

Well, I put those two thoughts together and today I'm going to class with a new mentality...and a new look:

(PICTURE: No comment on the clearly bent/gigantic nose, Dad)

A Not So Sweet Reminder Of Sweet Times

I just cleaned off the clothes line and one article of clothing was left: Steve Song's dirty undies (sure they must be clean since they were obviously washed but come on, they're still dirty).

Incidentally, that white building on the right side is the Dutch Embassy. While taking the photo someone looked at me from the window. Yeah, I'm now just waiting for my front door to be knocked down by Vietnamese police. Anything for the blog...