My New Place

A little visual introduction to my new place. If things go well, I'll probably be here for quite a while.

My New Place

"Have You Ever Heard the Rain?"

So I have moved into my new place. I am renting the 3rd floor in a 4 story building. A Korean couple rents the lower two floors, and the 4th floor is basically storage and where we go to hang clothes to dry. I have a bedroom with A/C, a bathroom, and an extra room that has lots of windows and is set up as a kitchen of sorts.

I went out today to buy some essentials that I didn't need while I was staying as a guest at David's house for the last few weeks. There are definitely some changes I'd like to make in some furnishings if I'm going to be staying here for a while, hopefully that won't be an issue.

Last night was my first night here, and I was in for a surprise. We had a very hard thunderstorm around 3 AM, and I was woken up by a muffled roaring sound. I opened up my bedroom door and the entire stairwell area was filled with the awesome sound of a powerful rain beating down on a metal roof. I went up to fourth floor and the noise was almost deafening. Wow. Anyway, despite what everyone in Oregon thinks, I love rain. I love watching it, listening to it, and most of all, sitting by a window reading while the rain is coming down outside. Now going out and trying to get things done in it... well, that's just not right!

So I was able to fall asleep after getting accustomed to the new sound, and today was a cooler day for last night's storm. Tomorrow I will have to go grocery shopping and do some laundry. Life goes on...

Laundry Day

It's been a quiet week, so I thought I'd do a quick blog post on some of the sundry details.  This morning I got up and did some exercise, then went down to the kitchen and cooked up an omelet and made some coffee.  David smelled the aromas and come down to fix himself up a bite to eat as well.  So we talked for a bit about the day's activities and then went to work.

After a quick shower I decided to start with the laundry.  Since David has a washing machine, I don't have to wash everything by hand, but any real stains have to be worked out by hand before throwing an item in the washer, since it's not very powerful.  After the machine has run its course, I'll clip the clothing to hangers and use a pronged pole to hang them up on the wires running above the balcony.  Things dry pretty quickly in this heat!

Honestly though, today's not so bad.  It's only 30° with a heat index of 37°, 86° to 98°F to you westerners.  I don't even have the air conditioner running, just the windows open and the ceiling fan whirling.  I'll need to adjust eventually, and this is as cool as it's going to get for a while.

Laundry Day

On another note, I just got word that I can move into my new place this Saturday!

Obligatory

The greatest motorbike of all time

Believe it or not, that's not hyperbole!  Check out this clip from the Discovery Channel on the program "The Greatest Ever".

So my friend Quý has a brother-in-law who works for a Honda dealership down in the city of Thái Bình.  He came across a Honda Super Cub 50, which is a 49cc motorbike that meets my requirements of not needing a license to drive.  Now Thái Bình is a good 2.5 hour drive away from Hanoi, so it had better be a sure thing before making the trip, but he said the bike was ngon, "delicious", so we went for it.

It turned out to be in exceptionally good condition for a bike manufactured back in the 80's.  It was previously owned and used by someone in the military, so it was actually well taken care of.  Most motorbikes of this type that are still running in Vietnam have been repaired with all manner of spare parts from China, but this one is 100% original Honda parts.  We got the price down to about $290 and signed on the dotted line.

After clearing it with the local police, I was able to spend the night at Quy's home.  The neighbors were fascinated by a Westerner staying at someone's house, so they all came over to see what was going on.  I had a lot of fun helping some of the kids practice their English.  Quy's parents are really nice, very hospitable, so it was a nice trip.  Since Thái Bình isn't industrialized, there is very little pollution.  It's the first time I've seen blue sky and the stars at night after coming to Hanoi.

There was a little trouble getting my new bike started the next day, but it was just a very minor adjustment that had gotten out of tune.  While getting it checked out I went ahead and had the oil changed just in case.  I then drove the bike all the way from Thái Bình back to Hanoi.  Since we ended up leaving a little later than expected, most of the trip was at night, but everything went well and I found that I really enjoyed driving a motorbike.  The only problem I had (other than all the crazy people driving on the roads over here! ) was that the seat is a little low, making it a bit difficult to down-shift.  That shouldn't be too hard to adjust, so it looks like I found my new bike!

It actually might not have to even be all that temporary, since it really does quite well on the streets here in Hanoi.  The only reason I can think of to upgrade to a more powerful bike would be if I had to carry a passenger, and I wouldn't mind not having to bear that responsibility for a while.  So for now, it's me and my cub prowling the streets of Hanoi.

Here are a few photos from the trip to Thái Bình.

The alternative

Well, getting a driver's license over here is becoming one giant pain in the posterior region. After compiling what I thought was everything necessary, I find out that the translation of my Oregon driver's license was done with the improper terminology so is unacceptable, the local police didn't authorize my license application correctly, and there are things required that are only posted on the wall at the office, they are not listed on the actual application as being necessary to bring in. Also, they require duplicates of every item, which also was not specified. Talk about fit to be tied. Sigh.

I think another one of the reasons I'm finding difficulty is because I am here on a tourist visa. Apparently many of the others that come over managed to work out an arrangement where they had a business visa, which makes it much easier to get the license. I'm going to continue trying to find work over here, hopefully I can find something part-time that will give me some legitimacy. If so, then I can apply for the business visa and go from there.

In the meantime, I discovered that any motorbike under 50cc does not require a license to drive. So I think the best alternative for me in the short term is just to get one of the smaller bikes and use that to get around. A friend's friend has one that he's going to borrow tomorrow so I can try it out and make sure it will do what I need. Since I just need basic transportation to find work and get to meetings, it should be sufficient. I should be able to buy a used bike quite inexpensively and sell it later when I'm able to upgrade. Anything to avoid having to go back to that application office!

The Honda Cub is a fairly common 49cc bike over here, though most everyone drives the larger 100-150cc bikes nowadays. It looks something like this:

Getting a license, part 2

Well, the letter I waited for the embassy to prepare was useless. It wasn't even in Vietnamese. At least they didn't ask me to pay anything for it. Afterwards I went to the Office of Traffic & Public Works to try and apply anyway, since it was close. No go, I need the license itself translated and notarized. So they send me off to the Hall of Justice to get it translated.

Of course, they told me that they don't do any translation there, and sent me to an office that was fortunately only a five minute walk away. While I was there I had them translate the letter of recommendation from my employer in the US so I can prove I have more than five years of experience in my field when searching for a job. Of course, that shall be another tale for another day.

So I should be able to return tomorrow afternoon to get the translated documents. Hopefully I will be able to get the documents turned in Friday morning before leaving with my friend for the weekend, since it will probably take a week to process the application after I have submitted it.

Here comes the bride

Evidently two of the friends in the congregation began dating shortly after my last visit ended, and just announced their intention to get married last week. The wedding will be this Thursday. So some of the brothers went over to meet with the groom last night to help plan everything. This morning was spent practicing songs that we will sing after the wedding.

There will be five songs, the first is a translated version of song 36 in the new songbook. We're singing it like the choral arrangement that can be downloaded at jw.org, where the men and women sing separately and then join together on the chorus. Then the sisters will sing two songs together, followed by a song sung in Korean by a group of Korean sisters. Finally we all go back up to sing a translated version of song 92 from the new songbook.

The next day I will go down with a friend to his hometown and spend the night, since he lives near the bride's family. Then Saturday a group of us will go and visit the family. All in all, it's turning out to be a busy week. The friends here are very excited. Since there have been so few weddings in the congregation, it's a very special experience for them all.

On another note, I received a call from the embassy today letting me know my letter for the driver's license is ready. So things are actually moving forward in that regard as well.

The quest for air conditioning

Today was a good test of my ability to withstand the summer heat. It was 95° with 94% humidity and a heat index of 110°. Despite the heat, it was a busy day. I left the house at 8 AM and got home at 6:30 PM, with no A/C in between. Drank lots of water though! The rest of this week should go back down to the mid 80's with some scattered rain. Hopefully I will hear back from the embassy tomorrow and can get started on part 2 of getting a license.

"Who's that strange white man?"

Most of the foreigners in Hanoi tend to congregate around the Old Quarter near Hoàn Kiếm lake, so my walking around in the other districts tends to draw attention.  While walking around in the Thanh Xuân district today, there were lots of stares, some smiles, some waves, and some whispers of "người Tây!"  But the funniest experience was when the taxi drove into the giant pile of garbage because the driver was craning his neck to watch the Westerner walking around.

Getting a license, part 1

So the first task I've assigned myself is to obtain a Vietnamese driver's license so I can legally commit suicide on the roads of Vietnam.  (Just kidding Mom... no really, I'll be careful)  I called the US Embassy to see if they had any advice for me and they said I could come down and get a letter prepared in Vietnamese that I can use at the Department of Transportation to prove I have a motorcycle endorsement.  Hopefully that means I will only have to pay a small fee and get a new license, no tests required.

Since the embassy is in the same district I'm currently living in, I decided to just walk down.  It was a leisurely half hour walk, and on the way back I picked up some bún chả for lunch and had a quick iced coffee break at a café, since it was starting to warm up a bit.  Every 60 feet there was a xe ôm driver trying to get me on his bike.  I guess that will be one advantage to getting my own.

Now I just have to wait for the embassy to call me back and let me know the letter is ready to be picked up.  Then will come part 2: dealing with the Vietnamese equivalent of the DMV.