First Cultural Lesson: Human Frogger... aka, crossing the street

The first thing we learned (literally, after dropping our bags off at the hotel) was how to cross the street.

Now, to many this might seem mundane or superfluous... not so in Hanoi. This video demonstrates the high courage it takes to cross the constant flow of motorbikes, cars, and buses. The traffic NEVER stops; it only slows.


Here are the basic rules...
0. Pray.
1. Don't panic and run! Walk slow and steady.
2. Don't walk in front of buses or cars, because the usually cannot swerve to miss you.
3. Don't wait for traffic to slow... you will wait ALL day!
4. Pray harder.
5. Optional is waiting for a very nice Vietnamese person to 'walk' you across... although many will wonder why you are just standing there waiting and not jumping into traffic.

Traffic is actually quite amazing... it reflects a lot of the differences between America and Asia.

A little room...

I am just going to post pictures and video for the room except for two comments. First, there is no shower curtain; I'm still getting used to that. Second, the noise is constant outside my window from traffic... seriously, the honking never stops!

This is my room in Hanoi at the Cau Giay Hotel:

From The Hotel in Hanoi

This is my bed... very comfy.

From The Hotel in Hanoi

This is the bathroom with the hot water heater for the shower and the toilet.

From The Hotel in Hanoi

A quick tour of the room (video) and for some reason, I end with a shot at the toilet:

Video of the balcony (and the noise):

A Day Lost in Travel

I LOST a day somewhere between Colorado and Vietnam...

We were in an airplane for a total of 20 hours and waiting in an airport for a total of 10 hours = about 30 hrs of travel time. BUT, we left Monday at 5pm and arrived Wednesday at 11am... MYSTICAL! We missed Tuesday!

I did see this hazy line on the Ocean beneath us shortly after Alaska; it had "International Dating Helpline" ... or was I reading something else into it?

But, on the less serious matters of life, we arrived safely after jumping from Denver CO, to Los Angeles CA, to Taipei Taiwan, and finally to Hanoi Vietnam. The flight from LA to Taipei was 14 hours aboard a 747 Boeing. Most people slept... even the pilot; at least I expected him to have taken a refreshing nap before landing.

We arrived in Hanoi and the HOT humidity was the first thing to greet us. I began sweating in places I didn't know had sweat glands (do fingernails sweat?... well, let me tell you, they do now!). Our bodies began adjusting and by the time we were on the bus that ELIC brought to pick us up, I was 20 pounds lighter; sweating is now the faster way to use the bathroom - don't go, just sweat it out. Thankfully, I have AC in my hotel room which lets me sleep at night!

We will spend about a month here in Hanoi and I will post several pictures of the room and streets on the next blog entry. Over the next couple weeks, I hope to do a couple entries with the differences between the US and Vietnam... like crossing the street. Exciting, I promise, over a street-full of motorbikes.

Here are some pictures from the trip to Hanoi:

Colorado's Landscape: I was trying to capture the mountains in the background, but they don't show very well.

From Travel to Hanoi

Our tickets were delayed... so we made a fort out of our luggage and hurled things at the ticket counter. Caroline, from the Vietnam team, is currently engaging the enemy! She was much more serious than the rest of our team (as you can see from the helmet). GO CAROLINE! Don't stop till we get our tickets!

From Travel to Hanoi

Others on the team were not so helpful in our war with the airline! But, they did help build the fort. Doug and Susan are actually mourning the loss of a recently fallen comrade named E-tickets.

From Travel to Hanoi

Isaiah was a willing soldier in the battle... he sports his apple shirt as a symbol of protest against the Windows driven airline software!

From Travel to Hanoi

Jeremy, Isaiah's father, was documenting the battle.. and using his flash to blind the clerks while we launched our suitcases over the check-in counter. Russell and Bethany stand on the lookout for reinforcements.

From Travel to Hanoi

Amy, though innocent looking, was tunneling under their defenses from close-range. The bags are hiding the hole.

From Travel to Hanoi

This is after we won the battle (the travel agent bought us new tickets settling the war with a truce) and we are waiting in Denver at the terminal. Isaiah has taken off his shoes and Doug is trying to convince him to put them back on (please, Isaiah, for everyone's sake, put your shoes back on).

From Travel to Hanoi

This is our travel agent, Bill, who met us in the Los Angeles airport with tickets. If it wasn't for him and his peace negotiating skills, we would still be in Denver (argh to the airline! someday, we'll getcha!). Thank you, Bill. Russell and Bethany inspect the terms of peace. Bill looks pleased with his negotiating self.

From Travel to Hanoi

This is the Southeast Asia team... a little blury. Behind us is the China Airlines checkin counter. We did not declare war on them; they went peacefully.

From Travel to Hanoi

A quick shout-out to Andy Ew and Melvin Manickavasagam... HEY, its Malaysia Airlines!

From Travel to Hanoi

Doug and I are discovering the Taipei Taiwan airport to be much more friendly than Denver. We are here enjoying a airport transit train from one terminal to the next. Russell is skeptical about our victory over the airlines... its ok Russell, they will never discover us as we blend into the surrounding crowd of 5ft tall taiwanese.

From Travel to Hanoi

Isaiah is his usual cheerful self on the sidewalk escalator. He was one of the few among us who had unbounded energy over the 36 hour travel episode. Actually, he was the only one!

From Travel to Hanoi

greetings from the mile high city

I've arrived! ... in Denver, Colorado to start orientation.

About 60 or 70 of us flew into Denver today and drove about an hour north to the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Here we will have some basic orientation - administration stuff, cultural relations, and some foundational stuff. Long days here... read: 7am to 6pm (ok, so breakfast is at 7am and supper is 6pm, but are those really optional?).

I've attached a couple pictures and two videos to show you the campus. It is beautiful. The sky in this part of Colorado is a deep blue that feels like you can reach out and touch. The campus buildings have neat architecture and the rooms are like hotel rooms. Trust me... I've seen pictures of Laos and Vietnam and things get a little more rugged in Hanoi and Pakse. This is like the calm before the plunge into the boonies!

ENJOY...

This is my dorm building:

From Orientation

These are buildings around my dorm:

From Orientation

Great sunset:

From Orientation

From Orientation

Here are two movie files showing the campus:


... and my dorm room from the inside:

3 Papers & 3 Weeks

Back to school! (for me at least)

I've got 3 papers due in about three weeks and about 8 books to read or skim! I just got done with finals and papers a month ago; no rest for a teacher. One paper is a historical timeline (drawn by hand not computer) of the country of Laos for the past 2000 years - minimum 50 major events with pictures (any artists want to help?). The other two are response papers to the assigned reading. Total of 3 classes on cross-cultural teaching and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language).

Here's my schedule for the next couple weeks:

July 5 - July 20 = PACK! (and read books and write papers)
July 20 - July 27 = fly to Denver and get oriented in orientation.
July 27 - August 21st = class!
end of August = fly to Laos and begin Lao language training.

Skype (which I - and no one else - pronounce Sky-pee)

I should have internet in Vietnam for correspondence in email and Skype. If anyone doesn't know what Skype is... it is an amazing phone program for your computer. It allows for free international calls between Skype users (you need high-speed internet to use the phone function) along with video conferencing or typing chat. To use the phone function, you will need a microphone and speakers hooked up to your computer (and a video camera if you want video conferencing). But, typing chat is the simplest and requires just a keyboard (mice are handy too). Trust me, this is great stuff. Email me if you want more info or help with it. It can also call landline phones anywhere in the world for mere pennies a minute. Internationals love this.

Support your internationls... get Skype!