Our Man in Hanoi: July 2005

I want to ride it where I like...

Now all I need is a brolly

Here's a post that'll have me Mam doing that eyes-to-heaven, patting her heart maneuver in a kind of "oh thank God for that" way.

I'm not going to buy a motorbike/scooter. I've been toying with the idea for quite some time. Should I get a big Russian Minsk - a big favourite amongst ex-pats. Or the locally favoured Honda Dream. Or a cool Vespa painted to my requirements (black and white Newcastle United colours obviously).

There was the VSO thing too. About 99% of people in Hanoi with motorbikes ride them without passing their test and without any kind of license, insurance etc. In true Vietnam style gaining the above takes a whole load of filling-in in triplicate etc etc. So no one bothers. If the Police stop you then you simply make a contribution to their pension fund. That's the way it works around here.

The 1% of people who do have a proper license work for VSO. They insist on it. Can't say I have a problem with it. Right side of the law and all that - but gods it 's a pain.

So I have been looking at the mountains of forms (which need translating). That's before you start with medicals and the test itself.

And today when I checked out the location of my new home (Quang Trung - so very central) I just thought when it came down to it, I didn't really need a motorbike to get around.

Add to that the fact that I have been watching what low level of fitness I had, diminish and the answer was simple. A bicycle.

The fitness thing was becoming a problem. You see I walk to the end of my alley. Wave at the guy with the scooter. He rides over, I jump on the back and he drops me off right at the front door of wherever I want to go. I don't walk anywhere. And it's too hot for sport (unless you can afford an expensive air-conned gym membership). I have noticed that while I have lost weight here - I am developing wobbling granny arms and the love handles were becoming even more pronounced.

So today I bought a mountain bike. As all the other volunteers before who had bought a bike had told me, it opens up a whole new world. Suddenly it's not just about getting from A to B it's actually fun on the way too. And once you are in amongst that scary Hanoi traffic it all seems to make sense.

So I bought my bike and, of course, cycled it straight to Le Pub. Which was entirely necessary as a couple of hundred yards of cycling had me already drenched in sweat. Then I cycled it home. But... I was having way too much fun so peddled straight past my alley and went to call on friends. Then I left, meaning to go home again, but did a little bit of a detour around the little lanes and the markets.

I have to admit I have been back home about an hour now and I am still sweating. Which is not entirely attractive.

So it's fun. KOTO had offered to buy me a bike but I didn't want to waste their money when I couldn't trust myself to actually use it enough. So I have invested my own cash. If it's a two-week wonder then I can simply curse my laziness and stupidity rather than feel horribly guilty.

Out is cycling to Le Pub (except for daytime coffee and water intake). I'll still use the motorbike taxis to and from evenings out when alcohol is involved.

But I am going to cycle to work, to the swimming pool occasionally and go for a Sunday spin or two.

Me, cycling? Who would have thought it? I'm quite chuffed.

It's all I can do to stop myself leaving the house and going for another little jaunt.

And before me it dawns on me Mam to worry about something else....it's okay I WILL be wearing a crash helmet.

Check it out

Okay this could be huge. Check out the guys at Extreme Charity and, link them.

Because on September 1st they will be setting off from Hanoi - with the aim of making the trip to HCMC by cyclo. They will be doing this to raise money for KOTO.

So, link them, and keep up with the progress. If you're Vietnamese-based then try and meet them along the way. If you can help in anyway then let me know - we're going to need a whole lot of sponsors.

But anyway, hopefully, any questions you may want to ask will be answered here: www.extremecharity.info.

And yes this could be huge - but we need your help.

Okay...I'm happy...you happy now?

Our Man in Hanoi....he say...YESSSS!

Okay, I am well ware that the last couple of posts weren't my usual chirpy "I Love Vietnam" self.

Believe it or not though, I do still love Vietnam. Really I do.

But it's been a hard slog recently. I'm tired. We're all tired. And is there light at the end of the tunnel - or is that a train coming? Well, you know the score.

So all the more fantastic that just after a two-hour hard slog of a management meeting I came back to my desk to find an email to say that we have been awarded a pretty hefty sum to pay for a specific piece of equipment. Thank-you. Thank-you. Thank-you.

I broke the news. We high fived. I even got a hug from the boss. He actually jumped on me, lifting his feet up and clung on in a kind of "eek a mouse" manouvre.

Thank-you, you generous people. It's strange the only thing that moves me quite to much as the amazing young people we have here, are the selfless acts of generosity that I come across.

Fundraising has been slow recently. Slow at a time when we need the money most. KOTO, and its new restaurant are far from home and dry in our fundraising. The money, as ever, is more than just its monetary worth, it is a reflection of what people see in KOTO and their faith is us. That means so much to us all.

The money came from an organisation which approached me because a representative had eaten at KOTO and found my blog. You see...I knew writing this stuff would come in handy one day. She also approached me after reading my post about all of the staff, trainees and volunteers pitching in to clean out the new KOTO. Strange how things work out. That day really moved me - it obviously moved someone else too.

Thank-you. Merci Beaucoup. Cam On Chi.

I'm going for a drink. It'll be smiley drink with happy colleagues.

Would I embarass you if I offered one last thank-you?

No...really...

Thank-you

I think it's time to put the top down

KOTO kids coming in out of the rain.

Summer is a funny time in Hanoi.

For starters, it's the opposite of being back home. In summer, in the UK, we worship the heat and complain at the rain. In Hanoi the heat and humdity can really get to you - but when the rain comes, it cools everything down at least for an hour or too.

For the expat, the summer here is something that has to be endured. In short we all just put together a lifestyle plan that involves darting from air con to air con - or at the very least one of those big industrial fans.

It's not just the heat though that can prove tricky. Everyone goes home for the summer. Apparently.

I have also been told that everyone goes home for Christmas. Everyone goes home for Tet. Everyone goes home for Easter. It seems to me that there are people out there with way too much holiday.

But it's true that the Hanoi ex-pat population is somewhat decimated. My social life here has quieted down. All I really want when I venture out at weekends is a few quiet beers, a bit of mickey taking and a few laughs. But getting a crowd together can be tricky.

You can add to that the transiet lifestyle that we have here. I reckon since I arrived and purchased my mobile phone I have keyed in and later deleted at least 25 numbers.

We all live in this bizarre little bubble. Nothing much can prick that bubble. I have this theory that we all have ever-diminshing topics of conversation. Back home you talk about new cds, tv programmes, politics, sports whatever. Here, in our bubble, we slowly lose touch with all of that.

That doesn't leave much to talk about. people can resort to complaining about the locals. I hate that. The locals I have met have been fine - can't say the same for all the ex-pats.

A colleague confided in me that she was worried about becoming boring. When she went home to Australia she had nothing to talk to her friends about. Another colleague complained that she liked so few people here. You couldn't meet a nicer person and she was worried that she was becoming nasty. I doubt it. It's just us ex-pats, we're a strange bunch. Another soon-to-leave ex-pat told me that he decided to get out because he was worried about what he would become if he didn't.

For myself I have also met up with people and been bemused about my lack of conversation. I was never stuck for words before. I remember one conversation with a friend when we agreed no more talk about work - then we sat in silence for two minutes thinking of something else to say.

So summer is a funny time. By Autumn the next shipload of English teachers, tour gruides, volunters, development workers etc etc will no doubt land on these shores. We will bask in fresh conversations and fresh enthusiasm.

In the meantime we will wilt in the heat while we think of something interesting to say.

The big news

Jimmy and kids in front of the new KOTO

It's been so long since I have posted. I will cite the reasons of conferences, a bout of flu, a bout of soul searching and a rather large workload.

But anyway, the big news is: we have announced the location of the new KOTO.

It's at 57 Cua Nam on the outskirts of the Old Quarter. To give you a run down: It's at least double the size of the old place. It's potentially three times bigger if we can find the financial resources to develop it fully.

Right now though it's pretty dingy. As it stands there is no natural light so there will be glass inserted in certain places where there are currently walls and ceilings. There's the thorny issue of air con (expensive but oh so lovely in the current temperature) or fans (cheaper, environmentally friendly but will still leave you a little bit on the damp side on a warmer day).

I've published our KOTO newsletter below, page by page, click on it for the larger version. Strange the things you learn here - I'm a designer now too.

Going back to my excuses for not writing. I guess I am always aware that what I write here is easily googleable. I wouldn't write anything damaging about KOTO or VSO - not that, on the whole, there is that much to write about.

But for a while back there, it stopped being fun. New volunteers, particularly breadhead financial types, were suddenly giving me targets. It felt for a while that the work I had done to date was going unappreciated. As a fundraiser you can work long hours all week and weekends too for months in a row. And for a large part what you're doing isn't fundraising, it's simply all those other jobs that have to be done (like the newsletter for example.

But then it always comes back to money. How much has been made? My job is so quantifiable it scares me. But only the money is quantifiable. All the rest of the work you do just becomes invisible.

Also there is the paradox of being a volunteer overseas. Essentially most leave the West because they have some problem with an aspect of their life or work there. Then, of course, you find yourself in a new country and your job is to impose western thinking and expertise on your organisation.

Before you know it, you're working in an organisation with targets and systems and time sheets and meetings and reports and mission statements and blah blah blah. All very laudable. All entirely necessary and extremely beneficial.

But at the same time.....arrrrggggghhhh!

In addition a change in the scheduling, coupled with the workload also meant that I was spending no time at all with the kids here.

Then the VSO conference came. We stayed in a nice hotel with a pool in Hoi An. The conference was well organised. But with me arriving under something of a black KOTO cloud I struggled to get into the whole "group hug" mentality. From what I have observed, in development circles, the temptation is to "workshop" everything. Discuss it to death, get everyone's input and wait for something to happen. Personally, and probably not correctly, I actually am starting to yearn to be told: - This is how it is. This is how we do this. Here are the guidelines. Do it.

Then of course there are the conversations with VSO teachers who tell you they are finished for the summer (two months off) and how much they enjoy their three hour midday sleep break. You can't help but be jealous when they're off backpacking through Laos for the next eight weeks.

So...that wasn't me moaning, just trying to explain my recent fug which is hopefully clearing.

And as ever it was the kids that snapped me out of it. This Wednesday afternoon I decided to get out of the office and go with trainees to their sports afternoon. I went with the plan of watching. Of course though, the footie sides weren't level so I said I would go in goal. And of course that lasted two minutes before someone wanted to swap.

Playing football in forty degree in jeans is not a smart move. Three days later I am still trying to rehydrate myself.

But the point is, you only have to short time in their company to be rejuvenated. You can chase dollars and dong and churn out press releases and all the rest of it but if you don't spend time with the kids then you might as well be back home.

There is a phrase that comes up a lot here: "It's all about the kids". It's become a mantra because, in between all the crap, it's still what it's about. And sometimes shovelling crap can be worth it.

So, the mood is clearing. The sun is out the birds are singing. As ever, you have to find a system of working and living that suits you. I am going to start by trying to build a way of seeing more of the kids into my timetable.

But I can do this all of this. And by that I mean the wider picture of KOTO, Vietnam and fundraising.

There are some future milestones for KOTO, not least getting the new restaurant up and running, and I want to be a part of that.

And, I keep reminding myself that this is and will be, the time of my life. This is as good as it gets. And for the most part, it's pretty good.