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June 10, 2009
Charmed by Hanoi
Vietnam's capital city captured my interest in this country when I visited as a tourist three years ago. The historic pagoda on the lake took me back in time, while Lexuses cruising down the street and a burgeoning bohemian café scene gave the city a modern feel. I recall that this juxtaposition was the subject of one of my essays that I wrote for my PiA application.
Anyway, I spent last weekend in the city that seduced me into returning to live and work in Vietnam. Visiting Hanoi as a resident of Vietnam gave me some new things to appreciate about Saigon's quaint, romantic, and refined neighbor to the north:
Language: I find northern pronunciation of the Vietnamese language beautiful. The clear, rhythmic pronunciation and sharp "z" sounds make it easy on the ears and more elegant than the drawl of the South.
Curfew: On Saturday evening, I went out with friends for drinks at a bar called Cuba. At around midnight, the manager turned up the lights and began to urge people to leave, explaining that the police were outside, and that he had to shut down the bar because of the local regulations. I like to be in bed early, so I was secretly grateful to the police for giving me a way out. Back home in Saigon, it is easy to party until daylight any night of the week, but not really my style...
PiA: Hanoi is currently home to five PiA fellows, who are working in NGO and journalism posts. Spending the weekend with them was a blast, and they showed me the side of Hanoi that I missed as a tourist here three years earlier - a running track around West Lake, a brunch café with delicious home baked bread, and the Cinematique, where I watched a production of the Broadway play "The Nerd" that one of the PiA fellows directed. I am the only PiA fellow in Saigon, so it was interesting to catch up with them and discuss the highlights and challenges of our year in Vietnam.
My plane is about to land, so time to shut off my computer. Time to start the week in the chaos of Saigon after a refreshing weekend away...
Posted by mt_mrobinson at June 10, 2009 9:27 PM
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