Welcome to the next edition of my newsletter. My wife and I are always commenting that everybody smiles in Vietnam. I know that's a bit of an exaggeration , but broadly it's true. There's a 'hard to put your finger on' feeling of contentment and lack of tension pretty much wherever you go. So it's no surprise to me that Vietnam ranks second in the world in the 2012 Happy Planet Index (HPI), a measurement introduced in 2006 by the New Economics Foundation. HPI takes account of 'human well being', life expectancy, and general life fulfillment , set against the ecological and enviromental effects that will infringe on future generations in that country. Costa Rica is top and Qatar is bottom. So money is'nt everything; but I guess we all know that don't we?
Moving on, one newspaper article that fascinated me here , had the headline 'Top leaders join in self -criticism'. Obviously I had to read it. It described a new Government Resolution whereby all top officials ( including the Prime Minister) have to make self criticism speeches in front of their peers, the Politburo and the Party Central Committee. It sounds like a wonderful idea to me. I'm sure we all know lot's of people who would have a real struggle with that; so hey , let's hope Vietnam is leading the way on this initiative.
I'm so grateful to those people who respond to my blog. I love writing it, but it's even better when somebody drpos me an email to say that they like reading them. One common feature of people's responses to me is that ' we must be having a fantastic time'. And yes we are. But there are some downsides and difficulties here. So without getting too depressed , here are 3 ' not great ' things about life in Hanoi;
a) The Weather. We have been here 6 months. The first 2 were like living in a lukewarm grey and damp cloud. The next one started to get swelteringly hot and humid. And for the last 3 we have had incessant 'oven like ' temperatures (with humidity to match), mixed with thunderstorms that rattle your teeth. We are told that september to november are lovely , and then that december and january are are cold and humid and that you feel it in your bones. So you don't come to Hanoi for the invigorating climate. And one side effect of the humidity is that things in your house ( particularly anything wooden or leather grow a lovely mould on them ; it's a rather fetching green/grey colour).
b) The Pollution. A very high percentage of scooter riders ( and some pedestrians) wear face masks and when you are in heavy traffic ( when are you not in heavy traffic?), the emissions must be sky high. We are told that there is a huge incidence of bronchial problems in Hanoi, and both my wife and I have had the 'Hanoi hacking cough'. Also we are both horrified to see the number of dead fish which gently float on the surface of Westlake every morning. I asked somebody at work whether this is to do with the high level of pollution , and was told that this is partly to blame , but that the humidity is a big factor. How do fish die of humidity? My wife told me that I must allow myself to be more gullible when a local gives me an explanation like that.
c) Petty Bureaucracy. I've highlighted this before, but last week my morning taxi was singled out by the traffic police and my journey delayed till the poor taxi driver paid up for some unspecified offence. After 10 minutes of sitting waiting in the back of the taxi , I decided to to get out and look as menacing and annoyed as I could ( I am rather 'tall' here you know) , and actually it seemed to do the trick as the episode settled very quickly after that. Taxi drivers here have a hard enough job as it is; It's a tough and competitive life, so it's a real bummer to be stopped and 'fined' at 7.30 in the morning.
Ok ; off my soapbox. We spotted a supermarket product which I am sure you can't buy in the UK. You remember my discussion about vegetables and the 'middle class' fear of pesticides by local farmers? Well just buy a bottle of VEGY to wash all your veg in. It looks just like Fairy Liquid.
So to finish I thought I woud tell you about our company trip. The whole firm ( about 90 people) are going to Bali for 4 days. It's pretty cheap to get there from here, and company trips like this are often the norm. But before you get too jealous; We can't go! It co-incides with one of our lads coming to visit and we can't get the logistics to work. But as Bali is an easy trip , I reckon that we might have a romantic weekend there at some point.Here's an explanation of the photos above;
a) This is apparently the longest ceramic mural in the world. It's several kilometers long, and covers one of the dyke walls that protects the city from flooding. Local and international businesses and schools all contributed to the project, which is just fabulous.
b) Pumping water from one lake to another is a common scene. This one is near our house both lakes are used for farming water lillies.
c) 2 photos showing sunset scenes from our roof terrace.
d ) A typical traffic scene from the morning rush. All the scooters on the left are actually on the pavement!
e) The house opposite the end of our alley needed a crane to lift two huge bonsai trees into his back garden. The road was closed for 3 hours without warning and led to lots of arguments!
Till next time.
kevin
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