In the Vietnamese culture it is rare for children to move out of the family home until they are married. Often the newly married couple will move in with the husband's family or into a house that has been given to the newly weds by the husbands family. For this reason 'renting' an apartment as we are familiar with the Canada is not exactly common. Especially when you are looking for something furnished and for only 10 months.
My place is very comfortable, has everything I need including a cute little garden and a fish tank!! Very nice neighborhood, only 10 minutes on my bicycle to work and the beach, and just 2 blocks from the beautiful Han river.
Here is the Han Bridge just a few blocks from my house. Everyday at 2am the middle of the bridge swings 180 degrees to let the large boats through. At 4am the bridge turns back 180 degrees just in time to head to the beach!
I have now been here one month and things are settling quite nicely. I had a few things to get used to once I moved into my apartment such as: 1 - the whole city seems to wake up at 5am, which is fine by me however it is also the time of day that the 2 dogs at the neighbours to my right, the song bird at the neighbour to my left, and the rooster behind my apartment all want make the neighbourhood aware that it is morning:-)
So I was talking to a Vietnamese girl who worked for CECI previously and she was saying that her badminton partner was out with a bad back and she was looking for a new partner to play badminton with her in the mornings at the beach. So now I play badminton as the sunrises....usually I am awake before the dogs, bird and rooster! Hey if you can't beat 'em join 'em!! Actually by not getting up at 5am, you really miss the best part of the day in Da Nang. It does get light here right around that time and the air is still cool. So everyone is out swimming, playing badminton, walking, doing little exercises, and Tai Chi (which I hope to start this week).
The view in the morning.
So far getting up at 5am hasn't really been a problem since the city is sound asleep by 10pm. And we get a 2 hour lunch when most everyone goes home for a midday siesta. Even if you go to the open markets, most everyone is asleep at their stand on a small mat!
I can't seem to get into the routine of napping everyday but having 2 hours for lunch is nice to be able to have lunch and maybe run a few errands. Staying at the office is not really looked upon well so I don't stay a work through lunch as I thought I would.
Well my Vietnamese is getting a bit better but I still don't have high hopes of fluency!! I can now ask the price of something at the market and understand numbers.....this is very helpful. Other useful phrases I have picked up are What is your name? Where are you from? Thank you. Please. and I can ask for coffee with ice.
So here is a run through a typical day for my in DaNang.
5am Trang picks me up on the scooter and we head to the beach for a game of badminton
7am Leave for work
7:15am Grab a refreshingly, addictive Vietnamese iced coffee at the cafe across from work
7:30am Work day starts. This may involve heading out to visit a cooperative or farm with Nhung.
11:30am Lunch and Siesta Time I usually grab lunch somehere and then head home for a break from the heat.
1:30pm Back to work
5pm Head home
6pm Vietnamese class
8pm Grab a juice with Ann, my British Classmate, and practice Vietnamese
10pm Time for bed!!
