I've now been living in Hanoi for 6 months and I thought it was high time that I wrote about a typical week of mine. For me, establishing a new life for myself in a new city which is so different to what I am used to back in Australia has been more interesting than visiting the tourist sights in or outside of Hanoi.My typical week day would begin by waking up around 7am, having breakfast while watching the ABC news on the Australia Network and maybe playing a bit with our dog, Vau. 
I then head off to work on my my 1970's style, women's, single-geared, suspension-less bicycle. It's actually rides pretty well, especially considering the treatment it gets (lots of bumpy roads and no maintenance). On the way, i'll often stop in at bakery for a croissant. Hanoi traffic is crazy, really crazy, and driving etiquette is non-existent here. But somehow the traffic flow makes sense when i'm riding in it and i'm generally not worried about getting hit (too hard!). Having said that, I'm happy that the trip is only 2km!
I then head off to work on my my 1970's style, women's, single-geared, suspension-less bicycle. It's actually rides pretty well, especially considering the treatment it gets (lots of bumpy roads and no maintenance). On the way, i'll often stop in at bakery for a croissant. Hanoi traffic is crazy, really crazy, and driving etiquette is non-existent here. But somehow the traffic flow makes sense when i'm riding in it and i'm generally not worried about getting hit (too hard!). Having said that, I'm happy that the trip is only 2km!I'll then settle into my work day which I have written a bit about before. Although the work is not exactly what I had expected, I am generally happy with the progress of my assignment. I am working on a wide range of projects - including environmental and tourism issues at Ha Long Bay, community livelihood issues in a national park central Vietnam, and some additional review work relating to climate change studies.
Within the last couple of months, my official counterpart, Huong, has left on mate
rnity leave and my team leader resigned and has not yet been replaced. This makes my role as the Science Officer more challenging as I now have less technical support in relation to my science activities. Having said that, I have recently helped to create a small new sub-team within the office called the Sustainable Development Team (SDT). The team is comprised of another overseas volunteer (an american/spanish guy called Jesse), a vietnamese programme assistant (Chi) and myself. The three of us share an office and help each other out with our projects.
rnity leave and my team leader resigned and has not yet been replaced. This makes my role as the Science Officer more challenging as I now have less technical support in relation to my science activities. Having said that, I have recently helped to create a small new sub-team within the office called the Sustainable Development Team (SDT). The team is comprised of another overseas volunteer (an american/spanish guy called Jesse), a vietnamese programme assistant (Chi) and myself. The three of us share an office and help each other out with our projects.When I don't bring in my lunch, i'll generally go out to a local restaurant (like Cafe Smile which trains underpriviliged youth to become waiters and cooks) or street food like "Pho Bo" (beef noodle soup) or "Bun Cha" (BBQ pork with noodles).
I have a few different activities in the evenings, including social soccer, running, going to the gym, vietnamese lessons, Skype sessions with friends and family, and ofcourse eating out. I try to cook at home as much as possible but a 20,000 Dong ($1.50) Pho or stir fry from a local eatery is often very tempting.I try to keep myself busy on the weekends as well and there's always plenty of social events to choose from. There are quite often film or music festivals and they are generally free to attend! Otherwise, I often catch up with friends at a bar in the Old Quarter and maybe end the night with some karaoke!
When the weather's fine, I might go for a bike ride or a swim, take Vau for a walk in the nearby botanical gardens, or play social competition frisbee or touch football. My sister is visiting me in less than 2 weeks so hopefully I can share some of these experiences with her!
