To Live and Work in Ha Noi

The past couple days have been a combination of looking at apartments and going on our first interviews.

An agent will meet us at our hotel on a scooter, we hail a taxi and off we go thru the streets and alleys looking at potential places to live.  The alleys are quite extensive and complicated.  Even with a map we often times have a bit of difficulty following the route.  We both get excited when we recognize a street or a landmark.  The streets and alleys all look remarkably alike.

We've seen many apartments but none that have spoken to us.  Well, that's not completely true:  there was one in our price range but it was too far from where we want to be.  Most apartments are small compared to US standards;  that's ok with us.   We just want clean, centrally located, AC, internet access and not in a high rise building.  The search continues.

We've had two job interviews.  Both went well and we'll return tomorrow for a second interview with one of them, as well as go on two others.  Busy day tomorrow:  a 9 o'clock, lunch with another school and a 2:30.

We misunderstood  the time for one of them;  we were getting ready to leave our hotel for an afternoon of sightseeing when we received a call from the reception desk that someone was waiting for us downstairs.  We were definitely not dressed for an interview, however, we were told that was OK since we were just going to tour the school today and meet with the director tomorrow.  So we got into a waiting car and only went a couple blocks when a phone call came through that the principal would like to meet us.  It was then explained to us that the principal is a very traditional man and that it would be better if we returned to the hotel to change clothes ( we were wearing shorts and tees).

When we arrived at the school, we were met by their Marketing Director who escorted us to a room where an old Vietnamese man complete with long white hair and a long white beard was waiting for us at a table set with a large teapot and very small cups and saucers.  Through an interpreter, we enjoyed tea and conversation with Mr. Ngoc ( impossible to pronounce) for about an hour.  He turned out be to very congenial with a quick mind and a sharp sense of humor.  Mr. Ngoc was a mathematics teacher at the university level for many years.  When he retired about 20 years ago, he was one of the first ones to open a private school to teach English to students.  They currently have three locations and are building a very modern school to consolidate the three locations;  it will be ready in about a year or so.

We'll meet with their director tomorrow.

O.