Dear fellow internet lurkers,
I am happy to inform you that the first two-and-a-half weeks of my life in Saigon have gone swimmingly, and I am still so excited to be in this fascinating place!
First, the weather. Saigon is very hot and humid - typically between 85-95 degrees during the day, no lower than 70% humidity. I truly thought I would sweat through my clothes every single day, but surprisingly I've adjusted - to an extent. Do I still have an unmentionable amount of back sweat when walking around at 2pm? Yes. Does my face flush an unflattering maroon when I step outside my apartment? Not any more - victory! I can also tell I've adjusted, because slowly I've moved the temperature in my apartment up from a very dignified 71 degrees to 78 degrees - unheard-of in my real life back in Boston.
Second, the most common question I receive - what, exactly, do I do every day?
Well, for one, I spend a lot more time commuting. Gone are the days of happy 35-minute rides on the subway (that is, when the subway decided to run at all); in come 1.5 hour drives on the way to work, and 1.5-2 hour drives back. I have resigned myself to my fate for these 6 months, but I couldn't do this long-term. This has further cemented my determination to live in the city forever when I return. I don't care if I live in a shoebox and need to sleep under a table, as long as I'm not in a car for almost 22% of my waking hours, I'm happy.
Of course, I spend a good deal of time working as well. The strict bus schedule limits the day hours, and I haven't had to spend significant time working at night (yet) - but night calls are an all-too-frequent occurrence. I have anywhere from 2 to 4 nights a week with night calls, so I'm trying to be judicious about which I attend. I never quite realized how difficult it must be to work at a company whose headquarters at the other end of the world.
That said, my working environment and coworkers are wonderful. They are incredibly kind and welcoming, scheduling dinners with me, showing me around the city on the weekends - just lovely. (Though I will say that my first dinner out was at an American restaurant, which I found extremely funny and will not let the organizer live down.)
Above: coffee dates, downtown Ho Chi Minh, Bin Thanh district, project team dinner
When I'm not working or commuting, weeknights I have been very diligent with my gym habits, which feels excellent but has not paid off in a model body just yet. I also cook sometimes, or have dinner with coworkers, or take night calls, or read. When I've been gone 6:30am-6:30pm, though, I don't always feel up for socializing (something I never thought would happen to me).
Weekends are my prime time. This is when all the calls home, all the explorations, all the fun restaurants and hangouts with friends happen. I've explored District 1, the area where I live, pretty thoroughly, so the next task is to tackle the surrounding districts. This weekend I discovered two more: Chinatown (via an excellent dim sum brunch), and infamous Backpacker's Street. Dim sum is self-explanatory, but the Backpacker's Street is an experience all of its own. Imagine a street, roughly 30 feet wide, absolutely packed with drunk and drug-addled tourists, cars, bicycles with racks of smelly dried squid, motorcycles, restaurants, clubs blasting dated pop music, and small children trying to sell you wet napkins. It's absolute insanity. I visited with a few male coworkers, and had the privilege (?) of seeing dubious women selling their wares - for my friends, this involved scantily clad women literally grabbing their arms and dragging them towards establishments of ill repute. They were quite strong, too - I imagine this approach is moderately successful. We, however, turned off to a very chill and picturesque rooftop bar (an antidote to our previous late night karaoke session).
Above: top-notch karaoke, dried squid in Backpacker's Street, cool rooftop bar where we ended up hanging out
Above: dim sum (only able to get a picture after we wolfed down everything, unfortunately), cool milk jelly fish, death of said fish
Unfortunately, in addition to these fascinating locales, Ho Chi Minh is home to a serious and growing pollution problem. My air pollution app reads terrifying numbers, and though I'm relatively protected indoors, I should wear a mask outdoors. Those who have lived in Ho Chi Minh for awhile can predict the air pollution rate by the haze in the air - and here I thought it was fog from the nearby ocean!
The pollution stems from the neverending traffic - one count reads upwards of 7 million scooters zooming around the city every day. In addition to the choking air, this also leads to quite another problem: crossing the street becomes downright dangerous. Although there are traffic rules, they are seldom enforced; the general practice seems to consist of going until you are cut off, even if your light is red. To cross the street, one must look for an opening, and then slowly and (more importantly) steadily cross the street. It turns out that both cars and motorcycles will stop or swerve for you, but only if they can accurately anticipate your location. Running will not do; instead, you must steel your nerves and keep walking, no matter how much traffic is coming.
Above: an average commute
I've only been in Ho Chi Minh a few weeks, but I already feel tenuous roots growing; I feel at home here. The next few weekends will be spent away from the city - I'll explore Ninh Binh, a province in northern Vietnam, and then Phu Quoc, a beachy island south of Ho Chi Minh - so get ready for more pictures!
Above: I moved apartments in the same building! Got a majorly upgraded view in return for my troubles. Old view - top. New view - bottom.
I am happy to inform you that the first two-and-a-half weeks of my life in Saigon have gone swimmingly, and I am still so excited to be in this fascinating place!
First, the weather. Saigon is very hot and humid - typically between 85-95 degrees during the day, no lower than 70% humidity. I truly thought I would sweat through my clothes every single day, but surprisingly I've adjusted - to an extent. Do I still have an unmentionable amount of back sweat when walking around at 2pm? Yes. Does my face flush an unflattering maroon when I step outside my apartment? Not any more - victory! I can also tell I've adjusted, because slowly I've moved the temperature in my apartment up from a very dignified 71 degrees to 78 degrees - unheard-of in my real life back in Boston.
Second, the most common question I receive - what, exactly, do I do every day?
Well, for one, I spend a lot more time commuting. Gone are the days of happy 35-minute rides on the subway (that is, when the subway decided to run at all); in come 1.5 hour drives on the way to work, and 1.5-2 hour drives back. I have resigned myself to my fate for these 6 months, but I couldn't do this long-term. This has further cemented my determination to live in the city forever when I return. I don't care if I live in a shoebox and need to sleep under a table, as long as I'm not in a car for almost 22% of my waking hours, I'm happy.
Of course, I spend a good deal of time working as well. The strict bus schedule limits the day hours, and I haven't had to spend significant time working at night (yet) - but night calls are an all-too-frequent occurrence. I have anywhere from 2 to 4 nights a week with night calls, so I'm trying to be judicious about which I attend. I never quite realized how difficult it must be to work at a company whose headquarters at the other end of the world.
That said, my working environment and coworkers are wonderful. They are incredibly kind and welcoming, scheduling dinners with me, showing me around the city on the weekends - just lovely. (Though I will say that my first dinner out was at an American restaurant, which I found extremely funny and will not let the organizer live down.)
Above: coffee dates, downtown Ho Chi Minh, Bin Thanh district, project team dinner
Weekends are my prime time. This is when all the calls home, all the explorations, all the fun restaurants and hangouts with friends happen. I've explored District 1, the area where I live, pretty thoroughly, so the next task is to tackle the surrounding districts. This weekend I discovered two more: Chinatown (via an excellent dim sum brunch), and infamous Backpacker's Street. Dim sum is self-explanatory, but the Backpacker's Street is an experience all of its own. Imagine a street, roughly 30 feet wide, absolutely packed with drunk and drug-addled tourists, cars, bicycles with racks of smelly dried squid, motorcycles, restaurants, clubs blasting dated pop music, and small children trying to sell you wet napkins. It's absolute insanity. I visited with a few male coworkers, and had the privilege (?) of seeing dubious women selling their wares - for my friends, this involved scantily clad women literally grabbing their arms and dragging them towards establishments of ill repute. They were quite strong, too - I imagine this approach is moderately successful. We, however, turned off to a very chill and picturesque rooftop bar (an antidote to our previous late night karaoke session).
Above: top-notch karaoke, dried squid in Backpacker's Street, cool rooftop bar where we ended up hanging out
Above: dim sum (only able to get a picture after we wolfed down everything, unfortunately), cool milk jelly fish, death of said fish
Unfortunately, in addition to these fascinating locales, Ho Chi Minh is home to a serious and growing pollution problem. My air pollution app reads terrifying numbers, and though I'm relatively protected indoors, I should wear a mask outdoors. Those who have lived in Ho Chi Minh for awhile can predict the air pollution rate by the haze in the air - and here I thought it was fog from the nearby ocean!
The pollution stems from the neverending traffic - one count reads upwards of 7 million scooters zooming around the city every day. In addition to the choking air, this also leads to quite another problem: crossing the street becomes downright dangerous. Although there are traffic rules, they are seldom enforced; the general practice seems to consist of going until you are cut off, even if your light is red. To cross the street, one must look for an opening, and then slowly and (more importantly) steadily cross the street. It turns out that both cars and motorcycles will stop or swerve for you, but only if they can accurately anticipate your location. Running will not do; instead, you must steel your nerves and keep walking, no matter how much traffic is coming.
Above: an average commute
I've only been in Ho Chi Minh a few weeks, but I already feel tenuous roots growing; I feel at home here. The next few weekends will be spent away from the city - I'll explore Ninh Binh, a province in northern Vietnam, and then Phu Quoc, a beachy island south of Ho Chi Minh - so get ready for more pictures!
Above: I moved apartments in the same building! Got a majorly upgraded view in return for my troubles. Old view - top. New view - bottom.
