Hanoi is of course a world capital and has its cosmompolitan side, but despite its population of 3-4 million it is a small town at heart.
Unlike the United States where "friends" to whom you speak about looking for a job usually shuffle their feet, look at the floor, mumble something incoherent and likely take you off their speed dial, in Hanoi, people seem to actually care about others. It is not always easy to find employment and Ira has had several jobs and some free-lance efforts. He is constantly keeping in touch with people he has met around the town: at AmCham functions, through friends and colleagues and even those he strikes up a conversation with at a cafe. Everyone has name cards and a mobile phone so it is easy to exchange information.
Recently, Ira has let it be known that he was looking for a "situation" and Adam Sitkoff, the Director of AmCham noticed something and emailed it to him, as did the head of another company to which he had applied.
This week Ira began work at Modernform, an interior design company that does office buildings, restaurants, shops and other such projects. The head of the company got Ira's name from one of a group of people Ira was chatting with a few weeks ago in a cafe. When she called him, he was hard put to place the "friend" who had referred him.
The company seems very busy and does a great deal of business with foreign customers so one of Ira's tasks will be to upgrade the English skills of the staff and edit their contracts and other documents.
Monday night we attended a concert at the Opera House. The featured soloist, a young Japanese violinist played very well. The Ravel "Tzigane" and Bruch "Scottish Fantasy" are not as familiar as some other pieces but provided a good showcase for Ai Okumura's talents. In a bit of a surprise she sat in with the orchestra in the Sibelius 1st Symphony and seemed to be enjoying herself. The ticket manager, who delivers our tickets personally, always places us fourth or fifth row center. This would not be happening in New York, Paris, Tokyo.....
Another indication of the small town feeling is the way we are so often greeted by ambassadors, heads of corporations and other luminaries. On Tuesday night we decided to try the Melia's buffet that featured Spanish cuisine from visiting Chef Oscar of the Melia Bali, whom we had met last December on our trip there. When we walked in the front door, the GM waved to us. When we were being seated, Carlos, the F & B Manager raced over to chat. Finally, though Chef Oscar was actually at an outside function, Exec Chef Jurgen came over to say hello and minutes later came out with a plate of springbok(a small African antelope) which he plans to put on the menu. So it was that we were the first guests to sample this very tender and delicious meat.
During the day, Ira stopped at a DVD shop and purchased the entire collection of "The West Wing," one of our favorite shows. TV here is not very entertaining so at least we have something we know we will enjoy.
Next post will be from Sri Lanka, unless something notable happens. Oh right! Ira will be at an AmCham BBQ dinner at the US Ambassador's residence so perhaps just a short one. We love Hanoi!
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