Greetings from Hanoi!

Greetings from Hanoi! What a crazy place of contradictions-- motorcycle traffic and rice paddies, desperate street vendors and beautiful French architecture, grandmothers in traditional ao dais and teenagers in shorts and spaghetti straps, apparent chaos and yet the people can get the job done. I like it.

After flying from DC to LA (my first time on the West Coast-- LA is huge!), I got to meet my fellow Vietnam SYA'ers at a last conference before we left. Students and parents had a chance to ask some questions and get some last-minute advice and guidelines, and we picked up our school books for the year and hopped on the plane! I have to do a little pro bono marketing here and endorse Cathay Pacific-- great service, good movies, and a hot croissant with ham and egg for breakfast! I think the South Pacific has to be my favorite place to fly over-- the ocean and islands are just gorgeous! After a brief stopover in Hong Kong and a lovely sunrise over the mountains, we arrived in Hanoi at around ten in the morning. Despite some inefficiency at the airport and rain on the way to the hotel, everyone and their baggage arrived safely at the hotels.
My first impressions of Hanoi include:

-Lots of motorcycles: Very few people drive cars; there are simply motorcycles everywhere! And they are not afraid to honk at you, though in most cases they honk just to warn you of their presence so they don't run you over! While crossing the street is definitely a challenge, I will surely be a pro after enough practice.

-Lots of small businesses: Walking through the streets of Hanoi, I have seen beggars, but I have seen many more people who have taken the initiative to start their own businesses. I have only been here for two days, but so far I may tentively conclude that the Vietnamese are hard workers, eager to make a living and experts at entrepreneurship. I think the with some good foreign direct investment (FDI), Vietnam is an up-and-coming country to look out for and certainly to invest in! But they do have quite a long way to go, especially in the areas of general efficiency and infrastructure. Vietnam has the will, but needs some help finding it's way.

-Good food! Favorites being duck, seafood (shrimp, prawns, fish), fresh fruit and fruit smoothies and juice, and delicious but murderously strong coffee! I discovered the magical benefits of coffee this morning when it knocked out my jet lag, but right now I think I am discovering the downsides of drinking it in the afternoon!

After a very informative meeting and Q&A session this morning, we split into groups of four to go on a scavengar hunt across the city. Tasks included buying postcards of famous landmarks, following directions to locate landmarks, and divining pieces of trivia. Although I managed to get my group lost, we had a great time and (eventually) got to the right places! It was a fun way to see the city. So far, I really like Hanoi, and I am super excited to be spending a semester here! I can't wait to meet my host family!!!