Arrival, Paperwork, and a River View!

So, we made it!  It's been about 7 days (or 6 depending on which time zone you are counting) since arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - aka Saigon - aka HCMC.  The trip was seamless and can't recommend EVA Airlines (Taiwan based) enough.  It was easier to fly here then going from state to state in the US.  Graeme was a trooper and, as expected, made many friends with the flight attendants and got lots of extra cakes, cookies and kids toys.

Well, we hit the ground running.....started in a really nice hotel (even if our room didn't have hot water) with the other 20 or so new-hires and their families.  Graeme gravitated to a 4 yr old named Carter and they've been inseparable since.   They are great relief for each other after a full day of getting dragged around to 15+ apartments a day or waiting all morning in a Consulate.

Apartment hunting was an experience (that's me trying to not use curse words in this blog).  Jet lag, lugging a 2 yr old, heat, humidity, 15+ units/day, in/out cabs, following Realtors on our bikes and them on scooters...holy crap...but we scored.

 River view, River breeze, resort style pool, indoor kids playroom w/ jungle gym, 3 bdrm, 2bth, large US style fridge, fully furnished with a few extras.  We were able to negotiate from $1,200usd to $850usd keeping it very close to our housing stipend.  It's 1 mile from school (10min bike ride for Erin or $1.50 taxi on rainy mornings).  The neighborhood is quieter then near the school and a little spread out but we have enough nearby to get what we need.  I could write a book I think on the house hunting/signing/moving in process here - let's just say we have more paperwork now from this one place then all the places I've ever lived in combined.  Our Realtor is our Concierge basically - we call/text her for anything (order drinking water, washing machine didn't work, drip in bathroom) and later that day someone shows up to fix it.  Nothing major, just some things to get tweaked b/c I don't think someone has lived here in a little while.

We borrowed bikes from the hotel and hit the streets one day.  I will tell you, sitting at a big intersection on a bicycle waiting to make a left turn across traffic while staring at a 3 lane wall of scooters is daunting.  I've done a few things in my life that can almost, but not quite, live up to it:  bungee jumping in the dark off a bridge into a river in NZ, surfing at Ocean Beach in SF and sitting on your board looking a a 20ft wall of water about to come down right on your head, and inching off the edge of what seems like a cliff to oblivion while snowboarding in Valdez, Alaska.  None of them quite hit the mark.  As the light changed, I just looked at Erin and Graeme (we brought his bike seat and he was riding with Erin) and said, "HERE WE GO!"  Graeme loved it.  He was smiling, laughing, pointing, asking "why?"...  We head to the bike store tomorrow to get our very own...

Basically the rules of the road here have nothing to do with lights, road markings, street signs, etc.  It's just go.  Go and go steady.  Don't stop suddenly.  Don't zig or zag.  Don't change your course too quickly.  Just pick your line and go at a steady pace - the others will anticipate your movements and go around you.  If you stop, zig or abruptly change your course they can't anticipate and you could be a target.  Same goes for trying to cross the streets on foot.  Just go, but go steadily!  Also, horns in the US are for aggression.  Here they are to let you know where others are "beep" = "I'm right here, just letting you know!"

So we are moved in, settling in and looking forward to a weekend of not having to deal with paperwork, waiting around, etc.  Erin starts work on Sunday (Orientation) then the real deal on Sunday.  The school is offering free daycare all next week for teachers who haven't dialed it in yet and we are going to put Graeme in it for at least 1/2 days - he needs to end the vacation he's been on since May and get back to a routine.  We have meetings with Day Care's in the area lined up and will be looking for him to get 3 days/week out of it.  We also will be lining up housekeeping help for 3 days/wk (cleaning, laundry, buy-wash-prep fruits/veggies, cook).  Those are the plans anyway....

I dont' really know where this Blog will go or how I will get there.  I am hoping to keep Family and Friends up to speed on Graeme, our adventure, follow a bit of stream of consciousness, and at the same time try not to bore anyone to death.  I'm new to this so look for it to improve as we move along on this journey together!

We are taking breathers from Facebook/Instagram, trying to avoid the time-suck that they entail.  Please feel free to Skype us (it's FREE!) as we love to see/hear from our people in the US.  Our Skype names are:  hawkenbrian    and    ehawken  .  If you see us on there feel free to call.  We also have cell phones now.  No idea what the cost to call is (texting can't be too bad as it's about 16cents per for us to text US but check with your carrier b/f getting too crazy).  Shoot us an email if you want our Cell # and we can dial you in as to how to reach us.


 Hòa Bình
 
The Hawken's in HCMC