So what keeps Graeme busy all day?? Oh, and what's for dinner?

 

Our view does not get old...sunset over Saigon...

So, trying to get back on track and keep friends and families up to speed on Graeme's life in Vietnam.  But to start things off, we finally got a housekeeper!  We weren't exactly stressed about it or rushing to find one but I did interview about 5 people and we lost out on offers to 2 others...throw in a couple of "no-shows" and well, I guess we really did put some effort into it!  We've hired Ms. Huy (please don't ask me how it is pronounced).  She comes 5 days per week to keep the place clean and she cooks us authentic Vietnamese meals on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Homeade Pho for everyone!

So far we've had the best Pho we've ever tasted, pork chops/veggies/rice, spaghetti bolognese (OK so maybe that isn't Vietnamese)...Her meals are better then what we've been getting in the restaurants and the portions are feeding us 2 or 3 times with leftovers..Crazy because as she buys the ingredients for the meals from the market - she gets a way better price then if you are say, 6ft tall with blonde hair - the meals net down to between $3-$6usd and we are getting multiple meals out of them.  May need to move this to a 5 day/wk plan!

Pork Chops..mmmm!

Some of you "Westerners" may be scratching your heads thinking - why do they need a housekeeper?  Isn't Brian not working?  Well, a few things - Graeme hasn't started Daycare yet so, yes, I am working.  Also - it's way different here then in the states as to having to keep up the cleanliness of your house.  The heat and humidity ruin everything if left untouched for even a short amount of time.  Imagine this scenario - the major cleaning you would do in your house every 1-3 weeks needs to be done every day here (floors swept and mopped, bathrooms cleaned from top to bottom, kitchen cleaned from top to bottom) and the major-major cleaning you do every month or two needs to be done weekly.  Add that you are hang drying your laundry with only so much space to actually hang it - making laundry a daily occurrence - and voila!  You need a housekeeper..It doesn't hurt that it is incredibly affordable and pretty much just part of the culture here.  Plus we like having our undies ironed ;)

Chix legs and spinach

I have been getting better with the rice-cooker and honing my wok skills, trying to keep us out of the restaurants the other nights....

Wok Don't Run

Fresh homeade spring rolls

Ok... so back to Graeme's activities....well we are surrounded by beautiful parks in our district..unfortunately none of them have any playground equipment.  I've been told they used to but the weather just ate them up and the maintenance was too great to keep them around.  So around here you "Pay to Play"..There are playgrounds indoors in the Mall and some other random buildings.  Also there are alot of spots to paint ceramics, play Lego's, play music, etc...

Graeme prefers the playground in the Mall right by our house.  We go there a bunch. It's about $2 to get in and the kids go nuts.  Sometimes it's just us and a few other kids, sometimes it's a complete madhouse with dozens of kids running rapid!

 Also - we have a kick a** pool at our building...Graeme has become quite the swimmer!  He can make it almost all the way across that sucker all by himself!  Click Here to see a video we got of him crushing it.

 There is also a "Sandy Bottom Pool" near our house.  We've been there to meet up with other families and their kids to let the little buggers rip.  Kinda neat, the kiddie pool has a sandy bottom and there is a larger pool attached with tile.  You can order food and drinks and post up under a rooftop in case when it rains.

We finally got to hang out with Carter again.  Graeme and Carter spent a bunch of time together playing when we were living in the hotel.  Carter is 4 and started school a few weeks ago so it's been tough to nail down play dates lately with him...

Graduating class of 2029

We were able to wedge Graeme into the pre-school/daycare we were looking into...they had an incredibly long wait-list (parents paying to be on the list when their kids were 6 months old and the daycare doesn't start until they are 2!).  It's called Kids Club and they have 2 locations in our district.  It's a husband/wife team from Portland.  She used to teach at SSIS and he was the head of the PTA.  They have 2 kids who go to SSIS - a very close connection with the school which I am positive had a bearing on the fact that we got a spot in the school.

"I think I need to dye my hair"

He's going 3 days/week in the mornings.  Not the most rigourous schedule but here it is different then in the states.  They are taking 2yr olds out of their parents hands for the first time.  They really, slowly get the kids into the daycare routine and spend 2 years preparing them for kindergarten.  Unlike in the US - the Kids Club was blown away when I told them Graeme was in full-time daycare at 10 months old (and we thought we were late to that game!)

Graeme's favorite subject at school.

The people are super friendly and there is a 3:1 ratio of kids to teacher.  The daycare is in a huge villa with 5 floors and each floor has a different purpose. The kids move up and down the floors depending on the activity and it really helps keep their interest level up. 

We went twice this week as a "transition" days...I stayed with him so as to get him (re)used to the routine.  The second day I ducked out after about an hour and came back at the end.  He cried for a minute at some point looking for me but Ms. Cori said he got over it quickly.  Our first
"real" day is next Wednesday..then we leave for California the next day for 10 days so looks like our routine will take awhile to set in...

Cafe culture is huge here - they are everywhere and everyone seems to be sitting at one.  Coffee (iced, hot, black, condensed milk, Vietnamese, Americano), Tea, Fresh Juice and Smoothies are the call of the day at these spots.  Graeme fits right in thanks to his addiction introduction to smoothies from his Poppy in California...




We also like to hit up the outside along the river...it's really beautifully landscaped and neat to see the different boats going by.  Some look ancient while others are pushing barges of dirt and cement to help push Saigon into the future.

Boys + Sticks = Heaven

Our house...Center building, floor 8!

These are avocado's.  Yes.  Avocado's.

We are still settling in a bit...but obviously not having to deal with as much stuff as in the beginning.  Some things are still terribly hard to figure out and/or accomplish here.  Some things that would normally take a few minutes online or an hour of running errands can take literally hours and hours to accomplish.  But it's been great to be able to get Graeme into some playgrounds, pools, play-dates and daycare.  Letting him do "kid-stuff" has really been a pleasure.  We dragged him all over the place while we frustrated in the heat trying to find a place to live, settle in, Erin start a new job, etc...he was an incredibly patient and well mannered 2 year old for several weeks so it's nice to finally let him be a 2 year old again.  You can actually see a change in his demeanor.

We have a 3 day weekend coming up then a trip back to California for Brittany and Jason's wedding!  We are looking forward to their big day!  Graeme is excited to "carry the rings" for them..cannot wait!

If you'd like to Skype us best times are your Friday/Saturday evenings (our Saturday/Sunday mornings).  Seems to work best as far as time change goes and we have the time to relax and chat.

Hoà Bình,

The Hawken's in HCMC
#thetaoofgraeme