The Weekend

There are I think about 3.5 million people in Hanoi which includes a small expat community. There are quite a few foreigners here - the people I met are usually here to teach english, work with a NGO, or work with their consulate. I went out with 2 Canadians who work with WUSC (I have become an honourary WUSC member since they usually let me tag along to their outings) on Saturday night and we learned to make deep fried and fresh springrolls at one of their colleagues' homes. We went out dancing and ended up at a place where there was salsa-ing and for those of you who have seen me salsa ... you know I can't! But the funny thing is I went for coffee that afternoon with the captain of the utlimate club and met one of her friends and I ended up running into her friend that evening.

I emailed the Hanoi Ultimate Club before I came - the captain was super nice and said I could join and play with them. There is quite an ultimate network in Asia, they just came back from a tournament in Singapore and are planning to go to Saigon at Xmas. So I went to my first scrimmage on Sunday and well, I definitely was not in good form. I blame it on the humidity ...

In Ottawa, it is so competitive to get a field, so you can just imagine how hard it would be to find a decent field in Hanoi. It was definitely in the outskirts of town and the field was patchy, barely any grass and it is more like playing on a baseball field. But it was great to run around and get some excercise. There are a lot of locals who play ultimate and it's funny to hear them talk Vietnamese on the field using ultimate terminolgy like stacking, the cup, zone, etc.

So my other run-in was that there were 2 guys who came out to play who were out the night before at the same club I was at. They are both American, one is down visiting his friend who is working with the Clinton Foundation and actually just lives down the block from where I am staying. It was nice to meet Benny because he is Vietnamese-American and has worked in Vietnam before. So they took me under their wing and invited me out for dinner afterward and then to a party.

I had a late night, but the best time to motorbike is at night. The streets are so quiet, hardly anyone is on the street and for the first time since I have been here - it wasn't noisy. Everyone goes to bed pretty early and I guess many locals who live with their parents have strict curfews. The bars are suppose to close at 11, but with expats the authorities are a little more lenient.

On another note: Happy Belated Birthday to Andrew and Kalle, I had a Tiger beer for you guys on Saturday!