Just Trying to Get some Dough

So I am off to Cambodia tomorrow morning and the highlight of the trip will be running a half marathon at the Temple of Angkor Wat. I have not seriously trained, but my friends (Steve and Sarah - we have become the travelling trio) and I figure if we have to walk we will have a beautiful backdrop to walk along. Today, I am checking off my list of things to do before I go and the next item is to get some US dough, which US money coincidently in Vietnamese is called do, short for dollar but pronounced like dough-lar.

So I go the bank with some traveller's checks and my passport as well as some Vietnamese dongs to exchange for US money. I wait in line for about 30 minures and am then told that they can only cash my traveller's checks and need my plane ticket if I want to convert my dongs. Oh course, this is the first time I ever heard of this rule and oh course I did not bring my e-ticket and I feel a little bit impatient that I have to accept this state rule. I guess I have taken it for granted how easy it is for us to convert money in Canada and did not realize that getting foreign currency isn't so easy for locals even if they do have the money. Plus, for a vietnamese person to even go travelling it is quite a process for them to first get permission from the government and then applying for a visa.

It is common to go to a jewelly store to get your money converted although I am not really sure if it is legal. So I decided to go this route and the first store I go to, which has about 12 ladies working, are closed for lunch and will not serve me even though the doors are wide open and it is noon. They tell me to come back after lunch and I tell them I need to go back to work after lunch. So they turn me away and tell me to go 2 stores down. I say alright, find their recommendation and gladly give them my business. I finally got my US dollars but it just took me 2 hours to figure out how!

St. Joseph's Cathedral in the Old Quarter

There is a small catholic population in Hanoi and you can see in the pic that mass is well attended, so much so that there is a live recording on the screen for people who are sitting outside. I stayed near this Church in my first month (and so will kate and her parents) and was always amazed by how many people came to mass. Motorbike drivers and taxis would park in front of the church steps during the service.

I am spending Christmas with the Whitfields and they are coming next week. I haven't seen Kate in 3 months and am very excited to see familiar faces from home. We aren't exactly sure of our plans yet but likely be spending Xmas in Halong Bay and going to Saigon for New Year's Eve. I requested some things for them to takeover and here are some of the odd items I asked for: peanut butter, my jogging pants and sweatshirt, a wool sweater, maple products to give out as presents, chapstick, contacts, floss threaders, and a nalgene bottle.

So this is my first Xmas not being celebrated in Sydney. I have been home every year no matter where I have been living. I keep forgetting how close Xmas is coming up because I am not near any of the commercialism of the Xmas shopping which is actually very nice. There are some small decorations here and there, which I find more symbolic for the holidays. Tonight, I am attending a Xmas concert tonight at the school for the blind. I am looking really forward to it and singing Xmas caroles with the kids, although I don't know how excited they will be singing with me!