My procrastination works as well in Hanoi as it does at home!

If there's one thing I do well, it's procrastinate.  And, since today marks my 49th day in Vietnam, it appears my worse vice is every bit as evident in Hanoi as it is at home.  A few of the people closest to me have asked (more than once) if I could start a blog to document the six months (ok, six months minus 49 days) I expect to spend in here in Hanoi.  Better late than never, I guess!

For those of you who don't know, I was asked by my long-time employer, SkyWest Airlines, to come to Vietnam to oversee the Commercial Operation of their new joint-venture, Air Mekong Airlines.  I got the call around the second week in January and five days later, made my first trip to visit the airline, spending two frigid weeks in Hanoi before heading back home to Phoenix.  Craig and I had already planned a February vacation in Africa, so no sooner did I get back to Phoenix, we turned around and spent two and a half weeks in Tanzania, the Seychelles and Dubai.  Upon returning home, I had another two weeks to prepare and on March 11, left Phoenix again for an assignment here which should last until Labor Day (assuming I don't quit or am fired beforehand, but that's another story).

It's been quite an adventure so far.  I live in an extended stay apartment next to the office building where the airline is headquartered in what I guess you could say is suburban Hanoi.  The COO of Air Mekong, Les Stephens, arrived almost exactly one year ago today and was charged with firing up an airline from scratch which is no easy feat in one's own backyard, much less 7000 miles away in a strange land.  To hear his stories, I have no clue how he perservered, but perservere he did and on October 9, the airline began flying with four 90-passenger Regional Jets.  The original plan was to have an American staff be in charge of and staff most Maintenance and Flight Operations positions while all other functions would be staffed and run by the Vietnamese.  The airline has been running like a top thanks to Les and our operational folks here, but revenue is falling a little short of expectations.  That's where I come in.

On paper, I'm responsible for Pricing, Scheduling, Revenue Management, Sales, Marketing, Public Relations, Reservations and "Space Control" (something new to me).  In actuality, it's a much different story.  I have a staff of nearly 100 people (who knew an airline so small could have so many employees?!!!), none of whom have been hired by me, all of whom are Vietnamese and most of whom speak some degree of English.  Listening to Vietnamese English is a lot like listening to Shakespeare; for the first 15 minutes or so, you have no clue what's being said, but if you concentrate really hard, eventually it starts making sense.  Of course, the minute you're distracted, the train jumps the tracks and you have to re-enter heavy concentration mode again.  Fortunately, my ear has improved over time, but there are times, even today, when unless I have some context for the conversation, someone can come up to me, start talking and I will have no idea what they're saying. 

(Warning: Commentary here!) I say that with big time humility however; as a typical monolinguistic American, it's shameful that as a nation we don't do more to mandate bilinguilism in our public schools.  A large percentage of everyday Vietnamese speak English here.  Many also speak French and/or Chinese.  While vacationing in Germany and Holland last week, most everyone spoke fluent English and, of course, in Europe, lots of people are multilingual.  The good news is, after just 49 days, I can say "hello", "Xin chao" and "thank you", "cam un".  I'm sure I'm halfway to fluency with a vocabulary like that!

Ok, I've already blathered on too long so I'll end this post.  But I do want to say that my hope here is to simply give my friends and family a taste of what it's like to spend time in Vietnam.  Were it not for the support of Craig, I likely wouldn't be here, so I want to make the most of my time and part of that is sharing what I experience with all of you.  (I also need to give a shout out to my friend Ali who's taking care of the Phoenix house and the dogs).  To that end, I'll commit to posting at least a few times a week, if not daily.  All I ask of you is to read when you can, post comments (which I think you'll be able to do) when you'd like and share this with anyone you think might care.  Nothing could be much more discouraging than have my reader count show "0" at the end of each day, so even if you just click on this blog before posting your daily Facebook update, that's good by me.  But know I'd love to hear from you whenever you're in the mood!

Finally, I'll post the pic I had intended to post in January when I had originally planned to start this as it perfectly epitomizes life in Hanoi.  The two weeks I spent here in January immediately preceded Tet, the biggest holiday of the year in Vietnam and start of the Chinese Lunar New Year.  It's a lot like Christmas in that folks countrywide travel home to spend time with their families.  And, just as we put Christmas trees up in our homes to celebrate the holiday, so, too, do the Vietnamese have "Tet" trees.  Here, however, they're not pine trees, they're kumquat trees and the more kumquats, the better!

But what makes this especially interesting is that most Vietnamese don't have cars.  Of course, most everyone has a motorcycle or scooter and why should the fact that you don't have an SUV prevent you from picking up and taking home your favorite Tet tree...or two! 

As if this isn't bad enough, during Tet, there are hundreds of motorbikes weaving around the streets of Hanoi loaded with Tet trees.  It typifies both the craziness and ingenuity you see so often here.  I'll try to post frequent pictures so you can see the crazy for yourself, firsthand!

"Cam Un" for reading!  Comment early and often and I'll post again tomorrow!

PS-for those of you reading who also happened to express your thoughts when our puppy Augie died last month, a special thank you.  Even now, his passing hurts a ton, but it sure helped to know that fellow dog lovers like you understood the pain and your thoughts meant a lot.  Thanks again.

Augie