{Expat life} Moving on

A year ago today we moved into our villa in An Phu, District 2, in Ho Chi Minh City. A very secure compound by the riverside with resort-like facilities (which of course comes with a price!).

This time next month we'll be living in a new rental house in Thao Dien (also District 2, but closer to the school) - that is, if we don't get screwed over by the potential landlord at the last minute.

We're fast learning that in Vietnam it doesn't matter if you're drawing up a contract. At the last second the landlord can say "sorry, didn't I tell you that I was negotiating with someone else?...and they've just signed". Very frustrating!

The difficulty is down to the fact that houses are listed with numerous property agents (more by default than design) which means that more than one person can be in the process of signing a contract at any one time. It's all about whether your ink dries faster!

Watch this space. If all goes well we'll be moving to downtown Thao Dien on 1st August. Away from the secure compound life we've grown used to over the past 2.5 years in Vietnam, which means that in addition to our current staff (housekeeper and driver) we now have to hire a night security guard!

NB: some expats would argue the need for a personal security guard to watch your house overnight, but they are the lucky ones who have not been robbed...as yet! But more on that topic another day!

{Expat life} Saigon's traffic troubles

Our new set of wheels - a Toyota Innova

I've finally cracked. This week I'll join the countless other expats (and wealthy Vietnamese) in Saigon with their own car and driver.

I know I'll face ridicule from some sectors of the expat (and broader) community, but I'm willing to shrug it off.

Of course nobody says anything directly to your face, but it's there on the blogs and expat community websites where many scoff at those who refuse to travel by taxi or motorbike.

I could fill a book with countless stories of my horror taxi experiences in Vietnam, and that's what has ultimately led me to this point.

From drivers who tried to rip me off with a dodgy meter or deliberately went the long way to get more money (pretending not to understand my Vietnamese!) to those who decided they couldn't be bothered sitting in peak hour traffic and made me get out on a busy highway (that was my favourite!).

When we lived in Hanoi, the initial language barrier and dangerous driving, coupled with the difficulty of travelling with 2-year-old twins on my own, led me to renting a car and driver.

When we moved to Saigon in June, I naively dreamed that we could save money by travelling in taxis (because trust me, the monthly cost of renting a car and driver is not something you want to pay for if you don't really need to!).

For me this was an enormous leap given I know how dangerous it is for young children to travel in a vehicle without a baby seat. There have even been moments, while lamenting Saigon's traffic woes, that I actually considered buying a family-sized motorbike...yes, it's amazing how your point of view warps after a while in this country!

In Vietnam's expat circles, the need for the car and driver is widely debated.

In one camp you have the expats, generally locally engaged or not on a package with bonuses, who grumble that those on the big bucks push up prices and behave like wankers because they choose to live in secure compounds and drive around in a private car.

In another camp there are the expats, generally transferred here by an international company, who are lucky enough to get a housing allowance and a car and driver. Good on them I say. If the company gives you a car as part of your package, why wouldn't you take it?

In between these two camps there are the expats who, regardless of what kind of money and perks they get, think that any foreigner who comes here and still behaves like they're in their own country by not living in a local neighbourhood, riding a motorbike or eating only on the street is missing out.

Then there's us - expats who come here with an international company and get a lot of perks, but not enough to cover everything we feel is necessary to have security and peace of mind.

For us, the choice to live in the secure gated compound (part of which we pay for ourselves), and the decision to get a car when we were in the north, and now, (which we also pay for) has been influenced by our role as parents.

Some would argue that you don't need to live in the gated compound and travel by car, but it all comes down to a matter of personal opinion and how you're willing to live.

Do I want to worry at night that my house could be burgled while I sleep? No thanks. Do I want to have to put up with the abovementioned taxi woes? I tried it...too much bother.

So, once again, we've joined the much-maligned pack of expats who get around town with their own car and driver (except on the weekends when we'll suffer at the hands of the city's taxi drivers!).

Whether this will make the daily battles with Saigon's ridiculous peak hour traffic easier to handle remains to be seen, but for now I'm happy knowing there is someone at my house every weekday morning waiting to drive me when I'm good and ready!

For those of you reading this who've never experienced expat life, and think we're all wankers who need to rely on drivers and housekeepers, just know that most of us would give anything to have a car that we could safely drive ourselves on the right side of the road (that of course being the left side!) . Needing to rely on someone else to get around is, quite frankly, a pain in the ass!

But no, even if it makes me sound like a wanker, I wouldn't give up my housekeeper for anything! I've admitted it...you're jealous...move on!

{Saigon Shopping} Charity Bazaar @ The Deck

Saigon's expats came out in force today for the annual  Bazaar @ The Deck in District 2. With proceeds going to various charities, this is one of the most popular charity bazaar's on the Saigon calendar.

Heaps of cool expat-run businesses had stalls at today's Bazaar with loads of items perfect for unique Xmas gifts.

Not only did I come away with bags full of purchases, I actually discovered there are a some very talented AIS Mums who have their own fashion and kids products. (oh to be that creative!)

My favourite purchases at today's Bazaar:

One of the Mum's at our school makes Barbie tents. They come flat packed in 3 different colours - pink, purple and camoflauge style (in case you have a boy who's into Barbies!). Each tent comes with 2 sleeping bags. The tents were selling today for 400,000 VND each. I'll post contact details soon.

An AIS Mum from Sweden has joined with another expatriate to launch their own range of fashion, with material sourced from Vietnam and Dubai. Today they were selling a gourgeous line of clothes for little girls. Georgia and Mackenzie picked out some very cute skirts (150,000 VND each). Visit their website.

I also bought some very funky, handmade serving platters (I think they're made from bamboo?!) that have an attached food cover fly net - perfect for outdoor entertaining. Made in Indonesia, a set of 3 cost 350,000 VND.

The next Bazaar on the Saigon calendar is the Consular Club Charity Bazaar at the Legend Hotel on Ton Duc Thang Street on Saturday 20 November from 11am - 3pm. Ho Chi Minh-based Consulates will sell products from their countries.  I'll be one of the many volunteers running the Australian stall. Hope to see you there!

{Expat life} Homeward bound!

Team Somerville

This time next week Team Somerville will be on a plane to Brisbane, Australia. An 8-day visit to catch up with family and friends.

It's been 12 months since we were home and I'm often asked what I miss most about Australia (aside from family and friends of course!).

For me it's the little things, like being able to walk into a shop and communicate in English knowing I'll have paid for exactly what I wanted.

Or walking into a clothing store and choosing from neatly organised racks with clearly marked Australian standard sizes (and for anyone over 6 foot with an above size 30 waistline that's extremely important!).

My top to do/buy list in Australia is as follows:

• Drive a car! It's not just about the freedom of driving a car, but also the fact that I can drive on the right side of the road (the left side, that is!).
• Give in to the ridiculous food cravings that have popped into my head over the last 12 months (simply because I can't get them here!): Arnotts savoury shapes (for Rob it will be barbecue shapes!), Iced Vo Vo biscuits, salt and vinegar crinkle cut chips, Cadbury dairy milk buttons (they taste better than the squares!), non-UHT milk, freshly baked bread (without sugar!) and twisties.
• A visit to Zone Fresh in Windsor - my favourite deli/fruit-vege shop. I just know that I'll be gobsmacked by the ridiculous prices but just walking by the glass case with chicken kievs and crumbed lamb cutlets is sure to send me into a frenzy!
• Walk into a bbq chicken shop (eg Chicken Magic or Red Rooster in Clayfield) and buy a takeaway chicken minus the head/beak! Can't bring myself to buy one in Vietnam because the chicken heads freak me out!
• Buy all of the new release books I can fit into our suitcase (despite improving in the 18 months we've lived here, finding latest release novels in Vietnam is a rare event).
• Underwear shopping - can't beat Bonds underwear and my supply is looking a wee bit sad. Yeah sorry, too much information! I need to approach Mr Bonds about a trade agreement with Vietnam!

What I know I am going to miss about Vietnam:

• The noise - crazy as it sounds I just know I'm going to find Brisbane a little too quiet and sterile. I've grown used to the noise and chaos.
• The cheap cost of daily essentials - I love the fact that I can go to the market and buy fresh fruit and vegetables for so little. I'll have to resist telling the girls to stop eating because it's too expensive!
• My housekeeper - a no brainer! Crap...I'm not sure I know how to turn on the washing machine! Must ask the manager at our serviced apartment to have a folder of takeaway menus on hand!

See you soon Brisbane xxx

PS -are you an overseas expat? Write and let us know what's the first thing you'll do/buy when you arrive in your homeland.

Murtle the Turtle & Hair of the dog!

This morning there was a strange sight outside our house. The girls discovered a terrapin (turtle) wandering along the edge of the backyard.

Not really surprising given we live next to a river, but this guy had clearly lost his way. Worried that it might be dried out, who knows how long it had been wandering around our compound, I put it into a bucket of water so we could return it to the river.

Before we left for our Sunday swimming lesson we wandered along the boardwalk trying to find the right place to set it free. Problem was that the water was so far down our only option was to toss it from quite a height.

I was worried the turtle might have a heart attack before it hit the water, so for now we have adopted the terrapin (now christened Murtle the Turtle) until the tide is high enough to set him free.

On the way back to the house one of the compound gardeners came over to see what we had in our bucket. He told us that we should keep it and eat it once it was big enough! Ahhhh, no thanks!

Murtle the Turtle

With Murtle safely inside the house we took the girls for their Sunday swim class. There were a few very hungover parents who had been at the Sheraton AFL party yesterday!

Like troopers we backed up and met our friends Lotta and Darrin for Lotta's post-birthday lunch at the Mekong Merchant on Thao Dien. There's no better cure for a hangover than hair of the dog! (although poor Rob was so seedy that he could only stomach a milkshake!).

And best of all, after extensive renovations, Mekong Merchant has re-opened their kids/toy room. Yay!

Lotta and new bub Jonathon

Mackenzie and Rob

Lotta and me - a bit wet from this afternoon's rainstorm!

Sleeping in Saigon

Sleeping on the job!

No matter how long I live in this country I will never fail to be shocked (and somewhat amused) at the ability of Vietnamese people to sleep anywhere at any time of the day.

Walk around the city streets at lunch time and you'll see lines of construction workers taking a nap on the concrete pavement outside their building site or a Xe Om driver curled up on the seat of his motorbike (looks uncomfortable!).

Shop in the market stalls and you'll find workers taking a break under a table, at any time of the day, sometimes with nobody awake to serve the customers!

In office buildings around the city, it's not uncommon for the lights to be turned off for an hour over lunch so workers can have a sleep under their desks (this practice is less common in foreign-owned companies). 

As a foreigner I find this concept bizzare. Not just from the viewpoint that as an employer I would not look favourably on an employee who slept in the office (even if they are using their lunch break to do it) but also because I think sleeping in public is creepy!

I find it difficult to sleep on a plane due to the fact that anyone could be watching, let alone sleeping outside with hundreds of people walking right past me! (Ok, so may'be I'm at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum to the Vietnamese!)

Why is it that Vietnamese need a sleep at some point during the day? In South America the lunchtime siesta is common due to the extreme heat, but if you're working in an air-conditioned office why the need for a nap?

Is it just laziness or a cultural quirk? In Australia if you were caught sleeping on the job it would be grounds for dismissal.

In Vietnam, on the other hand, employers (me included) seem to accept the fact that at some stage during the day their staff will have a nap! Is this due to the fact that wages are so low that employees don't suffer from the guilt of sleeping on the job and the employers, in turn, don't ask too much from their staff? I'm starting to think that might be the case.

Which brings me to the point of this thread. Today I had a sick day (Georgia and Mackenzie were kind enough to share the virus that kept them home from school earlier this week!).

I spent much of the morning either sleeping or moaning about my sore throat, rising temperature and aching body. When I eventually surfaced around 12:30pm for lunch I found my housekeeper asleep on the couch!

Granted, she is heavily pregnant and entitled to do whatever she wants on her lunch break (although I did note that she slept for 1 hour and 20 minutes then took another 15 minutes to eat her lunch!), but what was more surprising is that she had no qualms about doing this knowing I was at home!

Of course I would never say anything to her as I understand it is completely acceptable in her culture, but it does make me wonder what she does when I'm not here!

And why would I not confront her you wonder? Well, I too suffer from employer guilt because I've hired someone who works very hard (mostly!) running my household and caring for my children for way less than the minimum hourly wage in Australia!

Many foreigners, and no doubt local employers, convince themselves that the rate of pay is acceptable because the cost of living here is low.

But, what it generally means for us expats is that if our staff do something we'd normally consider a sackable offence in our own country (like sleeping on the job or not ironing our clothes properly!) we let it slide because we figure we don't pay them enough to whinge! Yet another example of me becoming "Vietnamised"!

Note, this of course doesn't stop me bitching and moaning to Rob whenever I discover our housekeeper hasn't done something I'd asked of her, but usually I'm told to shut up and reminded that we could never afford the luxury of a full-time housekeeper in Australia! Point taken.

Just another day in Vietnam!

{Expat life} I think I'm turning Vietnamese, I really think so!

Crazy D2 traffic

Not something I should admit publicly, but the longer I spend in Vietnam the more I unconciously disregard the basic social pleasantries required to function in western society.

For example, in Australia if I accidentally bumped into someone on the street I would immediately turn and apologise. Here, I have slowly adjusted to the fact that knocking over a stranger isn't considered rude - it's merely a bi-product of the frenetic south-east asian culture.

At times, someone trying to bust their way into the elevator before I have exited causes me a moment of outrage, but (unfortunately) I have started to accept this as normal behaviour.

Not, mind you, that I go as far as pushing my way ahead of others - I still wait my turn and hold open doors for people coming after me - but the fact that I'm not afforded the same courtesy doesn't bug me as much as it did 18 months ago.

In expat circles we refer to this as becoming "Vietnamised" - an often slow realisation that our way is not always going to be the dominant behaviour and an eventual adjustment that comes with living in this society after a period of time.

The fact that we've slowly become Vietnamised recently hit home as Team Somerville has entered discussions about buying a "family" motorbike. Yes, that's right, not a family vehicle - a bike! Very Vietnamese!

Rewind only 6 months ago and I would have given anyone who would listen a stern lecture about the dangers of riding around on a motorbike with toddlers.

Now we're in the thick of an expat community where many foreigners consider it normal to transport the kids on a bike (with safety helmets of course) my recent frustration with the traffic in D2 is causing a rethink on my previously staunch beliefs!

Watch this space as Team Somerville grapples with this surprising reality and searches for a new ride!

{Expat life} Just another day in Vietnam!

A fine example of the dodgy cables in Tay Ho, Hanoi

Tonight when I got home from work, as I always do, I looked in my housekeeper's notebook to see what bills she has paid and what money she has spent.

No, I'm not excercising my control freak gene, I simply need to know how much money she has left so I can hand over more if required. After all, she's running my household and feeding my children!

In today's entry was a receipt for a paid electricity bill - an alarming total of 5 million VND (USD 263) for one month! Ouch!

I'll resist comments about how much more expensive electricity is in Saigon (and not to mention how much more we pay here than we do in Australia!), and tell you a funny story about the first time we got our monthly utilities, phone and cable bills in Hanoi.

It was April 2009. Having lived in a serviced apartment for most of our 9 week stay in Vietnam, we didn't quite understand the percularities that came with renting a residence in this country.

When we signed our lease for the house in Ciputra I assumed we'd have to connect electricity, water, cable tv and Internet in our name. No...not in Vietnam! The landlord (and our housekeeper) were very insistent that all bills should remain in their name and we would receive the bills to pay each month.

I then assumed the bills would arrive in the mail each month, and our (then) housekeeper Quyen would translate them for us and we would send her to the utilities company or the bank to pay the bill. Wrong again!

At 10pm on Saturday night as we were sitting in our dining room with expat friends Darrin and Lotta, having consumed far too much alcohol, the doorbell rang. Who could it be at this late hour?

Turns out it was someone from the telephone company with our bill for the month! She handed it over to Rob and promptly asked for the money. You've got to be kidding! Rob told her to get back on her moped and go away (in not so friendly language!)

We had a laugh with our friends (who didn't know better because they lived in a serviced apartment in the city) and thought it must have been some kind of scam targeting expats.

A few mornings later as I was bundling the girls into the pram ready for a trip to the local playground, a woman (apparently from the electricity company) cornered me at the gate, waving my bill and asking for money. I told her she should speak to the housekeeper. She of course couldn't understand English so she went on her way (probably cursing the stupid expat!).

When I got back to the house I showed our housekeeper the electricity bill and asked her to explain whether this was normal practice in Vietnam or someone trying to scam us.

She patiently explained that it was indeed the way it was done in Vietnam (of course!) but that we should always just take the bill and tell them to come back so she could hand over the money and make sure it was legit.

As a cynic I know sending someone to personally collect the money, like a mini mafia of debt collectors, is the only way companies will receive money owed from many areas in the community.

But, now that I've grown used to this new level of personalised customer service, I can't imagine how I'll remember to pay my bills when I move back to Australia!

Just another day in Vietnam!

{Saigon school moments} Georgia & Mackenzie's first day of "big" school!

Today was Georgia and Mackenzie's first day of "big" school (pre-pre-Prep!) at the Australian International School in Saigon.

Here's a few snaps of them in their new uniforms. They were very excited about their first day and I'm happy to report they survived day one despite being separated into different classes.

They are growing up way too fast!

Mackenzie (l) and Georgia - first day of school!

They have to grow into the new uniforms!

Our new home...a villa on the river

It's moving day! We're moving to a compound in District 2, only a 15 minute taxi ride to the city, right on the river.

The compound is only a few years old, with 3 and 4 storey townhomes, of a modern design that you'd expect to find in Australia rather than Vietnam.

Feels like we're in a resort. Can't wait to finish the unpacking so I can go sit by the pool!