Workshop opened today, and things went pretty well, all things considered. Everyone worked really hard, and it was quite a productive day. Great to see some old friends, as well as finally meet lots of people I’ve been corresponding with for the past two years.
Worked flat out all day, though. I was chatting with H. earlier and we were both saying how, if we want to get in any Hanoi sightseeing at all, we’re just going to have to disappear in order to make it happen. If you wait around to come to some sort of consensus with the rest of the group, you waste too much time and don’t get anything done. So I think that tomorrow, as soon as we’re finished the day’s activities, we’re going to try to escape. Our Lonely Planet guidebook has a walking tour of the Old Quarter, so we’ll try to do that, then try to get to one of the more upscale restos in the area for dinner (the food in the hotel here isn’t that great, though it’s crazy cheap – a filling meal of chicken or beef, with rice, veggies, spring rolls and beer, is running at about US $3!).
The unseasonably warm weather of the past few weeks has sadly not materialised so far (though the humidity has not dissipated – it’s quite damp here). Of course, it’s still balmy compared to Halifax, but today was cool and no more than about 15 degrees C. Of course, to the Vietnamese, this is frigid – I kept telling them about our snowstorm in Halifax last week!
This evening there was a Welcome Dinner for the whole group. A bus came to pick up everyone from the hotel, and take us to the restaurant, which was not too far away. We had a multi-course feast laid on for us, which was mostly very good (prawns, whole fish, rice with tomatoes, herbs and tofu) but had a few dodgy dishes as well (like a strange sweet-and-sour soup with whole fish in it).
Time for some work on my lectures for an hour or so, then to bed – we have another 8.30 am start again tomorrow.
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