THANH MAKES THREE

Seoul Funny

Wed, 1 Oct 2008 05:10:49 -0400

After a fun day playing in the airport we are ready to fly back to the United States. We hope he does as well on this flight as the one from Hanoi to Seoul. We will be landing in Chicago, one hour before we took off in Seoul. Now if that doesn’t mess with your head I don’t know what will.

In 13 hours the big guy will be a United States citizen and we will almost be back home.

I know a bunch of you are preparing to start your journey to Vietnam, and it seems daunting, but try not to stress and if you get a chance please kick Eric Alexander in the shin or somewhere else just tell him it is from Thanh.

One Flight Down Two to Go

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:31:30 -0400

Thanh survived his first airplane trip without incident and earned his flight wings. He slept almost the entire 5 hours. Only waking up once and being a little grumpy for some food.

We are now in Seoul waiting for our flight to Chicago. When we checked in with Asiana Airlines, they gave some “Refreshment Vouchers” worth about $25.00 which was a very nice surprise. If you can get them, request the bassinet seating, it is very helpful to store stuff, even if your child will not sleep in it.

My battery is about done, so I am going to try and find a way to recharge, we will be in touch soon.

Later today we will have a new US Citizen.

Helpful Tips

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:40:12 -0400

Here are some things that you will find useful, and can learn from our mistakes and experiences.

Don’t count on Ninh to communicate with you at all, which is fine most of the time. You can book any side trips you would like for cheaper than he does anyway. He will probably not pick you up at the airport, even if it is in his normal business hours, and you will have to find a taxi.
Speaking of taxis, I can not stress enough what I about to say. Use only the following taxis: TAXI CP or HANOI TAXI. These two companies use metered taxis by kilometers, otherwise you will be robbed, not by gunpoint, but by rigged meters. We took a “CP Taxi” from the Water Puppets back to the Somerset Grand and the thief charged us 400,000 Dong ($24.00 USD), that is more than it cost us to go to the airport last night.
Don’t take to many clothes, the room has a washing machine. Use it. Travel light. I know you will ignore this, we did. We had way to many clothes, and it makes packing much more difficult.
Children’s clothes sizes will be slightly smaller than the US counterparts, 12 months clothes fit Thanh fine, but most of the children are very small for their age. There are a few exceptions, Isabella is a big girl, and a few others, but in general they are small.
Get out of Hanoi for a few days, it will be a very nice stress realiver. You may never return to Vietnam, see all that you can.
Leave your Western notions behind, the culture here is so different. Cleanliness is not a virtue here. Gardening and landscaping is non existant. Everything is in need of repair or upkeep. I don’t thin excuse me or pardon me is in the Vietnamese vocabulary. They will literally push you out of the way, not to be rude, that is just the way it is.
Honking horns. They use them for a reason, they also ignore them. The traffic is scary to watch, and trust me on this, when traveling the “highways” (not I term i would use), do not look out the front of the vehicle, it will scare you to death. It is like a real life game of chicken, who is going to give way first at 80 km/h. In reality the number of accidents are very low, and if there is one it is minor. They have stoplights, but no turn arrows, it is just go and beat the next car or scooter to the spot you need to be.
You will attract a lot of attention, get over it. They are a very curious people and they love children. When walking around town, people will stare at you, some will talk to you, most will talk to your child. Restaurant staff will make it their mission to make your child smile.
Other than other adoptive parents, you will not see any Americans around Hanoi. There are many US ex-pats in Vietnam, but most are in Da Nang or Saigon. We met a very nice couple from Colorado, they live and work in Shanghai and where in Ha Long Bay for a vacation. That was it.
You will meet lots of Australians and Europeans. They are very friendly, and it is amazing to me how little the rest of the world truly knows about the United States.
Because the Vietnamese you talk to in the shops appear to speak english, you are mistaken. They know enough to conduct business, if you go any deeper, they will say yes or laugh. Most will ask simple questions but if you go much further they get that lost look in their eyes.
Take a large empty bag, or plan to by one when you arrive (they are cheap), you will buy a lot of stuff. The clothes, silks, embroidery, carvings, and art are amazing, and very affordable.
You will be harassed on the street by sellers of Communist hats/shirts, “zippo” lighters, children's tee-shirts, travel books,carved toothpicks, “donuts”, and fruit. Say no and ignore them or go into a store. They are persistent but not ugly.
if you have a travel book, we highly recommend the Lonely Planet guide, double any of the prices. Everything has gone up since the books where printed. Most of the entry tickets to local sights are 25% to 75% more, and the restaurants are as well.
If you love food, and I do, you have to go to Bobby Chinn’s and the Green Tangerine. The food, service, and ambiance are the best in Hanoi. Cost per person for meal, drinks, and desert will be from $25 to $35, but is worth it, trust me. The Opera Club and Ladybird where also very good.
Jaspas is the Somerset Grand restaurant and bar. The wait staff was the best we found in Hanoi. We knew each other by name after a few days. The food is very good and relatively inexpensive. It is also very convenient.
Their idea of a supermarket is not the same as ours, but you can find most of what you need to survive. Beef is a luxury import item and is fairly expensive. Chicken, fish, and shrimp are fairly inexpensive and readily available. Beer is cheap, and tastes really good.
Soft drink choices are limited to Coke, Sprite and Fanta Orange. I am so ready for a Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper, just to have something different.
All of the legitimate restaurants use bottled water for ice, so don’t worry about bacteria.
When you depart Hanoi make sure you keep your child’s G&R paperwork and Vietnamese birth certificate. You will need it to get through Vietnamese immigration.
The Hanoi airport is a zoo, it is a lot like the traffic, people everywhere and no infrastructure to support them. The signage is not the best. Allow a little extra time to get in and out for you departing flight.
Make sure you weigh your luggage. Check you airline for weight limits, you will have to weigh your carry on as well as your checked baggage.
You have to visit the Water Puppets, The Temple of Literature, Ha Long Bay, History Museum.
If you have time go on the Perfume Pagoda tour. We had to cancel ours due to the asshole, Eric Alexander.
You have to investigate the streets of the Old Quarter, just walk them for hours, you will see what city life in Hanoi is like, and find some pretty cool things.
Enjoy, get out and see the city. Talk to people. Soak up as much as you can. The trip will be what you make of it.

Seoul Bound

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:24:10 -0400

We have gone through immigration, and are waiting to board our plane to Seoul, South Korea. The little guy is sound asleep and a good thing because this is by far the worst airport I think I have ever had the pleasure of passing through.

I will post this tomorrow while we are in Seoul, but make sure you have your G&R paperwork with you they will need it to get through Vietnamese immigration.

We will be home in exactly 36 hours. We have been waiting a long time to get to this point, and it is so nice to get there.

I know some of the people reading this blog have good things to say about Ninh, but we were very unhappy with his services and response or lack of to all our communication attempts. We talked to Ninh, exactly 3 times while here in Vietnam. The day of the G&R he spent most of his time on the cell phone and was not really involved at all. Thao, on the other hand was fantastic, and we also have some serious problems with Carolina Adoption Services that we hope to work out when we return to the States, but needless to say they provided absolutely no help and cost us hundreds of extra dollars. We had to get ourselves to and from the airport. We paid a lot of money for in-country transportation, and that entailed a roundtrip bus ride from Hanoi to Tuyen Quang. Now that CAS can no longer sponsor adoptions from Vietnam, Ninh has moved on to other clients and we got no help or support. I know we are not the only family that had a bad experience with Ninh, and I hope it improves for all of those yet to travel. Plan to make all your own travel arrangements and figure out things on your own.

Time to board the plane, will post more tomorrow.

Visa Approved

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:38:09 -0400

Thanh’s visa was approved this morning, and is ready to be picked up. Nothing like waiting till the last possible minute. We fly out of Hanoi tonight at 11:10 PM, and we will arrive back home at 11:10 PM on Wednesday night.

We have had so much fun here in Vietnam, but we are also looking forward to coming home to see his other grandmother and the rest of our family and friends.

We will continue to update our site, and tomorrow while we wait for our flight out of Seoul, I will post a lot of things you have not thought of, or interesting things of note that may help those that are traveling soon.

I’m not sure if I remember how to drive, it’s been so long since I operated a motor vehicle.