So... I live in Hanoi now.

After living in Korea, people are constantly asking me to compare and contrast the two.  Not to mention, people always ask me how Vietnam is different from the U.S.

To put it simply, living in Hanoi is vastly different from anywhere else I've lived.  I've utterly lost my frame of reference for what is "normal," and constantly ask myself, "is this normal?"

As such, I've decided I want to record these things that I see (& sometimes do) so that I can remember them forever.  I also figured you'd all benefit from reading about the questionably normal things that I see and do.

I know that the most-read blogs have pictures.  Ideally, I'd like to include pictures here.  However, a friend of mine once explained that he doesn't like taking pictures when he travels because he feels awkward documenting how different his life is from the lives of locals.  I feel similarly, and thus will only snap pix when I feel it's appropriate.  If you really want to understand these things, I urge you to buy a plane ticket and come see for yourselves :)

Please keep an open mind when reading my posts.  There is no room for judgement here, just you learning a bit about Vietnamese culture (specifically in Hanoi) as I try to figure out, "what's normal?"