Since Helen has a much better way with words, I'll generally leave it to her to keep this blog updated. However, there will be occasions (such as now) where I will point out a few creative liberties on her part:

1) I have no problem riding a moped. However, the bus here costs 10p! The transport system is needlessly complicated but still...10p!!

2) Yes I brought 5 pairs of jeans...but I will be here for autumn and winter as well. Plus, we're living and working in an area untouched by tourists and backpackers. Given that all the locals will be staring at me anyway, I figure wearing shorts won't really matter (so long as there are no pictures...)

3) Helen may have had problems understanding me talking about economics, but I can assure you I felt the same when the Director was asking for her ideas on transforming the company's IT system. Oh, and they also seem to want her to establish and run their new marketing department. In fact, they seem more interested in what she can do than me so don't be surprised if I come back in September and she stays longer.

4) In terms of me not understanding Vienglish...well that's all true. I'm really bad. However, we're both starting to learn some Vietnamese and they seem to appreciate the effort (even if we have troubles with the accent).

I think that's all for now. Seriously though, it's all gone really well so far. No problems at the airport, the hotel's fine and everyone at work has been great. We had a really nice tourist day today in the Old Quarter - I'll let Helen tell you all about that but it was very strange going from an area where there were no Westerners to an area where there are hardly any Vietnamese. As far as breakfasts go, I think I might be able to convince Helen to have noodles, soup and chicken (instead of the beef). We'll let you nkow how that goes.

Hope everyone is well.

Kalv