Travel | Daily life of the life of Benoit Trudel in Vietnam in 2009

Daily life in Vietnam 2009

This page contains daily life snippets which were originally in the section This Week but have become "old news". I choose to keep them here since these stories really reflect our experience of living and working as a volunteer in Nepal. Hopefully, some of you will find these interesting in some ways and perhaps even relate to them...

January 10, 2010

Firing the maid drama...

So my mind was set. At 8 am when Thuy came in, we sat down and I explained to her that her behavior towards Mrs. Hop and the neighbor before I left was unacceptable (see below details Dec. 19th). At first I was going to give her salary for only the 2 weeks she worked, but she demanded her Tet bonus of 300$. I understand that in Vietnam, the bonus is not really based on merit but it is more automatic if you have worked a full year. So I agreed to give her 200$, saying I had given her 100$ bonus the past summer. Well, she wouldn't hear of it and wanted 200$ more, which I plainly refused. That's when I started to get worried. I shut the garage door and yelled at Rémi to get inside, just as Thuy was trying to get in the house (so as not to leave till I paid her). I managed to keep her outside in the front yard, and then Duong suggested we call the police. But they said that they would not intervene. Thuy called a friend of hers to come to mediate and she turned out to be quite nice. The nanny Mrs. Hop came to "testify" and Duong explained what the neighbors had said, and then her friend agreed that Thuy had been out of line. We finally convinced her to take the money and leave on good terms so I would give her a good reference, and then the police showed up. Dear, dear. I was sure we would all have to spend the day at the station filling in reports but we managed to explain things and he left. But then Thuy kept calling and threatening to file a complaint against me (and her husband works for the police). I was worried but in the end, I decided to do nothing. And now 4 days later, I haven't heard anything. I hired a new woman who lasted 2 days but she couldn't clean the house well and her pumpkin cake was more like a brick. She said the house was too big for her to clean. So tomorrow we try someone else. On verra...

January 11, 2010

We took the girl for a check-up...

I got a call last night from the facilitator saying that yes, the baby girl's papers were ready so now the next step was to take her to the hospital for a check-up. So off we went to the orphanage, sat with the director at 10 am while he insisted I toast him with a couple of shots of brandy, then we took the girl by taxi to the hospital. We had to draw blood and poor thing, it was so hard for her. She seems a very quiet baby who rarely cries, content and calm. Now that it is official and she is adoptable, I was allowed to take photos. We now wait for the results, but I expect everything to be fine. So we brought her back to the orphanage where she will stay for who knows how long. They might allow me to take her home in a month or so, once they see that the adoption process is moving along fine. Or the director of the orphanage might insist until after the adoption ceremony, which may be in 6-8 months. So one step at a time, and lots of waiting. In the meantime we can brainstorm about names. The top ones for me so far are - Alice, Sophie or Lucie. But I am open to suggestions...

January 17, 2010

A nice social weekend

We had a lovely social weekend. Saturday Rémi went with our neighbor from our other house because he gets along well with the 2 boys. So now she babysits him on Saturday instead of Mrs.Hop because he had no one to play with when she took him before. And so I took the day to put the house in order, do some shopping and rest a little. Saturday evening we went to our Quebec friends' house for spaghetti dinner and had a great time talking while the kids tore the house down! Sunday, our single adoptive friend Steve and son Zach came by for brunch, so I made a great seafood salad, fruit salad, fried potatoes. Then this evening we tried a new Tibetan vegetarian restaurant with our friend Lieve and daughter Anna. This week we are trying out a new cook/maid so we'll see how she turns out. She seems friendly enough and speaks English. Re the adoption, we now wait for the director of the orphanage to give me documents including a letter of attribution of adoption. And with this I will then go to the Ministry of Justice to officially begin the adoption process. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

January 24, 2010

Oh dear, the new maid/cook...

Yeah, the new maid is not working out to be so good. And it is surprising that she has 10 years of experience working for foreigners. Her cleaning is ok but I have to keep telling her to do this and that. Her cooking is pretty bad, so sometime I just have to throw out what she makes. Her cake is like a brick, nothing fluffy there. Creme caramel tasted like sweet rubber. I agreed that we'd have a 2 week trial period, so now we go into week 2. By the end of the week I will decide if I have the time and heart to train her, or if I take my chances and look for someone more qualified. Not sure yet what I will do. Keeping an open mind. For sure if I decide to keep her, then I won't come back on my decision and this will mean that I'll have to invest a lot of time showing her how to cook. I have done this so many times before, and truly do not feel up to it this time around.

We had a pretty asocial weekend. Everyone we called was busy, so Rémi was disappointed that we didn't meet any of his little friends to play. But I showed him how to make creme caramel, and we invited our friend Lieve and daughter Anna for dinner Sunday. I cooked all afternoon, preparing chicken fajitas, making the tortillas and everything. It was lovely and so we had a nice evening. Now time for an early night, and the new week which begins tomorrow. Regarding the adoption, we came to a bit of a stand-off last week when the Ministry of Justice was asking for a letter from the director of the orphanage saying that he agrees to grant me the girl in adoption. But he says he can't agree until he is asked, so a letter must first be sent to him. Both sides refused to send the ball. So we'll see if we can move forward this week. Why do I always feel like I am the first one and that they have never done this before when in fact they have?

February 1, 2010

This and that...

Not much to report this week. Rémi is doing better at school and learning how to read really well. So that is encouraging. I decided to keep our cook/maid and I will take time to teach her how to cook. This week I showed her how to make pumpkin pie and creme caramel. I let her bake cookies, but they turned out hard as rocks. We are still stuck with the adoption and both the Ministry of Justice and the Orphanage refuse to write the letter to start the adoption process. Hopefully this week we can find a solution and way forward. Strawberry season is almost over and my freezer is packed with over 15 kg. No room left to fit a small pea. Plus I have made over 5 kg of jam, so I should be good for the year now. This morning we went to a park with our friends from Québec, then stayed home for the rest of the day and ordered pizza for dinner. Sounds familiar? A busy week ahead with a 2-day field trip Mon-Tues, then 3 days with VECO strategic planning for 2010. Have a good one!

February 15, 2010

Adoption madness, new year and the Olympics!

I have not updated this page in over 2 weeks which is rare for me. But I wanted to wait till I had news on the adoption. So finally the Ministry of Justice agreed to write a letter, but they asked that I write a letter asking them to write a letter! So I did. Then they asked that I redo it and not mention the name of the girl. So I did. Then they went to the director to ask for his permission to write the letter, and he said ok but I had to put the name of the girl in my letter. So I did. Then the weekend came and the following week I heard no news for days. When I finally reached them, they said they had lost my dossier, so they could not write the letter. Then 3 days later they found my dossier, and said it was not complete, even tho 2 months ago they had said it was. They asked that I get a letter from the Canadian embassy within the next few hours. I did. I also dropped by the Ministry with a generous lunar new year present and then boom, the letter was written and signed. So now the official adoption has begun - drum roll please - and in 3 weeks when lunar new year holiday is over and civil servants are back to work, things "should" move forward. And I hope to be able to take Rémi to the orphanage soon so he can meet his little sister. The big question everyone asks now is how long will it take? The answer is "I don't know. It could take 2 months or 8 months". But now we are a step closer...

Happy New Year of the Tiger or as they say here - Chuc Mung Nam Muoi! This is the most important national holiday of the year so I have the whole week off, plus the 2 weekends which is wonderful. EVERYONE I know has left Vietnam for some country in South-East Asia, and even the Vietnamese have mostly gone back to their home village. So this is the ONLY time of year when Hanoi is quiet with no traffic, and I love it. Stores and even the supermarkets are closed for 5 days! After a busy Xmas in Cambodia, I welcome just staying home and doing nothing. Getting bored is on the program to balance our usually hectic life. The mercury has gone down from 34 C which we had for 2 weeks, to its more normal 15-20 C which I love. Hopefully it will stay this cool for some weeks still. Normally this would be a great time to watch the Olympics with so much time on my hands, but even tho I have over 60 cable TV channels with many that show only sports, none of them show coverage of the Olympics! So I am really sad to be missing the skiing and the figure skating which I could watch for hours on end. So enjoy it for me please!

March 1, 2010

Not much new...

The good thing these days is that I finally got to catch a lot of Olympics on ESPN after figuring out their broadcasting schedule. I really enjoyed watching the figure skating most of all, men and women, and salute them for their courage and skill to step on the ice as they do. For sure some Olympic sports seem less demanding to me like bobsled or ski jump. The only thing about figure skating that I mind is that we always know which skaters are the favorites and they often seem to get high marks, not matter how they perform. So for the women's skating, the Korean Yu-na was great and deserved the gold, but the Japanese and the Canadian did not deserve 2nd and 3rd place, I think. Other skaters delivered better programs. Unfortunately I will miss the closing ceremony tomorrow morning but I hope it will be broadcasted again for us in the evening.

Rémi got his first "real" report card from school for Grade 1 semester 1. The marks were as expected, mostly C and D since he is compared to other kids who have a head-start on him and speak English. But still, I asked for a teacher meeting because I disagreed on a few points. She had given him D for effort to which I objected strongly - Rémi is not lazy and works very hard at school. In the comments section she wrote that I should read with him at home and I asked her to take her advice out. Instead, I wanted her to explain the low grades by saying how Rémi had spoken no English at the beginning of the semester, and how he had improved and worked hard. I will have to show this report card to the next school, and I want to make sure it clearly explains the situation and does justice to Rémi. She agreed.

I have been baking lately. Last week I made an amazing lemon meringue pie and yesterday, a yummy strawberry pie. The new cook is working out ok but I have to show her recipes otherwise it is not good. But for now it seems best to keep her...

March 14, 2010

A busy week...

We now have our boss from Head Office here as well as colleagues from Indonesia. So this week we went to the field to show them the pig chain. Just one week ago, we finally sold our 35 super-lean pigs to a buyer from Hanoi but with all 7 households, we made a loss, some bigger than others. Still the pilot remains very positive because farmers learned a lot and could see how much faster the pigs gained weight following this model. The raising period was 3 months instead of 6. The loss was due to the high cost of vet and health services, mainly because of the "cold" winter. And also in years past the price of pork after lunar new year stayed high, but this year it dropped sharply and unexpectedly. Still, all 7 farmers said that they plan now to raise super-lean porkers on their own, without the support of VECO. We will now look at up-scaling to new farmers, going up to 100-150 in 2010. A big challenge...

With such a lovely and huge dining room table which can sit 10 comfortably, it was high time I threw a dinner party (so why are we all sitting on the floor in the picture?!). So I decided to make it a francophone event, and of course only invited French-speaking friends from Canada, Belgium and France. I cooked a lovely roast of lamb with mint and rosemary sauce, oven-baked potatoes with sour cream and garlic butter, meat pie (tourtière), plus we had the contributions of amazing cheeses, wild salad and a Laos dessert made of black rice, mango and coconut milk. It was lovely to sit and chat together while the 3 kids played. Definitely a must-do-again event in the future. This week will be busy with a 3-day workshop to plan for VECO-Vietnam program 2011-13....

April 4, 2010

Violaine visits from Canada

Again, we've had a really busy 2 weeks. With work we had the visit from our donor agency, so we had to prepare documents/presentations and organize a field visit to the safe vegetables and tea growing areas. All went well and despite all the changes at VECO over the past year, they were impressed that we still managed to get a good chain development program on the road. But for the past 3 months, I really have put 0 time on program management because we have been busy with annual reporting 2009, annual planing 2010, developing the new program 2011-13 and organizing all the field visits for head-office and the donor. So now for the next 3 months, I have to compensate and put all of my time to get the upscaling off the ground, meaning that we go from 46 tea farmers to 200, 7 pig farmers to about 100. That means identifying the new farmers, forming groups, providing training, signing new agreements with partners, coordinating collective input supply and marketing in order to get the show off the ground.

My friend Violaine from Canada arrived 1 week ago and it was wonderful to greet her at the airport. We spent Saturday chatting and catching up on news, and taking Rémi to his first rugby session. I have wanted him to get into sports for a long time now, and it seems like we have found the perfect opportunity. There are a lot of French kids in the group and Rémi seemed to enjoy it. This will be every Saturday from 1:30-3:00. Photos of our star rugby player to be posted soon! Saturday night I took Violaine to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant Quan An Ngon so she could try food from the whole country. On Sunday we went to the outdoor museum of ethnology which has many houses of the different types of ethnic minorities of Vietnam. We also visited Hanoi's old quarters and the famous red bridge off Ho Hoan Kiem Lake.

Monday and Tuesday, we went to the famous Halong Bay and we had only 10 people on our boat, all 30-40 years old and really friendly. Unfortunately we dropped my camera in the sea so it died. We stayed overnight on the boat and returned to Hanoi on day 2. Wednesday Violaine flew on her own to the Central part of Vietnam, Hoi An, where she stayed for 2 days. She returned to Hanoi Friday April 2, and Rémi was happy to see her again. A quiet Saturday shopping for a new camera, a few last minute presents for Violaines' friends and family, then off to another good Vietnamese restaurant called Highway 4 for our farewell dinner. Today Sunday, she has gone to the airport early to continue onto Thailand, and then back to Canada. It was wonderful having her here with us for the 2 weekends and we'll miss her for sure... Bon voyage!

April 18, 2010

Birthday, Easter eggs and adoption

Yep, yesterday I turned 41 and much to my surprise, I got many birthday wishes from friends. Last year was a really big deal with 40, but this time it was more low key. I decided to invite friends to join us for dinner at Al Fresco's restaurant and in total we were 12, including kids. But in the same small room, there were over 20 other kids that evening, all running around, screaming and throwing balls. So it was a bit of mayhem but Rémi had a blast. And for me it was lovely as well. Today we went to the French Embassy, on invitation from Lieve, for the yearly Easter Eggs in the Garden event. Lots of francophones kids were present, tho I did not meet anyone from Québec. The Compound is pretty amazing and beautiful, so all kids had little baskets to run around and pick up chocolate eggs. Then they all shared them evenly. Parents had brought cakes, sweets and drinks, so we had a lovely time.

Regarding the adoption, it now seems that the Ministry of Justice is still hesitant to see a single man adopt a second child. They have not said no, but have now asked that I undergo a thorough psychological evaluation and home study with a clear recommendation from the "expert" on whether I would make a good parent and be able to handle 2 kids. Finding such an expert is no easy task as there are less than a handful in Hanoi, but I found someone. We had our first session on Saturday, and the home study will be next Friday. Hopefully the report will be in my favor and it will be enough to convince the adoption authorities to let me adopt Simon. So I cross my fingers and hope for the best...there's nothing more I can do for now.

April 26, 2010

A tough week...

The officer at the Ministry of Justice in charge of dealing with adoption applications suggested that I get a thorough psychological assessment and home study report which might add weight to my dossier. So I found a psychologist and had a long session last weekend, and the home study on Friday where she interviewed 2 friends, Rémi, the maid Uyen and the nanny Mrs. Hop. Despite many issues that were brought up, she seems to support my adoption plan and I expect she will conclude the report with a recommendation in my favor. Now I wait for this final report and hope that it helps the adoption to go through. But nothing is certain these days...

We also had the surprise from our housemate Duong that she is leaving us, right away. She got accepted for an evening school program in project management but the campus is far so she will get a room there. One day she informed us, the next day she was gone. So this was sudden and a big disappointment. We'd gotten used to having her around the house, enjoying meals together and she helped also look after Rémi when I went to the field. Now the house feels empty without her. I toyed with the idea of getting a new housemate and even put an ad on the net, but I removed it after getting calls from people who are very demanding. What I loved about having Duong was that she was quiet and didn't "take over" the house.

May 2, 2010

A 4-day weekend to recover...

It feels great to have a nice, long 4-day weekend to rest and take it easy. We got the final report from the psychologist on Wednesday and it was quite positive, much to my relief. So then I took it for translation and notarization, and I was able to drop it off at the Ministry of Justice on Thursday. Now we wait and hope that this final step will result in the adoption going thru. But we really don't know. A single man adopting 1 child seems ok, but 2 children starts to raise eyebrows. It would be such a disappointment after all this time and effort for things to fall through. But I believe in destiny so I am sure the best will happen, no matter what. I got to practice having 2 kids under my arm since my friend Steve went to the USA for a week and I suggested we pick up his son from the nanny for 1 day. So Friday we brought him first to our house where he played with Rémi, had lunch and then we all went to the amusement park. The kids had such a blast in the rides and the playrooms that we stayed a good 2 hours. Rémi acted like a wonderful big brother but they also bickered a lot, calling each other names like "you stupid cat", "no, you stupid dog", "you're such a baby", "no, you're a baby". I can see how having 2 kids creates a new dynamic which will put daddy as the referee. In the cab I had to sit between them but even that didn't keep them from play fighting over and behind me.

I have been wondering for one week now whether I should rent the room that Duong occupied, or not. If I did, I would want someone quiet like her, who can also help with looking after Rémi when I go to the field and look after the house and Roxy when/if we go to Canada this summer. But I don't want someone demanding who will take over the house and bring people over. The alternative is to find a part-time nanny who would come here and stay at the house when I need her to. I put an ad for both on the Hanoi Community Web site, room mate and nanny, and got many responses. I have interviewed many people, one very nice lady as nanny and one quiet guy as house-mate. So now I think about this and should decide soon...

May 8, 2010

The heat is up...

Yep, the mercury has officially shot up and with it the humidity has gone thru the roof. So the AC is on and my hot temper gets a good testing. Again, the only time you'll see me smile in this heat is either immersed in a swimming pool or in an AC room! So yesterday we went swimming for the first time this year, and the water was just wonderful. Rémi was happy to hit the water again, and this may be a more sensible choice than rugby in this kind of heat. We then went to our Quebec friends' house and had a lovely evening with dinner, kids playing and screaming while the parents talked about life in Hanoi...

Wherever I go, construction crews follow close behind. Sure enough, there was a house being built right wall to wall to ours and that gave us loud jack hammer for many months, but it seems more or less finished. But now just in front of our place, a new house is going up. Today I couldn't really get out of my gate because a truck had just dumped a load of small rocks, another of sand and a few dozens of bags of cement in our tiny and narrow alley. With the compact cement maker grinding away, our area is no longer quiet and peaceful. And this will be the case for 6 months, and then yet another one will start again in the nearby empty lots remaining or replacing shabby houses. So back to ear plugs....

I don't give enough news of Rémi but he's really doing so well. He is so good at reading and is now able to sound off words that he doesn't know. The strength of his school is math, and can you believe that he's already adding big numbers like 39 + 22! And subtractions. Soon I guess multiplications and divisions will come as well before the end of the school year. His writing is also really good and improving quickly. He still gets the occasional bad behavior note in his book, but I don't worry about it much anymore. When it happens, we talk about it, agree on how he could behave differently next time and on consequences. Usually this means no TV for that evening, but we get to do other things which is just as well.

May 17, 2010

A baby shower...

There are 3 of us single parents "in the race for adoption" and our friend Sally from England was the first one to make it to the finish line. She got her 6 month old girl 1 month ago and since then, she has been in bliss and sleepless. I really had under estimated the toll/time that an infant takes on a single parent. Hélène seems to be next in line and we expect that she'll get her baby girl within 2 weeks. So our friend Lieve coordinated a baby shower with her friends, and Hélène who had gone out for a bike ride was very surprised to find us all there to celebrate with her. It was fun and we gave her a few tests to check her parenting skills - we gave her a dirty diaper to change for one, then other fun games. And she passed with flying colors, of course! From the 3 musketeers, I am the last one. This week I called in an adoption lawyer who personally knows the director of International Adoption Mr. Binh. She met with him last Friday, and now we wait for her/his response. If she cannot convince him to put through the adoption, then it is game over. That was my last card, so cross your fingers for us...

Nothing much else is new. It is bloody hot, so we went to Jafa pool and restaurant not far from our house to cool off. I love the place because the food is so amazing and the ambiance is very relaxed, with lots of kids around and a lovely clean pool (many pools in Hanoi are not clean). I have reserved our flight home to Canada for mid-July to mid-August but I am still not sure if I will be able to come home. In the next 2 weeks, I should know if I renew with my job VECO for another contract (1 or 2 years) and if the adoption goes thru. If the adoption happens, then for sure I think it would be best for me to stay. Having a new job, new country and new child would be too much. So we expect some big life changing decisions to be made shortly. Stay tuned....

May 30, 2010

Big potato is doing exercise!

Yep, a little while ago i bought a treadmill and started running 30 min. every day. At first it was really tough but now 3 weeks later, it is going good. I don't always feel like doing it but... the machine which I bought used broke down 3 days later. I got a repair guy from one of the exercise equipment shop here to come and have a look, and was able to fix it. And we have started to eat less and better. Thank God Rémi likes salad, because we've been eating lots of it lately, with a piece of chicken, or a piece of bread, or soup. I am getting away from the heavy dishes like pasta, rice, etc. tho we still have it from time to time. But no more cakes... And during the week, no beer or alcohol. So far so good. But when I get to the weekend, the rules of engagement are off. So not sure you'll see me slim down, but I hope so.

Last weekend we went to the amusement park with Zach and had fun, yet again. It was cloudy and so we decided not to go swimming, but it was still 30 C and very humid, so I was really hot. Steve could not resist the kid in him and jumped in the ball pool after Zach. Big kid, little kid! So after we left Zach and his dad Steve, we went for a quick for a quick dip in the pool. This weekend was International Children's Day so we thought of going for some kids' activities. It was boring and hot, so in the end we couldn't wait to get home, pack our bags and go swimming. We stayed in the water for 3 hours non-stop, playing ball with other kids and just cooling. Very cool. Now back home on Sunday evening and getting ready for the new and hectic week ahead of us. No news on the adoption but apparently things are moving forward...

June 14, 2010

Rémi has final exams this week...

Dear oh dear. I got a note from the school informing me that all student will be writing final exams next week and this is serious business - the marks will count for 70% of the final mark for each subject, be it science, math, English understanding and writing. On Wednesday, he has 3 exams, which is ridiculous! I am shocked that so much weight is put on exams and so little on year-round classroom work. I would much prefer that he be tested on school projects and other more interactive means. This week he had a practice test which he brought home - he got a mere 30% mark but it is understandable because the test was so hard. I couldn't believe how hard it was, and he's just 6 years old! I worry that this super-structured and academic methodology will make him dislike school and not provide him with the education that I want for him. Again more reasons not to keep him at this school and hope that other schools are more progressive. For now I will write a letter to the teacher and the principal, knowing full well that they cannot do anything since the curriculum is developed in Singapore and centralized.

Sunday we went to our Quebec friend's house for lunch, chatted and caught up on news while the kids tore the house apart. Then we went swimming and had a lovely time chilling in the pool. In the evening we had our friends Duong and Thang come for dinner for a kind of farewell. Thang is returning to his home town of Hai Phong 3 hours away. He just got a job there and prefers it to living in the big metropolis of Hanoi. Who can blame him? We had pizza for dinner and also had lovely chats. Roxy was so happy to see Duong again so they had nice girl moments ouing and ahing at each other.

June 20, 2010

What a fantabulous weekend!

I decided to throw Rémi a slumber party and invite his boy friends from school Saturday night. His class has 18 girls and only 8 boys whom I invited, and 3 of them were able to make it. So together we made some incredibly yummy cookies (no sense in trying to be on a diet), had pizza, watched a move and had the boys running around screaming Ben10 calls like "I am Humungosor!" at each other. I also organized a treasure hunt with 10 clues which they were all able to read on their own and find, all the way to the treasure full of candy and of course, Ben10 special war weapons! It was a blast! At times like these I have no doubt that I want another kid for more group dynamics. We even had Julian come down with severe nose bleed and a stomach ache, but I managed to handle both no problem. Louis went home at 9 pm but the other 2 stayed overnight. I had enough mattresses to put on the floor and all 3 wore their Ben10 pajamas and eventually, they fell asleep. They woke up at 6:30 and I managed to stay in bed till 7 am before one cried out that he was hungry. Once we had all eaten and I had my coffee, then showers all around, we all got on my tiny electric motorcycle and made it to the Water Park. Today was a bit cloudy tho still 34 C, so perfect weather for this. They went down slides over and over, and the go-around river on tubes which they loved. We had sausages and chips for lunch, then rode back home to wait for the parents to come. This has been an awesome weekend, really wonderful and full of kid's fun. Just the way I like it...

June 27, 2010

Rémi, the computer wizard!

Yep, now Rémi just goes to my computer, opens a browser, goes to Google and off he goes - to YouTube to watch cartoon videos and to video game web sites. He is quite good at figuring things out and can handle himself with no supervision at all. Which is a good alternative to TV since it is getting him to become computer savy. So when I get home from work and him from school, he goes on the computer while I work out ont the treadmill to run a few km. It has now been 2 months and even tho I run everyday and we eat lighter and better, I still don't see any weight loss. At first I could barely run 10 minutes, then I was able to do 30 but had to break it into 3 parts, with walking in between. Last week I started running the whole 30 min. non-stop, but was tired at the end. This week, I ran 45 min. non-stop, and still felt like I could have continued. So this is good. Hopefully we will see results on my body soon!

Re the adoption, the dossier of Simon was finally completed and sent to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) last week after a month of waiting for the final police report. But now many key staff at MOJ are on vacation, so not sure how long it will take. But our plane ticket for Canada leaves in 3 weeks, and it would be nothing short of a miracle to get things sorted in time - we would need to have the adoption ceremony for Simon in 2 weeks, to have 1 week left to get his passport and visa for Canada. Most likely scenario is that we'll have to delay our trip to Canada by a couple of weeks. So cross your fingers for us and say a prayer, light a candle, send positive energies...anything as long as it works!

July 3, 2010

A busy weekend...

On Saturday evening I invited Rémi's school friend Julian to come over for dinner. I had ordered delivery of Indian food from our favorite restaurant Foodshop 45 and tried to get non-spicy things for the kids. Julian's mom is away so his "uncle" Fela came as well. The kids played video games on the Internet for a couple of hours, taking turns. Then I simply proposed that Julian stay for the night, and Fela went out to meet some friends. In the morning, after breakfast and showers, we headed to Jafa pool and restaurant to chill and enjoy the day. Fela met us there later, then our friends from Quebec joined us, so it was all good fun with 37 C. The kids went next door to their schoolmate's house Thanh and played for awhile, then we returned home.

This week I toyed with the idea of sending Rémi to Quebec with our friends who are leaving this Wednesday. Much to my surprise, Mum said she was willing to take care of him for 2 weeks until I arrived. But in the end our Quebec friends with their 4 kids were not willing to take Rémi with them. And I think it is for the best. When Simon comes home hopefully in about 1 week, I would like for Rémi to be here to help with the transition. So we keep praying and hoping that soon the adoption will finally be done and over with and we can move on with our lives...We just need 1 final signature from the big guy, then we are home free and they will set the date for the adoption ceremony. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

July 11, 2010

Rémi dances off the end of the school year...

Saturday July 10th was the year-end ceremony for Singapore International School and they rented the National Arts Centre. A few speeches, trophies to academic students and each grade doing a song and dance. It was lots of fun and Rémi's group was very colorful but not so coordinated. We went with Julian, his cousin Fela and Julian's grand-mother. Then we came home with Julian who stayed overnight again. It's great seeing the 2 of them develop a nice friendship and play together. Funny enough, even tho they both speak French, they usually use English with each other. I guess they are used to it by now at school. Now they only have 3 more days of school, and then they break for the summer. We just got the school's class and individual photos which are nice souvenirs of Rémi's Grade 1 year. Now all we need is his final report card, and he is done until he starts Grade 2 at the end of August. Rémi worked so hard this year that he really needs a break. Let's hope we can make it to Canada so he can have fun at the summer camp...

August 29, 2010

Diet and adoption...

I think this is it - I feel pretty committed to change my eating habits and have gone on a strict diet. I now no longer drink any alcohol at all, not even on weekends or during social events. I brought back from Canada loads of diet bars, cookies and shakes to help me reduce calories while keeping up high protein intake. At the supermarket I found Ultra Skim milk so I now use this for coffee and will use it also for making my yoghourt. I am also really changing my eating and drinking habits - no fruit juices, few fruits (I used to eat tons of fruits), no bread or rice or pasta, no sugar or sweets... And when I eat I try to eat slower and enjoy the food, which is nice. I am also slowly starting to exercise again on my treadmill. In 10 days so far I have lost about 8 pounds and will see how it goes. It feels good to slow down and look for more balance in my life.

Re the adoption, we are in neutral mode now waiting for the director to sign the famous agreement to adoption. This week I decided to go by the orphanage to see Hung whom I hadn't seen since April. He looks good and his speech in Vietnamese has improved a lot. But he does look slim and must be bored out of his mind doing nothing all day with no friends to play with. The orphanage is now empty so he is pretty alone with no toys or TV. Plus I really want to follow up his medical condition of Hepatitis so I hope again with all my heart that he'll come home to us soon. It was bitter sweet to take him in my arms for 15 minutes and then hard to leave him behind.

September 5, 2010

First time 3D cinema

I have never been to the cinema in Hanoi and there really is no excuse since there is so little to do in this city. The Vinacom Megastar cinema is huge with 6 rooms including 2 which show 3D movies. And Rémi is just getting to the age where it is possible for him to sit in one place for 2 hours. But just. So we went to see Avatar - the Airbender which has a cartoon by the same name which Rémi loves (poster left). But without realizing it, we found ourselves in the cinema room for Avatar the blue people which I had seen before on DVD (photo right). I was disappointed to have made the mistake (even tho I checked and Airbender was supposed to be showing in 3D) but still, Rémi and I both enjoyed the 3D effects with the funny sunglasses. For Rémi, 3D was a first. We'll try to catch the other movie another time...

Last Thursday was independence day and our friend Lieve was having a small day party at a nearby kid-friendly restaurant to celebrate the adoption anniversary of her daughter Anna. We stayed there for awhile meeting up with friends we hadn't seen in a few months. And then we headed for the nearby Tay Ho swimming pool since it was hot and humid. But the water was so warm, it must have been at least 30 C or more. Rémi is now happy to go back for babysitting on Saturdays at our ex next-door neighbor who has 2 kids. Before the holidays he didn't want to go anymore but now he is having fun again. They all have bicycles so I bring his along and they play all day. I am also hoping that he'll pick up some Vietnamese...

September 19, 2010

Adoption, new friend and Xmas vacation

Well, I had been waiting 1 month now for the director of the Department of International Adoptions to finally meet with me. It is HIS signature that we need to give the final agreement to the adoption. The meeting went well and he actually quite friendly and candid altho he did express his reservations to the adoption. And I presented my case without trying to "convince" him. We both said our piece, and now we wait to see what will happen. It still seems 50/50 but at least we are still moving forward, and meeting him was a step in the right direction. Will it be enough to tip the scale in my favor? Time will tell...

After Rémi's friend Julian left Vietnam last week, Rémi was pretty sad. But last Saturday we went to our favorite restaurant Al Fresco's with the kids room and he met another boy, Alessandro. They both hit it off, and I got talking to his father as well. This weekend they invited us to their home so Rémi had a good time, and we promised to see each other again soon. So a new friend for Rémi is promising and good news. Rémi still goes for babysitting every Saturday at our ex-neighbor's house but now he really likes to go. The kids all have fun in the street and we now cycle there, each on our own bicycle as we make it down the heavy traffic streets. Then I leave him there for the day to cycle with his Vietnamese friends.

The time of year has come to get excited and plan for our Xmas vacation. I had the funny idea of going North either to Japan or to Moscow, but then I changed my mind. I searched internet and found a few kids friendly resorts in Thailand. I don't want to go to crazy tourist Phuket (even tho I am sure it is a fine place), yet I don't want to be on a remote beach where we can't find friends for Rémi. There's a Club Med in Thailand (Phuket) and a few others but Oh-My-God, are they ever expensive! But I found a nice place which is super kids friendly with games rooms, slides for the pool, but with a beach front as well, possibility of swimming with dolphins (hence the name Dolphin Resort - www.dolphinbayresort.com). And the prices are quite reasonable. So I am pretty sure this is where we'll go. So Santa, don't forget to forward our presents to Thailand! We plan to stay for 2 whole weeks! The only question remaining is whether we will be just 2 or if Simon will have joined our family by then and come with us. Santa, that's the only gift we want this year...!

September 26, 2010

Going to Africa, and Rémi's Bday...

I will be leaving Friday October 1st to go to Tanzania where I will spend 3 days visiting the project site of VECO East-Africa. I will be staying at the foothill of the famous Kilimanjaro Mountain, so expect to see some nice photos if the skies are clear. Then I will fly to Nairobi in Kenya for a 3-day conference hosted by our VECO colleagues on partnership between farmers and private sector. I look forward to this trip and am sure that the exchanges on experiences will be interesting. However, I will be away on Rémi's birthday (October 7th) so I am sad about this. I will make it up to him tho as I come home October 8th and have planned to host a party for him the next day. I have color printed a nice invitation (see above) which I I will take to his school on Friday to hand out to all his friends. And I have prepared everything else so that I can hit the ground running when I return.

October 10, 2010

Rémi's fantabulous bday...!

I came back from East Africa Friday late in the evening and had a good night sleep. The next day, I got up early and started to prepare for Rémi's birthday party. Our cook Uyen came in exceptionally to give me a hand, and she took Rémi to the babysitter so that we could prepare the food. She was in charge of making the potato salad, fried rice and Vietnamese spring rolls. And I made the large chocolate cake, all with pure chocolate and good ingredients. I also made the chocolate icing and managed to decorate it as well. I had made nice color invitations which Rémi gave to all his classmates and we had a good turn-out of over 15 kids. They all ran around the house between Rémi's bedroom and the living room where the food was. They even ran outside and unfortunately they made a lot of green mangoes fall to the ground. Rémi had more than enough presents so he was really spoiled with lots of Lego sets which he is now getting into. The bday cake was a hit as was the food (see video on home page). Some parents stayed to chat, and at point it seemed like 2 boys are pretty popular with the girls. We even caught 2 of them kissing! Oh my God, they are only 7 years old and this has already started! Isn't it a little early? Uyen stayed on to help me clean up and put the food away. The birthday bash was a huge success with Rémi and the kids having lots of fun...

October 17, 2010

Canadian Thanksgiving in Hanoi

Believe it or not there is a Chamber of Commerce of Canada in Vietnam and from time to time they organize events but usually these are Happy Hour Cocktails for the business community. This time tho, they held a Thanksgiving lunch which was a more family oriented activity. It cost about 50$ for me and Rémi but this included food and free drinks, from 11 am to 3 pm. Our Quebec friends came as well and we met many new people including other Quebecers with kids so that was wonderful. The buffet itself was not so good but the desert table was awesome with the chocolate founttain (see photo left). The kids had fun with face painting, running around and dancing. I hope that for the American Thanksgiving in November we'll be able to get turkeys in Hanoi because I would love to make a nice dinner with meat pies, turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie.

October 23, 2010

A busy weekend!

On Saturday we went to pick up Zach because his father is away for 3 weeks so many friends are pitching in to take him to do things. So I offered to take him overnight this weekend. We went to a nice restaurant for dinner, Don's bistro, which is owned and managed by a Canadian. It was a bit pricy but great food and the boys were pretty good. We then came back and they watched TV a bit before heading for bed in Rémi's room. The next day they played and then we took Zach back home where his nanny was waiting for him. I then dropped Rémi off at the babysitter and met up with Kathleen who works for CECI as Regional Director. We meet every 2-3 months when she comes to Hanoi, and this time I suggested we go for dim sum at a nice Chinese restaurant. It was delicious and we ate way too much, but it was a lovely lunch. Then I ran to pick Rémi up and headed for a friend's 6th birthday party. There were many kids and plenty of pirate hats to pass around before we gave into the heat and they all jumped in the pool. The boys screamed and played with water guns, then presents and cake. We returned home tired but happy of our social weekend.

November 14, 2010

Rats in the house!

Yep, rats have now been coming in a steady stream thru the open drain pipe under the sink. And they are now getting bolder to come out when we are in the house watching TV or eating. Not cool. I put a rat trap and managed to catch/kill one, then we got someone to come in and put a grid over the drain. I thought we were done and good. But no. Now they seem to have found a way through the basement, and they come up to the livingroom. I put out the rat trap again and we need to figure out how they come in. Being that in VN the whole basement is made of cement, there are not many ways for them to enter a house. Hopefully we can put an end to this rat race...

Rémi has had many birthday parties for friends lately so I keep going to the toy store twice a week to get presents. All boys want Lego but they are so expensive! A small box with 100 pieces is about 25$. The cheap Chinese version has 3000 pieces for the same price, but the pieces don't fit so well and the instructions are useless. As parents of 7 year old kids, we need to figure out how to throw bday parties. We have discussed between us and for sure having 15-20 kids running and screaming in a house is way too much. But then how to invite some classmates and not others seems equally difficult. The jury is out on how to do this but for me and our Quebec friends, we are now good for one year since we just had the bday parties and barely survived!

Re the adoption, it is harder and harder to take the wait. The Ministry of Justice asked the Canadian Embassy to guarantee citizenship of the adopted child and to give their "agreement" to the adoption. Both things which they cannot do. So I have been waiting for over 5 weeks now for their response, knowing full well that if they refuse, the adoption will be rejected. It seems that we are at the end of the line, and hopefully soon we will know once and for all whether we will have Simon join our family or not. But then again, I have been thinking this for many months now...

November 21, 2010

Sushi and amusement park again!

The weather is now milder and Hanoi people are already wearing jackets tho it is usually 25-30 C, so I am still in short sleeve. But the nights do get cooler and I have a comforter on the bed. We have found out that the rats come thru the windows which I always keep open. So much to my chagrin, I have been closing them at night or at least the wood shutters which I think they cannot get thru. But really our mango tree attracts them and they climb to eat the fruits right in the tree. I was so tried this weekend after the trip to Ninh Binh that I was happy just to stay home. In the end I invited our French neighbors over for sushi dinner since their boy Kilian is the same age as Remi. We even took out our Sorry! board game and had a good laugh. I always order too much sushi so now I have tons of left-overs which I'll take to work for lunch tomorrow.

On Sunday usually Rémi would have gone to the babysitter for the day but today she could not take him. So I made plans with our new friends from Quebec - Caroline, Stéphane and the 3 kids Jeremy, Laurie-Jane and Jasmin. We went to the amusement park (second time for us in 1 month) and as always, it was a hit. The boys enjoyed the go-carts, carousel and other rides. The place was deserted so it was nice and quiet plus no wait for rides. However, none of us felt bold enough to try to very large Ferris wheel, me because I am too scared of heights and them because they worry about the mechanic. Then we returned to their place and the kids played. We ordered in dinner, ate and then came home. All in all a nice weekend, low key but fun all around.

December 12, 2010

Merry Xmas week

On Wednesday Dec. 8th Rémi's School had its Xmas Concert which was a lot of fun. Each class went up on stage to sing and dance, and this year Rémi's class did Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer. He was really excited and practiced his moves around the house all week. Then last night I took on the challenge of having 16 people over for Xmas dinner - 8 parents with 8 kids, big and small. I had prepared for a handicraft session with paper starts, Xmas trees and balls. There was paint of all colors with brushes and everyone got to paint at least one piece. For the dinner, I had a bought a 3-4 kg turkey which only fit in my tiny oven if I put the bird right at the bottom of the oven without any tray. Needless to say it was a mess to clean up in and around the oven but at least it did the job. I also made a meat pie, mash potatoes and ham in pineapple with maple syrup. Guests brought Tourtière du Lac St-Jean, some cold meats/cheese, a mouse cake and a Xmas log cake. I was worried that the turkey was too small for so many people and that we would not have enough food! But in the end we'll eat leftovers till it comes out of our ears, so turkey on the menu every day for this week! Then Sunday Dec. 19th, we head out for Thailand for our Xmas vacation...

December 16, 2010

Let the vacation begin...

I had such a busy last week at work that by Friday, I was exhausted and ready for the vacation to begin. I need a break and a lot of rest, both for the body, the mind and the soul. This week Rémi's teacher Ms Brooke contacted me to say that his behavior in class had gone steadily worse. To the point that now his desk sits on its own in a corner. He demands too much attention and does not behave properly with other students. With 25 kids in one room, the teacher is a saint and does what she can to keep some order. And Rémi just takes too much of her time. So I met with the teacher and had a talk. She will try different things with him to get him to change. And at home as well I will set up some rules/expectations and some kind of daily grading system so he can become aware of these things. On top of all this, Friday he fell in our yard and the housekeeper didn't make a big deal when I got home. But I saw blood on the band-aid and thought I had better have a look. It's a good thing I did because I found an open wound, still bleeding. I went to the clinic and sure enough, Remi had to have 2 stitches. He cried so hard but at least he didn't move, so the doctor was able to do the job. It cost me 150$ for the clinic plus 1 more Bionicle for Xmas....but all is well.

December 18, 2010

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa, I hope you have had a nice year. This year I have been learning how to speak English, trying my best in my exams, trying my best with my behavior and grow up up into a big person. For Christmas, may I please have a Bionicle? How are the reindeers doing? I hope the elves are working hard to make the toys. I promise I will leave some milk and cookies on the table on Christmas Eve. Yours, Rémi.

Dear Rémi, I was so excited to receive the letter you sent me. Everyone here at the North Pole is very busy preparing for Christmas Eve. Mrs. Claus is mending my red suit as I had so many holes in the knees from sliding down all of those chimneys! I have been checking our list and seen that you have been trying your best to listen to Ms Brooke and be a good friend to everyone this year! I am so proud of you! The elves and I agreed that you deserve to get something extra special this year. I've been told that you're hoping to find a new Bionicle when you wake up on Christmas morning. We'll do our very best! Merry Christmas and warmest wishes, Santa.