One Month in Hanoi

Christian and the kids in front of the Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum
(our house is about 3 blocks from here)

Well, it is hard to believe but it is true... We arrived here in Hanoi one month ago. We spent the first couple of weeks in a hotel but are really glad to be in our place now. We are living in an extremely expansive apartment that has the feel of a long and skinny townhouse. It has 3 floors with 4 bedrooms and 3 full baths and is located in the heart of downtown Hanoi. The layout of our apartment is a bit interesting but we like it all the same.

This is the view from our Living Room

Christian has been spending his time in language training so far which is one-on-one for 4-5 hours a day. He doesn't begin working at the Embassy until the end of August. Jennie began studying Vietnamese a couple of weeks ago as well and is a hard core student (9 hours a week in a two-student class).

This is the view from our Master Bedroom

As time has past, we've started to become more accustomed to life here including the insane traffic with crazy scooters everywhere. Everyday we feel like we're playing frogger just to get across the street. The heat has also taken some getting used to. So far we've been averaging days in the 90's with 80+ percent humidity which can make for some sticky times. The kids have loved having a swimming pool as part of the apartment complex. Jennie's been a real trooper in exploring the local markets and grocery stores and luckily discovered a very yummy French bakery just a block or so away from our place where we can buy great fresh bread.