Go for Past, or Live in Future?

Recently Patrick travelled to Hanoi for work. Jennifer had been to Vietnam before, but this was Patrick's first trip. We both really like Hanoi! It reminds us a bit of Berlin in the late 1990s: funky, a bit rough around the edges, and probably growing a little too quickly for its own good. The north Vietnamese (who are apparently quite different from the southerners) are sassy and fun -- and they're loving the freedom to run their own businesses. This was the first of what should be many trips -- we're excited to go back!

The streets of Hanoi feature a strange mixture of French colonial style, communist insignia, and rampant capitalism. Many of the big French colonial buildings are now Vietnamese government buildings. Scooters and motorcycles rule the roads, and cafes and restaurants fill the sidewalks. There's hustle and bustle everywhere, but somehow it's not overwhelming, the way it can be in Bangkok.










Yes, the Vietnam War (or, as they call it, "the American War") does pop up occasionally, but it's no obstacle to good relations between Americans and Vietnamese today. Most Vietnamese seem to have the attitude of, "Yeah, you invaded, we won. End of story. Now what can I sell you?" This poster, on one of the main promenades in the center of old Hanoi, is based on a famous New York Times photograph of a North Vietnamese tank breaking through the gates of the Presidential Palace during the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.

Maybe the driver who took Patrick back to the airport summed it up best: "Vietnamese don't want to go for past; they want to live in future."