Hanoi: Seasons and Sundays

Even though many people think of straw hats and tropical temperatures when they hear the word “Vietnam”, let it be said here loud and clear: it is cold, and it is very uncomfortable. The Vietnamese are not crazy when they go outside wearing winter jackets and gloves. Okay, maybe they are a little bit crazy, because they do this in November when it’s still warm. But now, in January, scarves and ski jackets are completely appropriate.

I can confirm this. I have just returned from Christmas holidays in Germany, where there was an unusual amount of snow and an unusually long period of minus degree temperatures. In Hanoi it is currently about 12°C. But it’s still cold, believe me. This is because in Hanoi apartments and offices have no heating. So outside if it’s 13° then inside it’s, let’s say, 18°. All day long. With high humidity and cold that penetrates all layers of clothing and gets into your bones in spite of your winter jacket. In my experience, the human body is amazingly bad at warming itself over extended periods of time.

Wet cold, wet mild, wet warm

The main reason there is no heating is that it is not necessary. Winter in Hanoi lasts about one month. No one bothers to install heating for that. After the wet cold winter comes the wet mild spring. Followed by the wet warm summer. You could say: in winter here it is humid and cold, in summer humid and warm. In spring it’s... well, it's humid and humid.

In any case, the most important break is almost here: Tet. The Vietnamese new year celebration. For Europeans it’s a little strange: you’ve just had a break: the Christmas holidays. When in Germany everything comes to a standstill, everyone is quiet and stays at home. Then at the beginning of January work starts in Vietnam, and it’s already time for the next break. Tet.

Tet is like Christmas and New Year’s together. To be precise, that’s exactly what it is: it’s the beginning of a new year and at the same time the most important cultural celebration of the year. Mind you, the year here begins with spring. Tet announces the beginning of spring. In addition, it is also just like Christmas in Germany: you stay at home, meet the family, there is a tree, there are presents, and you have to cook a lot. Tet is also the only time in the year when no one works. (Okay, almost no one.) Actually, there is no day when Hanoi stands still, it is always hectic, loud, doing business. Only during Tet week it is swept clean.

Builders on Sunday morning... 7 AM.

All of which also means: it is difficult to structure work in Vietnam. The Vietnamese seem to always be working. Business partners call on Saturday morning, on Sunday morning builders are working on the neighbors house. Preferably at 7 AM. My work fits well with this, because radio never sleeps anyway. Radio is always broadcasting, meaning it always needs help and support. On Sundays, on holidays, even at Tet.

But journalists never really turn off completely anyway. I usually try to keep Saturday completely free. You needs at least one day a week on which there is no emergency, no urgent reason to work. Saturday is the day on which I, strangely enough, rise the earliest. Sit in the living room in my apartment. Look out the window, down onto the city from the 11th floor. Listen to the noise of Hanoi, because somehow Hanoi is always beeping, honking and hammering.

Hanoi is not an easy city. Not a city that makes it easy for you to love it.

But those who don’t make it easy for you are usually precisely the ones who follow you in your dreams.

by dfp