So far this week I have been shopping and learning Vietnamese...Nhan's friend Thinh is teaching me...it is going
pretty slowy but I am slowly getting the hang of it...the biggie this week will be going to the Embassy for the Visa applications...the
Immigration Officer is coming to Ha Noi from HCMC to interview us...
Unfortunately because of Tet (The Lunar New Year)...the Immigration Officer is not coming to Ha Noi until 30th
January...this is making the Visa application very late, and because time is getting critical (my Visa runs out on 14-03), Le
and I are going to Ho Chi Minh City for the interviews...we leave at 7.30pm tonight, Thursday...
We have had the interview with the Immigration Officer and I think it went pretty well there are some things
that we have to do but I believe that it is now just a matter of waiting...down in the South the Language is quite different
to the North, and the people sound quite different too, most of the words are the same but there are some differences...Like
in the North the word for Street is Pho and in the South the word is Duong...
While we were down in HCMC or to be more precise the area that we were in was Saigon, which is now a part of
Ho Chi Minh City...we went to visit with Le's brother Tai and his family who were fantastic hosts...and her brother is very,
very good at drinking games...I had such a stinking hangover the next day...then we went to visit her Grandfather who is 94
years old...he again was very happy to see us and also very hospitible...
Then on Saturday night we flew back to Ha Noi so we could be back for the pre Tet Party...
In February we will go again to HCMC and this time take the boys for a short holiday, while we are down there
we will go to Vung Tau, Dalat and any other places that we can fit in...
There are some photos of the flowers that I bought on the way over to Ha Noi and also Le wearing an Ao Dai...she
is standing next to some Orchids that I bought in Thailand on the way the Viet Nam...they were supposed to last for 15 days
but so far have lasted for nearly 30...
Well another week is gone...is has been a pretty interesting week and I hope you enjoy the photos...next week
is Tet so there will be heaps more...Tam Biet...
