Adjusting to my new life

I have now been in Hanoi for more than a month - in fact, close on 2 months. Much of that time has been spent on settling in, whether it would be home, or at the office. It has been quite the adventure the last year. There are times I cannot believe that I am living in my 3rd country on a 3rd country in under 1 year.

When leaving South Africa on 29 October last year, I had such high hopes for my time in Boston. I was so excited for the new job... and how quickly those hopes were dashed. The position I thought I would have ended up being something completely different. I was under utilised, and basically spent a lot of time doing very little. Moving to Boston was also socially more difficult than I had assumed it would be. I was alone on my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas... and I did not even get to see my friends in the US (New York and DC) as much as I had wanted to. And add to this coming to grips for 4-5 months of winter!

However, there was a lot about living in Boston that I did love. The super fast internet. Excellent service. How safe I felt - no alarm systems, no burglar bars. You cannot truly appreciate it until you have lived, like so many South Africans, as virtual prisoners in our own homes.

So the decision to move to Hanoi, though professionally was the easy choice, was daunting on the personal front. Yet, I decided to take the leap, and here I am. And who knew that moving to Hanoi would be so much easier than moving to Boston? I have made some good friends among the expat community; I found an apartment easily; and I have already travelled within the country. Of course I miss home and friends and family, and the internet in the US, but I have come to really love the hustle and bustle of Hanoi - if not the weather and air quality!

The food is amazing, and the cost of living is pretty low - compared to the US. Compared to South Africa, it is pretty much on par.

I miss the freedom of having your own car and just going where you want gives you, but then there is the joy of taking a taxi and never having to deal with looking for a parking space. As for riding a motorbike in Hanoi - I am not as brave as yet. Give me some time.

The language barrier is real - just this morning in an upscale shop I had quite the time trying to explain that I was looking for milk.

This country is beautiful (the little I have seen of it), and there is so much development happening here.

What will the future bring? Who knows. For now, I am happy with the choices I made, and I am excited about the next adventure.

I am actually writing this as I am sitting on the plane. We have been in the air for 7 hours now, with another 5.5 to go! I am en route to Hong Kong, and then after a very long layover, to Hanoi - where the current night time temperature is 78 degrees! I am trying hard not to imagine the day-time temperature.

Anyway, it was my sister's birthday yesterday, and with a family gathering last night, it was a little bit of a crazy day, and there is still so much I felt I needed to do, including changing Rands into US Dollars :)

Try explaining to the Foreign Exchange Bureau at the airport that you do not have proof of residence with you, because you have not lived in he country for the last 10 months. So, now I have Rands with me that I sincerely hope can be changed in Hong Kong.

And then the drama at the airport with my excess luggage. As you can imagine, moving to another country means the one little standard suitcase allowance will not do. So I have 24kg in excess luggage. Well, I had more than that when I moved to Boston (seems like yesterday), both going and returning two weeks ago, and on both occasions the fee was around $155 - thank you British Airways for being reasonable. Well. Let me tell you, Cathay Pacific; whole different ball game. Their fees are in excess of R600 PER KG. The final bill, for those not in the mood to do quick math: over R15,000! Considering that my flight ticket was only R10,700, it would have been cheaper to buy a 2nd seat, and have 2 people's luggage allowance. Lesson learned: never fly Cathay Pacific when relocating to another country. They are not likely to see me on their flights ever again!

Advertising in the US

I recently decided to conduct a "social study". On 29 April 2014, starting at 20:00, I made a list of all adverts I was exposed to over a 3 hour period. To ensure an "even spread" I alternated in the 3 hours between the three major networks - ABC, NBC and CBS.

So, here goes, over the 3 hours, I saw over a 100 adverts. This is CRAZY. Here is the list. And because it is me, I of course needed to analyse this data. So, according to the advertising industry, this is what the average viewer on a major network is really interested in:

* Shows for the network (22% of ads)
* Food (16% of ads)
* Cars (14% of ads)

These three categories constitute 52% of all advertising. Following closely behind are retail clothing stores (9% of ads), and network providers (9% of ads). To me this was maybe not a typical evening, because I feel that many nights are dominated by adverts for medicines and medical services. So, revel with me in the beauty that is the US advertising industry...

1. Olive Garden - restaurant chain
2. Allegra – allergy medication for kids
3. Humana – health services
4. TJ Maxx – clothing store
5. Survivor show promo
6. Criminal minds show promo
7. Elementary show promo
8. CSI show promo
9. Big Bang Theory show promo
10. The Millers show promo
11. Quilted Northern – toilet paper
12. Nationwide insurance – household goods
13. iPhone 5 – cell phone
14. Fage – yoghurt
15. Staples - office supplies
16. CSI show promo
17. Dodge – car
18. LaQuinta – hotel brand
19. Dunkin Donuts
20. Zyrtec – allergy tablets
21. Home Depot
22. Allegra – allergy tablets
23. Domino’s pizza
24. BMW i3
25. Nicorette & Nicoderm – stop smoking
26. NCIS: LA show promo
27. Person of Interest show promo
28. Harvey Building Products
29. Xfinity – internet provider
30. Ford Escape – car
31. Hidden Valley ranch – salad dressing
32. Allstate insurance
33. Kohl – department store
34. Outshine – frozen snacks
35. Enbrel – joint pain medication
36. NCSI show promo
37. Kay jewelers
38. Kraft macaroni and cheese
39. Degree deodorant
40. 24 show promo
41. Mazda – car brand
42. State Farm – insurance
43. Ford – car brand
44. Verizon – network provider
45. Chanel No. 5 – perfume
46. 24 show promo
47. iPhone
48. Ford Fusion – car brand
49. The Simpsons show promo
50. The Mindy Project show promo
51. Progressive – auto and home insurance
52. iPhone 5
53. American Express – credit card
54. Target – department store
55. Neighbors – movie promo
56. Surviving Jack – show promo
57. Lincoln – car brand
58. xFinity – network provider
59. Dodge – car brand
60. Goya – spice brand
61. Boston Market – restaurant chain
62. Ford Fusion – car brand
63. TJ Maxx
64. 24 – show promo
65. Chase Freedom credit card – bank
66. Snickers
67. Charmin – toilet paper
68. Macy’s – department store
69. Subway – fast food chain
70. Cadillac – car brand
71. Rosemary’s Baby – show promo
72. Honda – car brand
73. TJ Maxx
74. Disney Resort Hotels
75. Progressive
76. Chobani – yoghurt
77. Lowe’s – home store
78. Sprint – network provider
79. Night Shift – show promo
80. The Blacklist – show promo
81. Verizon – network provider
82. Quicken Loans – mortgage company
83. PayLess – shoe store
84. Crossbones – show promo
85. Toyota Corolla Sport – car brand
86. Dunkin Donuts
87. Prince – pasta brand
88. Jeep Patriot – car brand
89. Ford – car brand
90. Microsoft Windows Asus – computer
91. Pier1 Imports – shopping
92. Olive Garden – food chain
93. US Postal Service
94. Tempur-Pedic – matrass brand
95. ReMax – realtors
96. Wendy’s – fast food chain
97. Universal Orlando Resort
98. Revolution – show promo
99. Law & Order: SVU – show promo
100. Clinique acne treatment – beauty product
101. Dentastix – for canine oral health
102. Secret Clinical Strength – deodorant
103. Audi A3 – car brand
104. Subway – fast food chain
105. T-Mobile – network provider
106. Walt Disney World
107. iHeart Radio Music Awards
108. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon – show promo

1.