Viet Nam and Us
- What Viet Nam meant to us before
- Why we came to Viet Nam
- Where we landed in Viet Nam
- Viet Nam: Ups and Downs
- How long we intend to stay
What Viet Nam meant to us before
Jari's parents Leo and Inkeri as well his younger brother Tom worked 20 years ago in the Swedish development project to build a pulp and paper mill to Bai Bang near Ha Noi. Leo's assignment was to teach the Vietnamese to paint with modern methods and eventually fulfill the painting work of the site. Leo was there from 1979 until 1983.
However, the project had some difficulties and therefore Finnish and Swedish professionals (Tom among them) came to paint the site and Leo managed the painting school in between.
We (Sinikka and Jari) visited Ha Noi and Bai Bang in July 1982 for one week and especially got to know the many restaurants suitable for foreigners. There were 3 (those for real adventurers are not counted) and there were lots of bicycles in those days.
Why we came to Viet Nam
Professor Risto Tarjanne from Jari's university, Lappeenranta University of Technology went to Vietnam in 1993 to take over AITCV as its first Finnish Director. During his visit to Finland in the end of 1996, Jari was asked of his interest in continuing Risto's work. The answer was: "I will not immediately say no" and it turned out to be an admitting answer.
In March 1997, Jari and the Dean of the Department of Energy Technology, Professor Pertti Sarkomaa visited AIT in Bangkok and AITCV in Viet Nam for one week. After this trip, we pondered for several months, whether to go or not. Jari was not convinced enough of the actual relevance of the job, although the personnel seemed capable of performing well.
Also, Professor Sarkomaa pointed out that these possibilities are very rare in one's life and might be the only one.
Finally, in May we decided to try. We made the contract for one year with an option for a second one. And now we we even decided to add a third year as we got going.
Where we landed in Viet Nam
The Headquarters of AITCV is in Ha Noi and therefore we settled here. Our first house was near the West Lake (Ho Tay) in a fairly new private building at 108 Xuan Dieu Road. We were situated on the top floor of a six story building, which was the attic originally, but was changed to an apartment later. We lived here for 18 months, although we had very few luxuries. The main reason was that we had invested in the furniture and had difficulty in getting rid of it as we realized that it could not be brought back home. (One should not invest in a foreign country other than to the rent). The apartment was not properly isolated against the climate and it was terribly hot during the summer time. Our rent was 1300 dollars not including electricity, water, telephone and security.
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The second apartment was for fewer than six months, close to downtown Ha Noi in the City Gate Building at 104 Tran Hung Dao. It was definitely more convenient place with good air conditioners and elevators. We were on the top, or sixth floor,again but to our disappointment there was a new high rise construction site just in the front of the lovely terrace. Our rent was 2000 dollars not including telephone.
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The third home was Somerset West Lake Executive Residence at 254D Thuy Khue Street. Again near West Lake, and we had a nice looking apartment fewer than 10 meters from the lake. To our disappointment, the apartment was not nice. The sliding windows were poorly designed and made a low noise all the time. Also the insulation was much worse than at City Gate and we had to keep the air condition on practically all the time. And we had constant problems with insects that came in to the apartment as the doors and windows were not properly sealed. Our rent was 1600 dollars not including international telephone.
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The worst thing was that Jari had managed to sign the agreement with a clause that we could not move until after 8 months. (Read carefully all the contracts and do not assume anything). We would not recommend it to anybody.
The last apartment, where we have lived since September 2000, is a apartment building at 6 Ngoc Khanh Street, which has been so far the best one. Unfortunately, we can say now that we had looked at this apartment two years ago, but could not move at that time. We are on the top floor again, but this time it is the 16th floor.
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Ups and Downs in Viet Nam
- +People (directness) -So much people
- +Restaurants in Ha Noi -Traffic (noise and jams)
- +Price level -People (difference)
- +Jari's work -Quality of the goods
How long do we intend to stay
When you have been in the country longer, you get a better view of things and your perception becomes deeper. Sometimes you are simply frustrated and you feel hopeless. Luckily, we had the opportunity to be here almost 20 years ago and we could measure the development with a longer perspective, so we know that everything takes time and expect no miracles.
Our visit lasted three years and we moved back to Finland in December 2000, but we have often returned to that time, and we keep in touch from there. And these pages of ours repeat the same remembrance.