Around the 6 month mark of my time in Vietnam, I was transferred by my company to Hanoi. I was to replace an outgoing Faculty Manager who was coming to the end of his contract. He, like myself, was a manager that they brought over from Korea and the Branch Manger in Hanoi wanted to get another "Korean Manager" again for his branch. As as it turned out, I was the only person from the pool of Korean managers that they had recruited to still be in a Faculty Manger position (all the others had left or were promoted and transferred to higher management positions in the company).
I was very excited about this move since I was no longer enjoying my placement in Hai Phong (long story) and had really enjoyed the few times where I had visited Hanoi and seen how metropolitan it was in comparison!
Hanoi has a huge expat community. Because of this, there are pockets of the city where you can get by with using English, apps where you can have any kind of food you can imagine delivered to your house, so many familiar food chains for when you are feeling homesick, and my favorite thing was the growing movement for sustainability and the environment. While this movement was mainly centered around the expat neighborhoods, it was really nice to see the community coming together to fight back with the high levels of plastic use and pollution that comes from the high carbon emissions let off by the cars, motorbikes, and older buses that are used 24-7! Packaging was given in paper containers, you were given the option of foregoing plastic utensils and straws, and even the deliveries themselves were given in paper bags, not the single use plastic bags that are so common.
I really lucked out with having friends in Hanoi that were more than willing to help me out with every part of the move. I was able to have my Hai Phong landlady call me a taxi that took me all the way to my friend's how that I would be staying at while I was in Hanoi looking for a one bedroom apartment to rent out. I knew that I wanted a one bedroom apartment, because while it is a lot cheaper to rent a room in a share house, I have lived on my own for so long that I am not sure how I would have done with a roommate (I also did not want to risk the chance that I would live with someone from my company, let alone my branch so I would not have to deal with any office drama like I did when I was in Hai Phong). But a small part of me wanted to splurge a bit and treat myself after my time in Hai Phong and being a homebody who needs a comfy space to recharge, spending a bit more on a nicer apartment was just what I needed.
The friend that I was staying with was kind enough to give my the name and contact for her realtor, a very friendly girl who spoke practically fluent English (and who was also a kpop fan, so we really bonded and became fast friends over that- ngl I probably got a little better than normal service because of that!!). I had talked to her before my move while I was still in Hai Phong about what I was looking for and we had narrowed it down to about 4 apartments that I wanted to look at before signing.
I asked my friend to come a long with me since she lived in the area that I wanted to live in and also could tell me what to look out for (construction nearby, layout, security, shopping nearby, etc.) in terms of what was normal and what was sketchy for Hanoi neighborhoods, especially in Tay Ho- the main expat neighborhood that I was going to live in.
If you are not that familiar with the layout of Hanoi, Tay Ho is in the northern part of the city near a major lake, so you will also hear it referred to as West Lake ("Tay" is the Vietnamese word for West/Foreigner and "Ho"comes from the Chinese word for Lake). This is where majority of the expat community lives in Hanoi; while majority of the tourists go to the Old Quarter- very big difference between the two places! Old Quarter is like a lawless, chaotic fever dream with all its winding streets, vendors, rushing traffic, tourist spots, and 24 hr bars/restaurants. Tay Ho is more calm, relaxed, and residential, being home to mainly apartments and smaller boutiques and family restaurants. You party in Old Quarter, you live in Tay Ho.
Once I got an apartment in Southern Tay Ho, in a pretty Vietnamese part of the expat quarter, I settled into a pretty simple and comfortable routine. I slept in until about 9-10 most days, then hung out at the house before calling a Grab Bike (similar to Uber here in the US, but with a motorcycle) to go to work around 2:30-3 pm. Once at work, I usually got coffee and then did admin and answered emails and messages until my teachers started showing up at 4:45-5:15 pm, when I switched over to helping them get prepped for classes. I really enjoyed hanging out with them in the workroom hearing about their days and what was going on in their worlds! When classes started at 5:30, I would go back to my spot by the front desk and watch CCTV and hang out with the Teaching Assistants (we called them CM-Class Managers). Classes lasted until 8:45, but I usually got a bike home around 7:30. From there I tended to order food for dinner (and a little extra for breakfast/lunch for the following day), or if it was getting towards the end of the month/I had not sent money home yet (I paid for things with my US PayPal account) I would make food with groceries that I got from a small grocer that was just down the street. Lather, Rinse, and Repeat!
Hanoi is known for being an extremely chaotic place to be with motorbike speeding and zipping their way around the city, street vendors and hawkers trying to catch the eyes if pedestrians, people needing to walk in the street because the hundreds of motorbikes parked on the sidewalks. But somehow, I was able to carve a little bubble of peace and calm while living there.
My only regret was not getting out and exploring more of the smaller streets and more residential areas of the city. As I said before, I tended to mostly stick to the areas near my home and work, and never really went out or explored that much. I feel like I may have missed out on a lot that makes Hanoi such a special place, but maybe one day I can go back.
I really lucked out with having friends in Hanoi that were more than willing to help me out with every part of the move. I was able to have my Hai Phong landlady call me a taxi that took me all the way to my friend's how that I would be staying at while I was in Hanoi looking for a one bedroom apartment to rent out. I knew that I wanted a one bedroom apartment, because while it is a lot cheaper to rent a room in a share house, I have lived on my own for so long that I am not sure how I would have done with a roommate (I also did not want to risk the chance that I would live with someone from my company, let alone my branch so I would not have to deal with any office drama like I did when I was in Hai Phong). But a small part of me wanted to splurge a bit and treat myself after my time in Hai Phong and being a homebody who needs a comfy space to recharge, spending a bit more on a nicer apartment was just what I needed.
The friend that I was staying with was kind enough to give my the name and contact for her realtor, a very friendly girl who spoke practically fluent English (and who was also a kpop fan, so we really bonded and became fast friends over that- ngl I probably got a little better than normal service because of that!!). I had talked to her before my move while I was still in Hai Phong about what I was looking for and we had narrowed it down to about 4 apartments that I wanted to look at before signing.
I asked my friend to come a long with me since she lived in the area that I wanted to live in and also could tell me what to look out for (construction nearby, layout, security, shopping nearby, etc.) in terms of what was normal and what was sketchy for Hanoi neighborhoods, especially in Tay Ho- the main expat neighborhood that I was going to live in.
If you are not that familiar with the layout of Hanoi, Tay Ho is in the northern part of the city near a major lake, so you will also hear it referred to as West Lake ("Tay" is the Vietnamese word for West/Foreigner and "Ho"comes from the Chinese word for Lake). This is where majority of the expat community lives in Hanoi; while majority of the tourists go to the Old Quarter- very big difference between the two places! Old Quarter is like a lawless, chaotic fever dream with all its winding streets, vendors, rushing traffic, tourist spots, and 24 hr bars/restaurants. Tay Ho is more calm, relaxed, and residential, being home to mainly apartments and smaller boutiques and family restaurants. You party in Old Quarter, you live in Tay Ho.
Once I got an apartment in Southern Tay Ho, in a pretty Vietnamese part of the expat quarter, I settled into a pretty simple and comfortable routine. I slept in until about 9-10 most days, then hung out at the house before calling a Grab Bike (similar to Uber here in the US, but with a motorcycle) to go to work around 2:30-3 pm. Once at work, I usually got coffee and then did admin and answered emails and messages until my teachers started showing up at 4:45-5:15 pm, when I switched over to helping them get prepped for classes. I really enjoyed hanging out with them in the workroom hearing about their days and what was going on in their worlds! When classes started at 5:30, I would go back to my spot by the front desk and watch CCTV and hang out with the Teaching Assistants (we called them CM-Class Managers). Classes lasted until 8:45, but I usually got a bike home around 7:30. From there I tended to order food for dinner (and a little extra for breakfast/lunch for the following day), or if it was getting towards the end of the month/I had not sent money home yet (I paid for things with my US PayPal account) I would make food with groceries that I got from a small grocer that was just down the street. Lather, Rinse, and Repeat!
Hanoi is known for being an extremely chaotic place to be with motorbike speeding and zipping their way around the city, street vendors and hawkers trying to catch the eyes if pedestrians, people needing to walk in the street because the hundreds of motorbikes parked on the sidewalks. But somehow, I was able to carve a little bubble of peace and calm while living there.
My only regret was not getting out and exploring more of the smaller streets and more residential areas of the city. As I said before, I tended to mostly stick to the areas near my home and work, and never really went out or explored that much. I feel like I may have missed out on a lot that makes Hanoi such a special place, but maybe one day I can go back.
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