Hanoi –an unexpectedly small airport. There is my brother standing at the exit gate, his face all alight and grinning – a bunch of cellophane encased orchids and rigid palm leaves held askew. Behind him dreamy misted conical mountains take me back years and years. Luggage, taxi, optimistic excitement. We will be living for one month on the University Campus, 6 kilometers from the centre of Hanoi.
The cavernous entry hall to our residential area houses many motorbikes and bicycles. White plastic glittery snowflakes decorate a door. There is a Christmas wreath, a communist flag and a sign saying happy new year; reproduction china 'mingh dynasty pottery, large plastic sideboard and a Panasonic T.V. Our friends to be – colleague lecturers assemble in our room to welcome us together with my brother who has bought a new mattress, silk bedspread and a wooden tripod lamp for our room. Hai- Anh and Luong, our 'induction students' at the university, call by and chat delightfully and shyly. They have been chosen to help us in return for speaking English. They have trips planned for us. Are we O.K.? We need some coat hangers ..I demonstrate. We would like a lamp for the desk. They return. He say coat hangers O.K, but this is a hostel, not a hotel. Good pronunciation Hai-Anh. I'll try and remember that one as an exercise for my future classes.