Man, I haven't blogged in some time. Apologies to those of you who actually check in to the blog from time to time (hope I haven't lost you) and a big "Hi, it's me again!" to those of you who subscribe to the feed.
Thinking about why I have been so lazy for the past few months brings me to one of the realities of the Foreign Service that maybe a prospective FSO will find useful. Foreign Service work is busy. Everybody likes to claim that their particular occupation is either challenging, frenetic, or both. However, I can say that I am much busier on any given day in my current occupation than I EVER was as a street copper. The precinct where I spent a large chunk of my time over my 17 year career at the Charleston PD was no sleeper, either. Police work is 98% boredom and 2% sheer terror. Foreign Service work is constantly in motion. I have not yet found the time in my schedule to be bored.
That being said, if you are considering trying your hand at a career in the FS, let me give a little advice based on my thus far limited experience. This is a very rewarding career and you will accomplish much. You will be stretched to your limits in terms of the responsibilities you will be handed. I have yet to meet a FSO without enough to do. You will feel, at times, that there isn't enough time in the day to properly address all your duties, and you will be correct in that feeling. There isn't. But as I come to the week where I must put together my EER (that's the FSO employee evaluation that you do annually ... mostly annually) I am literally staggered at everything I have done since arriving in Saigon this time last year. Aside from having to learn all the ins and outs of being an immigrant visa officer, there have been many ancillary projects and duties that have filled my time. Most of those, especially being heavily involved with the Vietnamese Amerasians, have been rewarding. Very rewarding. I haven't felt this way since my year in Baghdad running around with my head on a swivel with an M-4 while simultaneously trying to help prop up a national police force.
All this being said, my free time has become precious to me. So, I don't blog much. I'll try to do better. Quite frankly, when I get off work and come home and the choice before me is to relax with a beer or blog... well, the beer almost always wins.
Now for some pictures and running commentary!
I went to Hanoi and played the pipes for the Marine Ball this last November. I've played Marine birthdays for about the last 15 years or so, and didn't want to break with tradition, so I shot the Gunny in Hanoi an email and volunteered my services. The Marine's Hymn is perfectly suited for the Great Highland Bagpipe, and it's great being able to do something for my favorite branch every year.
Anyhoo, while Mrs. Warpiper and I were in Hanoi, we took a stroll through the old quarter. We stopped at a bia hoi place (fresh beer) and sat down on the sidewalk to drink a few and have a snack. This was one of the best bia hoi places I have tried. Bia hoi is generally pretty weak in terms of alcohol content. It is brewed fresh each day, and generally speaking the bia hoi places will run out of beer towards late evening. The Vietnamese love bia hoi, and these places are usually busy with Vietnamese sitting and talking about the day's news over a beer and something grilled. The beers are cheap and refreshing, and the food at this particular place was excellent. Aside: bia hoi is also known as bia tuoi... 'tuoi' being the southern word for fresh, I believe.
I think I drank about 12.
Now you have the address if you're ever in Hanoi. Excellent grilled pork.
Hoan Kiem lake is in the middle of the old quarter. There is a legend that one of the old kings of Vietnam (maybe one of the Hung Kings... I don't remember exactly) was given a sword by a turtle that swam in this lake. Our hero used this sword to drive off the invaders from the north (Chinese or Mongol... don't rememeber that one for sure, either, but Vietnamese history is full of examples of how they have thrown out foreigners.... especially those from the north.) After using the sword to liberate Vietnam, it was returned to the turtle in the lake. Hoan Kiem has an island in the middle, connected to the shore by the bridge in the picture.
On the island in the middle of the lake is a pagoda dedicated to the Vietnamese king who accepted the turtle's largesse. It is quite beautiful, and includes a very large, preserved soft-shelled turtle. I didn't think that soft shelled turtles got that big. Maybe it was just an artificial turtle. A cooter that big would feed a whole town in south Georgia for a month. Apparently, this lake used to be full of turtles like this, but no longer. Maybe they fed a town in north Vietnam.
This is Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. They have a pretty cool changing of the guard ceremony that I was able to catch on video. Uncle Ho is actually in there, and you can go in and see him. He has been pickled a la Lenin and Stalin. In fact, the rumor is that for about one week a year Uncle Ho gets shipped off to Russia (the Russians are pickling experts) and gets a touch up. I was not able to go in and see the old feller, but I hear he looks young for his age.
