[ Dan in Vietnam ] Hello From Saigon

Hi Everyone!

Ha and I are finally in Saigon. Lots of things have happened since the last time I wrote, but I haven't had much time to write about it. My Internet connection is currently through my cell phone, which can get a little expensive. I will need to make this short and sweet.

Everyone here is doing good. Ha and I are getting excited about celebrating our first Christmas together. We both wish everyone a wonderful Christmas.

Dan and Ha Harley

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A Whole Lot of Nothing…

Hi Everyone!

It’s been a little over a week since I’ve written, and I should update you on what’s been going on here in Hanoi, Vietnam.

There’s not much new news since last week. I’ve fallen into a daily routine, which doesn’t change much, and I’ve already seen as much of Hanoi as there is to see. Most of my time is spent trying to repair my technology so I can get back to work. I’ve posted the few important items into their own blog posts for easier reference.

Read through them, and please posts some comments.

Take Care!
Dan Harley, Jr.

Marital Bliss and Technology Abyss

I had setup several systems that would allow me to continue working while in Hanoi. Everything worked great just before the wedding, but fell apart sometime during the wedding day. Some of you asked how I had setup to work remotely, so here’s the details of what I used to work remotely and why it doesn’t work now.

GoToMyPC.com
Perhaps the most important task is accessing my computers back home. Doing so will allow me to perform about 80% of my work. I had setup GoToMyPC.com (http://GoToMyPC.com ) because I had thought that I would travel more than I have, and I might use Internet café computers instead of my laptop from time to time. The monthly service charge is a little steep, which is about $20/month to access two computers. I could have used PC Anywhere or other remote access software to perform the same task and save some money. On the other hand, the system was very easy to install, easy to use and has been about the only thing that didn’t break down on me while in Hanoi.

Skype
Ha and I have used Skype (http://skype.com) to chat with each other for months. Skype is a glorified instant messenger service, like AOL and Yahoo Messenger. Skype uses the latest VOIP technology, which makes for very high quality audio and video chats. Skype has services that allowed me to make and receive calls while in Hanoi at very reasonable rates and with very high sound quality. I was making calls through Skype to friends and clients who thought I was still in America. Everything worked great until Skype decided to block my account.

It appears that Skype thinks I stole my credit card, and I’m making calls from Hanoi with it. I have spent the past few weeks trying to convince them otherwise, but have been unsuccessful so far. I have a backup system for outgoing calls, but the sound quality is very poor. Long story short, I’m unable to call my clients from here and must rely completely on E-mailing them.

Computers at Home
I became impatient while trying to fix all the technical problems that I was having and overloaded my main computer at home. Murphy’s Law ruled the day, because the crash happened on a Friday night and there would be no on around my house until Monday morning to reboot my computer.

Internet Services
What really shut me down was something that would cause problems even if I were still at home. The E-mail server I use through my ISP service crashed and the problem hasn’t been fixed yet. Much of my outgoing E-mails are not delivered, and I’m not sure if I’m receiving all of my incoming mails. Those who have AOL E-mail addresses are probably not receiving my E-mails because my E-mail server has been banned by AOL.

Time Zone
The one non-technical thing that is tripping me up is the time difference. The work day here in Vietnam starts about the time the work day in California ends. This causes a problem when I need to call clients back home. I have to get up very early in the morning or work very late at night to make calls at a decent hour in California.

All these problems amounted to a lot of work just to get me back in operation. Fortunately, I’m quite technically inclined and very resourceful or I would be unable to work until I returned to America. With a lot of patience and a little luck, I should be able to crawl my way back to some level of productivity in a few days.

Dad’s Health Condition

Several of you asked me to elaborate on my Dad’s health conditions, so here’s the reader’s digest version of the story.

My Dad served in Vietnam from November 1964 till November 1965. He was in the Air Force installing encrypted communications systems between the military bases. His assignment had him travel through the brunt of South Vietnam and exposed to a lot of pretty bad stuff.

His health issues didn’t appear right away, but evolved over a period of time. Sleeping disorders and asthma were some of the mild issues. What really hit hard was his bipolar disorder issues. We had not linked his health issues to Vietnam until my Dad visited the Veteran’s hospital in Loma Linda for the first time.

My Dad had always been acutely ill, and we found after the fact that private medical systems were misdiagnosing his problems. They medicated him heavily, and the medication itself caused health problems. My Dad developed a Parkinson’s like health condition due to medication taken over decades for his bipolar disorder. The VA system knew exactly what to do because they have been treating veterans with the same problems for years. His medication was corrected, and my Dad was able to live as normal of a life as he could with the health condition hat he was in.

As good as the VA system was in taking care of my Dad, they still fell short in properly treating him. They were fixing the symptoms but not really fixing the problem.
We heard of Vietnamese suffering from the same ailments as my Dad being successful treated in Vietnam. We had planned for years to take my Dad here, and my wedding here made for a pretty good excuse to come.

As mentioned in a previous E-mail, the treatment that my Dad is receiving here isn’t incredibly spectacular. It is a combination of acupuncture, ginko biloba, vitamins and massage therapy administered over a four to six week period. He started the treatment just before my wedding, and we seen positive results a couple days later. He is much more mobile and active than before the treatments, which caused our family to immediately change our plans.

My Dad has been on heavy medication for many years, so it will take some time for the treatments to completely take effect. He still has times during the day when he becomes tired and reverts back the previous condition. His first series of treatments will end next week, and will continue again in a couple months at a new acupuncture center in Tijuana (this will cut the drive time down considerably).

George and Bill Come To Hanoi

I’m a God fearing red-blooded American and I have to travel 10,000 miles to a communist country for an opportunity to get a glimpse at my president. If you don’t know already, George Bush and Bill Clinton took turns visiting Hanoi during my stay here. In fact, I believe Bill Clinton is still in Hanoi and staying at the Hilton, which is an easy walk from my house here. George’s arrival was known months in advance, while Bill’s arrived virtually unannounced.

What I find interesting is the difference coverage of the President by the media here and back home. It was a huge event for Bush to arrive in Hanoi. People and the press here were talking about it well before my own arrival. The coverage was so big that information about leaders from Russia, Japan and China were snubbed. On the other hand, just about every news story I read in America about Bush’s visit here was pretty harsh. It was interesting to see how another country shows more respect for our president than us Americans do.

Clinton’s arrival was a big surprise to everyone, and he received just as big of a reception as Bush. Clinton has some liberties now that he’s not president, such as relaxed security that allows him to mingle in the crowd. He walked around Hoan Kiem Lake and through the old quarter with crowds of Vietnamese surrounding him.

Questions & Answers

I’ve received numerous questions about my Vietnam ventures, which I will try to answer in this segment.

Q: How do the Vietnamese feel about Americans?
This is the most asked question, and for good reason. We were at war here over 30 years ago, and many of them could still be holding a grudge. The simple answer is the Vietnamese love Americans and wants to be friends with us.

Most of the Viets today were born after the war, and know little of what happened then. The American War, as they call it, is not studied in detail as our schools studied the Vietnam War. Even the older generation has put the war in the past and moved on a long time ago. In fact, I was hard pressed to find anyone who would talk about the war.

My visit here last year has shown me that the Vietnamese are among the nicest and happiest people that I’ve ever met. All of them seem to want to meet me and be my friend.

Q: How did I meet Ha?
I met Ha the real old fashion way. My Mom set us up.

Ha was supposed to be an interpreter and tour guide to me for a couple days during my trip here last year. I didn’t like her when we first met. I thought she was mean and didn’t care to be around me. All that changed after just one kiss.


Q: Do I feel safe when I travel through Vietnam?
I feel extremely safe and confident during my travels here. Then again, this is my second time here and I’m usually with my wife if I go anywhere. I’ve ventured off on my own a few times, and have no problems trekking out on my own if necessary. The one issue I have is the language barrier, which has caused some small problems.

Q: Is it easy to find women in Vietnam?
I’m not sure if I can answer this without getting in trouble with my wife. I guess you can say that it is easy to find women here, because I met my wife within three days after I arrived here last year. I will tell you that there are incredibly beautiful women here. I’m taking just one home and leaving the rest of them here.

Q: Can I be a travel guide?
Those who choose to use me as a travel guide here could meet the same fortune as the Donner Party traveling to California.

Q: How is the food?
The food here is absolutely incredible and cheap. You can get a decent meal for less than $2 US. Most of the Vietnamese food I’ve eaten here is the same as what I’ve eaten in America.

Q: Do I want to live in Vietnam?
I’ll admit that the thought has crossed my mind, but I have no immediate plans to do so. I do plan to visit more often as well as travel more too. I’m seeing that most Americans are not well traveled, and there is so much to see in this world.

Q: Do I speak Vietnamese?
I have been learning Vietnamese as quickly as I can since the last time I came here. I believe that I’ve improved remarkably, but I’m still far from being fluent.

Do you have a question? Leave a comment with your question, and I'll do my best to answer it.

Dan Harley, Jr.