Baptism by Fire

Jess Jaeger
Aug 27, 2017 · 8 min read

Asia is a totally different ball game, plain and simple. If you ever want to get out of your comfort zone, explore a city that embraces a culture unlike any you’ve ever seen, and test your physical ability to sweat day in and out without dehydrating, Hanoi, Vietnam is the place for you. More specifically, Hanoi in August is the place for you. Week one in Asia was perhaps the most exhilarating, stressful, exhausting, and confusing week of this journey, but it was EXACTLY what I needed to remind me why I decided to do this in the first place.

West Lake, Hanoi, Vietnam

Day 1: Arrival day

Approximately 24 hours of travel by one van, two buses, two planes (three legs), two lounge access passes, and about 17 stops at various restrooms, we FINALLY made it to Asia. Greeted by the entire RY Asia team — Operations and Experience Managers from almost every city we’ll hit, Regional Managers, and even the IT/Network guy — our group of 50 nearly doubled, right there at the baggage claim. Talk about all hands on deck.

Day 2: Where the hell am I?

Nestled in the heart of Old Quarter, the conflicting sounds of literally hundreds of car and motorbike horns, construction, and locals setting up shop surrounded my apartment promptly at 6am. I know they weren’t intended as such, but it was one hell of a “Welcome to Vietnam!” I rallied through the jet lag and proceeded to navigate the city in search of the co-working space and food.

A quick recap on the co-working space in Hanoi — Toong is by far the best space we’ve had all year. With the exception of the three flights of stairs through no A/C to get to the RY-reserved area and our new friend Stuart Little who appears every night around 10pm, we are incredibly spoiled here. Free drinks from the coffee/smoothie bar the whole month, catered dinner every Thursday, reliable wifi at all hours of the day, and enough meeting rooms to share amongst the group, we honestly could not have asked for a better setup. They even went as far as to invite us to their networking happy hour one day, but that invitation was quickly revoked once two of our remotes destroyed everyone in beer pong. A special thanks to American colleges for that one.

As for the food, it took less than 24 hours to fall in love with Vietnamese cuisine, especially Bun Cha. This mix of salty and sweet broth, barbequed pork belly and shoulder meatballs, assorted greens, and optional chili and garlic is literally heaven in a bowl. Just add rice noodles, and you’ve got lunch for a whopping 30,000 dong (roughly 1.30 USD). The best part of the whole experience — you get to sit in a makeshift restaurant, setup under tarps strung in the alleyway, and enjoy the whole meal on plastic furniture that is not designed for westerners, especially those with big butts. The biggest stool I’ve sat on in three weeks was 7” x 7” and stood about a foot off the ground. Ever wonder why Asians squat while smoking a cigarette or gardening or anything else that could be done sitting but not quite? I’m now convinced they are training for the endless hours spent sitting on these stools.

Day 2 (continued): Human Frogger

The quickest way to embrace life in Hanoi is to dive right in — walking, talking, and observing everything you possibly can as soon as you can. With that in mind, I took the afternoon and started exploring. I got as far as the end of the block, and just stood dead in my tracks. The only way to get any further was to step off the curb in any direction and brave the oncoming traffic, a flood of motorbikes and little hatchback cars with horns that shrieked in your ears. The locals tell you that being hesitant will cause more damage (to both you and the driver), so just go for it. After a few seconds, I convinced myself that I could do it. One step after another, and with a slight speed-walking pace, and a blur of helmets whizzing by, I found myself safe on a different curb. It didn’t really matter if it was the right one, but I was on solid ground again. The color returned to my face, and I scrounged up a slight celebratory smile as I continued along.

This feeling of happiness lasted all of ten steps. Just like that, I was at a show-down with another intersection and a new flood of traffic. A terrified expression quickly seeped back through my eyes. I turned away from the road, and wandered into a small park, surrounded by trees. Facing one particularly tiny tree, I gave myself a pep talk. Nothing too extreme, but just enough to remind myself that I asked to be in Asia. I asked to be overwhelmed, and I certainly asked for new experiences. If risking being killed while simply walking through a marked cross-walk was a new experience, I guess I had to embrace it for what it was. Pivoting towards the intersection once more, I tightened my backpack straps and forced a smile on my face. This time, my pace quickened and I made it through with only one near-hit (instead of the four I had previously). I consider that a win, and just like anything else, it would get better with practice.

Day 3: Unwelcome Visitors

If having a constantly heightened heart rate and excessively dripping sweat wasn’t enough, Hanoi also introduced me to the uncomfortable feeling of Bed Bugs. We all knew someone was going to experience this at some point along our year-long journey through hostels, remote locations, and encounters with fellow travelers. You just always hope it isn’t going to be you.

I woke up one morning thinking the mosquitos of the humid climate really loved me, and then I realized that no one else had this issue. Thanks to a few confirmations from others who had experienced bed bugs and a video chat diagnosis from a dear family member, I immediately requested that my apartment be checked for the little mites. Sure enough, my roommate and I found them in and around the bed in each of our rooms, which means that every article of clothing we owned was potentially carrying them. Typically, my unpacking process in a new apartment is to dump everything on the bed and sort it out before going to sleep that night. I won’t be doing that again!

Props to the RY team for handling this so seamlessly. Within a couple hours, my roommate and I were in a hotel and setup to move to a new apartment, complete with laundry service. Fellow remotes even offered us clothes to wear in the interim, and one even brought us some necessities from the States in case this ever happens again. Needless to say, we’re really hoping it doesn’t.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Day 5: Fighting to Adjust

This first week was the first true experience where I didn’t feel like a local. If the sheer fact of being white and not speaking a lick of Vietnamese wasn’t enough, I was also convinced that I was even sweating wrong. It might be an odd observation to have, but I swear the thought crossed my mind multiple times. You could walk down a full few blocks and not see a single sweat stain on the locals lining the streets as peddlers and passers-by. Then, down the same street, every white person was literally drenched through their shirts. It absolutely baffles me. If the locals were sweating as bad as we were, they knew the trick to hide it and I NEED their secret. Compounding all of these thoughts and the language barrier left me feeling frustrated and angry that I wasn’t adjusting to the local life fast enough.

Like all good frustration, it was slowly building and I knew I needed to do something about it. Running was a decent outlet, but the sun sets around 6:30pm, so it had to be incredibly early in the day or risk braving the heat at its peak. I could only muster the courage to do this run once or twice a week, especially with the noticeably polluted air that filled my lungs with every breath. To supplement, some remotes convinced me to give boxing a shot. Yes, that’s right, boxing. Complete with punching bags, gloves, wraps, and a feisty instructor who somehow teaches about four classes a day, six days a week. I have no clue where he finds the energy.

90 minutes per session, and we learned the basics — anything from the proper stance, positions for blocking and punching, and most importantly, cardio training one must have to be successful. Unfortunately, our instructor thinks that means cardio doesn’t end. We never stopped moving! It was an incredible workout and there was a noticeable difference in my mood after these sessions, once I got through the recovery period and scarfed down some Bun Cha. All it took was finding some structure and a positive way to release energy and frustration to feel more comfortable with my new surroundings.

Week 1: Define Normal

Hanoi runs at a fast pace, and it is up to us to keep up. I can now look back on my first week in Vietnam and just laugh. My terrified reaction to something as simple as crossing the street was totally normal. The key is that I’ve now created a new normal for this experience. It’s perfectly acceptable to step off a curb directly in front of a motorbike while a bus is honking from the other side and come out of it unscathed. It’s okay to eat food from a street cart vendor with questionable sanitation and continue to come back for more. And it’s certainly all right to shower and change your clothes four times a day and do laundry three times a week to maintain some level of personal cleanliness. If Hanoi runs at a fast pace, you better believe my “adjustment” period only took a week. This first week was a Baptism by Fire situation, and I honestly wouldn’t have traded anything for it. Here’s to 17 more weeks of this… Godspeed, Kaizen.

Some of the Krew— Top of Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam
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Jess Jaeger

Written by

Started writing to remember what the heck happened in the last year. Traveled with Remote Year — Kaizen.

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