Three weird stories about Hanoi:

There are loudspeakers in every neighbourhood here, which the Internet tells me were originally used to announce bombing raid warnings. Pretty useful, yeah? Now that we're not being bombed, they're used for propaganda purposes. Sometimes we also get patriotic music.

now, all this is annoying enough. However, it must also be noted that Hanoi is a city of morning people. The loudspeakers quite often start up at 6 AM. I assure you that the "loud" part of "loudspeaker" is not inappropriately used here. There is nothing, absolutely nothing except *maybe* a bombing raid, that's worth waking me up for at 6 AM. Even the bombing raid is a bit sketchy and if it weren't a serious one, I'd probably be pissed.

Along with the loudspeakers, you have the trash collectors going through the neighbourhood quite frequently. The regular trash collectors have a bell and the ones that pay for cans and such have a little song they sing. This also starts up remarkably early.

Additionally, the houses are quite close together, such that your neighbour's business is also your business. Add in a couple of dogs and some roosters and you'll have gathered that Hanoi is not really the place for a good lie-in.

Another note about the houses: the property tax here is based solely on the width of the houses. Nothing else matters. Thus houses are built as skinnily as possible, in some cases even at the minimum required width of six feet. No, I am not exaggerating. I can show you photos. Then they'll be about five or six stories tall. Can you imagine the width of a staircase in a six-foot-wide house? This is not a city for fat people. Az's house is four floors and each one is basically one room plus a bathroom.

Then (thank you, Communism) bars are required to close at eleven or so. The Sheraton bar gets a pass because, well, the interaction between Communism and capitalism is a complex subject that we won't get into here, but I'm sure you can figure out why the Sheraton gets to stay open. The other bar that stays open late is on a raft on the river, and thus isn't technically "in Hanoi" and is exempt from the law. It's a shitty dance club, but a bar on the water is still kinda cool. We spent some time there last night.

It makes me sad that bars in Asia, all across Asia, are still playing the exact same songs they were playing when I first arrived in Korea. Then there are a few more songs that have been added, of course, but not many. You'll hear the same song several times per night if you go out. Luckily I go out less and less these days.

So much for Hanoi. Az and I discussed marrying a soldier since I'll be right next to the base, and he gave me an in-depth explanation of the differences between officers and soldiers and why I should definitely go for an officer. Personally, I think the most appealing aspect of marrying ANY soldier is the very distant chance I could get to go to the Defense Language Institute in California. That's like... Watchy heaven, right there.