Expatriage

That's it. I've officially crossed over from hairy-funk smelly - 'I'm finding my way in the world' - nose in a Lonely Planet - backpacker status and into the wooly unknown world of expatriates.

We've signed the lease and have rented a one bedroom apartment in Hanoi today. We will be living with a couple of other expats that we haven't seen  -- some sort of historian and a social worker.  The landlords live below us, a super nice couple who has already doted on me and has offered to come up to our kitchen and show me some cool recipes.

The place is kickass. Two TVs, a living room, a dining room, a decent kitchen (bigger than my NY space), the use of the roof for washing laundry and our very own patio. Not to mention that three lakes is within spitting distance, and the giant Lenin park is close to us. 

Come by and pay us a visit in the next six months if you're nearby!

And another part of putting down roots -- if you can call it that (I'd like to think of it as maybe plankton-ish roots) --- is I have to get hooked up to the Internet. So I'm calling on all you techies to help me find a cheap cheap budget bare bones laptop so I won't have to deal with smoky dingy Internet bars anymore.  I can't take more time with pre-pubescent Asian nerds splayed out looking for Anime schoolgirl wallpapers while tap tap tapping away at their roleplayinig games...

Note 1: You know you're still in a controlled society when the police needs all records of tenants and their visitors in any particular building. 

Note 2: The govt taxes our landlords ~25% of the rent.

Note 3: The tax on cars is 100%.  A Toyota Corolla costs 60K USD here.