Thursday, July 12, 2007

AFC Cup Action

Ok, not so much Asia Football Cup (AFC) action as is post-AFC action. This is what the streets of Hanoi looked like after Vietnam, one of the 2007 AFC host countries, surprisingly took down the UAE 2-nil in an opening round game.



This intersection is close to Hoan Kiem lake - there was much more traffic circling the lake, but my phonecam wasn't ready for that action.

We're not soccer fans at all, but I think we'll try to make one of the next two opening round games (versus Qatar and then Japan). Tickets were 40, 60 or 100k but at this point they'll need to be scalped. Lowest prices are about 120k right now, more when it gets closer to game time (at My Dinh Stadium, out in the Western 'burbs from the city).

Vietnam's top rapper, a 16-year old teen girl going by the stage name Kim, recorded a song for Nike (for free! c'mon, embrace the market economy already) to mark the AFC. I would embed it, but dunno how. You can find it at Nike's site, Choi Het Minh, which roughly translated means "play with all your might." She's more bubble-gum rap, and sorta average at that, but she earns an "A" for enthusiasm and marketing.

HmL, don't ya wish ya were here?

3 comments:

Nhu said...

hi there fellow Virginians! :)

just happened to come across your blog and thought it's really cool that you guys used to live in VA (which is where i've been living for the past 13 yrs) and now you're in Vietnam (my homeland) and are having a blast (I hope). It's really insightful to read your blogs and learn about the life of expats there. I miss Vietnam terribly. I'm going back there for Tet and right now i'm actually looking for a job there. If you guys would like to offer any advice on job prospects or tell me how u went about your job search, i'd really appreciate it. My email is nqphan83@gmail.com. I would love to hear more about your life in Vietnam. Where in VA did you guys live before? Please continue writing great and fun blogs!

Nhu

D. said...

We used to live in Northern Virginia and intend to return there after our Vietnam adventures.

Assuming you're 24 year of age or so, being a US expat opens a number of doors here with respect to jobs. If you are interested in a career and not just a job, it seems the finance / i-banking area is always looking, even with minimally skilled folks. Heck, you likely don't even need experience, just some subject matter knowledge. If you can read the WSJ without having your eyes glaze over, then perhaps investigate that.

The IT side has needs, advertising, real estate sales, and legal fields. They seem to be the places where expat career folks get sucked up into. It is probably easier to get a corporate gig in Vietnam than an NGO gig.

Nhu said...

I live in NOVA as well.

Thanks for the tip! :)