Summer 2009 in Hanoi

My summer this year is pretty quiet. We experienced the hottest June ever recorded. Some days in Hanoi the outdoor temperature reached 45-46°C with very high humidity (often it's 30-38°C during the summer time). Then it rained almost every week in July and August. I didn't dare to go anywhere close to the mountains, as I was concerned about the risk of floods and landslides.

Also the pig flu (A/H1N1) is spreading here with the number of patients increasing every day. The warnings that we hear on TV or see on the webpages are to "avoid the crowds". Some people are so panicked that they rush to the hospitals and insist that they've got the virus, although they don't, while others feel normal, but the masks are sold out quickly and getting expensive as well. In an article I read yesterday, it was said that the Nội Bài International Airport looked like a hospital as everyone wore the masks.

Hopefully I can travel again if my father will be alright after his surgery next week. In early September I will have a day off work, as we celebrate the Independence Day (2 September). I am still seeking a travel companion to join me on some trips for sharing the costs, as I plan to go off the beaten path in Vietnam.

When I was back home from the trip in Ðiện Biên Phủ city at the end of June, my mother told me Michael Jackson just passed away. I have been very sad since then and read all information about him. His songs always remind me of my student's life and the first days when I started learning English. At that time, we used cassette and video tapes and his songs were very easy to understand. He is so special that even my mother knows him, although she never cares about any other foreign singer. I will remember what Paris Jackson said about her father and I think that not only music but the children are the most wonderful works that Michael Jackson left in his lifetime.

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