My "honeymoon" suite

As many of you know, I had a "rat experience" in my room a couple of weeks ago. If you want a recap of this event, go to this blog entry. I also had a major water leak in my bathroom and the photo below was my creative way of avoiding getting wet. This photo and my rat story managed to somehow get passed on to the university administration.



...and to make a long story short, the president heard about my tale of woe. Suddenly - within a day I had people crawling all over my room. Men with white shirts and ties! The Vietnamese seem to me to be pretty mild mannered people and rarely do I see any emotion. Well...this time was different. The "ties" were not happy with the housing people. So they all streamed into my room and the negotiations began. After much discussion, I moved all my stuff two doors down and took up residence in a similar room to the one I was in. One week I was told. One week for what, I asked. I never really knew what was going to happen.

So I smiled and settled into my new home. The next morning I couldn't believe my eyes. They were gutting my old room! Photos below show some of the work. The windows and doors were turning from green to white. The no-see though glass in the windows had been removed. Guys were chipping at the walls and using a jack hammer to punch a hole through the bathroom ceiling to find the water leak.





I moved back into my redecorated room in one week--just as they told me. So...what has changed? Phew...almost everything! I have a new air conditioner! They also painted all the woodwork white. Replaced the window glass with clear glass. WALLPAPERED....yes folks, beautiful silk wall paper is now on the walls. And to match the wall paper, I have wonderful new silk curtains--in my main room and also in the bathroom. They added two nice lights with dimmer switches above the bed and also installed a new, very secure lock on the front door.





But the crowning touch....the glory, so to speak. They also installed a pull down screen on the windows! So no more rats--even if I open the windows!




The place is beautiful! And this is where the title of this blog comes into play. I have a TA helping me with my class and we were working in my room the other day because of internet problems in the department. He looked at the room and told me that this was a honeymoon suite! He said when he got married he wanted to spend the first night in a room just like this! I almost fell over laughing. But the name stuck and now we all call this the "honeymoon suite"!

....and for the icing on the cake..... I was visiting with the President of the university and asked if someone might have an old printer that I could borrow while I was here. He said--sure--he would look into it. We talked about the printer on a Sunday afternoon. The next day--Monday, I hear someone knocking on my door. I opened it and almost fell over--It was the President and two of his helpers who were holding a BIG box that said Canon Lasershot on it! They bought a new printer and I was getting personal delivery!



This is a photo of the President, an IT guy and the President's assistant working to get the drivers installed on my computer.

So....now I am settled in the honeymoon suite at Hanoi National University of Education. Phil arrives on Tuesday and I told him we were staying in the honeymoon suite for the duration of his visit. He laughed.

But--what this story symbolizes is the care and support everyone is giving me during my stay here. The university and housing administration are wonderful. They watch over me like a hawk. If I need something it usually is delivered within the hour. If something isn't working --it gets fixed quickly. They really make me feel at home and I am so appreciative of their care and assistance. This is why I love this place!