Communist KFC...

The ongoing fierce and brutal boxing match of communism vs. Market economy has traveled from South Vietnam to the north where Hanoi opens its first foreign franchise restaurant. A historic day in the capital where Ho Chi Minh continues to provide the reality of communism and the collectively of Vietnamese people must change it'’s attitude and learn to co-exist with economic influence of non-Vietnamese companies. We are all seeing that Vietnam'’s young population is a large potential market share for social and economical image of American / North American vibrant lifestyle.

KFC open their first restaurant today about two blocks from my apartment building attracting the attention of thousands who lined up outside to get a taste of the deep friend chicken and French fries. Motorbike parking attendants were busy throughout looking after the hundreds of motorbikes of people who been inching their way in to even get a view of Colonel Sanders himself. Watching the foundation pop being pouring into large plastic containers, French fries in the deep fryer and chicken sandwiches being wrapped up in the waxy paper which has been powering the fast food business for many years all over the world.

Despite the dynamic changes that continue to occur in north Vietnam and the corruption that continues to show in various areas, KFC is making a headway in bring the image and the reality of what “western” culture is about. Young people who are used to eating rice and veggies now have change their diet including the bread, mayo, and deep fried chicken are leaving the corner side house style businesses searching for other places to generate their income.

It has been indeed a historical day and I am lucky to be part of this by ordering a medium coke with little ice, French fries and chicken popcorn. Mc-Dicks, may you soon enter the growing market economy in a socialist Vietnam.

The Interview Chronicles

I finished my first day of hour-long interviews at Unis in hoping to headhunt and secure a new young IT trained person to assume the role of the vacant IT Technician position. The interviews went from 8:30 am all the way to 5:30 pm with two short breaks for a lunch and a meeting with senior level management.

The first few morning interviews were really good with the Vietnamese candidates who can understand my level of English, (Phil / Andy - no jokes here!!) tell me a joke, say the word "cool" and of course can complete the IT technical test that I had waiting for them.

There are three Interviews:

1. Meeting with myself to screen out the level of listening & speaking, pronunciation and vocabulary, and hopefully the honesty behind their answers and their resumes.
2. Technical interview with two computers. One is the server and one is the client. Their job is to configure network connectivity between the two and detailed configurations that non-technical people do not know how to do. Creating a group of usernames on the server and testing one of those usernames on the client was worth many marks in this interview.
3. Meeting with myself and the head of the school to determine who would be offered the position in this brutal and grueling interview process.

A special note to this blog was that the last candidate who I interviewed at 4:30 pm last night was the bigger loser and cheater I ever met! During his technical interview, I was in my office and I heard some voices coming from outside the room where the candidate was finishing up his examination. I took a peek around the corner trying not to be noticed and saw that he was talking on his mobifone asking questions in Vietnamese and then clicking on the mouse in a fast fashion as if he understood the answers from his mobifone conversation.

I am sorry to say that this person will not have any jobs working at Unis... ;)

Last day of school...

I am writing this blog after completing most of my technical requests for the friday morning... I am sitting at my desk feeling numb and tired after a long exhausting and stressful year. Most of my friend teachers are leaving tomorrow or the next day for the unknown as they get their 2 months holidays from teaching. Its going to be a sad but also happy day knowing teachers / friends are leaving but at least its good to know the year is coming to an end.

I will be conducting IT technican interviews on monday and tuesday in hoping to get extra help for the school's IT department and finally have the hope that I will leave this place for the holidays I been longing for.

My last words of wisdom for the students:

As Confucius says: "Wherever you go, go with all your heart"