Fotowedstrijd. My job. My company. Op de valreep. Prikbord. Dutch Business Association Vietnam. voor de volgende voorpagina. F&B work

Transcriptie

1 Double Dutch nr 10 double dutch 2010 februari Fotowedstrijd voor de volgende voorpagina My job F&B work My company Nedcoffee The belly of an architect Op de valreep familie Kerckhaert Prikbord Dutch Business Association Vietnam

2

3 colofon living Double Dutch is the magazine of the Dutch Business Association Vietnam (DBAV). It is published 3 times a year. Editors editorsdoubledutch@gmail.com Renske ten Bosch Hanneke Peters Kirsten Theuns Kristina Westphal Design Violette Brand Translation Kristina Westphal Advertising ¼ page $125 for members, $250 for non-members more info: info@dbav.net Deadline next issue 1 April 2010 Subscription for non members 20 USD per year DBAV Anneleen Erlingen (secretary) info@dbav.net Nederlandse Vereniging Geertje Krop Mark van der Wielen info@dbav.net Postal address DBAV Euro Centre 5th Floor 49 Mac Dinh Chi Street District 1 Ho Chi Minh City Netherlands Alumni Network Vietnam Happy New Year Continuing the trend of the heading in our last edition of Double Dutch, Time flies, we find ourselves well into We hope that all of you had a good holiday season and we wish you a healthy, exciting and wonderful New Year. According to the Lunar Calendar it is going to be a dynamic, unpredictable year full of changes, passion and courage: The year of the Tiger. How better to start the first Double Dutch edition of 2010 than with something most people feel passionate about, especially during the holiday season: Food & Beverage? Read on for some interesting stories about Dutch colleagues who work in this sector, such as hotel and restaurant Food & Beverage managers, explaining what their work involves and providing us a glimpse into their menus. Further, some surprising small and large players in the industry give us some interesting and delicious insight into their activities for the New Year. For those of you with the New Years resolution to eat less in 2010, we hope you will not immediately put this magazine aside. Have a look at the living section of this edition, where you might find yourself or your friends in one of the many photos published, or get to know who the new people in town are and how others feel about moving on. Also, we are excited to introduce a photography competition: we ask all photographers out there (beginner, hobbyist or professional) to submit what you think is the best photo to fit the theme of our next edition of Double Dutch: "Typical Dutch". The winning photo will be displayed on the next cover page for all to see. Finally, to make it easier for you all to contact us, the editors, we have created a new address: editorsdoubledutch@gmail.com. Any comments or suggestions for this or a next issue of Double Dutch are welcome at any time, so please drop us a line. We enjoy hearing from you. Happy reading! Renske, Hanneke, Violette, Kirsten & Kristina Consulate General of the Netherlands hcm@minbuza.nl DOUBLE DUTCH

4 working working in Vietnam 3 From the editors 5 From the chairman 6 My job Food & Beverage managers at work 7 New company in town Fabs World and Chocolate Heaven 8 Dutch mission in Vietnam Promoting trade and quality in food business 9 My company Nedcoffee Vietnam 10 My company FrieslandCampina Vietnam 11 My NGO Live and Give - Jan Peeters 10 8 living in Vietnam 14 In beeld 15 Fotowedstrijd Jouw foto op de voorpagina van de volgende Double Dutch? 15 Agenda 16 Even voorstellen 17 Hans en Hetty Put Joep in Vietnam 18 The belly of an architect Nederlandse School Saigon 19 Bianca van Sluijs Op de valreep 20 Familie Kerckhaert Gelukkig nieuwjaar 21 Oorsprong en gewoonten TET Even voorstellen Familie Schaminée 22 Prikbord DOUBLE DUTCH

5 working working working Jos Langens From the chairman The time around New Years is usually a time when people reflect on the year that has passed and try to imagine what the coming year will bring. DBAV board Chairman Jos Langens Vice President Christian Dutilh Vice President Arjan Brinks Treasurer Hielke Booijink Eurocham Mark v.d. Assem Nederlandse Vereniging Geertje Krop Nederlandse Vereniging Mark v.d. Wielen Office Manager Anneleen Erlingen Looking back as the DBAV, we firstly want to express a big word of thanks to our sponsors. Without your support it wouldn t have been possible to organize all of the activities that we did. We also would like to thank the many volunteers who organized all of the fantastic events for the Nederlandse Vereniging (NLV). We thank you for committing your time and energy. Last but not least, we would like to thank the members of the DBAV and NLV for their trust and commitment. As a special word of welcome we would like to express warm regards to our new members TMF Vietnam, Cool Best VN, Fabs World and Padifood. Regarding the coming year, I m sure that everybody has their own resolutions, motivations and desires, in private as well as in business. Since all of us have come to Vietnam for a special purpose, many of these motivations and desires will be related to being in Vietnam or doing business in Vietnam. When I meet Dutch in Vietnam I m always amazed at the enormous variety of their activities and motivations that have brought them here. There are expats, Dutch entrepreneurs, people settling down because they met their life partner in Vietnam, the partners of - often very active in performing all kinds activities for the Dutch as well as the Vietnamese community, people working at Dutch Government and Non-Government organizations, students, trainees, visitors, people on holiday, retirees and the list goes on. A very diverse group of Dutch (with many more to come, for sure), all with their own plans and intentions for the new year. I once heard someone say that there is a simple way to see if a country is a good or bad country to live in. If people want to get IN the country, it means that it s a good country. If people want to get OUT of the country, it s a bad country (it s as simple as that). When we look at the enormous variety and growing amount of Dutch and their activities in Vietnam, we can only conclude that Vietnam must be a good country for them. They all seem to want to be IN Vietnam. The reason might well be that Vietnam offers so many and such a variety of opportunities to all of us. So if you haven t made any plans for the new year yet, you d better move fast, opportunities abound! Happy New Year and enjoy Vietnam! Jos DOUBLE DUTCH

6 my job working food & BEVERAGE managers at work w Respecting your chopsticks Who better to ask about Food & Beverage (F&B) and etiquette than F&B managers Ramon Meijer from the Windsor Plaza Hotel and Martijn Vermaire from the InterContinental Asiana Hotel? Read on to find out how you can go Vietnamese and respect your chopsticks! Ramon Meijer, F&B manager Windsor Plaza Hotel Saigon What does a F&B manager do? The F&B manager is ultimately responsible for the operation, finances and administration of the food and beverage outlets in the hotel. Depending on the size and rating of the hotel, the department responsibility consists not only of restaurants and bars but also banqueting, room service and mini bars. His or her tasks are to plan, organize, control, direct and evaluate the operations. What is the most popular item on your menu? For the Windsor Plaza buffet it is mainly the seafood section and hot pot buffet items, which are a huge hit, according to Ramon Meijer. In our Vietnamese restaurant it is the Barbeque chicken and in our Chinese Restaurant Ngan Dinh it s the Peking Duck and live seafood. Martijn Vermaire displays different Vietnamese favorites at the InterContinental Asiana Hotel: As we try to share our belief with our guests that the most enriching and rewarding travel comes through authentic experiences, we have a variety of Vietnamese dishes like Phở, Bánh Xèo and Cà phê sữa đá. These dishes are always popular with InterContinental guests, who appreciate the things our staff can tell them about the culture they are visiting. Which special menus will you be serving for TET? Martijn: This is my first time in Asia and I am really looking forward to spending the Lunar New Year with our Chinese Chef. He is preparing a few different set menus, including some great rice cakes with abalone. New for me are also dishes with exotic names like Cake of High Hope, Double Boiled Sea Treasures or Longevity Salmon. What etiquettes are different for Vietnam and The Netherlands? According to Ramon it is the importance of business card exchange in a first meeting; the making and timing of appointments can be abrupt here, not planned well ahead like in the Netherlands; gift giving is an essential part of Vietnamese business culture, the Dutch may interpret this incorrectly! And the dress is much more conservative here, in the Netherlands anything goes. In Vietnam invitations to visit someone s home are much more spontaneous than in the Netherlands. And certainly the question Who pays the bill? Going Dutch is a definite no-no or in any case very rare in Vietnam! Martijn adds: There is a big difference in the number of sauces (soy sauce, fish sauce, chili sauce) that Vietnamese use at every meal. Also the use of chopsticks and how they should be treated with respect and not misused! Leaving chopsticks in a bowl of rice standing upwards reminds the Vietnamese of the incense they burn for their family members who have passed away! Also we asked both managers for some etiquette tips Ramon: Learn some words and phrases of the language and use these appropriate to the Vietnamese culture. I have found that even a small effort is rewarded with great and warm appreciation. Martijn advises not to be too meticulous when following etiquette. For example, don t feel like you need to eat all food here with chopsticks, it doesn t make much sense to enforce etiquette over enjoyment. Also, you should order with care from the wine menu and stick to one or two choices if you would like to keep your evening long. If, for example, you switch from champagne to white, light red, red, sweet wine, port and then whiskey, troi oi you will be floored before even entering the Apo! Instead I would suggest taking a glass of champagne and after that a good heavy red (spend some money on this one). And don t bother changing the red, who says you can t drink that throughout and even after the dessert. 6 DOUBLE DUTCH Martijn Vermaire F&B manager Intercontinental Asiana Saigon

7 working working new company in town working FABS WORLD and Chocolate Heaven Lifestyle baby accessories Fabs World was started in 2006 by the Dutch designer Fabienne Beckmann. Right from the start the products were a big success, but due to medical reasons Fabienne sold the company to Ingrid Ploem. Ingrid had been involved with the company from day one as a sourcing / product development agent based in Bangkok at that time. Ingrid brought Karlijn Henquet aboard and in October 2008 Fabs World Limited was incorporated in Hong Kong. Products Fabs World products are high-end lifestyle baby accessory products. The idea is that baby products can be beautifully designed and an asset to your interior. C H O C O L A T E Making chocolate started years ago as a hobby for Huong Nghiem. While studying in Amsterdam, Huong met two experts in the field, Henk Kesting and Bart Appels, who trained and supported her in setting up the chocolate activities. After arriving in Vietnam, the care for two children and setting up another company took all of her attention, and her chocolate making faded into the background. If it hadn t been for the many requests for chocolates that were received by Huong, her chocolate making activities would never have re-emerged! The design, handwork, old techniques and amount of detail are the features that make Fabs World products outstanding. They fit right in the current trend of modern nostalgia where handwork and craftsmanship is appreciated when combined with modern design. Company culture Both Ingrid and Karlijn feel passionately that even though Fabs World is a profit making business, Fabs World should be a positive presence in the world. That is also the vision behind the slogan 100% warm. Up until 2008 the products were made in a Fair Trade project in Bangkok. Unfortunately, this project could not handle the volumes but a great alternative was found in a small factory. The women work under pleasant circumstances in a family-type atmosphere. The crochet work is made in small villages in the North of Thailand where women do the crochet work from home. The many requests led to a more serious and professional setting up of the business. A company was established under the name Chocolate Heaven and two Vietnamese staff were trained and are currently working fulltime in the production. Also, a website was established for online ordering of chocolates: Vietnam does not have an easy climate for chocolate, especially not for the high quality chocolate that is used by Chocolate Heaven. The chocolate products are made in a temperature and humidity Future In January 2010 we participated in the Kleine Fabriek, a very well known children s clothing and accessories fair in the Netherlands. Shortly before that, we launched our new website with a whole fresh corporate identity and new logo. Our goal for the near future is to expand our sales into other countries, and to source / develop new products in Vietnam. For more information about our products have a look at our website Creating chocoholics controlled area but what can t be controlled is how and where it will be consumed. That s why we always advise to treat chocolate in Vietnam the same as ice cream products. Keep them in the fridge! Vietnamese people are not so familiar with chocolate and the chocolate products that are available in the market are usually of poor quality. But the many follow-up orders that we receive after our chocolate has been tasted once show how much they really appreciate and love good chocolate. That s why it s called: Taste of Heaven, Taste of Love! DOUBLE DUTCH

8 working dutch mission in vietnam promoting trade and quality in food business w Sustainable food production Monique Bennema Order a panga fillet in a restaurant in the Netherlands and it is very likely the fish has been imported from Vietnam. This may hold true for anywhere in the world as more than 90 percent of the world s pangasius consumption is sourced from Vietnam. Perceived as one of the emerging giant food producers of the world, Vietnam is poised to maintain, if not increase, its position. The world s third largest seafood exporter, second largest exporter of unroasted coffee, second largest exporter of rice, largest producer and exporter of cashews, these are just some of the titles held by Vietnam! The Netherlands considers Vietnam a highly promising producer of agricultural products and commits to actively promote trade and investment in agriculture and cooperation in food quality and safety. Public private partnerships (PPPs) have been developed between the two countries in key trading products: fisheries (in 2004), and cocoa and coffee (in 2007). The main focus of PPPs is on quality improvement and sustainable production. PPPs also aim to enhance market access of Vietnamese products to the European Union, and to the Netherlands, in particular. In order to improve sustainability and market access, partnership between public and private sectors is the key. Specifically, in the cocoa sector, the Netherlands works closely with the Vietnamese government and companies such as Mars and Cargill as well as NGOs such as WWF and Solidaridad for improvement of the quality of and expansion of the cocoa planting area. The Netherlands also actively supports Vietnam in becoming a member of ICCO (International Cocoa Organisation), expected to be realized by early next year. Increasingly, Dutch companies in the cocoa sector are turning to Vietnam as the potential key supplier of quality beans for their chocolate and cocoa products aside from other countries such as Cote d lvoire, Ghana and Indonesia. In fisheries, a common platform has been created enabling the governments, organizations of Dutch importers and Vietnamese exporters, and NGOs to share interest in sustainable development and quality improvement of pangasius. These stakeholders, with their combined financial and human resources, aim to solve problems such as residue existence and awareness of social and environmental issues. Dutch importers, like Ahold, can experience higher turnover due to reliable and quality supply of fishery products from Vietnam. Opportunities have also opened up for suppliers from the Netherlands in the aquaculture sector, especially in the feed sector, as feeds consume the highest cost of production of pangasius. Dutch consumers can enjoy the safe, affordable Vietnamese pangasius. We are now helping Vietnam to secure a Cooperating Non-Member Status in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. This is a first step towards the larger goal of obtaining full membership. These memberships, undoubtedly, will provide greater market access for Vietnamese products to the world. The same progress has been witnessed in the coffee sector. A project to improve quality of coffee in Gia Lai, Dak lak and Lam Dong from has been approved this year with 1.2M Euros co-financed by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the Rabobank Foundation and the Douwe Egberts Foundation. Trade, not aid is one of the core principles of these PPPs. By taking a proactive approach we strive to protect and enhance the business interests of Dutch and Vietnamese businesses, the safety for Dutch consumers, a higher standard of living for Vietnamese people and bilateral trade between the two countries. Embassy in Hanoi: han-ea@mibuza.nl Consulate General in HCMC: hcm-ea@minbuza.nl 8 DOUBLE DUTCH

9 working working working MY company nedcoffee vietnam Processing coffee Nedcoffee group ( is a member of Amtrada Holding BV, a leading trade group specializing in soft commodities processing and trading with a rich heritage and history that date back to the 1930s. The group headquarters is located along the beautiful Herengracht canal in the historical centre of Amsterdam. Inaugurated in December 2008 in the Central Highlands city of Buon Ma Thuot, Daklak Province, Nedcoffee Vietnam Ltd has a clear objective to become a leading coffee exporter from Vietnam within a few years. The company owns a state-of-the-art processing plant in Buon Ma Thuot that has one of the highest processing capacity in SE Asia, and has since set up procurement and logistics offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Gialai and Daknong provinces. Despite the fact that Brazil is undisputably the world s largest coffee producing country, Daklak province and the Central Highlands of Vietnam are the world s highest in terms of production density and tree productivity. Over the past few years Vietnamese Robusta coffee has become a favored component in blends of most major multinational coffee roasters, following continuous efforts to improve coffee quality in the country. Coffees are grown in most districts of Daklak province, but those from Buon Ma Thuot are usually considered the best quality with a very distinctive flavour. We have high regards for recent efforts by Daklak Province authorities in registering the Buon Ma Thuot brand-name for its coffee and the periodical organization of the Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival, as they help raise brand-awareness among coffee consumers, not only in the country but also abroad. Already, more international consumers now know about Buon Ma Thuot coffee than just a few years ago, and the City of Buon Ma Thuot is often mentioned as the capital of Robusta coffee of the world. Nedcoffee Vietnam s choice to build a processing facility in Buon Ma Thuot gives the group easier access to coffee supplies, and in the meantime enables us to bring sustainable certification programs to the farmers. We believe our established network of customers and our modern coffee processing facility will help Daklak s coffee go farther, with higher added values. Furthermore, we believe that the sustainable and responsible coffee programs that we help to implement will provide long-term benefits to the coffee farmers of Daklak. Trading in high quality and branded coffees is an important part of Amtrada and Nedcoffee group Buon Ma Thuot: the world s capital of Robusta coffee business activities. Amtrada also has under it a company named Daanhouwer with a strong specialization in specialty coffee, cocoa and other ingredients for the confectionery industry. Nedcoffee is willing to share existing experience within our group in the effort to develop the Buon Ma Thuot coffee brand. We also hope to be able to help bring Buon Ma Thuot branded coffee to consumers worldwide. For information please contact: Mr. Nguyen Duc Tuan Vinh General Director Phone: trade@nedcoffee.vn DOUBLE DUTCH

10 my company working frieslandcampina vietnam w Milk production in VN FrieslandCampina Vietnam has been active in Vietnam since the mid 1990 s and is currently one of the leading food companies in the country. Apart from introducing a constant flow of new products for consumers, the company is also active in educating dairy farmers and in developing the quality of the raw milk produced in Vietnam. In the dairy industry, quality and safety of products are of extreme importance. This importance of quality starts at the quality of raw milk produced at the farm and the way the milk is collected from the farms and transported to the dairy factory. company and not going through any intermediate traders, the farmers are offered a better milk price. At the same time, they also directly benefit from any decision to increase the price or support for farmers by the company. For more than 10 years now, FrieslandCampina Vietnam has been paying their raw milk suppliers according to the quality of the milk supplied by the farmers. Making the price paid for raw milk dependent on the quality is a method that has been applied in the West for decades, but in Vietnam it was still quite unknown. It has been clearly visible that this method encourages dairy farmers to produce fresh milk spent organizing training courses on improving milk hygiene quality and supporting dairy farmers to have cleaning devices installed at their farms. New payment system for raw milk enables FrieslandCampina to pay more for better milk In Vietnam, FrieslandCampina has had direct contracts for many years with dairy farmers to supply fresh milk to their factories in Binh Duong in the South and Hanam in the North. One of the outstanding benefits of this direct milk collection scheme is for the farmers. By directly selling fresh milk to the with better quality. As a result, milk quality has been at a very high level over the last years and the income of farmers has constantly developed positively. Since the 5th of October 2009, FrieslandCampina Vietnam has started to apply a new milk payment method which is now also based on the number of Total Plate Count in raw milk. Total Plate Count is a measure of the hygienic quality of the raw milk: the lower this count is, the better the hygienic quality of the milk and the higher the price paid for this milk. Before implementing this new payment system, one year was They now strongly believe that, together with the high class milk collection system and a transparent system of milk payment, investment in milk hygiene quality at farm level will certainly help to control and minimize the number of total plate count, so that they can get higher milk payment. After the implementation of the new payment system, 75% of the dairy farmers received a milk price that was higher than before. In this way the new system works in two ways: FrieslandCampina gains access to better quality raw milk and farmers are able to increase their income from their dairy activities. FrieslandCampina Vietnam website:

11 working working working Charity? Just do it! Jan Peeters my ngo live and give Live and Give is an initiative started by myself, Jan Peeters and Oanh Thi Le. I am from Holland and run a small company in the construction sector in Belgium, and I conduct business in real estate. When people in Vietnam ask me for money, one of my answers is: I m no Bill Gates. But as many people in Belgium and the Netherlands, I am financially comfortable enough to help other people. Oahn is a Dutch-Vietnamese woman, a former boat refugee from Southern Vietnam, who, after a long and hard journey ended up in the Netherlands. Oanh s heart is in Vietnam and she comes here regularly to help local charity organizations. I recently moved to HCMC, but fly back and forth to Antwerp regularly. It was my dream to build an orphanage or boarding school for poor children. A Vietnamese friend brought me in contact with Oanh, who had then just visited a Catholic convent in Pleiku in Central Vietnam, where Vietnamese nuns conduct charity work. I visited Pleiku in the spring of 2009 and was so touched by the beautiful work of the nuns that I decided to help them. Thanks to the generous donation of a friend in Antwerp I was able to double my initial budget to 70,000 USD for the construction of a 650m2 boarding school for 50 to 60 poor children. The boarding school will be opened in January Due to the support of many, the project has grown substantially. We created a nonprofit foundation (Live and Give) established under Belgian law, we bought a car for the boarding house, we will build sanitary units in poor villages around Pleiku, we have found 40 sponsors for the children, there is a volunteer program for teachers from HCMC, we have a food program for people with leprosy, etc. Managing this project has confronted me with a lot of hardship like abandoned children and people with leprosy. However, thanks to the incredibly good work of the nuns and an atmosphere of joy and hope amongst the people that we are helping, a good feeling always prevails. The best experience so far is when we distribute food parcels among the people with leprosy. The gratitude is priceless. The shy, grateful looks of the kids are also forever engraved in my memory. All help is welcome and needed. At the moment we are still looking for sponsors for the children in the boarding house. The cost for this is 500 USD per child per year. You can visit Pleiku yourself. We have built nice guest rooms with a magnificent view over the paddy fields, a very pleasant place to stay with a peaceful atmosphere. You can all see it on our website: Contact details Feel free to contact us via jan@liveandgive.eu or oanh@liveandgive.eu. DOUBLE DUTCH

12

13

14 in beeld iving living living l oktober - januari leidens ontzet dutch open dbav business meeting sinterklaas intocht 14 DOUBLE DUTCH

15 living fotowedstrijd living living living agenda Jouw foto op de voorpagina van de volgende Double Dutch? Een beeld zegt soms meer dan 1000 woorden. De redactie van de Double Dutch is op zoek naar sprekende beelden rondom het thema van de volgende editie: Typical Dutch. Hoe zou jij Holland typeren in een gesprek met een buitenlander? Wat vind je typisch Nederlands en mis je hier in Vietnam? Of wat is jouw mooiste herinneringskiekje van ons kikkerlandje? Stuur je leuke, spannende, favoriete, bijzondere, creatieve of vindingrijke foto (met een minimale resolutie van 2 MB) voor 1 april a.s. naar: editorsdoubledutch@gmail.com. De winnaar wordt beloond met zijn of haar foto pronkend op de voorpagina van de Double Dutch! Een professionele fotograaf ondersteunt de redactie bij het kiezen van de winnende foto. 21/01/2010 DBAV BUSINESS MEETING Tax & legal DUTCH DRINKS 04/02/2010 DBAV BUSINESS Unilever Headoffice 15/02-19/02/2010 TET-VAKANTIE NL SCHOOL 25/02/2010 DUTCH DRINKS 06/03/2010 CULTUURDAG NL SCHOOL Thema: Weer en klimaat 11/03/2010 DBAV ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Autohuur tarieven all-in * vanaf 23,- per dag Advertisements in the Double Dutch ¼ page 3 times a year - $125 for members, - $250 non-members 18/03/2010 DUTCH DRINKS 05/04-09/04/2010 APRIL-VAKANTIE NL SCHOOL 15/04/2010 DUTCH DRINKS *28+ dagen tarief categorie A, excl. Schipholfee Laagste eigen risico Geen extra verzekeringen bij aankomst No nonsense voorwaarden 24 uurs Schiphol service...direct wegrijden! half/full page only for sponsors of DBAV/NLV For information about sponsor packages and advertisements to Ms. Anneleen Erlingen, Office manager DBAV: info@dbav.net 24/04/2010 KINDERKONINGINNEDAG QUEEN S BALL (?) 15/05/2010 CULTUURDAG NL SCHOOL Thema: Helden 20/05/2010 DUTCH DRINKS DOUBLE DUTCH

16 wonen in vietnam iving living even voorstellen living l hans en Hetty Put En de vriendelijkheid van het volk. Ik heb geleerd om niet meer zo Europees te denken, anders kun je nog wel eens tegen muren aanlopen. Wat verwachten jullie van je verblijf in Vietnam? Mijn man natuurlijk dat zijn project gaat slagen en ik hoop veel ervaringen rijker te worden. Hoe zijn de eerste ervaringen? Eigenlijk alleen maar positief. Het project van Hans loopt goed en we genieten iedere dag weer van de mooie woonomgeving en de diversiteit van het land. Het kennismaken met andere expats is voor ons ook een hele nieuwe ervaring, die ons al meerdere malen versteld heeft doen staan. Jonge mensen die de hele wereld al over zijn geweest en ondertussen ook nog gezinnetjes hebben gesticht. Echt geweldig. Wat missen jullie het meest uit Nederland? Natuurlijk in de eerste plaats onze kinderen. Daarnaast familie en vrienden, mijn drie katten, een broodje frikandel op zaterdagmiddag. Hans mist het voetbal. Hij kan zijn favoriete Feijenoord niet zien spelen. Wat is de samenstelling van jullie gezin? Ons gezin bestaat uit vier personen: dochter Brenda 31 jaar, zoon Martin 28 jaar, mijn man Hans 49 jaar en ikzelf, Hetty, 50 jaren jong. Wie of wat brengt jullie naar Ho Chi Minh City? De werkzaamheden van Hans. Hij werkt hier aan de drinkwatervoorziening in HCMC en omstreken. Hoe lang zijn jullie hier inmiddels al en hoe lang verwachten jullie te blijven? Op 31 augustus 2009 zijn we hier aangekomen en we verwachten twee jaar te blijven. Waar woonden jullie voorheen? Wij komen rechtstreeks uit het pittoreske Spijkenisse onder de rook van Rotterdam. Is dit de eerste keer dat jullie in Vietnam zijn? Hans was hier al eerder geweest op een short mission en ik was hier eind juli voor een kennismakingsbezoek. Wat natuurlijk opvalt is de hectiek van deze wereldstad. Welk item in je container zouden jullie zeker niet willen missen? Mijn boeken, ons eigen bed (de eerste drie weken hebben we in een hotel geslapen). Willen jullie Vietnamees gaan leren? We waren wel van plan om lessen te gaan nemen. Maar onze ervaring is nu al dat learning on the job voor Hans en voor mij via onze hulp in huis een stuk sneller en makkelijker leert. Hebben jullie al een opmerkelijke Vietnamese anekdote/absurde situatie/uitspraak? Wij hebben geluk met een hulp die een beetje (redelijk) Engels spreekt. Nu is mijn Engels niet echt geweldig, maar ik kan me aardig redden. In onze eerste week hier vroeg ik aan onze hulp of zij de volgende dag flowers, bloemen dus, wilde kopen. Ze antwoordde flower madame, yes, yes. De volgende ochtend vroeg ik waar de flowers waren. In kitchen madam, waarop Luan het keukenkastje opentrekt en er een pak bloem uithaalt. We hebben er smakelijk om gelachen en daarna hebben we heerlijk gegeten van de hartige taart die Luan van de bloem heeft gemaakt! 16 DOUBLE DUTCH