You Know You're No Longer in Ottawa When...

You know you’re no longer in Ottawa when you pass a 20 foot statue of Lenin everyday on the way to work.

Lenin Park is located in between the Van Mieu University and Hanoi Graceland (a.k.a. the Ho Chi Minh Complex). Lenin’s statue stands imposingly, presiding over a large rectangular plaza, which often looks empty during the day. People who do congregate there look like little pigeons, hopping about on an immense slab of concrete.

The true magic of this plaza, though, occurs in the evenings. Around 5:00pm, groups of young boys gather to play impromptu soccer games, young women set up nets to play badminton, and old ladies power walk around the rectangular space. Organized exercise, under Lenin’s watchful eyes, is truly a sight to behold. Similarly, in other plazas around the city, Hanoians appear from nowhere, happily working away at their fitness.

Around 6:00am, there is a similar stir in the air, and the same congregational phenomenon occurs. A morning cult of devout exercisers emerges from deep sleep at dawn, again appearing from seemingly nowhere, this time still dressed in their pyjamas, rubbing their eyes, stretching.

Opposite Lenin Park is the Hanoi Tower, which used to demarcate the centre of the city. Next to the Hanoi Tower is the War Museum, which is hard to miss, with a fighter jet parked in front of it.

Amidst these landmarks, the Soviet and Communist influence in this area undeniable. You can just feel it in the air you breathe. Red banners announcing government propaganda line the streets and yellow Christmas lights arranged in the shape of hammers and sickles (which symbolize the industrial proletariat and the peasantry) light up the black sky at night.

As Vietnam undergoes its very own version of “perestroika” through a “Doi Moi” (‘opening up’) process, it will be interesting to see how this area might change in the future.

Will Lenin be holding a Big Mac in one hand and a Starbucks in the other? Or maybe people will be so busy and stressed out at work that the daily organized exercise ritual might one day just disappear? And instead of red banners there will be lighted billboards advertising celebrity Nike ads?

For now, I just chuckle every time I pass by Lenin on my way to work. I'm definitely not in Ottawa by a long shot.