Hanoi - hot and humid

So here I am, in Hanoi. After another delayed flight I arrived Wednesday night and was picked up at the airport and taken to my hotel.
I've spent the last couple of days walking around town, mainly the old city, soaking in all the impressions of this beautiful, but hectic city. I don't understand the traffic and I'm dead scared each time I try to cross a street with scooters coming towards me from every direction. Somehow I don' remember this being a problem from the last time I was here - I must have blocked it out.
On Monday the new embassy trainee team move into our new house. I'm looking forward to unpacking all my stuff and hopefully I'll come to think of the house as a home.
Tuesday is my first day at work and I still don't really know what my tasks will be, but I'm excited to finally start : )

When I was here in 2003 it was right after the city reopend after SARS and I suppose the lack of tourists for quite some time had made everyone more aggressive in the hunt for money. I felt rather uncomfortable being pulled in different directions by people trying to sell stuff and when I left Vietnam for Laos I was fed up with being scammed and had no wish of ever returning to this coutry.
This time around there seem to be fewer tourists than last time, but people don't seem nearly as aggressive. Although they still shout at me to get on their moto or cyclo, or pull my arm to make me buy whatever item they're selling, they aren't as persistant as they were the last time around. I suppsose the economic development combined with a steady tourist flow have helped.

So far I like being in Hanoi again, but somehow I don't think I've realized that this is where I'll be till February.