Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland grab the gold medal in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games women’s 30km cross country skiing event by edging out Marit Bjoergen of Norway. In a sprint finish to the women’s 30km classical event, Justyna Kowalczyk overtakes Marit Bjoergen after the skiers had entered the stadium for the final time and narrowly edged out her arch rival in a thrilling race to the line although Marit Bjoergen had taken a 1.9-second lead with five kilometers to go. The world champion from Poland in the women’s 30 km mass start classic event completed the race in one hour 30 minutes 33.7 seconds while Norwegian Marit Bjoergen, who was bidding for a fourth gold at the Vancouver Games 2010, clocked a time of one hour 30 minutes 34.0 seconds to win the silver medal in the 30-kilometer classical cross country race in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen of Finland snatched the women’s 30 km bronze medal in Canada with a respectable time of one hour 31 minutes 38.7 seconds.The 2010 gold medalist in the 30km women’s mass start classic repeatedly pumped her arms skywards in relief after completing the energy-sapping and lung-bursting contest. The gold won by Justyna Kowalczyk is Poland’s second ever gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Justyna Kowalczyk, who won the 2010 Vancouver Games silver in the 1.4km sprint and bronze in the 15km pursuit, took early control of a grueling 30km event raced in intermittent drizzle but Marit Bjoergen of Norway took over at the top with just five kilometers remaining. Justyna Kowalczyk was perfectly placed in her slip stream and made her final move with perfect timing as both of them were virtually side by side down the final straightaway in this cross-country skiing competition in Vancouver 2010 Games. The Norwegian was denied a fourth 2010 Winter Games gold as she had already won gold in the 15km pursuit, the individual sprint classic and 4×5km relay in Canada. She has also won a bronze medal in the 10km freestyle. After her triumph, the Pole apologized to the Norwegian after accusing her of cheating in which she had accused her opponent of using asthma medication to fuel her triple gold-medal triumph at the 2010 Winter Vancouver Olympics. Marit Bjoergen’s coach said the medication used by the Norwegian Vancouver 2010 gold medalist was legal and has been approved by both the International Ski Federation and by the World Anti-Doping Agency. What are the full results for the women’s 30 km, mass start classic in the 2010 Vancouver Games? The complete results and rankings for the 30 km classical cross country race are Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland winning the gold, Marit Bjoergen of Norway winning the silver with Aino-Kaisa Saarinen of Finland winning the bronze and then followed to the finish line by Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle of Germany, Masako Ishida of Japan, Charlotte Kalla of Sweden, Therese Johaug of Norway, Kristin Stoermer Steira of Norway, Anna Olsson of Sweden and Karine Laurent Philippot of France.

Apart from the top ten finishers in the women’s 30 km gold in the Vancouver Games, other finishers include Kornelia Marek of Poland, Marianna Longa of Italy, Riikka Sarasoja of Finland, Virpi Kuitunen of Finland, Aurore Cuinet of France, Sara Renner of Canada, Antonella Confortola Wyatt of Italy, Stefanie Boehler of Germany, Oxana Jatskaja of Kazakhstan, Katrin Zeller of Germany, Marthe Kristoffersen of Germany, Tatjana Zavalij of Ukraine, Olga Savialova of the Russian Federation, Kikkan Randall of the United States (USA), Sylwia Jaskowiec of Poland, Krista Lahteenmaki of Finland, Kateryna Grygorenko of Ukraine, Kristina Smigun-Vaehi of Estonia, Paulina Maciuszek of Poland, Olga Rotcheva of the Russian Federation, Madoka Natsumi of Japan, Li Hong Xue of China, Katerina Smutna of Austria, Elena Kolomina of Kazakhstan, Marina Matrossova of Kazakhstan, Holly Brooks of the United States (USA), Laura Orgue of Spain, Olga Schuchkina of the Russian Federation, Alena Sannikova of Belarus, Eva Nyvltova of Czech Republic, Ivana Janeckova of Czech Republic, Tatjana Mannima of Estonia, Svetlana Malahova-Shishkina of Kazakhstan, Lada Nesterenko of Ukraine, Nastassia Dubarezava of Belarus, Madeleine Williams of Canada, Monika Gyorgy of Romania and Eva Skalnikova of Czech Republic. The skiers that did not finish the women’s 30 km classical event are Valentina Shevchenko of Ukraine, Ida Ingemarsdotter of Sweden, Cecile Storti of France, Morgan Arritola of the United States (USA) and Laurence Rochat of Switzerland and those who were disqualified in this women’s 30km classical skiing competition are Sabina Valbusa of Italy and Kamila Rajdlova of Czech Republic.

A Guide To Asia

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Baku, Azerbaijan>, Feb 28, 2010

I stopped writing in my blog over a year ago.  The problem was that my computer stopped working, and it was two months until I could get it fixed and by that time I had lost the habit of writing every day.  Another problem was that living in Davachi was starting to make me very depressed.  I was very, very depressed and drinking way too much.  I didn’t have any real friends in the community, in fact, most of the people didn’t want me there no matter how nice I was, and was having a very hard time.

To finish my Peace Corps story, I moved out of my host family’s house and into an apartment.  This was easily the happiest times I had in Davachi.  My apartment was dirty, poorly constructed and had paint chipping from the walls, but it was mine.  I had a balcony, my own bed, I could cook my own food and best of all I didn’t have to listen to my host family ask me for money every day or tell me what a bad person I was.

It was an interesting morning when I finally left.  I woke up extra early, already having packed my bags the night before.  At 5 AM I slipped out, left the key on the furniture they never let me use, and never went back.  The people I was staying with were not typical Azeris and should not have been hosting a volunteer.  The Peace Corps here in Azerbaijan generally do a terrible time placing people in sites, and do an even worse job finding appropriate host families for volunteers to stay with.  I’ll write another post about some of my misadventures with these people.

I also had people visiting me finally.  This was very important for me because I had always imagined that people would come and see where I lived and experience my community with me.  Sometimes I would have parties, or I would make food with friends.  Some nights I would just sit on my balcony with a couple of friends and have drinks.

Summer came and I started travelling more.  I biked in Kurdemir, hung out in Ujar and spent a lot of time in Quba and Xachmaz.  I went to Besh Barmag again, climbed up to Qala Alta twice and was very active.  I kept busy and did well.

Then, I got kicked out of my apartment.  My landlady wanted to put someone in my apartment with me, without my knowledge and without my consent.  We argued pretty badly over this and soon she kicked me out.  The official reason was that a family was coming to live in the apartment, and she would rather have a family live there than a single American guy.  However, I heard a few months later that it was because I stunk, which is a common Azerbaijani complaint about foreigners.

I spent months trying to find a place to live on my own, and getting kicked out of there was probably what finally made me decide to leave.

I was also pretty sad because a grant I was writing was rejected by the Peace Corps.  I spent weeks on it, and whether or not I blame myself, I obviously wasn’t doing anything useful in the community.  I lost respect at school, and disappointed a lot of people, because the volunteer who was in Davachi before brought money into the community.  It is a shame I couldn’t get the money either, because the program I was going to implement would have helped the community quite a bit.

It was a low point for me and I had to leave.  I made the decision while I was travelling between Georgia and the US.  I went back to Davachi, started getting my things together, said some goodbyes, and then showed up to the main city, Baku, with all of my bags.

To their credit, the Peace Corps staff didn’t try to make me feel any worse about my decision.  They were supportive and helped me with everything I needed.  At first, I was going to travel around, wandering for a while, looking for a job wherever I could.  Then, at the suggestion of a friend, I applied to a school in Baku.  I was expecting to have to do an interview and probably not get a job, but within a half an hour of sending in the application via email I was offered the job by another former Peace Corps Volunteer working there.

Now I’m living in Baku, teaching English at a rich private Azerbaijani school.  I have my own apartment, people visit me, and I have a lot of friends.

*Note: all of my education related blog posts are hosted at onereflectiveteacher.blogspot.com

Baku is an ok city to live in.  There aren’t a lot of healthy things to do to fill an expat’s time, but I have been able to find a lot of really good friends to help me.  I am an active Hasher at the BAH3 (which I’ll explain in another post), I see a lot of people around town and I only drink socially, which is a big change from my time living in Davachi.

I’ll write about Baku and my adventures in other posts.  Stay tuned!

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Bangkok, Thailand>, Jan 28, 2010

In Bangkok we discovered the best way to get around is certain tuk tuk (basically a 3 wheeled golf cart with seats in the back) drivers get commission and free gas for making stops to different tailor shops, travel agencies and temples for only 20 Baht ( about $0.66 a day).  So our driver would take us anywhere we wanted to go as long as every once in whilewe stopped in a tailor shop or travel agency expressing mild interest in purchasing something and then walking out 5 minutes later. this worked really well for us as we literally had the same tuk tuk driver drive us around to temples and where ever we wanted to go for 3 days straight, and 3 days in Bangkok is plenty!  One day we stopped at the Grand Palace which was pretty stunning.  Temples decked in all gold and designed with the tiniest of details, I took a ton of pictures but my memory card messed up a few days later in Koh Tao, might be able to fix it when we get back home.  On our last night in Bangkok we had a few drinks with some Aussies and ended up going to a Ping Pong show, which I am definitely not going to explain on here haha.

In Bangkok we booked a trip to Koh Tao to get our Open Water Scuba Diver Certification, then up to Ayuthaya, Sukhothai, then up far north to Chiang Mai with a jungle trek, then Chiang Rai and then into Laos via slowboat (which definitely didnt end up happening) and ending up in Luang Prabang, Laos.

Dave

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Bangkok, Thailand>, Feb 28, 2010

First days in Bangkok! Arrived around 5.00 am, whithout any sleep in the airplane. But at least there was a kind dutch girl as good compagny and an empty place between us. Flying with Eva air was good, specious places and good food. I only missed a personal tv and some good movies. When I arrived I was lucky enough to check in in the appartments of good friends, so I could sleep for a few hours that morning, trying to recover a bit from the journey. Yesterday in the afternoon and today I have just been relaxing near the swimming pool.. 35 degrees, no clouds and a lot of warming sun! Ofcourse I took yesterday evening for dinner my favorite meal; steamed Seabass for 300 Bath (6 euro) , it’s great to be in Asia again! Today I made some ‘plans’ for tommorow, so maybe then some more interesting pictures then a car in a plane and a fish on a plate. So, this was my first message on my blog. I’m very curious for how long and how many I will write, but if I don’t write I definitely will update the pics!!

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Davachi, Azerbaijan>, Apr 02, 2009

*Note: I wrote this blog entry one year ago, found it on my computer, and am not quite sure when this event happened.  I’m guessing early to mid April, but at this point I have no idea.

This is a story about Elvin.  Elvin is a young boy in the fifth forum who is known as a ‘lazy’ student.  When I came to my town at first, he was relegated to the back of the classroom and allowed to stare off into space or play with his pencil, never becoming a part of the classroom.  Occasionally he would try, but since he was a lazy student, the teachers had no real hope for him.

It was surprising to all of us when we found out that Elvin understood almost everything I was saying.  I noticed small things at first.  Whenever I would give instructions, the ’smarter’ kids (who I love completely, this story is not meant to say that they are bad) rarely understood what I was saying the first time around.  While I was helping those students, Elvin would already be getting ready to work on what I asked the class to do.

Soon he was translating everything I said to the rest of the class.  I would ask “How is the weather class?” and he would tell them “he just asked what the weather was like” in Azeri.  Or I’d say “Please take out your homework,” and he would show his notebook to his classmates and say “homework, in here.”

That was, of course, when he remembered to bring his notebook, or do his homework.  Elvin is a really good listener, but he doesn’t have the patience or even the ability to do homework like the other students do.  He is naturally good at reading body language and making connections with the things he hears.

In other words, he will be a natural language learner if he ever gets the opportunity to travel.

Another thing I do at this school, besides help teach English, is I teach pedagogy to the teachers.  One day we were talking about Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences theory.  I won’t bother you with the details, other than it basically says that every student learns differently.  They didn’t quite understand how one student could learn differently than another student.  They couldn’t grasp, at this point, anything beyond a “one size fits all” teaching mentality.

I was frustrated, so were they.  Frequently I would come up against a wall in the pedagogy class.  The problem was that Western style teaching methods and Soviet era teaching methods do not go hand in hand.  Add to the problem the fact that the teachers were afraid that the government’s Ministry of Education would come by and see that they were teaching things that weren’t straight out of the book, and it seemed to be impossible to teach anything new, let alone change or model any non-productive language learning methodology.

This time was different, I had the perfect example to show them.

 I said “Ok, do you ever notice how Elvin understands everything I say.  Do you notice how he is usually translating what I say to the smarter students in class?”  My counterpart nodded.  “How can a ‘lazy’ student understand me better than the ’smart’ students?  Is Elvin a ‘lazy’ student or,” I continued, “is he a good listener?”

My counterpart’s eyes lit up.  The example worked and she and the other teachers understood.  It wasn’t that they were pretending either, their faces literally changed and it made perfect sense.  The idea that a student isn’t just ‘lazy,’ but that they might learn differently, and require a bit of different instruction from the teacher, now suddenly made perfect sense.  The rest of that class we all worked on methods in which we could teach our ‘lazy’ students so that they could be as effective as the smarter students.  The teachers actually came up with many wonderful ideas and the day was an absolute success.

The greatest thing about all of this is that not one more time did I hear my counterpart refer to Elvin as a lazy student.  Instead, she just talked to him more.

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Luang Prabang, Laos>, Feb 28, 2010

North from Vang Vieng to the old royal capital, Luang Prabang. The VIP (!!) bus took us for 7 hours along 250km of winding mountain road, initially past fields of cabbages, then through poor villages hugging the hillsides - you just wondered how the people made any sort of living.

Luang Prabang is very attractive. It’s a “World Heritage” city and has been well restored in recent yeras. There are several lovely Wats, finely decorated and lots of young monks in saffron robes wander around. Hilary helped a small group with their English homework. At dawn each day, hundreds of monks walk silently in single file along the main street to receive alms - sticky rice and veg, that they put into their begging bowls. Locals, mainly women, kneel to present the alms, for better karma for them and their family. Some tourists, mostly looking ill at ease, do likewise. It’s quite a sight.

The Royal Palace - now the National Museum - gave some indication of the life of the royal family, overthrown after around 650 years of rule in Laos, as the communists assumed power in 1975. Apparently the new regime sent the king, queen and crown prince to work in the country where they died in still unexplained circumstances.

As a heritage tourist town, Luang Prabang is very different from Vang Vieng. Traffic is restricted in the old town. There are upmarket art and textile shops, and a huge evening handicraft market. There are pleasant cafes and open air restaurants overlooking the Meking and Nam Khon rivers. It’s all very appealing to middle aged westerners, and is, you might say, Laos lite.

But on the narrow street outside our guesthouse, the morning produce market traders gather at dawn and pack up at about 9.30. There’s all the usual stuff - fresh veg and fruit, herbs, fly-blown meat and fish, but lots of unusual (at least to us) stuff too. Types of bark, funny green shoots, banana flowers, grubs, frogs, insects, squirrels, snakes and live hens. The produce is laid out on the street and sold by women squatting behind. Locals pick and poke and test and bargain before buying. The market oficer walks down the street collecting the market fees. So maybe, a touch of the real Laos here too.

Next stage- ,Lao Airlines back to Vientiane to avoid a 10 hour bus journey; then Air Asia on to Kuala Lumpur, presumably to a real culture change.

PS. In our Luang Prabang guesthouse was a copy of the Police Department Rules for local accommodation. Three rules read (sic)

Rule 5: Do not any drugs, crambling, or bring both women and men which is not your own husband or wife into the room for making love.

Rule 6: Do not allow domestic and international tourists bring prostate and others into your accommodation to make sex movies in our room. It is restriction.

Rule 11: If you do not follow this accomodation regulations you will be fight based on Lao PDR law.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Koh Phi Phi, Thailand>, Feb 12, 2010

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Day three began with a surprise. I jumped out of bed pulled
on swimming shorts and headed for the sea. After a few strokes I was aware that
every time I pulled my arms back I seemed to get a handful of what felt like
grape seeds. Treading water to investigate, I found that I appeared to be
swimming in a sea of tapioca ! The water was just full of little jelly like
cylinders, about an inch long, and half an inch wide, and with a little black
bit in the middle !   YIKES !!  I swam to the left, to the right, closer to
shore and further out to sea. There was no escape. The sea was just absolutely
full of them….millions…probably billions. It was around seven a.m. and not
another soul in the water. Slightly un-nerved I headed back to the shore where
I found the sand full of these little things, some pulsing away like little
hearts and others totally lifeless. Looking back at the sea I could now see
that it had become very slightly milky, not the crystal clear that it normally
is.

After a longer than normal shower we headed off to
breakfast, passing the dive centre where we bumped into Suwit, who has worked
here for as long as we have been visiting. Hey Suwit, what’s happened to the
sea?

As yes John, this happens every year, once a year. Don’t
worry they are harmless baby squid. They will all be gone in two days. And they
were.

In all the trips we’ve made to this island I’ve never seen
anything like it, nor even heard of it. But apparently it happens every year,
sometime in January or February.

Completely harmless, but it is quite unpleasant swimming
with them. I tried a few times but just didn’t like the feel of them.

So with the sea being like that, to-day was a good day to
visit Tonsai Village. We hired a longtail and driver from
the gypsy village and made our way round the northern headland, passing Lanah Bay, Nui Bay, Monkey Beach
and right in to Loh
Dalhum Bay.
We had to paddle the last twenty or thirty yards to reach the beach.

Coming in to the bay, it was very clear that new building
has been progressing at a pace very untypical of Phi Phi. Lots of concrete,
which is understandable, but for the first time since the start of the
post-tsunami re-build, I felt that Tonsai
Village has become a
different place.

Absolutely full of backpackers and day-trippers and even
during the day….too much loud music. Not our thing at all. We spent two or
three hours there, doing a bit of shopping, checking out a couple of the new
hotels and of course, we always visit the Tsunami Memorial Garden which I’m
delighted to say, is still being beautifully maintained.

For our return longtail trip, we left from the Tonsai Bay
side and travelled back up the east coast, passing Long Beach, Rantee Bay and
Loh Bakao Bay.

Just in time for us to wander up to the viewpoint at H.I.
for a couple of cocktails whilst watching the sunset.

For dinner we again sat barefoot in sand, but this time at
Sawadee Restaurant, which is adjacent to Zeavola. More lovely fresh seafood…….Thai
style…..fab.

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Wushan, China>, May 10, 2009

The loudspeakers began playing the mind numbing music and then the announcement in both Mandarin and English that it was time for breakfast finally roused me from my slumber.  I jumped into a lukewarm shower (which was better than some of the other showers from what I heard) before heading down to eat.  After breakfast it was up to sit and enjoy the scenery as we completed the journey through Wu Gorge.

Again the scenery was dramatic but it was another hazy day in China as evidenced in the pictures.  It was a lazy morning though until we reached Wushan for the Lesser and Mini Three Gorges Tour.  In Wushan we were transferred to a smaller ferry for a trip up the Daning River a tributary of the Yangtze through the Lesser Three Gorges.  Wushan is an interesting city as the entire city was essentially rebuilt and resettled with the rising water levels behind the Three Gorges Dam.

Heading upriver I learned that we were passing through Dragon-Gate Gorge, Misty Gorge, and Emerald Gorge.  The scenery here was perhaps more amazing than on the Yangtze but even more difficult to get a good photograph that provided context.  It was travelling through these gorges that we saw the hanging coffins of the ancient Bo cultural group.  Instead of burial, they placed the remains of the deceased in wooden coffins and placed them in/on the cliffs of the region.  Many have been been looted over the centuries but some still remain and are now protected by the Chinese government.

At the end of Emerald Gorge we changed boat one more time to a small long tail sized boat to motor up the Madu River and the Mini Three Gorges.  The tourism agencies have this down to a science as they segregate the groups by language onto the small boats and you head upstream for a short distance.  This gorge is tight compared to the wide expanse of the Yangtze - and made even tighter by the longtail traffic traversing up and down the river.  It would have been really cool to be back here with just a few people but that’s obviously not an option now.  Oh well. 

We got to the whole trip in reverse after turning around on the Madu.  We had a tour guide to discuss some of the particulars of the region on the Lesser Three Gorges.  One thing that was interesting in the discussion was the effect that the dam was having on the region.  As someone younger she said that while she was inconvenienced by having to relocate she was OK and understood the reasoning behind the dam being constructed.  She claimed that the older generation was less forthcoming about the relocation and ebing forced from homes they had possibly lived in for years and may have been in the family for generations.  That and it was harder for them to start over to an extent at that point in life.  All in all she was quite open and candid in her discussion.

Back at the main boat in Wushan it was time for a late lunch as we departed Wushan.  A brief stop was held for those visiting Baidu Town which I skipped before enterting Qutang Gorge.  Some more fantastic views but clouds had rolled in again and I was never happy with any of the photos I took here.

Dinner came and went and then it was the final evening talent show with the crew and some parlor games and more karaoke.  It was a scary evening to say the least but fun as well.  A final round of drinks in the early morning hours ended the day and I headed to bed to prepare for the next leg of the journey on the morrow.

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Hoang Thanh Tra quit her job at a call center last week, complaining that her employers had withheld VND800,000 in pay that was rightfully hers.

Call center agents working at a mobile network facility in Ho Chi Minh City.

Tra said she had been promised a monthly salary of VND1.4 million (US$78) for the first month and higher rates in the following months.

However, her pay was cut by VND300,000 as a “deposit” to the company and another VND500,000 for three days in which she was absent.

According to Tra, she had been absent on one of the occasions because she had rushed to the hospital with a sudden genital hemorrhage and returned with a doctor’s note confirming the episode. But a manager refused to accept the excuse.

A growing number of call center agents recruited and employed by private companies to work for major mobile networks have quit their jobs recently after their companies refused to pay them salaries previously agreed to.

Deposits to nowhere

Linh, a call center agent at Mat Troi Company in HCMC, was one such employee. Her company withheld a “deposit” of VND300,000 from her salary each month for her first three months of employment.

She was also told she would be fined an additional VND200,000 if her performance was poor.

Nguyen Thi Bach Tuyet, who worked at a call center at Niem Tin Viet Company, also quit her job on Monday. She lost her “deposit” of VND500,000 and her pay for the last two weeks of work. She said she only worked that long because she was waiting for September’s salary, which was paid on Monday, one and a half months late.

But worse, she had to pay an additional VND1 million to retrieve the original copy of her college degree the company had required upon hiring her.

Mass recruitments

Nguyen Duy Luat, head of the personnel section at the Diamond Media Joint Stock Company branch in HCMC, said he recruited around 50 new call center agents each month to fill empty places left by employees who quit.

The company currently employs some 800 call center agents to work for Viettel, both at the call center’s office and on site at the telecom company’s office.

Doan Quang Sang, chairman of Niem Tin Viet Company, said about 60 percent of the firm’s call center agents quit their jobs every year.

He said the company continuously recruited new employees to fill in the empty places because it had been contracted to supply a fixed number of call center agents for several networks, including VinaPhone, Viettel and EVN telcos.

But he denied that the company had withheld money from workers.

Contracts not worth paper they’re written on

Sang also admitted his company had yet to obtain a business license from the city’s Department of Investment and Planning.

“We‘re actually licensed as a postal agent,” he said, adding that the company had been in the call center line of work for about five or six years.

Attorney Nguyen Van Hau from the HCMC Bar Association said his office was aware of call centers that were violating the Labor Law by extorting employees in various ways.

“We have to ring the alarm bell to prevent other unemployed people from becoming victims of these companies,” he said, adding that the call centers were an easy trap as many had lost their jobs due to the global economic crisis this last year.

“It is illegal to force workers to pay VND1 million when they quit without permission. Such compensation must be calculated on the monthly salary and can legally be no more than half of a month’s salary,” he said.

He also said Niem Tin Viet Company had violated labor laws by failing to follow the legal labor contract form and tacking-on gratuitous clauses to contracts.

Hau also said it was illegal for the company to pay salaries late without paying interest.

He has said labor laws ban the docking of pay as punishment and stipulate that any deductions for other reasons can only be implemented after a discussion between the worker and the local labor union.

Such deductions cannot be more than 30 percent of the monthly salary, he said, adding that workers could file a lawsuit at the district court against companies that violate these rules.

On the case

Nguyen Quoc Viet, deputy inspector at the municipal Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, said there was a strict form that all labor contracts must take and that deviations from it were illegal.

He also said workers should only have to deposit money with the company if they are handed valuable properties for use outside the company.

“We will inspect these [call center] companies to uncover violations,” he told Thanh Nien Weekly. He said this was the first time he had heard of the problem.
He said it could be difficult to handle all violations due to limited personnel.

“We have only about 20 inspectors in the field while there are more than 200,000 companies in the city.”

VietNamNet/Thanh Nien

Related posts:

1. Firms fear workers won’t come back
2. Enterprises struggling to find blue-collar workers
3. Taiwan firm’s boss disappears without paying workers salary

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Nga’s husband helps her to check data at night.

Different from the hectic atmosphere of main town, the station is quiet and isolated. For many years, however, it has been the sweet home of three women who have devoted their youths doing work that to some, may sound simple: collecting data on wind, rain and sunshine.

The road to the weather station is not as savage and tortuous as it used to be but to many people, the steep concrete road is still a big challenge.

Walking up the slope, people will see an abandoned house. Next to this house is the Sa Pa weather forecast station, work place and home to the only the three women.

This is meteorological station in the country only with female employees.

The eldest woman is called Le Thi Lien. She has worked at the station for more than 20 years. Meanwhile, the youngest whose name is To Thi Hoi has also devoted much of her youth to the station and is now 20. Inbetween the two, Dao Thanh Nga makes up the third member of the team.

Their work sounds simple. Everyday, they have to collect data about the weather from machines and then send it to the Viet Bac hydro-meteorological forecasting station.

However, only by living with them for a whole day can we recognise how hard their work is.

Every day they have to check the data four times: 1am, 7am, 1pm and 7pm come rain or shine, night or day, summer or winter. The checking time has to be absolutely exact in accordance with regulations set by the international hydro-meteorological forecasting sector.

If there is a mistake, it could kill hundreds of people. They only have a short space of time to carry out their work. For example, to gather information about the sun, they have only 30 seconds. If they take longer, the data will be inaccurate.
 
In total they have 15 minutes to collate the information and send it on to the Viet Bac hydro-meteorological forecasting station. If they are late by only a minute, they will be punished.

The hydro-meteorological forecasting sector may be one of the strictest. And operates a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy. The first time they miss their deadline, they will be warned. The second time, they will be punished and if they fail a third time, they will be fired.

Surprisingly for their jobs, the one thing that scares them the most is the weather.

“Although we’ve worked in the sector for a long time the thing that we are afraid of most is the weather, especially when it snows in the winter,” said Lien.

Every night, they have to walk through the dark yard to retrieve data from the machines, even in the freezing winter.

Sometimes, the wind is strong enough to bring down a lamp-post, but they still have to go out. The beam of their flashlight is the only light in the yard so it is not uncommon for them to fall at night.

Unforgettable memories

During their time working at the station, these three women have collected many memories that they will never forget.

The story that they all agree is the most interesting, belongs to Hoi.

One night, her shift fell on Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival. Everybody had gone home and she had to stay at the station alone.

It was about 2 degrees below zero. However, as usual, she went out to the yard to take readings, she recalled.

Suddenly, she saw two small blue lights. Her body immediately froze. She wanted to run but she could not, she said, adding that as she was about to faint, the two lights flew away and she recognised that they were the eyes of an owl.

Lien’s story is also a strange one. She was one of the few people to refuse a promotion.

At the end of 90s she was promoted to head of the station. She cried and refused as she would not have been able to take care of her family.

Nga volunteered to go to Sapa meteorological station right after graduating from university. However, after one month all she could do was she cry all day because she felt homesick.

Sometimes, I felt like the world had forgotten me, she said.

To overcome the challenge, she walked 2km every day to town.

“I did not know anyone in the town but I was so happy to meet people. When I saw a friendly face, I would start a conversation,” she said.

And, to alleviate the sadness, she started to sell fried sweet potatoes and chestnuts in the town.

On one occasion, she was so engrossed in conversation she lost track of time. Realising she was going to be late for a reading, she was forced to leave her wares and rush back to the station. Unluckily, when she returned back, everything was stolen.

Tough life

The three women all have different personalities but the one thing they do all have in common is that they live in difficult conditions.

Nga is now pregnant but none of the steep roads prevent her from walking.

Even when she is not on duty, Nga goes to the town to sell fried sweet potatoes and chestnuts to tourists.

Her wage of about VND1.6 million (US$90) is not enough for her to feed her family.

However, Nga is luckier than Hoi because she still receives support from her family.

Hoi’s family live in a mountainous district in Yen Bai Province. After she moved to Sapa, she met and married a carpenter. They have no land, no property and no relatives in Sapa.

Since they have nowhere else to live, Lien allows them to live in a room at the station.

To earn more money, she cultivates a small plot of land at the station. However, she does not earn much money because her small salary is not enough to buy seeds.

Like Hoi, Lien used to sell vegetables to make more money. She has no chance to cook breakfast for her children and her husband because she has to go to the station before the sun rises.

Seeing their life and witnessing their work, people can easily understand why many graduates quit their career after they finish university.

Not many people can love and live with a career in which the wage is inversely proportional to responsibility.

However, when asked if they would leave for another career, all three say no. They are still here and making all the effort to bring useful data to life.

VietNamNet/Vietnam News

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