I have been living in Vietnam for three months now. It seems like a lot longer.

The most significant thing to happen in the last month is that I have a girlfriend, thus ending a very very long relationship draught. I guess I don't want to write too much about it here, except to say that she is sweet as can be- she's taken care of me when I've been sick, bought me medicine, cooked dinner for me, brought me fruit, given me massages, etc. It feels great to have someone to take care of you... and even spoil you.

Work has been very demanding during the last month and it will probably continue to be so for the foreseeable future. There are a lot of new projects underway and I will probably have to work on the occasional Saturday or Sunday in order to get things done. I feel like there is a lot of pressure on me at the moment, but I think it will ease up once this transition phase is over.

It's not officially the rainy season yet, but it might as well be. It has rained hard on the last four afternoons. The change in weather has apparently affected me, as I have been down with the flu twice in less than a month.

A motorcycle helmet law is supposed to come into effect on June 1st. I'm curious to see how they will try to enforce it. I also did a bit of reading on the automobile industry in Vietnam. The government has allowed a number of joint ventures to start up in the last ten years, with the end result being that there are now thirteen auto makers fighting for the ridiculously small market of ten to twelve thousand new cars per year. This is because the average salary in Vietnam is around $2,000 to $3,000 per year and most cars sell for over $20,000. This limits the market to foreigners and companies. Most of the car companies are trying to hang on while operating under heavy losses. Vietnam will have an estimated population of 100,000 by the year 2015, so if the economy takes off there will be a large market to satisfy.