Job Discussion Forums

[eecurzio]

Hello all!

I am thinking very seriously of moving to Hanoi in the near future (probably before the end of the year) to get my CELTA certification and to teach English. (I have a bachelor's degree.) I have spent many hours researching the subject, both on this site and many others. I have heard many of the positives and negatives about being an ex-pat (in Hanoi in particular), the current job market, etc.

There is one subject for which I have yet to come up with much of anything in the way of concrete information, so I thought I would finally just post and ask. In reading through a few different blogs (both by those who have lived in Hanoi and those who have travelled there), I have read of a few people having encounters in their home with significantly sized spiders (ranging from the size of a coaster to even larger). Here's an example of one such encounter (including a large picture): http://aliceinvietnamland.blogspot.com/2010/07/little-miss-muffeti-am-idiotlhopital.html
Is this a common experience? How common are large to very large spiders in the city of Hanoi itself? Do you find them in your homes often or at all? I could probably deal just fine with the occasional, smaller spider (I'm talking like an inch or smaller). I would just like to know whether this is something I should just take as a general experience or whether it is avoidable.

Also, to a lesser degree I am wondering about cockroaches. I know that every city has them, so I certainly don't expect Hanoi to be any different (I know that it certainly does have cockroaches). But is having them in my apartment a guarantee? Are there going to be cockroaches and spiders in my apartment no matter where I live? Or is Hanoi also like any other city in that it is a matter of choosing the right apartment to minimize or eliminate this problem?

Thank you so much to anyone who can comment! For those of you--if you exist--who have not had any spider problems: could you tell me what part of town is good to live in or who might be a good person to rent from, or even just what might be the best characteristics to look for in a potential apartment (i.e. does being on a higher floor make any difference, etc.). Thanks again to anyone who can help. I would appreciate hearing from as many people as possible (even just a short answer).

[deessell2]

Vietnam is one country where I have had a lot of spiders in my homes. They were only garden spiders but they were the size of side plates. I will say that I got quite good at killing them with brooms and that my fear of spiders diminished.

Live in a high-rise apartment and there will be less chance of home invasion.

[mark_in_saigon]

as opposed to old grungy houses, most pests are less of a problem. What you seem to get anywhere is ants and the little lizards. You can get very used to the lizards, they may be a good thing eating various insects. The ants are worse or better depending on how clean you keep it. Actually, I have a theory that in the big cities, some insects are not able to survive due to the air pollution, there should certainly be more flies on all this meat hanging around at room temperature. Cockroaches survive, but are not a plentiful as you would expect. Rats seem to have good numbers, and no one really controls them that I can see. I never saw spiders in my place in the north, but it was not an open decaying house, it was more along the lines of an apartment. It was also about 3 floors up, but very close to nature, lots of water and fields around, not in the center of Ha Noi.

[eecurzio]

Thank you both for your replies! I could definitely deal with ants and lizards...I have had to deal with both before.

Anyone else? It would really help me out to hear from just a few more people, to give me a better sense of the trend.

[Harriyot]

Oh my gosh! I've just read your post (I'm too chicken to click on the picture link) and it never occurred to me that the *creatures* might be huge! I am going to HCMC to teach English soon.

Oh my! I think perhaps some super-duper strength bug spray and a lot of shrieking might be the only way forward.

Good luck in Hanoi, fellow Arachnophobe!

[I'm With Stupid]

Can't say I've really noticed many spiders in HCMC. It seems like the lizards do their job in the house instead.

[tonyjones01]

I can't speak of Ha Noi but in HCM I haven't seen many spiders, and I've lived here on and off of 9 years. But I can say there are tons of cockroaches and rats. To me the cockroaches are the biggest problem.

I've had cockroaches craw up my leg at restaurants and wake me at night (by crawing on my face and legs) more times than I can count. I've lived and every type of accommodation available and they all had them. But never noticed too many spiders, I think the geckos take care of most of them.

[Harriyot]

Oh how horrible! Cockroaches! I can cope with cockroaches much better than *other things* (can't even name them - how pathetic). Super strength bug spray and something big to squash them with? Will that do?

[wayne1523]

[generalgiap]

I have lived in HCMC for about 20 years and have lived in many different houses apts, etc. If you clean your house, wash the dishes etc , you will not have a serious issue concerning cockroaches. Spiders are not that common, ants can be an issue depending on where you keep your food etc, there are always a few geckos in every house. Whenever I move into a new house, I spray ant spray where the wall meets the floor around each room. If you do this once a month,it will get rid of the cockroaches. In addition, spray the area under each door which opens to the outside.

I have never had a cockroach crawl on my body on my bed.

Anyone who has cockroaches crawling over their face and body may want to stop eating on their bed, keeping food under the covers for midnight snacks, wash their dishes once a month, wash the floors once a year, basically stop living like a PIG!
Please PM me for a cheap maid and that will take care of the problem.


There are also cockroaches that are the size of rats in HCMC. I once saw a cockroach eat a rat. LOL-welcome to daves.

[Harriyot]

[Belgrove]

[swshiner]

I'm empathically laughing...

This is my first post on the wonderfully inspiring ESL Cafe. I had been blithely planning a return to Asia, hopefully to teach English, for some time when - in a moment of reverie - my mind screamed "Roaches!"

My parents moved our family to Asia when I was 4-years-old (not Vietnam and I'm afraid that if I say the name of the subtropical island where we lived the "this-country-only-in-this-forum-Nazi" will delete my post). One of my earliest memories is of late-night shrew hunts my dad orchestrated with other men in our neighborhood. They cornered them, beat them with baseball bats, and put them out of their misery by goring them with sharpened stakes of bamboo (where was PETA when these poor creatures needed them).

Other memories: waking up and hearing my parents whisper to lie very still while they removed a large venomous spider (red back) that was clinging to the inside of my mosquito net; stepping on centipedes and having them expand to over a foot in length and curl back up over your shoe; "helping" my dad collect tarantulas to send to an entomologist at the University of Arizona; listening to hundreds of cockroaches ping against the window of the bedroom I shared with my little sister; waking up at night in that same bedroom with a roach crawling in my hair, jumping off the top bunk, and screaming for her to remove it (she still hasn't forgiven me); waking up on countless occasions with roaches crawling on some other part of my body; just the sheer size of the roaches (I mean...I was almost ready to believe in the roach-eating-rat), etc., etc.

But here's the thing. This was in the 1950's and '60's. The roaches were really bad in that particular house because it was situated next to a hotel with very poor sewage - a breeding ground for roaches. Though we had roaches in other homes that we lived in, that was my only experience of truly feeling terrorized by roaches.

I now know that the greatest hurdle that I'll face in returning to Asia and attempting to find a job as an EFL instructor is not the roaches, but my advanced age...and, yes, like almost every other older person who's posted on the ESL Cafe I look, act, and feel 10 years younger than I am (61 in February). So, if I do find a country that is willing to trade experience and education for youth, I'll jump on it no matter what kind of insects I'll have to endure. Another poster suggested Vietnam...