Clean Sweep

Part of my rent includes a cleaner three times/week.  In the lease I nominated Monday, Wednesday and Friday as my cleaning days.

This means that every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning I have a mad scramble to clean up before leaving for work: making the bed, putting rubbish in the bin, washing up etc.

During my apartment hunt I looked through many "occupied" apartments in Hanoi. This was often while they were being cleaned. I was amazed at how messy they were, with shit everywhere and caps off things and food out and clothes strewn everywhere. 

Around the same time, I read a blog about how lazy and lordy the foreigners become with the maid service. I'm not that type of foreigner. I'm the type of foreigner who doesn't know how to negotiate his lease. And now needs to manipulate the maids to fill the gaps.

So I'm now trying to manipulate my cleaners into doing more for me, via a carefully crafted exercise in reverse psychology. And it's working.

Compared to the Filthy Potato apartments I saw previously, I am a saint. I want there to be so little for them to do in the apartment, that they are compelled to do other things. On average, they would have 1-2 hours cleaning in the other apartments and in mine there would be 10 mins.

Last weekend I generated (and binned) a lot of rubbish and my bin was overflowing. 

On Monday I came home to find an extra bin in the kitchen. They also found some leftover baguette that was on a plate and delicately balanced it across two glasses. I don't know what it meant, but it was considered so I liked it.

I have been using a shelf in my wardrobe to keep dirty clothes. I don't know how to use the washing machine so the pile is growing.

On Wednesday a lovely green laundry clothes basket was left in the bathroom. No written warnings or letters for me to sign. Just new stuff provided by those with the real power in the building.

I eventually found the user manuals, in German only, and attempted to do a load of towels. I couldn't work it out so left the towels in the washing machine and the powder next to the machine.

On Friday morning during my clean up, I raised the stakes. I took out clean dishes and cutlery and piled them up on the sink as if I'd washed them myself. I am doing my bit.

I arrived home to find towels washed, dried and folded. There were also flowers in the vase. And there was an apple resting on the manuals for the washing machine, keeping them open at the right page.  I don't know what it means, but I am beginning to like these fairies.

My next step is to keep the apartment SUPER clean over the weekend. But I won't do my washing. I will leave the lovely green basket sitting neatly beside to the washing machine full of clothes.

If this works, the iron and the ironing board out are coming out by Friday at the latest.

When I get them into the full swing of executing a total care and maintenance framework--and only then--I will start to crank up the mess.