Why are you in Vietnam?

While serving in the US Navy back in 72, we often pulled into port at Subic Bay, Philippines and so in 2007 I returned to PI and in 2009 made a great leap of faith to venture forth to "somewhere" Southeast Asia. First I went to Hong Kong, then Thailand for 3 months. Upon repeated Visa runs to Myanmar, a re-emerging theme was that other expats in Thailand kept encouraging me; "you should go to Vietnam. The people are friendly, cost of living is cheap and if you want, you can teach English." So I thought...Vietnam??? Did the research online and listened to what other expats were saying about living here and decided to "escape" from Thailand and head for Vietnam. The rest is history. I have never been happier. Never was it my intention to come here initially....upon my arrival, serendipity embraced me and I consider myself very fortunate and grateful to be right here, right now.

I just missed my return flight (on purpose) over 6 years ago from a single week of holiday here in Vietnam.

although i am not an xpat i have fallen in love with the people and the country, my life here in Australia isnt particulary good or bad ,my family is disfunctional, and in many ways the VN standards appeal to me( just an ong gai)my wife left 11 years ago and i feel disalusioned with ausie women( not thier fault) so i have been doing some reccon work to see where id like to live ,I cant get work there with my quals but I can certainly volunteer (more to follow)

I had retired, and having been in some 62 countries was always drawn to the ways in other countries. I first live in Mexico as an Expat and loved it. Yet I decide I would base myself inThailand and travel S.E. Asia for 5 years or so. Had read an article on how nice Nha Trang was so decide to stop over and do a little R&R there before going on to Thailand. Well, like many, I fell in love with the country, it's way of life and how the way they valued family. Then I fell in love with the ladies and the rest is history. So far it is the best thing I've ever done. Ancient thanks for the thread, interesting

Landed In VN because Australia was too expensive to retire in.
Thought about Thailand and had a look but when I got to VN I decided this was it.
Good climate, cheap to live, relaxing and the people are friendly...don't need much more

I retired at 44 years of age in Australia due to a major back problem. Having dealt with many Vietnamese in Australia I thought a trip here would be interesting. My first trip was in 2005, while travelling around for 3 months I thought that this is a much more relaxed way of living,minus the traffic. When someone told me I was fat, I thought now that is refreshing, people actually say how they think and feel. Back home if you call someone fat they would possibly sue you or have a nervous breakdown. I hate PC twats, so living in Viet Nam suits me just fine.

Your comments on the frankness here in VN, I too found refreshing.At first it was shocking I like it. I find the locals much more comfortable in their skin, so to speak than the vain in the West with all their cosmetic surgery needs etc. Don't want to get off topic, but I had almost forgotten about the point you bring up, that attacked me as well.

Will be in Vietnam 2 months from now but I first visited Vietnam in 2002. Love at first sight. I openly declared I wanted to live in Vietnam even though I just graduated 3 years ago as a computer techie.

Now 35 years old I'm basically retiring to Vietnam. More bang for the Canadian dollar. Great family atmosphere. Eating dinner together as a family is taken pretty serious and I like that. Speaking of family you pretty much see them everyday unlike here it's once every other weekend, months or Christmas. Very festive when a huge family get together to eat and sing.

The lifestyle seems to fit my lifestyle. Laid back, slow pace. They sleep twice a day; afternoon after lunch and at night.

People speak their mind. I get blasted every time I do that here in Canada.

The convenience of getting to places. I love motorbikes and being able to just hop on one and get to some place quickly and not worry about parking too.

And speaking of convenience how can anyone leave out the mother of all. FOOD! Man good variety of fresh food everyday at dirt cheap prices. No need to scrimp. Eat as much as my belly can hold.

And there's a lot more reason but that's all I will say for now.

Oh yeah nice warm weather. No snow and minus 40 degree celsius to worry about. I love wearing sandals. I hate wearing socks.

I'm here studying for my Ph.D.  Recently I successfully defended my dissertation in front of a panel of judges in the resort city of Nha Trang.  The head judge was so impressed by my research that he granted me the Ph.D. title right there. 

Solo1 wrote:

johnnywastaken wrote:

Tran Hung Dao.... is there anything you don't know...?

He has a Doctorate in "Google Search"!!

Now I'm just waiting for him to buy me the degree. 

I landed in Vietnam in January 1968 and was sent out to Special Forces Team A-502at Dien Khanh, one of a handful of American advisors to 1,500 Vietnamese (and some Raglai) troops. It was immediate total immersion. My first night on the Team, they sent me out on an ambush with one other American up the valley above My Loc. Moving to our ambush site, we got ambushed. Neither Brandon nor myself spoke Vietnamese. Needless to say it was a culture shock for me. We had the numbers and our ambushers had triggered their ambush a mite early, so they withdrew with no casualties on either side. I wanted to ford the Song Cai river and give chase, but Brandon nixed that idea. He had a suspicion that the first ambush was meant to draw us into a larger ambush across the river. So I spent the rest of the night slapping mosquitoes and staring around dried rice paddies in complete awe of everything around me.

That was my introduction to Vietnam, and I quickly fell in love with it. Through our interpreters, many college educated, I heard lots of Vietnamese history and family stories. I started learning Vietnamese, but in late May 1968 I transferred up to the Pleiku MIKE Force, consisting of 2,000 Montagnards. I found Ede and Jarai far easier to learn than Vietnamese and naturally started learning their tribal histories as well.

Our Vietnamese commander in Pleiku was from the Ton That branch of the royal family. Working in the headquarters, I got to know him very well, and it whetted my interest in learning about the Nguyen Warlords and the dynasty they founded. Since I speak and read French, I found quite a bit on it in the EFEO (French School of the Far East) archives. These days it's far easier and both Singapore and Australia's national universities have published much of value on Vietnam, thanks to scholars like Li Tana.

I married a real country girl from the Delta. Her first trip back was in 1988. After taking a job in Korea in 2001, I started travelling back with her. I'd go once or twice a year, and she'd go two or three times every year. Flights were cheap and at six hours an easy flight. We've seen much of North, Central, and South Vietnam with her family, sometimes as many as 14. There's always something new to discover in Vietnam.

One point: Many here describe Vietnamese life as being laid back. It may be that for people with fixed incomes, but for the Vietnamese living in Vietnam is a daily struggle. People in the country rise very early and go to bed early. And work is seven days a week, except when Tet rolls around, and many people in the cities must rise early to get to work or their stalls in time to get a good start on the day.

Isn't the post about the here and now e.g ARE not WERE? Heck a great deal of expat discovered VN via the war and now enjoy VN from their couches in far away countries.

One point: Many here describe Vietnamese life as being laid back. It may be that for people with fixed incomes, but for the Vietnamese living in Vietnam is a daily struggle. People in the country rise very early and go to bed early. And work is seven days a week, except when Tet rolls around, and many people in the cities must rise early to get to work or their stalls in time to get a good start on the day.

Good point...

I love this thread. I will soon be a expat ( in 3mths). My wife and I visited Vietnam about 3yrs ago and loved everything about it, the food , the people, the relaxed lifestyle and lack of rules.  We are in a great place in our lives but think we are cruising though life without putting something back. As we don't need to work we are planning to do charity work and hopefully start a "Keep Vietnam Beautiful" school based scheme.  I hope to catch up with as many people in hoi an and Danang as possible.

Isn't the post about the here and now e.g ARE not WERE? Heck a great deal of expat discovered VN via the war and now enjoy VN from their couches in far away countries.

OK, wait until January-February and it will be 'are'. As for the great deal of expats who discovered Vn via the war, less than half the expats I hear claim did so actually did. And taking into account the younger expats, who outnumber us, that 'great deal' gets reduced even further. Besides, I believe my post addressed the 'Why' adequately.

lirelou,
  Great, then you can address the operative word in a more educated fashion. It seems as if you do not fully understand some English words. Did you have some sort of ghetto upbringing or are you simply a poor reader?

I understand from reading previous blogs ,that there is always some one who will want to attack or deride others with sarcasm , in general, the rest of us who want a decent conversation just wish these people would go away preferable the quicker the better STICK TO THE TOPIC PLEASE.

Mark,
  Could not agree with you more. I only addresses the person the way in which I did because his denigrating remarks toward me. Apparently because he did not agree with my opinion on some aspects of American life. Enough said.

I was born in Saigon in 1968. My father was a service member and he brought my mother and I back with him to the U.S. This year was the first time that I have been back since then. My maternal grandma is getting old and I wanted to see her before she passes away. I got to meet many of my extended family members as well. I think it's good to travel every now and then and explore other cultures. I love being an American but I would still like to learn more about my heritages. I plan on travelling to Vietnam every year to live part-time  and travel so I can get a better perspective of different parts of Vietnam.

MIA2013.
    Wonderful story, thanks for sharing with us.

Hi Everyone, I have never been to Southeast Asia but I have been thinking about it for a while now.  Usually I got to South America because I speak Spanish fairly well and like to practice.  Of all of the stories Ive read on this thread I havent seen much about the language.  Have you all learned the language or do you just get by with English?

jdesorte wrote:

Hi Everyone, I have never been to Southeast Asia but I have been thinking about it for a while now.  Usually I got to South America because I speak Spanish fairly well and like to practice.  Of all of the stories Ive read on this thread I havent seen much about the language.  Have you all learned the language or do you just get by with English?

I think many get by on sign language.

best thing to do is make a concerted effort, learn the language and cultural basics , you will get a lot more acceptance, shows your more than average jo lookabout THD is pretty good on the correct pronounciations, Viet Nam is a great place, you wont regret coming,unless you do someting silly and welcome.

Couldn't quite get my head around the Vietnamese struggle with social and economic developments, despite their vast resources and numerous models.  So, 6 years ago, I handed my company to a friends and moved to Can Tho.

Now, I think I have a pretty good idea...  Most important of all, I know exactly where Vietnam will fit into my future plans, personally and professionally.  But, the experience has been life-changing (for the better), so I will keep on monitoring.

Big thanks to AP, this is turng out to be one of the best threads so far super encouraging for those like my self who are approaching decision time:top:

When my Grandpa retired and got pension from Australia. He flied to VN to and fro, bought a small house near my aunt's family to live in. Of course, he came back Australia once he needed pension. He enjoyed his life until getting sick of age. He would love to die in VN, that's why he bought a small land to bury him...

Everyday is a new adventure for me. I wake up excited about finding something new to see or do. Teaching has given me a lot of pleasure in Quang Ngai. My students are english teachers in rural areas.  They are very friendly and a joy to work with. I came to Vietnam to escape from my earlier life and I am glad I did.  My decision was the right one.

7 years ago, I was given an ultimatum by my then-boss - move to Vietnam or find another job. I was living in southern China at that time, and loved it there - except for the months of January and February. It would get cold (not freezing cold, but sometimes close) and there was NO heat anywhere, except my apartment. And I was lucky - most people, including my expat friends didn't even have heat in their apartments. I would go to work wearing 3 or 4 shirts, and my ski jacket, just to stay warm during the day in my office. My then-boss knew this, and knew I didn't like it. So he used that in his pitch to get me to move, rather than quit. Gave me a plane ticket and hotel reservation at the Renaissance Hotel for a long weekend and told me to check it out. Needless to say, after being in Saigon for only about a day, I was hooked. Flew back to China, walked into the boss' office, and asked him how soon I could move! Was here the next month. Later had a different job with another company that required me to spend about 5 months back in the same area of China, and commuting to VN every month, but other than that, have been here the whole time. During my stay here, I've had several offers and opportunities for jobs in China, but have turned them down. My Chinese wife wasn't happy about that at first, but now, even she likes it here, for the same reasons. She seldom goes back to her hometown for Chinese New Year, because it's too cold there! So that's why I'm here, and I plan to never live anywhere but here, or back home in USA after I retire.

Its amazing how a forced move placed upon you has led to finding somewhere you really like. I agree about the cold weather. I worked in the building industry in Australia and those very cold mornings standing outside at 5am on a building site wasnt fun at all. I like the weather here, but hate it when you get the flu due to the air quality. Overall Viet Nam is a nice place to live, mainly due to the friendly locals and that everything is close by.