Hmm...what do you miss?

I just love the blank look you get when you confront them about what they have done. You can see their brain going...."What have I done".

ssuprnova wrote:

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

What about when you go to a busy fuel station and they park anywhere and everywhere. Then some mental giant parks behind you so you cant get out, common sense is something that is not seen often in Viet Nam.

Yah, that's when you physically manhandle his motorbike out of the way so you can get out.  I get annoyed by the lack of foresight and consideration that other people have towards each other as well.

This was the thing that struck me the most. The vast majority of VNese people are so friendly and helpful, but they can't seem to think five seconds ahead.

Being considerate towards strangers... this one makes me miss home.

I wonder if people have "blinders" on and don't notice anyone else. 
.

On several occasions I'm standing in line at the grocery store waiting for my turn to pay and sure enough someone would jump the line in front of me.  I'm thinking to myself - can't you see I'm standing right here?  I let a few go but after feeling like a chum, I had it and just would shout out "What are you doing? I'm next!".  I think I get the blank stares too because they're used to not having anyone confront them.

What would be really SUPER is if the cashier could speak up: "I'm sorry Sir/Maam, but this gentlemen is next - please go wait your turn."

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

ssuprnova wrote:

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Yah, that's when you physically manhandle his motorbike out of the way so you can get out.  I get annoyed by the lack of foresight and consideration that other people have towards each other as well.

This was the thing that struck me the most. The vast majority of VNese people are so friendly and helpful, but they can't seem to think five seconds ahead.

Being considerate towards strangers... this one makes me miss home.

I wonder if people have "blinders" on and don't notice anyone else. 
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9 … XynC0aLSYA.

On several occasions I'm standing in line at the grocery store waiting for my turn to pay and sure enough someone would jump the line in front of me.  I'm thinking to myself - can't you see I'm standing right here?  I let a few go but after feeling like a chum, I had it and just would shout out "What are you doing? I'm next!".  I think I get the blank stares too because they're used to not having anyone confront them.

What would be really SUPER is if the cashier could speak up: "I'm sorry Sir/Maam, but this gentlemen is next - please go wait your turn."

I have had old people do this in the USA. I figure they needed to pay befote dying.

I also miss people who can turn their head to the left and check the traffic before driving out onto the road.

ancientpathos wrote:

Every once in a while I miss large breasts.  Just take a trip to the tourist areas and then I realize I am much better off with the asian size. Then there are the tender ribeye steak and deep dish apple pie.... Lucky they have genitically engineered the mekong rat to taste like prime beef when it is cooked on a grill. Now if they could only make those pies?

Having been in QN for a while now, you must have noticed the abundance of larger breasts by now, took me by surprise, must be the country living???? ( or bouncing up and down on the shocking roads during puberty? ).
   Oh, you were talking about the chickens, sorry, yeah they are a bit on the scrawny side.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

I can handle incense sticks but a whole WAD of them..he had like 50 of them and lighting upwind from me.  That's like would you like to stand in a middle of a burning forest and smell the trees smoldering?

Apparently burning incense in the incense holder on the bumperbar on your truck/car each night, makes you a better driver , the added touch of the flower bouquet on the bumperbar as well, while driving,  is to show your condolences if you run over and kill/maim anyone.

I miss people who know how to dip their lights for oncoming traffic , and after being overtaken, probably not such a problem in the cities, I do a lot of night driving now, on Tuesday night in the driving rain, I ran off to the side of the road twice, the rain was bad enough, but when you have some arsehole behind with lights on full beam, and another approaching,also on full beam,  meanwhile you are scanning the road ahead of you for the ever present bicycles and m/bikes with no lights, and pedestrians, I laugh when asked , why don't I have a car?

bluenz wrote:

I miss people who know how to dip their lights for oncoming traffic , and after being overtaken, probably not such a problem in the cities, I do a lot of night driving now, on Tuesday night in the driving rain, I ran off to the side of the road twice, the rain was bad enough, but when you have some arsehole behind with lights on full beam, and another approaching,also on full beam,  meanwhile you are scanning the road ahead of you for the ever present bicycles and m/bikes with no lights, and pedestrians, I laugh when asked , why don't I have a car?

Yah, I've seen motorbike/scooter drivers just leave their lights on high beam, having no clue what it's for.  So I have to deal with people coming my way with high beams blinding me and forcing me to slow down while I scan for the pavement edge. 

I've had minor success in reminding oncoming traffic that have their high beams on by turning my high beams on and off to show them the effects of MY high beams on their eyes.  Sometimes it works...other times they don't care; that's when I leave mine on high to blind them as well.

Well, if you're gonna poke my eyes, I might as well poke yours.  At least I won't die alone tonight...you're coming with me.

I missed live blues and good ol' southern rock and country.

jakejas wrote:

I missed live blues and good ol' southern rock and country.

What are you talking about Jake?  You're still over there! 

tintinmiami2013 wrote:

Expats,

What do you miss from your respective countries beside your love ones?

Do share.

Tin Tin

WHEN you come here, you can download all the music from the Internet and you won't miss home.  There is a whole industry selling super big speakers and karaoke machines.  So you can blast the blues, southern rock and country super loud and sing along so all the neighborhood can hear; it's a very Vietnamese thing to do.

jakejas wrote:

I missed live blues and good ol' southern rock and country.

You must mean live.  I listen to all kinds of music here, but I grew up in the south and southern rock was one of the reasons I abandoned rock for ambient and electronica.  The first wave e.g. the Allmans at least had some talent, but the second wave, e.g. the Eagles I could not stand.  You can hear anything you want here, I play Japanese noise at the gym on my iPod to drown out that horrid lovesick pop they play here.  Blues?  I've been listening to Brownie McGhee on YouTube for the past few weeks. 

I miss ... salads.  Mexican food.  Nonsmoking as a rule, not an almost impossible exception.  I miss left turn signals, non-suicidal drivers.  My friends.  My uh "regulars."

I don't miss nasty, spiteful people, gun nuts, libertarians.  Christian conservatives.

ChrisFox wrote:

...
I miss ... salads.  Mexican food. ..

We need a Taco Hell in Việt Nam. Since we never knew what was in the ground beef 59 cent tacos anyways, we can throw in rat, snake, bird, pig, monkey, and whatever else we can find to make up for the scarcity of cows here. 

Who's gonna getting the franchise deal here?

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

ChrisFox wrote:

...
I miss ... salads.  Mexican food. ..

We need a Taco Hell. Who's gonna getting the franchise deal here?

I want the whole gamut of Mexican food but I bet a lot of ingredients are impossible to get here.

Of course, if I spoke with the waiters, I'd be saying "Gracias" here for the next two weeks.

Darn, you replied before I was done with my joke.

We had burritos tonight.  They were great.  Our người giúp việc ate a few but used rice paper instead of the soft shells.  I don't get that sometimes ... how different could it be?  But, look, so many ingredients are the same. 

Did you hear how I r-r-r-rolled the rr in burritos?

ChrisFox wrote:

We had burritos tonight.  They were great.  Our người giúp việc ate a few but used rice paper instead of the soft shells.  I don't get that sometimes ... how different could it be?  But, look, so many ingredients are the same. 

Did you hear how I r-r-r-rolled the rr in burritos?

Are you sure it was burritos? Sounds like a giant goi cuon!

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

jakejas wrote:

I missed live blues and good ol' southern rock and country.

What are you talking about Jake?  You're still over there! 

I am for now; I'm trying to enjoy it while I can. Me and all of my gun-loving libertarian friends.

Apparently burning incense in the incense holder on the bumperbar on your truck/car each night, makes you a better driver , the added touch of the flower bouquet on the bumperbar as well, while driving,  is to show your condolences if you run over and kill/maim anyone.

Sort of like Latin America. If you must choose between new brakes and a rear-view-mirror dangly-thingy of the national Virgin Mary (Gualdelupe, del Cobre, etc), chose the Virgin thingy. You'll save money that you can spend on something else, and any brake failure will be the Virgin's fault.

lirelou wrote:

If you must choose between new brakes and a rear-view-mirror dangly-thingy of the national Virgin Mary (Gualdelupe, del Cobre, etc), chose the Virgin thingy.

Lol, we do that in Texas too!

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

What about when you go to a busy fuel station and they park anywhere and everywhere. Then some mental giant parks behind you so you cant get out, common sense is something that is not seen often in Viet Nam.

Yah, that's when you physically manhandle his motorbike out of the way so you can get out.  I get annoyed by the lack of foresight and consideration that other people have towards each other as well.

Speaking of smoking.  There was a guy lighting up those giant incense sticks they use for honoring the dead.  He had a whole wad and the smoke was flying in my face.  I told him to move over yonder to light them and he was like..."oh it'll be a few seconds".  And I was like "hell no, get that crap out of my face" and I basically pushed/shove/guided him 5 meters away from me.

When you had gone through years of holding a rifle and killing everyone in sight, it's 'kill or be killed'.
It's every man for himself here! Consideration? What is that? Commonsense? What is that? People just like to walk in the middle of the road without realizing someone could just kill them in a split second! Ignorance magnified!

Sploke77 wrote:

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

What about when you go to a busy fuel station and they park anywhere and everywhere. Then some mental giant parks behind you so you cant get out, common sense is something that is not seen often in Viet Nam.

Yah, that's when you physically manhandle his motorbike out of the way so you can get out.  I get annoyed by the lack of foresight and consideration that other people have towards each other as well.

Speaking of smoking.  There was a guy lighting up those giant incense sticks they use for honoring the dead.  He had a whole wad and the smoke was flying in my face.  I told him to move over yonder to light them and he was like..."oh it'll be a few seconds".  And I was like "hell no, get that crap out of my face" and I basically pushed/shove/guided him 5 meters away from me.

When you had gone through years of holding a rifle and killing everyone in sight, it's 'kill or be killed'.
It's every man for himself here! Consideration? What is that? Commonsense? What is that? People just like to walk in the middle of the road without realizing someone could just kill them in a split second! Ignorance magnified!

Ok that would cover the last generation, ignorance, lack of consideration, etc, etc, must be heredity for most of them then???

bluenz,
I feel that it isn't just VN'ese anymore. The world is catching up on this behaviour.Surly grumpy staff,aggressive or ignorant drivers,prudish public servants,etc.
Today's western society is a 'me me' society.Sure there's pockets of thoughtful people and the same goes for here.Sadly they are few and far between.

When you had gone through years of holding a rifle and killing everyone in sight, it's 'kill or be killed'.
It's every man for himself here! Consideration? What is that? Commonsense? What is that? People just like to walk in the middle of the road without realizing someone could just kill them in a split second! Ignorance magnified!

Sploke, are you trying for irony here? Who in Vietnam has ever gone through "years of holding a rifle and killing everyone in sight" other than wannabe war veterans or someone who has watched too many war comics on the silver screen?

lirelou wrote:

When you had gone through years of holding a rifle and killing everyone in sight, it's 'kill or be killed'.
It's every man for himself here! Consideration? What is that? Commonsense? What is that? People just like to walk in the middle of the road without realizing someone could just kill them in a split second! Ignorance magnified!

Sploke, are you trying for irony here? Who in Vietnam has ever gone through "years of holding a rifle and killing everyone in sight" other than wannabe war veterans or someone who has watched too many war comics on the silver screen?

I think he means the generation that is around 50+ that lived through the "American War".

I think he means the generation that is around 50+ that lived through the "American War"

Well if he's speaking of the PAVN/VC vets, they certainly didn't walk around 'killing everyone in sight'. And it was hardly every man for himself. They were normally quite disciplined. Just my observation of the "North-South War". And correct me if I'm wrong, but the vast majority of Vietnam's drivers are under 50+.

lirelou wrote:

I think he means the generation that is around 50+ that lived through the "American War"

Well if he's speaking of the PAVN/VC vets, they certainly didn't walk around 'killing everyone in sight'. And it was hardly every man for himself. They were normally quite disciplined. Just my observation of the "North-South War". And correct me if I'm wrong, but the vast majority of Vietnam's drivers are under 50+.

Not sure.  You might know more about history than I do but didn't Việt Nam continue conscription and fought some border wars with Cambodia, China, Thailand after the American withdrawal?  The last war in 1988? 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wa … ng_Vietnam

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

lirelou wrote:

I think he means the generation that is around 50+ that lived through the "American War"

Well if he's speaking of the PAVN/VC vets, they certainly didn't walk around 'killing everyone in sight'. And it was hardly every man for himself. They were normally quite disciplined. Just my observation of the "North-South War". And correct me if I'm wrong, but the vast majority of Vietnam's drivers are under 50+.

Not sure.  You might know more about history than I do but didn't Việt Nam continue conscription and fought some border wars with Cambodia, China, Thailand after the American withdrawal?  The last war in 1988? 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wa … ng_Vietnam

Hmm...what do you miss

War or talking about war is not something I miss nor do I think the OP had in mind for his topic. Now the Veterans hospital is crowded but they always make room for us when we need a locked unit.

Not sure.  You might know more about history than I do but didn't Việt Nam continue conscription and fought some border wars with Cambodia, China, Thailand after the American withdrawal?  The last war in 1988?

THD, Those were campaigns, more than wars. The China fighting was hard. still, no one was walking around 'killing everyone in sight'. And it certainly provides no clue as why VIetnamese drivers drive the way they do, or anything else about VIetnamese bahavorial traits.

War or talking about war is not something I miss

Well, AP, then don't participate. I was critiquing an overly simplistic view of why some annoying Vietnamese habits persist. Perhaps you might want to go back to Sploke's post.

lirelou wrote:

Not sure.  You might know more about history than I do but didn't Việt Nam continue conscription and fought some border wars with Cambodia, China, Thailand after the American withdrawal?  The last war in 1988?

THD, Those were campaigns, more than wars. The China fighting was hard. still, no one was walking around 'killing everyone in sight'. And it certainly provides no clue as why VIetnamese drivers drive the way they do, or anything else about VIetnamese bahavorial traits.

War or talking about war is not something I miss

Well, AP, then don't participate. I was critiquing an overly simplistic view of why some annoying Vietnamese habits persist. Perhaps you might want to go back to Sploke's post.

Agreed.  I think we're beating a dead horse here until Sploke77 clarifies what he means.

I miss being stared at and wondering "Is there something on my face? Do they think I'm cute? Are they about to pull out a gun on me?" People here stare for no purpose other than to stare.

Too many thing. The river near my home town,the forest, the park, the beaytiful lake...

If its not the government stopping acts from coming, what do you think is the reason. I had a friend who owned a place in the Mekong Delta, he told me that live music licenses are really difficult to obtain and so much under the table money has to be given.

colinoscapee wrote:

If its not the government stopping acts from coming, what do you think is the reason. I had a friend who owned a place in the Mekong Delta, he told me that live music licenses are really difficult to obtain and so much under the table money has to be given.

A pity Karaoke Bars didn't need live Music licences then.

colinoscapee wrote:

If its not the government stopping acts from coming, what do you think is the reason. I had a friend who owned a place in the Mekong Delta, he told me that live music licenses are really difficult to obtain and so much under the table money has to be given.

One thing I miss, being able to have any business idea and not have someone say "Not that, too much money to pay off to cops." I now see why people stick to the same ideas over and over here.

Exactly, I have come up with some great business ventures to be told"sorry, the police will want too much money"

I miss things that work, and not get spoilt after some months. I miss appliances that really work well and not breaking down after some months, like an electrical plug adaptor, although the label says always 'chat Luong cao' - a joke! Bread that says raisin bread but not one grain of raisin seen! I miss my good old whole meal bread made in Singapore, the American way! I miss law and order and some form of civility!

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

lirelou wrote:

Not sure.  You might know more about history than I do but didn't Việt Nam continue conscription and fought some border wars with Cambodia, China, Thailand after the American withdrawal?  The last war in 1988?

THD, Those were campaigns, more than wars. The China fighting was hard. still, no one was walking around 'killing everyone in sight'. And it certainly provides no clue as why VIetnamese drivers drive the way they do, or anything else about VIetnamese bahavorial traits.

War or talking about war is not something I miss

Well, AP, then don't participate. I was critiquing an overly simplistic view of why some annoying Vietnamese habits persist. Perhaps you might want to go back to Sploke's post.

Agreed.  I think we're beating a dead horse here until Sploke77 clarifies what he means.

When you go to Cu Chi tunnels, don't they show you all manners of killing your enemies? The mentality is still there, so, on the roads,I go first, you better let me or else bang me and cause an accident, then you have to pay me! Queuing ? There was an empty space in front, why can't I be served? So, it's Everyman for himself. Unless there is another external aggressor, the populace do not gel nor care for each other one bit.. Is it a nation? Other than all the ra ra, are they really all united?

Sploke77 wrote:

. Unless there is another external aggressor, the populace do not gel nor care for each other one bit.. Is it a nation? Other than all the ra ra, are they really all united?

Sounds like a whole host of other countries to me.
Not much different to so called western democratic? societies today.It's the way of the modern world.
Long gone are the days of helping the old,being patient in traffic,respectful youth,befriending neighbours,police not dressed in riot gear,walking at night on the street.

Sploke77 wrote:

I miss things that work, and not get spoilt after some months. I miss appliances that really work well and not breaking down after some months, like an electrical plug adaptor, although the label says always 'chat Luong cao' - a joke! Bread that says raisin bread but not one grain of raisin seen! I miss my good old whole meal bread made in Singapore, the American way! I miss law and order and some form of civility!

I'm convinced VN is a dumping ground for Chinese rejects, I've bought the same stuff, ( even the same brand ), in Aus and its lasted years, not months, ( although humidity could play a part in something having shorter life span, especially rubber ).
  I scoff when they show me a sticker that says made in Japan, etc, I tell them it's easy to change a sticker.

jimbream wrote:

Sploke77 wrote:

. Unless there is another external aggressor, the populace do not gel nor care for each other one bit.. Is it a nation? Other than all the ra ra, are they really all united?

Sounds like a whole host of other countries to me.
Not much different to so called western democratic? societies today.It's the way of the modern world.
Long gone are the days of helping the old,being patient in traffic,respectful youth,befriending neighbours,police not dressed in riot gear,walking at night on the street.

Now it almost pays to dye your Grey hairs, once a sign for some respect, now a sign of weakness, ( the cheeky little shits know you can't run as fast as then ),  ( better correct that, or the PC crowd will start crying ),  so they abuse their elders.