Things We Like About Living Here

1.Motorbikes rule.Everyone's a rider.
2.2 hour lunch breaks.
3.Cheap domestic airfare(mostly)
4.Weather is good most of the year.
4. Eating goat meat without funny stares.

@ People (arrogant government servants excluded)
@ Weather
@ Variety of food
@ Variety of vegetables and fruits
@ Traffic rules
@ Less violence
@ No need to spend money for relatives
Overall feel better than my own home town

@ food
@ beer
@ women
@ culture
@ customs
@ freedom

* eating at little outdoor tables
* a table covered with cơm chay and green tea for $2
* mì xâu giòn hảy sản

* Socialist "we're all in it together" signs showing all professions
* late-night broken rice and egg noodle
* dark young men at the gym with their shirts off

charmavietnam wrote:

@ Variety of vegetables and fruits

*ding*
-- Hector Salamanca

Women who are not afraid to be feminine
Legs
More legs
Improved cardiovascular circulation

ChrisFox wrote:

* mì xâu giòn hảy sản

Mì xào giòn hải sản, Chris

Beautiful women, short skirts on scooters....

Cheap Beer
Cheaper Cigarettes

Parmyd wrote:

Cheap Beer
Cheaper Cigarettes

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/smoke/smoking-smiley.gif

HAHAHAHAHA

aibiet150204 wrote:

ChrisFox wrote:

* mì xâu giòn hảy sản

Mì xào giòn hải sản, Chris

JUST when I think I'm getting somewhere ... noted, thanks.

-not paying goods taxes
-freedom so true
-can ride a motorbike 12 months a year
-can be shirtless/naked all day
-Fresh Vietnamese food!!!! (haven't had Viet food for months)
-Swimming in the salty ocean
-full service haircut every week
-more social opportunity
-less violent crimes
-no doing dishwashing/laundry
-feel like a giant even though I'm only 5'3"

less violent crimes

Just because they're not reported doesn't mean they don't exist.

freedom so true

For foreigners far more than Vietnamese. Unless we do something egregious. Otherwise, don't be the nail that sticks up.

Freedom of Christmas displays
Polite friendly people
Willingness of others to open their families to you
Perfect strangers wanting a picture with you

Freedom to light up a cigarette just about anywhere.

vnescape wrote:

Women who are not afraid to be feminine

This is #1 for me. I've always told my wife that's what attracted me to her. It's an Asian thing - not just in Vietnam. But I think Vietnam women have taken it to another level, and I DO LIKE.

Being close to loved ones
Variety of foods, cheap
Being a millionaire! LOL

Parmyd wrote:

Freedom to light up a cigarette just about anywhere.

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/smoke/smoking-smiley.gif

Without the stares and the fake coughing from passers by.

ancientpathos wrote:

Freedom of Christmas displays

This is great downtown.
Western countries now  discourage this behaviour because they say it's not showing "diversity" and apparently forcing a belief on others.

jimbream wrote:

Western countries now  discourage this behaviour because they say it's not showing "diversity" and apparently forcing a belief on others.

No "political correctness" (but I guess the Vietnamese have to be PC where the VN government is involved, but I don't know anything about that.)

"Merry Christmas!"

"Happy Holidays."

jimbream wrote:

Without the stares and the fake coughing from passers by.

The coughing isn't fake. Cigarette smoke stinks and gives people headaches and congestion.  Not that an addict cares, he just needs his junk.

Enjoy it while it lasts.  I'm meeting more and more young Vietnamese who don't smoke and don't like the smell and who are coming to regard smoking the same way Americans do, as a low-class weakness of will and addiction.

Don't worry, though, by the time anything changes, smoking will have killed one in three of those clueless enough to start it anyway. 

Way to go.

* Christmas as a rare commercial affectation instead of a six week national paroxysm of flashing kitsch and totally worn-out chirpy songs

* mực chiến giòn.
* riverside dining
* bats flying around streetlights

ChrisFox wrote:

jimbream wrote:

Without the stares and the fake coughing from passers by.

The coughing isn't fake. Cigarette smoke stinks and gives people headaches and congestion.  Not that an addict cares, he just needs his junk.

Enjoy it while it lasts.  I'm meeting more and more young Vietnamese who don't smoke and don't like the smell and who are coming to regard smoking the same way Americans do, as a low-class weakness of will and addiction.

Don't worry, though, by the time anything changes, smoking will have killed one in three of those clueless enough to start it anyway. 

Way to go.

Ok,I'll bite.
Many countries have heroin addicts with low-class weakness of will and addiction.
Not to mention Methamphetamine addicts.
Heroin addicts leave used needles in parks,playgrounds,on the beach and meth addicts are prone to aggression and violence along with theft to support their junk.
Western society says "oh those poor heroin addicts,let's built a shooting gallery where they can inject their junk in safety".
"And don't forget the unfortunate people hooked on Meth.Let's provide them with free medical rehabilitation and counsellor support."
Whole communities are affected by these addicts.Families broken and innocent victims abused and robbed.
Why is the 'dirty old smoker' worse?

If someone is concerned about their congestion or headache from smoke inhalation,Vietnamese cities aren't really the places they should choose to be living in.
Dust pollutants,dried sewage particles,burning plastics and exhaust fumes far outweigh 2nd hand cigarette smoke.

All across the world,the pastime of smoking Shisha is quite trendy and popular.Many Shisha bars are open aired and also near or part of restaurants.Great plumes of smoke erupt to smother the area.Sure the smell is nice.That is just a disguise because Shisha tobacco is just as harmful as regular tobacco,it just smells differently.
Should these Shisha bars be closed and water pipes banned?

Back on topic,
5.A trip to the countryside is like visiting a whole other world.

ChrisFox wrote:

Cigarette smoke stinks and gives people headaches and congestion.

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6159127552/h26085D2B/

food
sightseeing
people
low cost of living

* sound of chickens crowing even in upscale neighborhoods

* medical care that doesn't ruin you financially

The excitement of crossing the street
The excitement of riding a scooter during rush hour
The rush one gets posting here with a chance of being banned
The excitement of being surrounded by beautiful women in short shirts during rush hour.

* SIM cards and thẻ nạp instead of two year contracts with cell providers

lirelou wrote:

freedom so true

For foreigners far more than Vietnamese. Unless we do something egregious. Otherwise, don't be the nail that sticks up.

Just an observation, Vietnamese seem nowhere near as afraid of the cops as Americans do, and I don't see Vietnamese lowering their voices, looking around nervously, and speaking behind their hands like Americans have been doing since 9/11.

And when the Vietnamese cops come to your house, they don't shoot your dog.

That's something I like about living here.

Feeling like a celebrity constantly.
Being high-class with little to no effort.
No femnazis.
Wild West feel to the place.
Doing business like a mobster.

That's about it, honestly.

ChrisFox wrote:

speaking behind their hands like Americans have been doing since Bush.

Haha, you made another funny! People were doing that long before Bush became the greatest President.

milkybunnyHCM wrote:

Feeling like a celebrity constantly.

I don't like that feeling.  I'd rather earn respect than get it automatically, by virtue of having been born over different dirt.

ChrisFox wrote:

Just an observation, Vietnamese seem nowhere near as afraid of the cops as Americans do, and I don't see Vietnamese lowering their voices, looking around nervously, and speaking behind their hands like Americans have been doing since 9/11.

And when the Vietnamese cops come to your house, they don't shoot your dog.

That's something I like about living here.

I have had many conversations with my wife about this issue. The reason most people don't fear the police is because they have absolutely no respect for them. My niece recently had her house broken into and everything with any value (TV, laptop, cameras, motorbike) was stolen. They didn't even bother reporting it to the police because they knew nothing would be done or even if or when the police would come even if they were called. The vast majority do not know anything about the law or the punishments for common crimes. The only police officers who are feared at all are the traffic police and pretty much everyone knows where they will be hanging out and the punishment for most traffic violations is so small as to be laughed off.

At the same time I don't know of anyone living in the US who is actively afraid of the police without good reason.

I did have 1 policeman visit my wife and I in Vietnam while my mom from the US was visiting. He made us all show him our passports and he did a search of our house. He was trying to shake us down for money and my wife told him that if he had a problem he could take us to the station but she wasn't going to give him any money. He left and didn't get any money and we never saw him again.

* fresh fruit and veggies from the yard.  Coconut, mango, star fruit, gấc, papaya, five-alarm chilis, others I have no name for, all on one plot of land.

rice wine

When our neighbor had a motorbike stolen from inside their gate the cops not only showed up, but, noting we had a security system, asked us to rewind and see if the cameras had recorded the theft.  Alas, not much, the back of a head. 

No I don't expect they assign detectives to burglaries but what I hear from the USA now is that if you have a dog and the cops come by, lock the dog in the basement and even then you're not safe. 

I've generally been well-treated by cops.  I don't sass them and I don't lie to them.  Even so, so are very forthright about the amount of leeway they have to make my life miserable just because they might feel like it.