Cultural differences between Vietnam and the West?

@eodmatt

Sounds like your medals were a quite a bit harder to earn.  I got a National Defense Service Medal for graduating Boot Camp(an I was there no promotion points). The good conduct only took 4 years of not getting caught(15 promotion points). The Combat Action Ribbon(a ribbon no medal or badge but 15 promotion points). Vietnam Service Medal(an I was there no points). Vietnam Campaign Medal( an I was there from the South Vietnamese Government no points)

The main award that I do treasure is my wife of 46 years(and VN civilian employee of the USN)

The main thing that I treasure from my military service was that I survived - and part of that survival was the good luck of not being in the wrong place at the right time. Oh and my EOD training which made me far more observant than 99% of people and from which I occasionally make a living. And, if I'm honest I do get a good feeling out of occasionally doing something that helps keep people in one piece.

We don't get promotion points from medals in the Brit forces though, its all done on reports - and you get to see all the reports and can challenge them (not that a challenge makes much difference, usually). All the reports I received were, to be honest, pretty accurate, except for the "crimes" I committed that weren't detected and so were never reported on. Like the day I arranged for a chopper to land in a pub car park in a village in the west of England so that we could go into the pub and sample their famous pork pies.

@eodmatt

Yes. But, You had to not get caught for 18 years!!!
I only had to not get caught for 4 years for my good conduct medal

Ciambella wrote:

Diazo wrote:

Lack of courtesy with fellow man. These people just can not wait their turn in line. It just drives me nuts. In a bank, at the hospital, the grocery store they always crowd in and will even interrupt your transaction like your not even standing there.

That's an Asian trait, shown in all countries except Japan.

Ha ha ! Have you ever shopped in Spain? Shoppers there routinely enter a store throw something in a shopping cart, put said shopping cart in check out line, then walk around the store gathering their groceries into their arms and bags. When they return say 5 or 20 minutes later they expect their cart to be exactly where they left it. It seldom is and they will look at person in front of cart like they are a criminal.

Diazo wrote:

But what drives me bonkers,  they will go to such extremes to protect children from germs etc. But they will ride with a toddler on a motorbike standing up, no headgear. If the driver had to swerve there is no way someone is going to keep that child protected with their hands on the infants knees.
  I am not trying to bash anyone or the culture. I love it here and enjoy my life. But as in every country,  I have been in (68) , there are things that are odd. Especially in my mother country!!!

Mind boggling isn’t it? Then there are the mothers that are forced into holding their child on the motorbike because the child has fallen asleep (as many children will when placed in a moving vehicle) which leaves the mom with one hand to throttle, brake and maneuver in traffic. Try getting away with that in the States.