New members of the Vietnam forum, introduce yourselves here - 2019

I've been in HCMC for four weeks, will probably spend two more weeks here before going north (Danang or Hanoi). I've got a three month visa which I plan to use most of before moving on to the next country. I've enjoyed my stay in HCMC so far.

If anybody is up for a coffee or a meal or even a beer, just PM me. I'm staying in D1 not far from the big Starbucks. I like to meet new people, especially those who have been traveling for a while.

As for me, I'm early thirties, male, grew up in Australia, currently traveling the world, no intention to stop traveling any time soon. Kind of arrived in Vietnam by accident (I can explain later) and so far have been blown away by how cool this place is.

Hey guys my name is Ellie, currently visiting some family living in Vietnam and they got me curious about teaching English here in my motherland since I'll be staying for a month+ and if all goes well I was considering moving here for a few years.

I was born here but moved to the states when I was a very young child so I actually consider myself more of an English native speaker, although I also am fluent in Vietnamese and can write.

Actually just joined this forum to seek possible employment as a English teacher and if anyone can help or give advice that would be great also. My email is *** if any employers are checking this thread out.

EllieNL wrote:

... they got me curious about teaching English here in my motherland since I'll be staying for a month+ and if all goes well I was considering moving here for a few years.....

If you have not finished a 4 year degree, may I suggest that you do that first, as you will need that in order to teach legally.  You can get away without it but if you want to teach for a while you certainly should get a work permit.  There is some hiring prejudice against overseas Vietnamese and you will need to overcome that as well.  One way may be to offer to teach the very young.

Hi EllieNL, If you ever come to Vung Tau to visit, please consider to stay at my adopted daughter Suhan's Osin Eco Homestay Vung Tau. I am also a retired oversea vietnamese now living with her on her property. Google Osin Eco Homestay Vung Tau for more pictures and the exact location on map.
meanwhile, have fun and hope to see you soon! Hong Ly

Hi all,

This is Vahap from Turkey. I recently moved to Ho Chi Minh for business purposes and will be staying here for a very long time if everything goes as planned. I already started to learn some basic Vietnamese sentences to handle daily interactions and started to understand almost a quarter of their English sentences in the first time, which I consider as a very significant success The thing is, I work as purchasing manager and most of my business activities include communicating with Chinese people and although I take my time to learn to talk Vietnamese and proceed step by step, I feel the need to learn speaking Chinese as soon and fast as possible to be able to carry on business activities in a better way. But I couldn't find a beneficial resource on the internet so far. I was hoping that some of you could advice a place or a person that gives Chinese speaking lessons to people with no Chinese background. I will appreciate if you could help me about this issue.

Thanks in advance.

BIGGDOGG wrote:

Hello Jack, my name is Michael from America.    I signed up on this only Yesterday.   I have been in Nha Trang for ten months now.   Like you I researched it on line and just showed up.   Biggest draw backs would be the tourist and construction.    Granted it can be a lot more expensive than what you read on line,  being the #1 beach in  Vietnam  the beach area would be the most expensive.   But the farther you go into town it balances itself out.    The city is larger than you think, you read 400,000 people but there has to be over 600,000 population.    Any questions you may have feel free to reach out...

Thanks for the information - really useful to know. The city I currently live in is undergoing massive growth and is also swamped with construction sites. I work in that industry so the sight doesn’t bother me - I choose to see construction as a positive as it can indicate growth and profit for a region (provided businesses are developed sustainably)

How far out of the centre are we talking? And what sort of price range an I expect?

Hello everyone. I'm Alan. I've been living in Vietnam for 4 years. I don't know why I found this useful forum today. Wish you all so much health. Well, I want to ask if we have any groups on facebook.
Best regards,
Looking forward to connecting with everyone.

****

Hello Peter... I will be travel to Ben Tre, Vietnam in November and hopefully will be retire there in 5 years.... Any information and advise that you have would be great!

Rahj_Devon wrote:

Hello Peter... I will be travel to Ben Tre, Vietnam in November and hopefully will be retire there in 5 years.... Any information and advise that you have would be great!

Peter?

Peter McDonald wrote:

Hi, my name is Peter McDonald and I have actually been living in Vietnam for since February 2014, cannot understand why it has taken me so long to join up to Expats.
I live in An Phu area with my wife Ann and our hometown ( as the Vietnamese call it ) is Melbourne Australia.
I'm the General Director of Ramsay McDonald Group a company that is mostly involved in the TCF Industry. (Textile, Clothing and Footwear)
As a Textile Engineer, Mechanical Engineer and having a long history in the Global Textile Industry, my company has become a strong believer and supporter of the dynamics associated with the Vietnamese Textile manufacturing Industry where we have been able to provide our knowledge and skills to assist many Vietnamese companies ( large and small ) develop their businesses into high tech operations capable of meeting international standards to ensure export sales to all of the important global markets.

On a personal note, my wife Ann and I have built some wonderful friendships with many Expats from all over the world. As Expats we all are very transient people and move quite freely from one country to the next ( whether it be for business or just travel) its a unique experience to be able to develop friendships with people from varying cultures and demographics, and to be able to cultivate these chance meetings into long term friendships, is indeed a pleasure that I believe, is only found living within the Expat community.

We are back in Melbourne over this TET period but will return to HCMC mid February
Peter & Ann McDonald

Thanks Peter.... I am thinking moving to Ben Tre in couple years but now still exploring the city and people surround.  Would love to meet expats and hopefully will turn into a long term friendship.  I Been to Ben Tre couple time now but have not meet any Expat yet.   Will return in Nov2019... Any information or experience of living in Vietnam will be great... Please share.... Thank you so much.

Thanks Julien and Hello Everyone.... My name is R. Devon (American) and I have been traveling to Vietnam from the U.S for the last several years.  I met a wonderful lady in Ben Tre and got married... ....  I am currently still living and working in the U.S but I do travel to Vietnam one or twice every year.  I am looking for people to meet, hang out and sharing our experience and hopefully become friendship. 

Rahj

tunnelrat69 wrote:

Amazingly progressive.

I am also surprised that Long An On-Grid (feed back into the power grid) solar systems supports.


I have Solar panels for Hot Water, have had it for five years now, works just fine.     I am building  river house on my Property on the Mekong River - it will all be powered by solar, I'll have city power as well, but only use when needed...............same German company that did my thermal windows in my house will do the Solar power.

Great! Solar is the future.... I am building a house in Ben Tre now and looking for a good Solar company... Would you be able to share the company info?  Thanks so much!

Rahj

GuestPoster0147 wrote:

tunnelrat69 wrote:

Amazingly progressive.

I am also surprised that Long An On-Grid (feed back into the power grid) solar systems supports.


I have Solar panels for Hot Water, have had it for five years now, works just fine.     I am building  river house on my Property on the Mekong River - it will all be powered by solar, I'll have city power as well, but only use when needed...............same German company that did my thermal windows in my house will do the Solar power.

I also get German Windows (IGS), but only the frames are German (glass and assembly in Vietnam).

Also the photovoltaic panels are from Germany (AE Solar).

Unfortunately I bought an Off-Grid Inverter in advance (otherwise I would use an On-Grid Inverter without batteries).

If you also want to install an off-grid system with batteries you can PM me if you are interested in an information exchange.

I would love to get more info on solar... I am currently building a house in Ben Tre and look for a solar system for the whole house.  Any info you can provide will be great! Thank you so much...

Rahj

sheridan.holland wrote:

Hi there,

My name is Sheridan. I am also moving to Vietnam - in August with my boyfriend and our English Bulldog! I would love to chat with you about our upcoming travels!

Hello Sheridan.... Welcome and please do....

Rahj

darrell_parham wrote:

I'm actually from California as well. I've dabbled in French, Spanish, and German. I've been using Duolingo and youtube to pickup Vietnamese but need a parent speaker to work on correct tonal form. I'm not into the bar scene so I came to expat.com hoping to meet people here in HCMC.

Any suggestions on places to meet people are much appreciated!

Hey Darrell... It's not that hard as you think! Just meet with the local and start speaking.... The more you speak... The better your tongue will be.  I have been learning the language since 2016... I am now can Speak, Read and Write but my grammar is suck tho.... lol.  I am planning on moving to Ben Tre from the U.S in couple years... Hopefully we can connect and sharing experience of living oversea.  Stay in touch...

Rahj

Good day to all.
Thanks for allowing me to join your forum. My name is Dick Putter. I currently reside in South Africa and work for a pharmaceutical company. I have done a lot of research on countries in which I would like to retire, but Vietnam keeps topping the list one way or another. I spent most of December 2017bin Vietnam and it a great country. Going forward I would like to settle in Da Nang, but first have some more travelling to do

dickjp wrote:

I have done a lot of research on countries in which I would like to retire, but Vietnam keeps topping the list one way or another. I spent most of December 2017bin Vietnam and it a great country. Going forward I would like to settle in Da Nang, but first have some more travelling to do

Welcome to the forum, Dick Putter.

There's no reason you cannot move to Da Nang (or wherever in Vietnam your heart desires) and continues with your travel, unless you need to stay in South Africa to make your particular travel destinations easier to reach.

My husband and I have always travelled extensively all our lives, and moving to VN has not stopping us. We've visited 8 new countries in the last 2 years alone.  Low COL is a great benefits; it adds more to our travel funds.

Hey!

My name is Adam and I will be arriving in Hanoi on Tues August 28th from London to start my new life of expat adventure! I have 4 very good friends living and working in the city currently who have all been incredibly supportive and informative since booking my flight last week!!!!

A bit about me: I am a professional musician - specialising as an improv saxophonist with most of my performing experience at nightclubs and bars playing alongside a DJ. I also produce/record music with particular interest in sax friendly genres like Liquid Drum & Bass, House, Soul, Funk etc. 

I am entrepreneurially minded with a wide ranging professional skillset in business areas such as Marketing, Sales, PR, Communications. I have lived and worked abroad before in Berlin, Germany where I gained experience teaching English as a foreign language in schools and worked for a heavily invested technology company in the music industry. I completed a Bachelors degree in Music at Goldsmith University in London in 2017 and am hoping to utilise this qualification abroad to allow me access to both music and non-music related work opportunities.

Reaching out here to introduce myself on a professional and social level to build great human connections with like minded people in beautiful parts of the world! Any tips, advice, general info or "you should meet/ speak with...." will be warmly appreciated!

Don't be afraid to DM me to introduce yourself - more than happy to swap whatsapps or emails via DM but for obvious reasons I will not share my contact info on the forum!

Nothing but love for all you lovely people - thanks for reading and hope to see some of you soon in Vietnam!

Adam NJ

Thanks you, I'm Carlo Maietto and I live in Tucson, AZ USA.  I will be looking over the site and will return with more later.

Hello!  My name is David Jones  at present residing in the U.S., but if my plans go right I will be moving to Vietnam in December of this year.  Plan on moving to Can Tho.  I was stationed in Binh Thuy during the war.  I'd love to hear from anyone who was stationed in Binh Thuy, and particularly at the U.S Navy base in Binh Thuy.  Also going there to look for an old girlfriend.  Her name is Phuong and she would be about 65-67 years old now.  I had to leave suddenly in April 1972.  Never even had a chance to say a proper good bye.  Got a letter from her after I got home to the States.  I wrote back, but I never heard back from her.  I don't even know if she got my letter.  I've been through two bad marriages, but I've never stopped thinking about Phuong.

Good luck to you , what a great story, hope you find her and pick right up where you left off, wonderful

Thanks!  I appreciate your good wishes.  I hope she got married had a bunch of kids.  I hope her life has been filled with love.  Of course if it turns out that she's single and I'm single then starting where we left off would be great.

One thing you have going for you is that Vietnamese women do not take their husband's family names.  If you have her family name and third name, as you must have to have sent her a letter, she should still be using the same name.

Kunkenfudge wrote:

Thanks!  I appreciate your good wishes.  I hope she got married had a bunch of kids.  I hope her life has been filled with love.  Of course if it turns out that she's single and I'm single then starting where we left off would be great.

Wow! Good luck Sir and thank you for your service! I am sure you will find her...

Yes, but unfortunately I no longer have the letter she sent me.  I won't go into details.  Suffice it to say that it had something to do with my crazy ex-wife.

Wish I could remember Phuong's whole name, but I don't.  That would make it a lot easier.  I have some Vietnamese friends who are trying to help me, but even then it will take a miracle.  Fortunately I believe in miracles.

Thank you for your good wishes.

Kunkenfudge wrote:

Yes, but unfortunately I no longer have the letter she sent me.  I won't go into details.  Suffice it to say that it had something to do with my crazy ex-wife.

Wish I could remember Phuong's whole name, but I don't.  That would make it a lot easier.  I have some Vietnamese friends who are trying to help me, but even then it will take a miracle.  Fortunately I believe in miracles.

.
      Tried hypnosis?   It often works in regard to memory...

          ..altho, beware of confirmation bias..!

         If it is meant to happen; it will

         Best wishes
.

I don't think hypnosis would be helpful in my case.  I've tried hypnosis a couple times -- not for this situation -- but for other matters.  I am apparently not hypnotizable.  And even if I were I think you're right about confirmation bias. 

But you are also right that if it is meant to be, it will be.  I firmly believe that.

Kunkenfudge wrote:

Wish I could remember Phuong's whole name, but I don't.  That would make it a lot easier.  I have some Vietnamese friends who are trying to help me, but even then it will take a miracle.  Fortunately I believe in miracles.

Phương, or Phượng, could've been only one of the multiple names she's known of.  Many Vietnamese have two names, some have three.  This is not designed for fraudulent activities as described in some enraged posts written by incensed people on their failed relationships with Vietnamese.  (Customs and traditional practice are not a universal thing, and until one is well-versed with the customs of a particular country, one ought not be too rashly with one's negative opinions and derogatory remarks).

Here's the custom of name giving in Vietnam:

A child was born, a name was selected for her birth certificate (let's just use the feminine gender since a woman's name was the reason this subject arises).  That's her legal name, everybody in every country has one so it's a no brainer.

The child, however, is not going to be called by her legal name, not for one year, sometimes much longer.  It's the superstitious way of the people:  one should not bring attention to a defenseless child in case the attention comes from some undesirable characters of the unseen world.

Thus another name is given (tên cúng cơm).  This name is usually based on the birth year (Heo, Mèo, Gà),  sprung from the mother's discretion (Mây, Hạ, Sương), derived from a movie or book character (Mai Ka, Giáng Hương), a favourite food (Bí, Su Su, Mít), a musical note (Mi, Son), a fury animal (Sóc), a wish and dream for the child (Thục Ngữ for a gentle voice, Thiện Bảo for purity and charity), etc.

Some children were born sickly or with intense colic, or they're averse to eating and sleeping, or their time/year of birth is seriously conflicting with the parents' ages.  Difficult-to-raise babies (con khó nuôi) they're called.  To ease the parents' burden and to guarantee the child health and happiness, the parents often "surrender" the parenthood and "give" the child to a deity for protection.  To reflect this "adoption",   the child's full name is changed:  her last name would be the same as the deity's and her first name would be chosen from a religious book by the authority who performs the ceremony.  This "adoption" period lasts up to 12 years, during which time the child is called only by her adoptive name -- except at school, but in smaller town where everyone knows everyone else, even teachers know students by the adoptive names too.  Let the confusion reigns.

The second name is often given as a nod to a relative, friend, or anything the mother desires especially if she didn't have the choice on the selection of her daughter's legal name. 

If there's another person in the family who has the same name, this second name is tagged with a descriptive nickname:  Thảo Ù (Chubby Thảo), Phượng Gầy (Slim Phượng), Hiếu Khùng (Crazy Hiếu), Mai Đen (dark skinned Mai), etc.   The description isn't meant to be negative even if it may seem that way to Western sensibility.  I've often heard someone being called out in public by the nickname, for instance, "Lan Xí Xọn đâu?  (Where's Coquette Lan?) and a woman answered matter-of-factly, "Em đây; em mới đến." (Here I am. I've just arrived.)"  Did anyone turn around to see if the woman is really coquette as her nickname indicated?  I've never paid attention but I doubt if anyone cared.

This second name (or third, if she had the adoptive name earlier in her youth) is almost guaranteed the name she's known by for the rest of her life.  It's also VERY likely the name which she uses to introduce herself, only because it's much more familiar to her than her legal name.  It can be said that the legal name is the least used and known name of any Vietnamese.

Therefore, it's not easy to find someone named Phương if her schoolmates, bosses, and colleagues knew her as Mỹ Linh, close friends knew her as Thanh Thúy, her cousins knew her as Gà (Chicken), her parents and relatives knew her as Gầy -- Bé Hai Gầy ("The little slim cousin who was born the oldest daughter"), Dì Hai Gầy ("The slim aunt who is the first born in her family").  Happens all the time a person coming to the correct neighbourhood, asking to find someone whose name is unknown to the neighbours, then disappointedly turning around to leave while the person he's searching for lives only a few steps away.

It would be helpful to describe your friend Phương's physical characteristics alongside with her name and the location where she lived, worked, or frequented.  Then, if all else fails, join FB.  I've heard of and read about people who've found each other against all odds with the help of very nosey FB members.

It doesn't hurt to try.

Dear Ciambella,

Thank you so much for your post. I was a little familiar with Vietnamese naming customs.  But it's way more complex than I had realized.  Sounds like you must have put in a lot of research into Vietnamese culture. I was somewhat aware that Phuong might not even be her "given" name.

Facebook could definitely be useful.

Hello, I'm Richard Branson, from Detroit, Michigan , USA. I'm new to Can Tho. I'm interested in learning more about this city. Looking for a nice apartment and a nice swimming pool and health club. Any helpful advice would be most appreciated.   Cheers!

RBranson666 wrote:

Hello, I'm Richard Branson, from Detroit, Michigan , USA. I'm new to Can Tho. I'm interested in learning more about this city. Looking for a nice apartment and a nice swimming pool and health club. Any helpful advice would be most appreciated.   Cheers!

With your name, you could build an apartment building with attached health club and a swimming pool on every floor, no need to search for one.   

Sorry to disappoint. Same name, minus a the billions.

Hi all
Im happy to join expat
My name is Lars and im from Denmark.
Im 57 years old and im employed in Denmark as an mechanical technician.
I plan to relocate to Hanoi because I have a girlfriend (soon wife) who is liveing there.
Im looking for job opportunities in a foreign company.
I have more than 35 years experience in my field.
Troubleshooting, repair, maintenence, tool fitting, construction, assembling, Mechanical engineering, outsourcing, validation and optimization.

Best regards
Lars Andersen

darrell_parham 24 March 2019 05:30:30 Report #93
2 posts
I'm actually from California as well. I've dabbled in French, Spanish, and German. I've been using Duolingo and youtube to pickup Vietnamese but need a parent speaker to work on correct tonal form. I'm not into the bar scene so I came to expat.com hoping to meet people here in HCMC.



Hello Darrell,
My name is Lee and I am currently living in the USA.  I do speak Vietnamese fluently and  I will be starting a new job in HCMC in September 2019.  If you are still interested in learning Vietnamese, I think I can help you.  Please send me an email and we will chat.  Hope to hear from you soon.
Lee

Hello Everybody  ,

I am coming from North Italy . Having been so many time to Vietnam in the last 10 years , i decided to move to Ho Chi Minh to settle down so i can deepen my knowledge about Vietnamese culture and traditions . i am here since 5 months time and hope to start a free lancing office so i settle down in Vietnam permanently  . Looking forward to meeting many new friends here . Cheers

Hi All,

My name is Mike and i'm from Indonesia.
I arrived in HCM last week to start working here. Find this forum! and just looking to increase my currently network of friends (which is still zero). lol

cheers

Hi my name is Mick,

Currently working fifo out of western Australia to hcm city, also looking to build with my spouse a new house in Tay ninh with the rest of her family and settling permanently within the next 4 year's in hcm city

My name is Joy, I am from Gambia and also a citizen of Nigeria, I will be relocating to Vietnam soon for a teaching job.
I am trying to make friends here before my arrival so I don't get bored while I'm there, I am a very humble and gentle.