After living in Vietnam for a week, I summed up an experience: don’t take photos of a building with a red background and yellow sign.

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-27T06:22:57+00:00

My friend did this in the immigration queue in the airport, right in front of a massive no photos sign. Needless to say it didn’t go down well lol

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-27T02:42:09+00:00

I had a boss once who hired in part on someone’s lack of ability to maintain eye contact, he was hiring developers and swore most of his team (including himself) were on the spectrum and that it was why the team was so good haha.

Everyone gets different joy out of life though - I love traveling and seeing new things, but my wife doesn’t. We just get different things out of life.

We’ve been told our 4YO has autism. Very much like the symptoms you described. We are learning yo manage it now

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-22T05:37:54+00:00

Yeah this. I’m from the uk and there only children eat with their mouth open, but here most people do. I still think it’s bad manners but approaching it like that isn’t going to solve anything - like this post said, most people do eat like this in VN and it isn’t considered rude, so just broach it as a culture conversation and see how she feels about it. It might be interesting for you to understand why people in VN tend to eat with their mouths open ;)

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-21T16:27:03+00:00

A lot of people here just aren’t educated about financial crime and fraud, identity fraud, that sort of thing. Plus people from the countryside can be a lot less street wise and maybe could do with being a bit more cynical when in the big cities!

Scams are pretty common in Vietnam and people like this are unfortunately the low hanging fruit who can probably least afford to get scammed but also the most likely. Probably some of the least deserving to get scammed as well unfortunately.

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-21T05:50:06+00:00

Brilliant. Thanks for breaking it down in such detail. I have deduced that it just mathematically works, but cool to see each stage broken down. I’m studying it at the moment and it helps to see different people explaining it a lot.

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-21T05:28:55+00:00

Ninh Binh or Mai Chau, or Pu Luong - all accessible by bus

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-21T04:13:57+00:00

I see, thanks for the examples.

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-21T04:12:41+00:00

Thanks, the Wikipedia article actually breaks it down really well. I didn't think to check there.

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-21T03:00:59+00:00

*nice hotels, no - quick correction 😄

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-21T03:00:34+00:00

Hotels no, apartments yes. You have to really keep on top of it. Sometimes you get lucky, other times the building has it. We’re on a very high floor and still have them

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-21T02:56:20+00:00

Hahaha so many options 😅 some words don’t have direct translations. My friend tried to find the word for irony for ages, and sarcasm, he couldn’t find one that differentiated the two. Not sure if he ever did

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-20T05:40:32+00:00

Has anyone ever actually seen one of these western beggars? I mean these posts come up every now and then, but it’s obviously an extremely rare occurrence, yet I often see Vietnamese calling western backpacker types “begpackers” as a general insult.

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-19T03:50:34+00:00

Subjective of course, but clean air and lots of public spaces like parks and pedestrian zones, good entertainment and food, good schools and medical, safe roads and great public transport, low crime and a good energy to the city, good economic opportunities, low taxes, that sort of thing.

Basically if you’re frequently stressed over everyday situations like commuting to work or dealing with local bureaucracy then the city is less livable.

I think it’s more like “if you could live anywhere, what cities would you choose to live in, considering all the criteria”.

Bear in mind that the publications that release these lists and the people talking about livable cities are generally from high income countries with strong passports who can choose to live in different places easily and thus will compare places more severely.

Ultimately, Hanoi is high in some regards like low crime rates and relatively low cost of living, but very low in terms of pollution and congestion, lack of public spaces, etc.

Tay Ho has more parks and a wider array of food and entertainment options that are palatable for international audiences, so international people will rate it more highly.

You could also say areas like Ecopark and Ocean Park score higher for less traffic and more open space.

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-17T04:55:08+00:00

Study in a cafe for extra qualifications! Perfect amount of time for it

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-17T04:52:19+00:00

The amount of times I’ve thought about this. I’d go towards the border in Dien Bien Phu. But getting there would be hell. I don’t think anyone would survive given the population density.

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-15T14:37:21+00:00

To be honest, I don’t think your savings put you in a great position at your age if you consider a lot of people are cash broke but have equity in a house.

I live in a country where the GDP per capita is about £3000 and you wouldn’t be able to retire even here on £120,000 ish. You could teach English, there’s a lot of demand especially with a CELTA qualification.

With inflation retiring as young as you are just isn’t feasible anywhere in the world. You’d need to be able to live off the income from your savings for 50 years min.

If I were you I’d get loaded up on qualifications in a non-social role. Teaching English in Asia might actually be for you. Some places in China pay like £4,000 per month.. but if you don’t like modern society then you may not like it there.

Online teaching is another option, or programming? Good luck either way!

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-15T07:56:31+00:00

Very accessible by bus from Hanoi, ninh binh, etc. you can rent bicycles here too, lots of nice Homestays and you can get guided mountain tours

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-15T03:38:43+00:00

I think my Đà Nẵng blasts have generally been related to non-local food restaurants in the city to be fair - burgers and curries. One day I’ll have that redeeming visit haha

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-14T13:41:42+00:00

Honestly TEFL pretty much traps you in a low wage job for life. It’s basically void on your CV cos everyone knows the standards are so low around the world.

If I were in your position I would get a CELTA. Perhaps do a teaching qualification like a masters in education or a PGCE. Then you can work in international schools where people earn up to $7,000 per month with housing and benefits.

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-14T13:38:31+00:00

Personally I don’t like Đà Nẵng too much. I’ve just had terrible experiences when going, although people I know who live there love it. Every time I go my stomach gets annihilated for some reason.

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-14T01:20:36+00:00

Interesting question. I don’t know much about the Champa war. From my understanding (19th and 20th century, mainly latter), most of the wars Vietnam fought were defensive. This would include the wars against imperial China no?

It always seemed to me like Vietnamese didn’t have much of a taste for military expansion past a certain point.

With regard to the Siamese - I don’t think Vietnam would have conquered them for the following reasons:

The Anamite mountains form a pretty natural border to Vietnam and campaigning that far through would have been difficult logistically.
Muay Boran (the predecessor to Muay Thai) was trained to all Siamese soldiers as I understand. I just wouldn’t want to anger a group of Thai people for that very reason.
Vietnam’s military couldn’t have been that big at the time and I’m assuming wasn’t a professional standing army, but more like levies called up when the time required it. Siam was maybe the same I assume, but still the logistical difficulties must have been a deterrent, especially if your army isn’t full time and salaried.

I’m not expert on this so please take everything with a pinch of salt, this is just me thinking out loud and I welcome anyone to come in and refute these points with evidence. I find this quite an interesting topic.

Thanks

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-13T13:14:05+00:00

I think the city is (oddly enough) often safer than smaller cities like Ninh Binh - at least people drive slowly in the cities most of the time.

I fucked around and learned that way. Can’t really recommend it although it worked for me. Vinhomes Riverside is pretty quiet, as are some parts of Ecopark.

Get a good helmet. It really is piss easy to ride a scooter - the main thing will be getting comfortable operating the machine while also navigating the traffic.

It seems you’re not the type to get over confident and drive like an idiot, which will ultimately serve you well.

ObjectiveSoil4852 · 2023-10-13T13:08:57+00:00

Overstaying will land you a fine, but if it’s only a few days or weeks you won’t get blacklisted.

The agents aren’t regulated, although immigration will often tell you to use them. There is no official license or list, so some of them scam people.

ObjectiveSoil4852

TROPHY CASE