It's been 1 year now :)

[Icarus 0]

Matt- 2 funny! But ya gotta be careful man!

example #1:

Zerovoltz - "1. Yen is fiercely loyal"

example #2:

Patricks - "After living in Vietnam, you soon discover "Jealousy" undertakes a whole new meaning, it's INTENSE!"

example #3:

Dalegg - "It's been 1 year now. I haven't killed my wife yet." (oops, that's not really an example, but it sure was funny!)

Another little personal observation in regards to learning to drive: My stepmom was very eager to learn when she got here. I began giving her lesson in the parking lot of a local community college on Sundays and she was enjoying it immensely. After our 5th session, she told me she had enough and that she wouldn't be getting a license. She told me (in not so many words) that she loved the speed, but was intimidated by all the rules of the road, signs, lights and traffic. I laughed at first, because anyone who's been to HCMC understands true traffic pandemonium, but understood driving a moped all your life and then getting behind the wheel of a car can be scary. I equate it to driving a car for 30 years and then being told to now only fly space shuttles with a manual written in Swahili... I think the difference with my fiancee will be I'll start her off on the xbox360 with a couple driving games (with the exception of Burnout -those who know, know why) and go from there....

[dalegg 143]

My fiancee doesn't want to learn how to drive when she gets here. She says if I cannot drive her everywhere than I must hire her a driver. I told her fine, but the driver has to be a super hot bi-sexual Japanese woman, age 23. She didn't think that was funny.

My wife swore up and down that she would not learn to drive when she got here. She even asked me to buy her a moped. 2 months of boredom later she was in driver's training and while driving around in the compact training car she swore she would only drive a small car. 3 weeks later she had her driver's liscense and after driving the 4 Runner for 2 days said: "I am sure will only drive big cars".

She now swears that when we go back to Vietnam she will be too afraid to ride a motorbike in the Streets of Saigon (like the rest of us)

[patricks 0]

It was absolutely necessary for my wife to drive ASAP

First, I got a DMV driving book written in Vietnamese from Orange Co. Cali for her to study in VN before she came to America.

Then, I had her take muti-choice driving tests on line.

After that, she practiced in the community college parking lot with me upon arrival in the USA.

At that same time, I prepared myself that she will wreck the car and she will fail her first driving test, It's a given!

Yes, she drove the car into a ditch, no problem ($175 recovery fee)

Yes, she failed her first driving test because the women tester was "yelling" at her...PUT IT IN GEAR! etc..(she doesn't like emotional outbursts, something about "saving face", I don't know? ha ha)

Finally, I had to pay an instructor $35/hr to train her for real driving practice (total 4 hours)

(mind you, a husband shouldn't train his non native wife to drive) Not Good.......

She got her driver's license from a Vietnamese tester (Viet Kieu, overseas VNs) She drove around the block telling him about life in HCMC. She Passed, what a relief!

Today, no worries

[STL_HCMC 0]

I'll let you know the scooter/moped isn't as difficult as you think. I've lived/worked here nearly 1 year, and I'm proud to say my scooter/moped is my most reliable means of transportation. For anyone that has visited HCMC recently, you can see the growth in cars on the streets. That equals traffic jams and longer travel times if you choose that way. I used to commute by car w/driver, but I quickly ditched that when it started taking an hour just to get downtown to Q.1 from my office in Q.Tan Binh.

You should all give it a try sometime! If your here, let me know!

STL_HCMC

She now swears that when we go back to Vietnam she will be too afraid to ride a motorbike in the Streets of Saigon (like the rest of us)

[tcannon 0]

dalegg Posted Apr 26 2006, 09:10 PM

It's been 1 year now. I haven't killed my wife yet.

lol, Dale, I like that!