I've been living in Vietnam for little over a year.

[luckytxn 2,265]

None of this stuff bothers me. It may be because I had spent so much time in Asia years ago and of course in Europe and some of South America. When I first traveled Asia many years ago and when I was much younger everything was so very exotic and different and much was shocking and even disgusting to me. After time though I started to notice those things less. I did start to see the many things where we were actually the same over all. I always felt very comfortable in Asia and being tall and stared at was very cool to me as I love attention. I tend to be rather very open and a bit loud. Trangs family misses me of course but even her little village area people still come and ask about me.

It is easy for us to see and criticize others as we are raised differently. Also it is easy for us to think our ways and mores should be their ways and mores but I learned long ago to not judge too harshly. Of course we are expected to pay the "western" price but found that it is a tenth of what we are used to paying here. If I like where or what I am doing then I will come back if not then I will find another place. I tend to go back to where the service is making me happy and pay what they want me to.

As for racism. Yes racism is ingrained from a young age. When I was in Japan or Germany I found out that they still hold their views that they are superior but instead of subduing others through war they do so by economics. Let them think what they want and do as they do. I do not subscribe to their way of thinking but trying to change their way of thinking is useless. It has to come from within their own society not outside it.

Over all I have found friends and great people everywhere. Vietnam was no exception. They are an awesome people and very lucky to be accepted as much as I have.

[konton 0]

I’ve been living in HCMC for two and a half years and I’d leave today if I could bring my fiancée. We’re getting married in Singapore at the end of the month because I can’t stand all the paperwork and the bribes you have to pay for three government officials in separates office in separate locations to approve everything. I’m also Việt Kiều, but don’t have any family here and can’t speak a word of Vietnamese.

Will someone explain to me why it’s okay to hold a baby out of the front window of your house and allow it to piss from there onto the street when there are people on motorbike passing by constantly? Speaking of motorbikes, why don’t people use turn signal lights? Everyone seems to like waving their hands, and you can’t really see that when there are no lights on the road except for headlights. Don’t you love it when the streets are crowded and someone thinks is just fine to drive on the wrong side of the street and block traffic? The police would stop them if they thought the driver could afford the bribe.

Why can’t people who work at restaurants remember your orders? They could write it down if it would help, but they would rather bring you the wrong thing on the menu and then try to make you pay or it. When dinner is over they want you to tell them what you ate so they can determine how much you need to pay. And it still takes them half an hour to come over with the bill. This isn’t everywhere, but in many local restaurants. I just want to pay the bill and go home. By the time they give me the bill, I’m hungry again.

I don’t know where in Vietnam people speak on at a temperate volume. Sometimes when my fiancée is talking in English she’ll be yelling. I tell her to lower her voice and she usually apologizes, explaining this is the volume she speaks at in Vietnamese. I know it’s true, because whenever she speaks with her friends I think they are yelling at each other. Makes me nervous.

I’d complain more but what’s the point. I bought a dryer last week with the deferred taxes so I’m feeling better. That was something nice that happened recently. I just wish I could get those dryer sheets to make my clothes smell better.

J_

[Teacher Mark 53]

We ate at a restaurant in District 7 three times in 2 days. The food was great and they didn't screw up the order. That's the positive. The negative is that the TV was on with the volume jacked up. My Wife had to remind the guy about our order on one occasion. I told her "Honey don't bother him, he's watching TV." She says "But it's his job." Sarcasm doesn't translate well here, but she's learning.

[Dai. 7]

I’ve been living in HCMC for two and a half years and I’d leave today if I could bring my fiancée. We’re getting married in Singapore at the end of the month because I can’t stand all the paperwork and the bribes you have to pay for three government officials in separates office in separate locations to approve everything. I’m also Việt Kiều, but don’t have any family here and can’t speak a word of Vietnamese.

Will someone explain to me why it’s okay to hold a baby out of the front window of your house and allow it to piss from there onto the street when there are people on motorbike passing by constantly? Speaking of motorbikes, why don’t people use turn signal lights? Everyone seems to like waving their hands, and you can’t really see that when there are no lights on the road except for headlights. Don’t you love it when the streets are crowded and someone thinks is just fine to drive on the wrong side of the street and block traffic? The police would stop them if they thought the driver could afford the bribe.

Why can’t people who work at restaurants remember your orders? They could write it down if it would help, but they would rather bring you the wrong thing on the menu and then try to make you pay or it. When dinner is over they want you to tell them what you ate so they can determine how much you need to pay. And it still takes them half an hour to come over with the bill. This isn’t everywhere, but in many local restaurants. I just want to pay the bill and go home. By the time they give me the bill, I’m hungry again.

I don’t know where in Vietnam people speak on at a temperate volume. Sometimes when my fiancée is talking in English she’ll be yelling. I tell her to lower her voice and she usually apologizes, explaining this is the volume she speaks at in Vietnamese. I know it’s true, because whenever she speaks with her friends I think they are yelling at each other. Makes me nervous.

I’d complain more but what’s the point. I bought a dryer last week with the deferred taxes so I’m feeling better. That was something nice that happened recently. I just wish I could get those dryer sheets to make my clothes smell better.

J_

Wow your a soldier man, 2.5 years! I would definitely go crazy. If you didn't want to get married in Vietnam, Why didn't you go for the K1 (Fiancee visa) and get married in the United States? I think it would be way easier than doing it in Singapore, but I don't know what it's like over there so... Yeah I do agree with you that it's stupid you have to pay extra "coffee" money to the marriage certificate people, but when I got married I only had to pay one person not 3 different people and I got mines in a pretty good timely manner.

Man they got a micheal jackson impersonator here or something? That crazy they let their baby hang out the window and let them piss on the passing by people, but that type of thing is what I would expect here but I don't like.

About the motorbikes signaling, I don't think other people would pay attention to a little light blinking since there are so many people. The hand is just more effective to them, what do you expect from this chaotic traffic in VN. I know what you are talking about people going the wrong way on the wrong side of the road and blocking traffic, people just don't follow rules. I do see police stopping everyone breaking the law, trying to get bribes from them but then they got a big truck and they haul motorbike from the people who can't pay the bribe. So many cops are lazy though they don't really do that alot, only at certain times of the month when money is dued to the top guy.

Customer service at restuarants are very seldom. Like I said in my post in this thread before, some people just don't care you if they lose your service. I guess they can get away with it since there are so many restuarants on every street.

I've recently come to realize that it's a culture thing now for some people to talk out loud. A group of people will do it and it will spread on like wild fire. I guess some people things it's cool they speak loud like that and get rowdy.

This thread was made just to rant about the things that annoy me in Vietnam. There nothing I can do about the things I don't like and I guess we have to learn to live with it when we are staying in another country. And then those dryer sheets too... I have to get mines from Thailand or I ask some co-workers from my company to send 3-4 big boxes of bounce dryer papers to use here. It sucks Vietnam doesn't have them. But I guess we have to consider the masses dry their clothes on a line outside, which makes the clothes smell bad and the fabric hard.

Anyways being away from the United States Sucks, I hope our wifes get out paperwork quick so we can both get back.

[konton 0]

I hate trying to be politically correct and inoffensive. I say rant away. I rant all the time. It’s better to vent than to keep things bottled up. And as much as I complain I love my students here and will stick around to make sure they are educated by someone who actually cares about what they learn. I’m going to start a new topic in a day or so about direct consular filing, but I wanted to answer your question.

We had some concerns about the Fiancée visa because my Fiancée had been denied a visa when we tried to go to America just to visit. So we thought we should get married first. Her dad is against our marriage and has enough friends in her home town to make sure it doesn’t happen. Singapore requires very little paperwork to get married so we decided to go that route. Once we’re married at the end of this month we’ll head over to the USCIS in HCMC and file directly.

Also we kinda want to be married now, not a year from now. Actually, I thought we were going to be married last year. The wedding is at the end of the month.

What paperwork are you waiting for?

J_

Edited March 4, 2009 by konton

[Dai. 7]

I am doing the I-130 CR-1. Hopefully it will be done in april and have my wife come with me to the United States. My wife also was denied a student visa before she met me. I have a lawyer taking care of my case just incase there are problems or hiccups. He told me that the denial would not be a problem at all as long as I have a bonifide relationship.

[Dau_Que 0]

Dear all Whiners and Complainants,

This is President Nguyen Minh Triet. After carefully reviewing your complaints posted here on this forum, and numerous consultation with Bac Ho, I have the following response and I hope you will somewhat find some satisfaction:

Bac Ho said "Nhap Gia Tuy Tuc".........Who cares and get used to our problems. Don't like it? Get outta my country and go live elsewhere! Capiche? Have yourself a nice day and life, hopefully!

PS. From me personally as the President of the country, unless you have the dollars $$$, we don't really care in what you say OK?

[Teacher Mark 53]

Dear all Whiners and Complainants,

This is President Nguyen Minh Triet. After carefully reviewing your complaints posted here on this forum, and numerous consultation with Bac Ho, I have the following response and I hope you will somewhat find some satisfaction:

Bac Ho said "Nhap Gia Tuy Tuc".........Who cares and get used to our problems. Don't like it? Get outta my country and go live elsewhere! Capiche? Have yourself a nice day and life, hopefully!

PS. From me personally as the President of the country, unless you have the dollars $$$, we don't really care in what you say OK?

Lighten up.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Dear all Whiners and Complainants,

This is President Nguyen Minh Triet. After carefully reviewing your complaints posted here on this forum, and numerous consultation with Bac Ho, I have the following response and I hope you will somewhat find some satisfaction:

Bac Ho said "Nhap Gia Tuy Tuc".........Who cares and get used to our problems. Don't like it? Get outta my country and go live elsewhere! Capiche? Have yourself a nice day and life, hopefully!

PS. From me personally as the President of the country, unless you have the dollars $$$, we don't really care in what you say OK?

** you commie bastid.

[Teacher Mark 53]

Dear all Whiners and Complainants,

This is President Nguyen Minh Triet. After carefully reviewing your complaints posted here on this forum, and numerous consultation with Bac Ho, I have the following response and I hope you will somewhat find some satisfaction:

Bac Ho said "Nhap Gia Tuy Tuc".........Who cares and get used to our problems. Don't like it? Get outta my country and go live elsewhere! Capiche? Have yourself a nice day and life, hopefully!

PS. From me personally as the President of the country, unless you have the dollars $$$, we don't really care in what you say OK?

** you commie bastid.

None of this stuff bothers me.

Obviously that post did!

[RalphandHanh 1]

Dear all Whiners and Complainants,

This is President Nguyen Minh Triet. After carefully reviewing your complaints posted here on this forum, and numerous consultation with Bac Ho, I have the following response and I hope you will somewhat find some satisfaction:

Bac Ho said "Nhap Gia Tuy Tuc".........Who cares and get used to our problems. Don't like it? Get outta my country and go live elsewhere! Capiche? Have yourself a nice day and life, hopefully!

PS. From me personally as the President of the country, unless you have the dollars $$$, we don't really care in what you say OK?

Then tell the US make the embassy processes easier and we would take the one we love out of your country and you will have Two less people that you have in your country. Seems easy enough.

[JelloShotGirl 0]

I really love the Philippines however I do have some pet peeves about it.........especially in Manila a lot of places are stinky. Driving from airport to my husbands house on the map looks like it would only take 20 minutes drive actually can be about 4 hours and when u get there ur body is covered in some kind of slimy dirt pollution. THe pissing all over the place . spitting, etc and stuff like that leaves much to be desired....................I am not fond of the massive crowds even at the supermarkets. Wall to wall people.

[Mike n Huong 1]

Hello my fellow VJ family,

I have been readin this thread over the last couple days and figured I would chime in. Let me start off by stating that I do love being in Vietnam, and miss it since me and my wife have not been there in over 2 years. Although I like it there, there a few things that I didn't care for. The first thing would be taking a shower. We stayed at my wife's parents house and some hotels that had a shower where you just stood in the middle of the bathroom and sprayed yourself down with a hand held shower head. Everytime I got a shower the entire bathroom would be soaked. It was funny when my wife translated for me that her and her parents were saying that I took a shower like and elephant.

Another thing that I absolutley hated was the slelect few that would say something to my wife, about her being with an American. I know they were saying something nasty, but she wouldn't tell me. It took everything in me to not confront them. I totally understand where they are coming from, because there are girls that are not, as my wife would say, good girls.

The other thing that bothers me is the traffic. Oh how I hated how people would just drive wherever they wanted without following common sense. During holidays, the traffic is almost intolerable. I had to take my wife to downtown Pittsburgh during rush hour one morning. We were sitting in traffic and I commented "Just think if this was Vietnam, all the cars would not just be sitting in linel like they are now. There would be cars trying to pass on the shoulder and it would take 10 times longer". We both just started laughing.

I can't wait to go back and visit our family there.

[Dau_Que 0]

Dear all Whiners and Complainants,

This is President Nguyen Minh Triet. After carefully reviewing your complaints posted here on this forum, and numerous consultation with Bac Ho, I have the following response and I hope you will somewhat find some satisfaction:

Bac Ho said "Nhap Gia Tuy Tuc".........Who cares and get used to our problems. Don't like it? Get outta my country and go live elsewhere! Capiche? Have yourself a nice day and life, hopefully!

PS. From me personally as the President of the country, unless you have the dollars $$$, we don't really care in what you say OK?

** you commie bastid.

No thanks. I only do women. I'm sure there're plenty of gay bars in the Montrose area to fulfill your need. Don't forget to tell your new wife in the event you decide to go there though. Vietnamese women tend not to take the homosexual issue very well!

I've talked to Uncle Ho (Bac Ho) again and he decided to offer to those who have been experiencing inconveniences while living in our country some cheese to compliment your w(H)ine. We do understand that the majority of Asian are Lactose-intolerance, but like I said in my previous response, we really do NOT care in your feelings anyway.

PS.........Bac Ho also said your suffering no matter how big is NOTHING compared to the poor living standards that the Vietnamese people have to go through EVERY DAY for the rest of their lives. And one of the reason you decide to stay in our country is because of CHEAP stuffs compared to your countries. So, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR)......

Go tell your wives "Nha giau duc tay bang an may do rout", translating.....The rich's minor hand cut equals to the poor's gut splitting!

[Melrose Plant 1]

Dear all Whiners and Complainants,

This is President Nguyen Minh Triet. After carefully reviewing your complaints posted here on this forum, and numerous consultation with Bac Ho, I have the following response and I hope you will somewhat find some satisfaction:

Bac Ho said "Nhap Gia Tuy Tuc".........Who cares and get used to our problems. Don't like it? Get outta my country and go live elsewhere! Capiche? Have yourself a nice day and life, hopefully!

PS. From me personally as the President of the country, unless you have the dollars $$$, we don't really care in what you say OK?

** you commie bastid.

No thanks. I only do women. I'm sure there're plenty of gay bars in the Montrose area to fulfill your need. Don't forget to tell your new wife in the event you decide to go there though. Vietnamese women tend not to take the homosexual issue very well!

I've talked to Uncle Ho (Bac Ho) again and he decided to offer to those who have been experiencing inconveniences while living in our country some cheese to compliment your w(H)ine. We do understand that the majority of Asian are Lactose-intolerance, but like I said in my previous response, we really do NOT care in your feelings anyway.

PS.........Bac Ho also said your suffering no matter how big is NOTHING compared to the poor living standards that the Vietnamese people have to go through EVERY DAY for the rest of their lives. And one of the reason you decide to stay in our country is because of CHEAP stuffs compared to your countries. So, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR)......

Go tell your wives "Nha giau duc tay bang an may do rout", translating.....The rich's minor hand cut equals to the poor's gut splitting!

Why am I getting this deja vu all over again thing? Thank you very much for your constructive contribution to this thread, and the horse you came in on.