|
Job Discussion Forums "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
toiyeuthitmeo
Joined: 21 May 2010 Posts: 213
|
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 5:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
1) Shrimp paste (mam tom)
2) Babies being held over the gutter for a quick piss or shit
3) Taken-by-surprise-from-behind bus horn blast
4) Being nearly decapitated or impaled by various sharp-edged construction supplies protruding precariously into the road.
5) Sitting on the floor for over 30 min. Just don't have the bones /joints for it.
6) A certain breed of pensioner expat who relocates to coastal towns to enter into a second childhood comprised of beer, loud, bawdy and disrespectful jabbering with mates, the pursuit of tale 40 years their junior, and increasingly, a silly penchant for putting on leathers and roaring about these peaceful towns in some kind of grandpa's motorcycle gang fantasy.
7) K pop infatuation. God I hate K pop.
Kids huffing glue in the middle of the day in high-traffic areas.
9) How little I can spend some days
10) How much I can spend some days |
|
Back to top |
|
|
bludevil96
Joined: 07 Aug 2006 Posts: 82
|
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 5:07 am Post subject: |
|
|
ajc19810 wrote: |
Great topic.
I will never get used to;
1. Scooters being called motorbikes
2. People thinking an SH or Dylan is cool.
3. The ridiculously large Ralph Lauren logos on the shirts.
4. Being thought of as rich and handsome.
5. People who live near the beach and can't swim.
6. The esl books that are crammed with far too much info.
7. Teachers who over complicate learning a language.
8. The fact that I can come and go in this country as it pleases me.
9. MSG
10. The rush to get in an elevator.
One thing I have got used to which I though I never would is ice in beer. Love it and simply genius and Bi Da. |
1. The SH is not really a scooter. It's got power and handling to rival bigger cc motorcycles. My SH300 has the same pickup as my Shadow 700cc in the States and almost just as heavy.
2. Some of us appreciates quality built machines; both of which are.
3. materialism - those who don't have - want. Can you blame them for that? What kills me is the proliferation of Iphones
4. If you're white here, this is your title to lose; even if you're fat and ugly.
5. Agreed 100%. My wife is a shining example.
6. Damn British texts...
7. Most of them here (VN), aren't really teachers.
8. I find more freedom here than the good Ol US of A
9. You ain't kidding!
10. The rush to nowhere/anywhere. -Yep definitely.
Btw, current prices have skyrocketed in SGN. (local prices)
Pho: Usually 20-25vnd in the past is now over 30+ for most places and 40-50+ for the "famous" places.
Rice w/pork: 12-15vnd is now 18-22. adding 1 more item is 30vnd
Bun Bo Hue: 15-18k in previous year is now 20-25k
Banh Canh: 20-25 is 25-30k
My favorite Bun Mam is 30+ when it used to be 22-25vnd. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Kawika
Joined: 19 Oct 2009 Posts: 22 Location: Saigon
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
kurtz
Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 518 Location: Phaic Tan
|
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 1:15 pm Post subject: |
|
|
toiyeuthitmeo wrote: |
1) Shrimp paste (mam tom)
2) Babies being held over the gutter for a quick piss or shit
3) Taken-by-surprise-from-behind bus horn blast
4) Being nearly decapitated or impaled by various sharp-edged construction supplies protruding precariously into the road.
5) Sitting on the floor for over 30 min. Just don't have the bones /joints for it.
6) A certain breed of pensioner expat who relocates to coastal towns to enter into a second childhood comprised of beer, loud, bawdy and disrespectful jabbering with mates, the pursuit of tale 40 years their junior, and increasingly, a silly penchant for putting on leathers and roaring about these peaceful towns in some kind of grandpa's motorcycle gang fantasy.
7) K pop infatuation. God I hate K pop.
Kids huffing glue in the middle of the day in high-traffic areas.
9) How little I can spend some days
10) How much I can spend some days |
Ha ha, brilliant!
1) How 50 bucks can be a 3 day trip, all inclusive.
2) How easy it is to make quasi Vietnamese friends, but how hard it is for them to last
3) How bia hoi sessions always end up messy
4) The amount of expats who introduce themselves as some kind of artist; be it a singer, actor, guitarist, photographer, glass blower, snake charmer, gang banger.....
5) The lack of boorish Americans (sorry, Brits make far better company)
6) How there's always some dodgy Australian drinking beer wherever you go
7) How quickly it is getting used to having ice in your beer
8 ) The locals zero ability to line up
9) How possessive the shop keepers are when you go to the same place on more than one occasion
10) How randomly the traffic police pull people over |
|
Back to top |
|
|
I'm With Stupid
Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 432
|
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 7:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
ajc19810 wrote: |
10. The rush to get in an elevator. |
My building has a sign saying "Be aware of elbowing and pushing when getting out of the elevator." Not "Don't do it" just "Be aware." |
|
Back to top |
|
|
I'm With Stupid
Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 432
|
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 7:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
bludevil96 wrote: |
3. materialism - those who don't have - want. Can you blame them for that? What kills me is the proliferation of Iphones |
I could understand that if they were genuine. But I don't understand the prominent display of designer labels in a society where everyone knows that they're all fake anyway. Of course, they might just like the design. The real suckers are the people who buy the real stuff, because everyone will just assume that it's fake. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
ajc19810
Joined: 22 May 2008 Posts: 214
|
Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 10:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
All these things that I can't get used to and the ones everyone else has mentioned remind me of why I love the country.
Omg. The random australian guy popping up is so true. Or the American who made it big in the states but is finding himself in viet nam.
I can't resist just a few more.
1. The piles of cash banks leave on the carts within arms reach of customers.
2. The lack of fat people.
3. Family structure.
4. Respect for elders.
5. The price of golf membership
6. How Many families own their own home.
7. How viets can save up large amounts of cash when I struggle to do it anywhere.
8. Rice at KFC.
9. I can have anything delivered.
10. The fact that I love karaoke. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
vabeckele
Joined: 19 Nov 2010 Posts: 439
|
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 8:33 am Post subject: Hmm |
|
|
How I am totally comfortable eating and enjoying food in restaurants that would be closed down within a day back home.
How not giving change back to foreigners is...normal.
Turning right means having to cross all lanes from the far left.
Eating morning glory!?
Spitting, not your quiet drip, but a gut wrenching and pulling phlegm producing blob, everywhere.
Pissing outside of your house when you have a perfectly good toilet inside.
Buildings that fall down or explode.
How being a policeman is a side line - the real money is being a broker, agent, crook, community busy body.
Fleeing a fatal road accident is the norm.
Police using nets to catch traffic violators.
People going into banks with duffel bags full of money.
The legs of Vietnamese women
The singular hair strand on the chin of older males here.
Text messaging with your kid on the bike
How can a 200 litre fridge fit on a Honda wave?
Getting paid with a fat envelope.
The scenery, truly amazing.
How fat, gristle, and bone are the choice part of any cut of meat.
Finding a Viet-Eng dictionary with a translation of 'shit in your pants' in it. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
VietCanada
Joined: 30 Nov 2010 Posts: 590
|
Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 4:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Driving.
The clocks in public schools. They don't agree with my phone or laptop, they don't agree with each other. They don't agree with teacher's opinions of how much they don't agree with the 'real time'.
My neighbours staring at me as if they've never seen a foreigner before.
The back biting amongst some of my neighbours.
TEFL, CELTA whatever being a teaching qualification.
Being expected to pay more because you don't live here.
Going into panic mode during a turn based game. It's only happened here so... |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling. Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|