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vabeckele
Joined: 19 Nov 2010 Posts: 439
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 2:16 pm Post subject: Negative things about Vietnam |
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I just couldn't resist it.
I am in Hanoi and I just find it really difficult to walk around, anywhere. I would love a sidewalk or pavement to walk on.
How an answer to a question I ask cannot be answered directly, I always have to dance around the issue, and I still walk away with more questions. |
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isabel
Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 510 Location: God's green earth
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:13 am Post subject: |
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Too many whinging westerners? |
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vabeckele
Joined: 19 Nov 2010 Posts: 439
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:41 am Post subject: More... |
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Not being able to take a book AWAY from a library (national lib. in Hanoi), you have to read it there - I wanted to read a book on, 'Vietnam: cultural relativism in an authoritarian state'. |
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I'm With Stupid
Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 432
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 6:03 am Post subject: |
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I guess I have to post on this, since I posted on the positive one.
- the noise.
- being asked if I want something all the time.
- the customer service - there often seems to be no middle ground between not acknowledging you exist or breathing down your neck all the way round the shop.
- the noise.
- lack of decent music/clubs.
- unreliable products - for every massive bargain you get, you'll buy something that falls apart as soon as you get it home.
- the noise. |
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isabel
Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 510 Location: God's green earth
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 11:07 am Post subject: |
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isabel wrote: |
Too many whinging westerners? |
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emmett grogan
Joined: 14 Nov 2007 Posts: 45
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 1:38 pm Post subject: |
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"Motorbike? Where you go?" every 30 seconds. |
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isabel
Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 510 Location: God's green earth
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:24 pm Post subject: |
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emmett grogan wrote: |
"Motorbike? Where you go?" every 30 seconds. |
Ever tried to get a cab in Manhattan? Be grateful. |
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kurtz
Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 518 Location: Phaic Tan
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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isabel wrote: |
isabel wrote: |
Too many whinging westerners? |
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mark_in_saigon
Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 837
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 4:56 pm Post subject: the self hatred among westerners is remarkable |
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here we are, we should be at least interested to see each other and chat, if not automatic friends. Instead, I find the natives are far more friendly to the westerners than our own fellow expats. Seems many of us enjoy the adulation so much that we wish it would never be shared with other westerners, and so we always are looking for a reason to not like each other and wish we were the only westerner in the nation.
I guess I can understand that, but cannot really understand why we would then come on a board for expats and demonstrate this self hatred. Seems to me if you did not like your own people, you would just stay away from them. |
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skarper
Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 477
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 4:57 am Post subject: |
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I for one would appreciate a circle of westerner friends to chat with and occasionally have a drink.
But given the downright creepy nature of some expats prowling SEASIA I'm very reticent about making casual contacts with passing foreigners. I'm also busy and value my privacy. I think this is natural among expats who've lived a while in Vietnam - if they were outgoing mixer types they'd have left long ago. |
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vabeckele
Joined: 19 Nov 2010 Posts: 439
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 6:35 am Post subject: Yep |
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What Mark and Skarper, wrote |
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mark_in_saigon
Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 837
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: |
I think this is natural among expats who've lived a while in Vietnam - if they were outgoing mixer types they'd have left long ago. |
I dunno, I know that to do this work properly and to really enjoy it, the best outcomes are achieved by being quite outgoing and mixing with the people, thought not necessarily with the westerners you know (still do not really understand why we have to show dislike towards each other though). I was just at a Christmas party with some college students and it was a very enjoyable experience, I could go years in the west and not share as much happiness in those years as some of these VN share with me in one day. |
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Prof.Gringo
Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2236 Location: Dang Cong San Viet Nam Quang Vinh Muon Nam!
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Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2012 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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I really like how so many VN men are cowards, pure and simple. They will provoke a fight, but as soon as they realize they are about to get beat down they either call on their buddies for help (they like that 10-1 mentality) or they pull a knife... |
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Tigerstyleone
Joined: 26 Mar 2010 Posts: 181
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 1:09 pm Post subject: |
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I think it's corruption. |
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isabel
Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 510 Location: God's green earth
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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I like the joy with Christmas MOD EDIT
I enjoy so much about Vietnam. I really like westerners who take it in stride. I do have a good time with both westerners and Vietnamese who are not either naive nor cynical about things here- but find Vietnam worth the effort.
I look forward to Tet. Great fun. |
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