Job Discussion Forums

[PlushSky]

Dear Dave's Cafe Vietnam

Thread premise: I'll post a series of preconceptions I have about living and working in SE Asia as a westerner and you good people of actual material experience doing that very thing can tell me if it's all true (great!) or if they're hilariously misinformed expectations. Or, quite possibly, if it all lies somewhere in-between the two. Be as blunt as you like and answer whichever you'd like. I'm looking for unexpurgated opinions here. If I sound like an *beep*, feel free to chuck that in your response.

A cut to the chase. Bored of 9-5 grind in UK and not getting any younger (30yrs). Obtained a degree in English Literature that I never did anything with. Want to gallivant across the globe whilst earning my own keep. Could be a three year odyssey with Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam as the starting point for 6-9 months. Let's do this.

PRECONCEPTION I

I will be able to rent an apartment/house that is pleasant and reasonably spacious. It will have fridge/freezer, washing machine, oven etc. Clean water supply. Good shower. I will have access to the internet at reasonable speeds. This apartment will be no further than a 30 minute drive from whichever school I'm working at. This will cost no more than $400-$500 a month.

PRECONCEPTION II

Thanks to the low cost of living I'd be able to work 20-25 hours a week whilst living a lifestyle analogous to that which costs 40 hours of work a week in the UK.

PRECONCEPTION III

Maintaining a three day gym schedule around those teaching hours would be no hassle. The gym will be air conditioned. I'd be able to eat a meat heavy, protein rich diet for around $10 a day. Most of these meals will be from street vendors (which are generally safe).

PRECONCEPTION IV

As a reasonably good looking, tall white guy in fairly decent gym shape my sexual market value will be considerably higher in Vietnam than it is in the west. I don't struggle to get laid at home but I'd have to put in markedly less effort to get physically desirable women.

PRECONCEPTION V

Vietnamese people will see me in a foreign land with no understanding of the local language and not charge me an additional 20% on everything I buy be it food, taxi fares or rent.

PRECONCEPTION VI

In Ho Chi Minh City, it'll take me no longer than 90 minutes to get to a good beach.

PRECONCEPTION VII

There's definitely no discrimination against foreigners. If I believe what I read on Youtube comments, white people are looked upon favourably by SE Asians.

PRECONCEPTION VIII

The nightlife is fantastic.

PRECONCEPTION IX

Most of my new friends will likely be other English speaking expats doing the same thing as me. Their age range will be 21-35 and I'll meet some great, interesting and intelligent people.

PRECONCEPTION X

Moving to Vietnam is a good idea.

Those ten will do for now. Let me have it folks.

[RustyShackleford]

I: You will be lucky to find a place that has all those things, especially clean water, for your price-point. Look at ABOVE $500 unless you're okay living somewhere obscure.

II: You may. Just keep in mind the quality of food/drink, not to mention roads/air will be nothing like UK

III: Gyms you can afford without too much guilt on your $1500/no will probably not be airconditioned, but workable. Street vendors while popular can be dodgy.

IV: The short answer is Yes. Keep in mind what you want from a woman. There are very articulate and smart ladies out there. They're largely used to white teacher suitors and largely tired of them. There are still naive girls out there. Try not to be a predatory heart-breaker.

V: If you go out of the touristy areas and don't mind a little haggling, this is largely true, actually.

VI: more like three hours to Mui Ne.

VII: Largely true. Their rep is slowly catching up and people aren't as in-awe anymore though.

VIII: in Saigon, it can be. It's a small and repetitive scene but there's a good bit of fun to be had.

IX: Probably. I became quickly became pretty wary of my fellow Expats and largely hung out with westernized Vietnamese who happened to speak fluent English. Others are much like you put it.

X: If you go with your preconceptions, not really. Vietnam is both easier and much, much harder than Japan/Korea. Why do you think Vietnam is a good idea?

[kurtz]

Don't mind if I do.

Considering that you haven't made any inquiries about finding work, the nature of the students you would like to teach or basically anything resembling something even remotely professional, I'd say save up as much coin as you can in the UK and come on over to SE Asia to party with the 20-somethings who are always up for a beer. Then go home.

Clearly you want to just party, work as little as possible, head to the beach on weekends and nail as many willing, tight-bodied wenches as you can in your 3 year sex-escapade. Understandable, but you just need to ask yourself where you'll be in three years' time, and was it all worth it? I have no idea of your financial situation, but if you're not set up now, have fun getting back on the grid after a three year party. I seriously doubt you'll save anything at all.

Lastly, your English Lit degree will continue to be useless unless you learned how to elicit the past perfect continuous tense, teach pronunciation, basic vocabulary and put up with teachers who have become managers yet have no actual management experience.

Good luck.

[nomad soul]

[ExpatLuke]

[skarper]

I'm not in management or hiring teachers but would avoid people like the OP appears to be like the plague. Of course, many schools are basically a racket and will happily exploit the OP as he works on tourist visas then fire him short 3 weeks pay with the threat of deportation or worse should he make any fuss...

Actually - I think the OP is shooting a line, almost trolling in fact, but does seem good-natured and so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

PI is a clear no - need to pay 700-1000 to land that kind of gaff right off the bat.

PII 20-25 hours a week will be just enough to get by. Often you won't manage 15 hours a week. ALL the hours are weekends/evenings or go to people who have paid their dues. So if you do 3 hours an evening and 12 at the weekend you are only managing 24 hours with only one day off. It takes time to get the benefits of the low cost of living. Factor in a day or two every 3 months for a costly,expensive and stressful visa run and you'll be scraping along during your first year.

PIII if you can cope with a fan-only gym then sure - you will have time to work out 2-3 times a week. You may lack the energy though. Teaching is draining and the climate is unforgiving.

Street venders are mostly unsafe. You will consume enormous amounts of salt, MSG and other additives plus run the risk of minor to major bacterial infections. Even cheaper restaurants incur risks you would be disgusted by at home. Roaches and rats in the kitchen. Staff toilets that are filthy. No handwashing facilities. Etc.

$10 is about the minimum you can pay to eat adequately. Meat heavy and protein rich are relative terms. Big steaks are hard to get, tough or cost an arm and a leg. If you are OK with pork or shrimps OK you can get a lot of protein. Chicken is affordable too but may break your $10 budget.

PIV You can date in the bigger cities but it may be less fun than you expect. Younger women usually want to get married. Older women will have been divorced. A lot want money on a pay as you go basis or on a longer term leasing arrangement. This is changing though so there may be some more options in HCMC. Hanoi? less so but still possible.

PV You will get ripped off shamelessly every week if not every day. 50% is a common mark up on housing, taxi fares, drinks etc.

PVI - no way can you get to the beach in under 3 hours unless you go to Vung Tau by hydrofoil. Even then maybe not.

PVII - no real discrimination is evident. Less than Korea/Japan anyway.

PVIII - don't know - I'd suspect expensive, vacuous and full of hazards but I never bother with 'nightlife' so maybe it is great.

PIX - you won't make many friends that are worth the time of day. The people who are decent and interesting long since gave up socialising because of the scum they meet....maybe a tad jaded there..

PX - If you are as naiive as you seem [I still think it's a wind up] then - NO - not a good idea at all.

[LarssonCrew]

Like someone said, this guy wants to party and bang hot chicks.

Please spare us, there's enough people just trying to live a backpacker lifestyle and it makes almost ALL foreigners look bad.

Getting paid monthly, and or with a 2 week delay because people do runners when their partying is over? Check

Upsetting a class and being suspicious of your movements because you chopped and dropped a student? Check

Constantly checking up on you because the previous teacher had one too many beers the night before and vomited on his shoes? Check

Force you to wear sweltering ties and shirts because some backpacker strolled in in surfing shorts and flip flops? - Check

Landlords asking for months up front because some teacher who spent his money on beer didn't pay up - Check

[TRH]

[Spelunker]

[ExpatLuke]

Dressing properly for your job is probably the easiest thing you can do, and really separates the lazy deadbeats from those that are actually worth something.

[Spelunker]

[nomad soul]

[twowheel]

[TRH]

My center insisted that we wear a dress shirt and tie when working in the public schools. It seemed a bit unfair as the "uniform" for male Viet teachers was dark pants, dress shoes and a long sleeved shirt with cuffs turned up and an open collar. I kept the ties only because my wife wouldn't let me leave the house without it, but most of my fellow foreign teachers dumped the ties pretty quickly once they saw how the local teachers dressed.

I prefer short sleeved dress shirts but there is an advantage to long sleeves. When riding a motorbike more than a few blocks, they protect your forearms from the drying effect of the sun and from small particulates.

[twowheel]