Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bosintang]

[jajdude]

Good point laconic. Did I make such sweeping statements? All is limited like experience, the criterion of our thought. The locals in that place were dishonest as hell. But it was still not so awful. I miss a good variety of food for under $5. And it was cheap. It wasn't the dollar here and there, it was just the sickening feeling of being taken advantage of. A lot of westerners have echoed this experience, mine was not unique nor limited to that area. I travelled just a little in VN. The same thing occurred. They'd take your cash and laugh about it.

Oh, but maybe I don't understand because I didn't spend a year in every town....

[liehtzu]

Seems that most of the folks who dislike Vietnam are basing their experiences mostly on HCMC and Hanoi. No, you're not going to find quiet little tree-lined streets in Saigon, not without a heavy-duty search. As for the moto guys in Saigon and Hanoi, most annoying bastards on earth. Not nearly as bad here in Danang. It definitely helps if you own your own bike, though.

I know several guys who lived in Saigon before coming to Danang and they were all pretty tired of it and happy to get out. Quietness is hard to find in the big cities but I've lived in two seperate neighborhoods here and it is quiet as a churchmouse save for when the karaoke starts up a few houses down (which is rare but does happen).

Some folks also mentioned rip-offs in the "country," which kind of surprises me as I don't think it happens nearly so much in the sticks as in the cities. I've never heard an I-went-to-the-country-and-got-ripped-off story. I've heard several stories of foreigners' motos breaking down while doing the tour of VN and country folk giving em a lift or repairing their bikes for free. Or of country folk sharing their houses and food and (often copious amounts of) rice wine with foreigners without asking for money. I've also been invited by a girl I know here to stay at her parents' country house over Tet and join in the festivities there. Something tells me they're not going to try to scam me.

So you can go around say "ooh those darn rascally Vietnamese they's all thieves what try'n rip whity off" but I don't really buy it. As long as you have some sense and are careful (ie don't leave your wallet in your pants on the floor near the door in a massage parlor, don't pay $5 for a kilo of oranges in the market), you should be fine. The whole country isn't out to get you, and I've met a lot of really generous, intelligent people here. I've also had students who are among the most eager to learn I've come across. I don't want to start up a blanket defense of the Vietnamese - because they certainly can be tough going at times - but I also cringe when I hear people blanket slander em. I mean, hell, they've had a pretty tough century. And that I'm American and recieve NO grief for it here is pretty remarkable.

Cheers

[mack the knife]

[skookum]

Got back on the red-eye yesterday morning from Hanoi. Someone in this thread (or another on Dave's?) posted about terrible food on Vietnam Airlines. Whooo - this is what I was served.....

I'm allergic to wheat so they provided a gluten-free meal for me (not quite the same but close enough). On top of it they placed - a bread roll.... The salad dressing was labelled on its front: Gluten/wheat. Not gluten/wheat free. Is there an ambiguity there? Not so that I'd want to eat it.....

They gave me rice and chicken (hmmm, the restaurants in Vietnam where I ate didn't serve chicken nowadays 'cause of the bird flu issue - why are the airlines different?)

This was very tasteless - as bland an airline food as I've had any time.... though there were a couple bites of a cooked green leaf that weren't bad.

The salad had an odor like the inside of a new suitcase. I couldn't finish the cucumbers.

Oh, I had been bumped up to business class, 'cause the economy class was full. The hangugsaram next to me had what was on the menu - it sounded
good reading it, like some kind of Vietnamese delicacy - but in the flesh it looked to me like minute rice with two slices of what appeared to be liverwurst, except with a more washed-out color. I noticed he didn't finish eating that....

Airline food has its limits, but usually I can eat it with at least some degree of satisfaction. That was lacking here.....

[VC]

Since this thread is entitled "Tales from Vietnam" I thought I'd add a contribution. I arrived in Vietnam from Korea three days ago (last Saturday). The weather certainly is a nice change from cold and wintery Korea. On my first night in Saigon, I met a 22 year girl who gave me her phone number and said that she wanted to take me to some places in Saigon. So I called her on Sunday. She met me and took me to an amusement park named Suoi Tien. We had a good time at the park. Knowing how poor Vietnam is, I expected to have to pay for the trip. But she bought me dinner and paid for the taxi ride home- with a $20 USD bill. I wonder what she did to get that money and why she was paid in US dollars. After visiting the park she took me to meet her family. They seemed to be very poor which again made me wonder why she was so easily able to pay for me. Her family seemed quite friendly. When her brother- in-law said that I should marry her, she got this big smile on her face and said, "I want to live in America." She asked me if she could visit my hotel room. I lied and told her that my hotel does not allow visitors. (Actually there is a sign in the hotel that says that visitors are allowed to stay until 10 pm).

Some of the most annoying people here are the cyclo and motorbike taxi drivers. Last night a guy with a motorbike persistently followed me for about 10 minutes while I was walking home. He kept yelling out at me, "Lady, massage, boom-boom!"

It sure is a break from the Korea routine. I'm eager to see what the employment situation is like and that will probably determine how long I'll stay here.

[jajdude]

Wow VC, that sounds more like a real tale from Vietnam, as little of it as I experienced. Three days and a marriage proposal? Well, I can't blame poor people for that. But the assumption that we are rich? Really? Most of us buggers in Asia are poor! I am really poor.

I guess many westerners just appear wealthy to them, but it seems they don't know. I don't know. I guess if you can get a grand a month there you are rich?

[VC]

The Vietnamese girl that I was talking to today said that the average wage here is about $2-3 USD a day. I think most people here think that marrying a westerner would be like winning the lottery for their family. The economy here is growing fast. But people here say that just means the rich are getting richer. It's not benefitting the poor. Isn't communism supposed to eliminate all social classes and make everyone economically equal?

[liehtzu]

[jajdude]

I thought it was socialism? Not that I know the difference, really.

[VC]

I have noticed a few significant differences between Vietnam and Korea. Although, I've only been here about three weeks I've already received two invitations from Vietnamese women to spend the Lunar New Year holiday with their families in their hometowns. Imagine that. In Korea, a Korean woman will often never tell her family about the foreigner she is dating and polls show that most Korean parents wouldn't approve of their daughter marrying a foreigner.

Koreans seem to feel the need to hold a grudge against Japan because of what happened over 50 years ago. In contrast, the Vietnamese (even people from northern Vietnam) seem to hold no ill will towards Americans despite that fact that the Vietnam conflict was more recent. I asked one Vietnamese man how he felt about the war and he responded, "It's in the past and we should forget about it."
It's not uncommon for people here to tell me enthusiastically, "America number 1!" when they find out where I'm from. Koreans are very good at holding a grudge against the Japanese, but they are not very good at accepting responsibility for their own war crimes. In the Vietnam War, Korean troops went from village to village mercilessly slaughtering everybody. When a newspaper in Korea published an article about these events, the office of the newspaper was vandalized by angry veterans for even suggesting that the Korean army could be guilty of war crimes. Koreans are quick to blame someone else but slow to accept responsibility for their own faults. I have seen this attitude many times in the hogwan. Something goes wrong and the administration finds some way to blame the teachers. Suggesting that the administration might be at fault often provokes a angry response. I remember at one hogwan where they made all of the foreign teachers write a paper about how they could be better teachers. In short, I find the Vietnamese to be less arrogant and xenophobic.

Some complain that the Vietnamese are dishonest and greedy. But long timers will tell you such problems mainly exist in tourist areas. I think you can learn to discriminate between the good and bad and avoid the bad. I completely avoid cyclo drivers now for such reasons. Most seem extremely aggressive and determined to overcharge a foreigner in order to earn a few extra dollars. What they don't realize is that if they stuck to the agreed upon price I would be willing to pay for their services in the future.

[goodluck]

three weeks? you can compare a country against another one, that isn't even your native country in three weeks, please keep your limited subjective opinion in perspective!

[white tiger]

much earlier in this thread, Saigon's backpacker area (district 1?) was getting slammed alot.
Im heading to Saigon in two weeks for 9 days with my Korean gf, and was wondering if anyone could recommend another part of the city that is still cheap accomodation, but not as seedy? Did Khaosan Road (bangkok) last year. Entertaining, but certainly not culturally enriching...
any help appreciated! Already gained some insights from this lengthy thread...

[huffdaddy]

[baldrick]

Oh my god, this thread is back!

Yeah, as a tourist, 9 days in HCMC would be way too much.

It's all about Phu Quoc to juxtapose the city experience.

http://itsthefinalword.blogspot.com/2006/06/getaway.html