Being Forward

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Vietnamese people are much more forward than Cambodians. This can be good and bad.

My first morning in Saigon and going for a wander. The moto and tour touts and beggars are a bit more pushy than Cambodia but not too bad but I go and sit in the park to look at the map away from them. Then a couple of students ask if they can talk to me and practice their English. We chat about a range of things and they seem to be genuine. Just want to improve their English, get good jobs and travel. Their parents are both farmers in the provinces. Many Cambodians have reasonable English but are very shy about using it and never would be forward enough to ask to practice. Soon another guy and a woman join in and I can see others hovering around. Seems this is a popular place to find tourists to talk to on a Sunday, their only day off. Feeling I might be trapped all day I say it is time for me to go to the Ben Thanh Market nearby and we say goodbye.

Then I walk into the market and immediately I am jostled and grabbed by a number of women stallholders wanting to sell me clothes. I have to physically force one woman to let go of my finger despite her protestations and escape. The rest of the market was fine but I never met with such aggressive sellers, even in India. I am longing for the refined behaviour of Phnom Penh all ready.

I went back to the park in the afternoon and the same thing happened. First a young woman started talking to me and soon a crowd was hovering around. Mostly young students but also a mother with her young daughters wanting to give them the best opportunities. Eventually the first young woman gets jealous and asks me to have some pho (noodle soup) with her so she can have my attention again. I politely agree and we sit and talk some more. She is accountant and wants to earn more to travel, maybe live in Singapore. She has only been to Cambodia to the Casino just over the border.

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