Vietnam Notes

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Here are some things we’ve learned while in Vietnam:

· European tourists in Vietnam are incredibly arrogant and rude. They walk 3-4 abreast down the narrow sidewalks and streets, disregarding any other people. If you fail to get out of the way (and I don’t), they look at you in surprise when they run over you. They demand; they don’t request. And they smoke – everywhere and all the time. Don’t they have any anti-smoking education in Europe?

· Western drivers wouldn’t last a day. The rules are different and focus on getting where you need to go without physical contact with pedestrians or other vehicles. The American concept of “me first” does not exist.

· If you want to make friends (or ensure good service) instantly, take along a good supply of US $2 bills. They are considered to be extremely lucky, especially if the date ends with a 7. (Bills dated 2003 are not as popular.) Lucky money is cherished in a country where luck is important. Especially if you’re in country during Tet (Vietnamese lunar new year), a red envelope with a $2 bill will get you almost anything.

· More people carpool on bicycles in Vietnam than in cars in America.

· Parking is a huge problem in the cities and getting worse. Most motorbikes and scooters are parked on the sidewalks, but now (especially in Hanoi) cars are becoming more popular and are taking over the sidewalks. The person who begins to demolish old buildings and build parking ramps will become rich.

· Things we saw carried on one motorbike or bicycle:

o A huge (live) pig

o Six baby live pigs

o Twenty to thirty ducks – live

o Dogs on the way to lunch – not theirs, unfortunately

o Furniture

o Five to seven bags of cement

o A cement mixer

o Huge bundles of sugar cane, pipes, straw, firewood, all much wider than the bike

o Pineapples by the dozen

o Another motorbike

o Two 30-gallon barrels, full

o 20-30 cases of Coca Cola

o Six 5-gallon bottles of water

o Five other people

· Garbage trucks play a computerized version of Beethoven’s “Fuer Elise” as they drive down the street. It’s a signal for people to run out with their trash. The ice cream man plays “Jingle Bells”.

· Vietnamese people can build or fix anything, usually on the sidewalk and always without heavy machinery. Why use a forklift when you can use 20 people?

· Vietnamese people work harder than I’ve ever worked in my life and harder than most Americans can understand.

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