Why I Decided to Stay in Vietnam

I put many posts warning travelers about being careful in Vietnam and all the potential problems a person can face. I have probably scared you away. Now I will tell you the reasons, other than my fiancee, why I am staying in Vietnam.

Friendly People

The Vietnamese are exceptionally friendly. They are willing to help and assist you, especially a foreigner as best they can. My fiancee has given assistance to many foreigners without a second thought, just because she knew enough English to make everything easier. I have seen this with many Vietnamese. They understand the strength of tourism and try to promote it as much as possible.

In many other big cities when you are walking around people will come up to you and speak English to beg for money. In Vietnam they come up and speak English just to practice English with a foreigner. When you walk down the streets, you will get large groups of people saying "hello" and laughing afterwards, if you don't mind minor interruptions of friendliness, then it is quite enjoyable.

Food

Vietnamese food is brilliantly good. The majority of the food is not as complicated as some other cuisines (specifically the royal Asian cuisines). The Royal Vietnamese cuisine almost died out due to many reasons, but it is finding a resugance with a few people that learned how to cook for the long dead royals many years ago.

Vietnamese food has become so strong that the word pho (pronounced fuh) has become an English word (the definition has changed from a specific type of Vietnamese noodle/broth dish to all Vietnamese noodle/broth dishes).

But there are many more dishes which I will describe later.

Striving for a Better Future

This is something I noticed in China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Everybody strives to be better as a person. The country strives to be better, they want to be better. That is something that disappeared in the USA many years ago. We lost it when the Cold War ended, no one to compete against, no challenge, no competition. Americans have lost the edge, it is the best...but what does that mean. And now that we don't know what it means to be the best anymore, we have lost our direction for the future.

Simplistic

The Vietnamese enjoy simple over complex, they enjoy concrete ideas over complicated and intricate ideas. And you see this repeated over and over again in their culture. Their art may be difficult and intricate but the image is very simple and direct. The food is nothing using expensive, just exploiting the best flavors available. The simple dress and clothing style is evident and practical. The most complicated is the ao dai (I will cover that idea later and explore that concept also).

Focus on the Family

The focus on culture is family over personal. As I stated before, if the parents request something from a child, their opinion whether it is good or bad is not a factor. But remember this, when a girl marries into a family, she becomes part of your family. Demands from her parents are options that you will follow, demands from your parents (as the husband) are commands.

Religious But Not Fanatical

The fanaticism that I see all over the world for religion scares me, scares me alot. Watching the few extremist Muslims and Christians scaring the world and may take the world to a war that no one can win. Watching hatred and ignorance in the name of religion (whose foundations and messages are contrary to these statements and actions) makes me angry, upset and scared.

The Buddhists and Catholics are very understanding and accepting about people and their faith. They don't strive to convert or censor you because your beliefs are different. They are fearful of Muslims, sadly, because there are very few in Vietnam and the media is infamous for painting a poor image of the Muslims. I would like to see a movie of a devout Muslim being a hero, not a victim, not a monster, but a hero. There are many heroes, humanitarians, and great people in the world and their religion is not a factor, but the message they learned compels them to be this great person. I have never hear anyone claim a person or a faith as Satanic or evil. The Vietnamese language does not even have Satan or paganism in the language. They do have words for devils and demons, but they are viewed as archaic things of superstition.

Focus on Education

Education is a valuable in the Vietnamese culture. They have morality tales about regret about not being good at school. They actually observe teacher's day where the teacher gets gifts of food, money, and more than likely a free meal out of it. One of the most respected positions is to be a teacher. But sadly the pay does not reflect the respect.

They also respect intellectuals as long as you are not pompous and down to earth about your knowledge.

A Few Surreal Moments

Watching the dragonflies come out after a large rainstorm and hover like a cloud over the green grass.

Driving through torrential rain in one part of the city and two minutes later to be in another part that is hot and dry with no rain at all.

Being treated like a minor celebrity at a dinner party or wedding because you are a foreigner.

The beautiful flower displays during the flower festival in Da Lat. (I will explore Da Lat later, a place that is ignored by foreign tourists, but loved by the Vietnamese)

Watching an entire city virtually shut down for two weeks a year for Vietnamese New Year.

The lazy jazz band backed by Chinese percussion playing Christmas songs before Christmas mass.

The smell of flowers, incense and burnt paper permeating the air on the first day of Vietnamese New Year.