Stuff Vietnamese people like

You’re riding in the middle of a street in Vietnam and hearing a loud hooter from behind, you rapidly change the line and find out it is from neither a bus nor a car. Wonder how a motorbike that small could produce so much noise? Because Vietnamese people have modified the original horn with a truck hooter. And that’s just 1 of 7 types of horning in Vietnam that a foreigner has categorized before.

Making noise is as important as breathing in Vietnam. Vietnamese people try their best to prove that the human being is the only creature that has language. “Silence is golden, but noise is platinum.”

On airplanes where the noise is loud enough, they try to shout, yell, scream, cry as loud as possible. As if they were on the roller-coaster. Flying is never that fun anywhere else in the world!

Vietnamese people don’t aware that noise is a kind of pollution. In order to keep face, they don’t like to admit that they are wrong. When there’s an accident, often you will see people stop their bikes to find out who has to compensate by quarreling, or even fighting.

Vietnamese people break things at home when they have a row. But if the matter is not yet resolved, they will bring it to the neighborhood by yelling as loud as possible, even if it’s 11 PM or midnight.

Don’t complain when your neighbors suddenly decide to sing karaoke at midnight. You’d better sleep off your tiredness somewhere else.

In Vietnam, the Academy Awards is known as the Oscars. It’s an important event here because people like American movies. While the Vietnamese film industry lacks a movie that is worth watching, Vietnamese people won’t have to complain much, because they can enjoy American movies at the cinema for as cheap as $1.5-3.5.

Academy Awards is the topic for every February, when the Tet holidays are over. Unlike Grammy Awards which nominations are not new, most of the movies nominated by AMPAS haven’t reached the Vietnamese audience yet. That’s why Vietnamese people will do anything, pay any price (this is not quite true), resort to any form (that means they download them in the office), just to watch those movies before the Oscars night. They will recommend and share those movies to others who haven’t watched them yet, and win the race.

Unlike Westerners, Vietnamese people don’t throw any Oscar party where people get involve in an Oscar pool. Somehow, they stick to their imaginative winner list, and if any in this list didn’t win, they would blame the Academy for bad judgment.

Every year, the awards history is mentioned again on newspapers. How many Vietnamese movies have been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film? Ask them, and they’ll be very embarrassed. Don’t blame Vietnamese people for their ignorance with Vietnamese movies, they are not xenophiles, they are learning English through American movies.

Blackout is a chance for inspiration, from procrastination. Slackers appreciate blackout as the genesis for their creativity, outside the confines of the office.

For Vietnamese students, blackout is their most favorite thing on earth. Even if some evening classes use generators to provide substitute power, a student will complain that the weak light affect their eyesight badly and call it a night. Another one will get up and follow her/him. Others will copy them immediately.

Many Vietnamese people like noise, but there is an exception. There are people who like blackout just because there’s no sound of the neighborhood karaoke singers, machines running at maximum capacity (including TV sets, computers, fans, etc.) It’s no better time to get the stress out and enjoy a real silent night.

For people who think they are romantic, a blackout night is perfect for a candlelit dinner. What a feel of European aristocracy in Vietnam! For real romantic people, it’s time they reminisce their childhood when blackout happened almost everyday, rain or shine, hell or high water. Back then, people gathered around a candle in the garden/terrace/balcony enjoying a juicy chit chat and natural wind. Kids managed to squeeze into a single bed singing a song together, telling a ghost story, or giggling with the animal shadows they playfully made on the wall.

If you’re a foreigner, you may like the last paragraph I’ve just written the best. If you’re stuck in the dark with Vietnamese people and don’t wanna go home to sleep, ask about their experience in their childhood. Don’t ask what they intend to do, because you may see them see you next time.

Vietnamese people work overtime a lot, due to the nature of their work in specific industries like IT, advertising, PR, etc. And that means they spend more than the average one-third of a day in the office. What’s better to compensate for the unpaid overtime (applied sometimes) than downloading in the office?

Unsurprisingly, the truth is, Vietnamese people download in the standard 9-5, too. Because ISP cost in Vietnam is rather high while the speed is quite slow. Most people limit the use of Internet to minimum, only web browsing or chatting. Downloading at home, no matter how irritatingly tempting the prospect seems, is a road they are not going to travel.

In the office, there are more than one connection, with much higher speed. Vietnamese people are very economical. They think that it would be a waste if they didn’t take the opportunity to download pirated software, music, American movies, TV shows, e-books, etc.

Of course, when there’s an Internet downtime or a blackout, they will feel exasperated. They will make it sound as if they wanted to work, while in fact, they don’t like their downloading corrupted. Their downloading habit affects the office operation, causing low productivity as well as slower connection. So often do they hide it from their colleagues. In companies where downloading is limited or prohibited, people remain more discreet.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Vietnam, do download in the office.

Days off work are not holidays. Of course, people don’t go to work on public holidays, but in Vietnam, people observe only 9 a year. For sure, the number is among the lowest in the world. So it’s not so surprising that Vietnamese people love days off work.

There are 12 to 16 annual leaves with full pay, or even days without pay. But the best days off work are the days when there’s a blackout day. For some people, blackout is a pain; for Vietnamese people, anything but. Even though most people will have to work some other day to compensate the day off work due to blackout, they don’t mind. It’s never better to relax a bit, especially when there’s a stressful meeting or deadline coming.

Vietnamese people enjoy the days off work to the fullest. They go singing karaoke when it’s cheaper (on weekday mornings and afternoons), go shopping when the supermarkets are not crowded, sleep off their extreme tiredness or chat with their friends–from the comfort of their beds. If they take a few consecutive days off, they’ll pick some place to travel alone.

If they come to you saying that they have a day off work, be nice. Don’t criticize that they’re not productive. They’re not at work. They don’t love money that much. They have the right to have more holidays. They have no control over blackout. They have more reasons why they need those days off work. You envy them. Blah blah blah!