Stuff Vietnamese people like

Vietnamese people like to take photos. They have polarized into two groups: photojournalist wannabes and nude model wannabes.

Vietnamese photojournalist wannabes try to own semi-professional digital cameras so that they could prove to others they are taking the art of photography seriously. These people sometimes travel alone to the countryside to find picturesque sceneries. You will find these so-called scenery photos featuring at least a person. Vietnamese people like jumping in the photo because they think they will make the photo more beautiful. But often, when these photographers can’t leave the city, you will easily find them on the middle of the road taking photos of a dead rat or a traffic jam from many angles.

Vietnamese nude model wannabes outnumber the photojournalist group, because they don’t need to buy expensive cameras. They have to arrange an appointment with photographers (or the above-mentioned photojournalist wannabes). Even if they are willing to pose nude for free, they will need to queue up a long line in front of the studios. Because they’re desperate to keep up with the fashion trend, these people usually take photos of themselves, with their cellphones or webcams. It will save their time, and even their money (yes, sometimes they have to pay for their own nude photos taken).

If you happen to see a photo collection of a Vietnamese acquaintance, give good comments on the artful work (even if it’s not close to art) and ask her/him the circumstances behind those photos. You’ll have a bunch of stories to tell your friends later.

Traveling alone is economical and fun. Usually, Vietnamese people go online to find information about the place they wanna go and then they start saving money to go there. Some Wednesday afternoon, they suddenly don’t wanna work/study, and the next Thursday morning, after taking a few days off work, they are off to travel on their own with a camera and a backpack.

It’s not easy to travel without a friend, but usually their friends have parents and children and friends and pets and jobs and hopes and plans and memories and futures… and all that they can’t leave behind that fast. And if they have to wait for a team, they’ll have to wait for like another 6 months.

So, some Vietnamese backpackers find companions online, just to make new friends and get their photos taken on the road. Taking photos is an important thing to do for Vietnamese travelers, because they wanna show others that they have been to Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, China, etc. when they get back.

Traveling abroad is a a trend for those who think they are good at English. Vietnamese people feel the need to do it the way foreigners do it: discover new cultures with only a map and without a guide, find the values in places tourists don’t go to or can’t go to. Back home, they try to make you envy them by talking about their pilgrimage as if they were Christopher Columbus just discovering the Americas.

Face is a social concept in Asian countries. And Vietnam is an Asian country. Face is a drug. Sometimes it brings you down, and sometimes it gets you so high.

In Vietnam, keeping face has leaped to the next stage. It doesn’t mean saving face to each other no more. It now means “I try to keep my face, and I don’t care about yours.” They don’t mind downgrading other people. “It’s not my fault. It’s theirs.” Saying sorry isn’t popular in Vietnamese culture. Don’t expect anyone to apologize to you sincerely, unless they’re forced to.

It applies to working style, too. They have a plan. They conduct it. They find out it’s not working. They fix it. They find out it’s not working. They have a new plan. They will never admit that they are wrong from the beginning.

Of course, in an argument, nobody likes to be in the lose side. They don’t even know of a win-win outcome. In the end, they try to settle for a win-lose situation which actually turns out to be lose-lose . “You’re right. I’m left.”

In Vietnam tradition, keeping face for the family is as important. Children are forced to study hard; women are forced to do the housework; spouses are reluctant to stay with their unfaithful partners; and so on. In short, Vietnamese people don’t live their lives, they live the lives their families lead them to. Sometimes, when life’s too tough, they try to avoid it by traveling alone.

Don’t try to compete socially with one of these people. You won’t defeat them.

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!