Stuff Vietnamese people like

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.

Yahoo Messenger is the most popular means of online communication in Vietnam. Yes, if you don’t wanna lose contact with Vietnamese people, it’s best you set up a Yahoo account and start learning Vietnamese way of chatting (passing everything people send you to your acquaintances, except your bosses).

Vietnamese people choose Yahoo Messenger because they exceptionally like the emoticons set (smileys) from Yahoo Messenger 6.0. They consider it the best way to transfer their emotions in a message. If they are on Linux and use Pidgin or Kopete, for sure they try their best to find a way to install the Yahoo emoticons. They prefer chatting to downloading in the office, though both are often disallowed. If they have a day off work due to blackout, they’re available to chat once they’re at home.

Another Yahoo product Vietnamese people don’t wanna give up is Yahoo 360. Since Yahoo announced the closure of this poorly performing social network, they have been scared to lose their blog entries. Even though there are better blog services, Vietnamese people always choose Yahoo 360, because they can easily connect with the Yahoo Messenger network they’ve already used.

Vietnamese use the “status” to update you about their thoughts. Their “status” changes every day, every hour, even minute, every time Vietnamese people think of something interesting to share with others.

Don’t suggest Vietnamese people to use Windows Live Messenger, Skype, Google Talk, AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, or anything that most people use in your home country. In Vietnam, either of those IMs would come a very poor second!

There’s no special reason why Vietnamese people like the day a lot, maybe just because it’s the day people can start passing messages around through Yahoo Messenger, and put them on the status of their social network pages. You wanna know what those messages are? Very simple. It’s Today’s Friday the 13th, or anything they got from other people.

Most Vietnamese people only know Friday the 13th as the day of bad luck. Few of them knows the origin of Friday the 13th or can actually tell a story about it. But they do acknowledge a few days ahead that the next Friday will be the 13th.

Friday the 13th seldom occurs. That’s why Vietnamese people make sure that they mention the day at least once. If they didn’t talk about it at all, they would feel like forgetting an important day in their lives. As if it were their wedding anniversary! Of course, Vietnamese people also grab this opportunity to impress people who don’t happen to remember this special day. The fact that other people will parrot unthinkable things they say make them very proud.

If you’re a white person, and wanna befriend with Vietnamese, learning some terms like paraskavedekatriaphobia, or telling your own experience of the day would be useful because Friday the 13th occurs thrice this year. They then can’t help running to the first person they know to retell your story.