15 Habits You Can't Help Pick Up Living in Vietnam
Living in Vietnam changes you, and not always for the better. Foreigners who live in Vietnam all pick up at least a few of these habits and quirks eventually. Some of them are actually pretty helpful, while others are a form of collective insanity, which will get you killed back home. For good or ill, these are the habits you’ll pick up in Vietnam.
Pulling into traffic without looking
When newcomers to Vietnam start driving a motorbike, they often boil with rage at people who merge in front of them without even a glance. Then a month goes by and they’re doing the same thing. This is a habit you’d better lose fast when you get back home, though.
The wrist twist
Shouting for your server
This is a habit that doesn’t come easily to foreigners. It usually takes a long time before they’re ready to turn the volume up and belt out a hearty ‘Em ơi!’
Flapping your hand like a little bird to call a taxi
In most parts of the world, people call for a taxi by simply holding their hand up in the air. It’ll work in Vietnam as well, but it’s not the authentic Vietnamese way to do it. Vietnamese people flap their hands like they’re patting the head of a ridiculously tall child, and once you start doing it, you’ll never revert.
Scoffing at anything that costs more than $5 USD
After living in Vietnam for a while, going home can be a painful experience on your purse or wallet. You’ll go from spending 100,000VND ($5 USD) on a whole night’s worth of bia hơi (cheap beer), to spending the same amount on a single beer. While all your friends are ordering $20 USD meals, you’ll be settling for an appetizer and yearning for the days in Vietnam when getting the bill was one of the highlights of the whole night.
Only drinking in unison
When Vietnamese people drink in groups, they always drink together. If somebody makes a good joke, or if there’s something to get excited about, the cheers come with a raucous call of ‘Mot, hai, ba, dzo!’ (One, two, three, cheers!) It’s communal and ensures everyone feels included. Well, it also makes sure everyone gets drunk, which we suspect is the real reason. When you leave Vietnam, you’ll flinch every time you take a drink because a small part of your brain still thinks it’s rude to drink alone.
Never picking up after yourself
This mostly applies to spoiled people with cleaners, which includes a good chunk of foreigners. The service is very cheap in Vietnam, so it’s easy to fall into the habit of thinking, ‘[Name of cleaner] will get that tomorrow.’ You’ll let awful messes build up because you know somebody will take care of it for you soon enough.
Getting comically excited when you meet a friendly dog
Dogs in Vietnam are a bit of a sad story. While we don’t need to dwell on specifics, anyone who’s lived in Vietnam for a while knows that most dogs do not want rubs from foreigners. But when a friendly dog appears, people get over-the-top excited, instantly going back to their childhood and speaking to the dog like a long lost friend. ‘Who’s the pretty girl? Look at that belly!’
Eating with chopsticks even when forks are available
Chopstick skills are necessary in Vietnam. You can use a spoon, but good luck with your bowl of noodles. After a while, you’ll feel as comfortable with chopsticks as you do with a fork. Then, when you find yourself with the choice between the two, you’ll surprise yourself and go for the chopsticks.
Being able to ignore the monstrous cockroaches
The first time a cockroach scurries over your foot in Vietnam is a harrowing experience. Initially for most people, it’ll involve a lot of shrieking and cursing, often with tossed chairs and airborne utensils. Then it happens again and again and again. Eventually, it doesn’t really bother you anymore. People who’ve lived in Vietnam for many years don’t even flinch when they see one.
Ordering food because you don’t want to go outside
Without a doubt, Vietnam has some of the best food in the world. There’s amazing street food and quality restaurants at every corner, so really there’s no excuse to order in. But you’ll do it, and you’ll do it a lot. With websites like Vietnammm.com and Eat.vn, you can go days without leaving your air-conditioned bubble.
Staring at people
If you’re uncomfortable with eye contact, then get ready for your own personal hell when you arrive in Vietnam. It’s not malicious, though. They’re just curious. Eventually you get used to it, and after a while, you’ll find yourself getting into staring contests with security guards.
Driving a motorbike with flip-flops on
Even though it’s completely unsafe to wear sandals while driving a motorbike, you’ll do it anyways because the rain is wild in Vietnam. It comes in fast and floods the streets in mere minutes, and nobody wants to walk around in shoes filled with water. That’s way worse than gruesome road rash, right? Right.
Eyeing traffic as you cross the street
Pedestrians around the world usually cross with a wary kind of reassurance that motorists will almost always stop for them. You watch out from the corner of your eye, but you still look where you’re walking. This is definitely not the case in Vietnam. Here, you watch the traffic rather than where you’re walking. This is a good habit to have.
Pretty much doing whatever the hell you want on the roads
When you arrive in Vietnam, you’ll probably get a bit nervous when you see police. You’ll behave yourself, hopeful that your dutiful, law-abiding ways will keep you under the radar of law enforcement. A few months later and everything has changed. Now you don’t care who sees you driving down the sidewalk or weaving through the car lanes. Unfortunately, it’s a habit that makes people at home want to follow you for twelve blocks just so they can make damn well sure you see their middle finger. Back to reality.
Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.
Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.
Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.
Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.
We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.