Although in many ways a very polite and Courteous lot, you may sometimes find people in Vietnam to be quite rude by your own standards. Do remember that a lot of behavior in Vietnam…
Although in many ways a very polite and Courteous lot, you may sometimes find people in Vietnam to be quite rude by your own standards. Do remember that a lot of behavior in Vietnam is dictated by an incredible density of population. About 80 million souls are for the most part squeezed into the low lying areas around the two big fertile river deltas (the Red River in the north, the mighty Mekong in the south) and along the very narrow coastal plain that links the two together. Which means that if you want to get anything done in this life, you may well have to put your elbow into your neighbor’s ribs to get past him. Please remember to do it gently, and with a nice smile on your face. So, don’t bother with queuing up for things: queues and line-ups just don’t happen in Vietnam. You just go for it, as though the gaggle of people in front of you were a mirage caused by the sun, waving your money, tickets, paperwork or whatever in the air and calling out imperiously to be served next. Everyone does it, so instead of fuming at the back of the pack, you’d better start doing this as soon as you arrive (and that includes the airport).
Also, don’t be offended by personal questions and remarks: people will often ask not only surprisingly nosy questions like: “how old are you?”Are you going?” “Why yare you late” but also make quite wounding personal remarks, such as: “why are you so fat?” and “your husband is quite ugly!” These would obviously be considered very rude in many cultures but not this one.
