d o l l m o n t . n e t

One interesting aspect of Vietnamese (and other SE Asian) culture is the whole ‘estimating’ thing. Whenever a Vietnamese gives me a rough estimate, I go a little crazy inside.

“Just a few minutes” means anything from 5 minutes to three hours or more. “Just a little further” can mean many kilometers, or it can mean 20 meters. It’s so hard to say.

This morning, I had to drop someone off at a bus station on the main ring road that surrounds Ho Chi Minh City. I wasn’t sure at all where it was, but was told: “You remember Susi Cafe? It’s just a bit past there.” It turns out that “just a bit” was 9 km.

Things are, overall, pretty laid back here. Nobody worries too much about stuff like this. If you’re going to live here (or some place similar) you have to relax and learn to let go. If you, for example, schedule a tradesman to come to your house, you’re generally lucky to get a day, let alone a time. If they say “Tuesday at 10am”, expect them Tuesday.