Culture Shock

Ho Chi Minh City Open University Graduate School 97 Vo Van Tan, Dist.3, HCMC, Vietnam ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET AND REPORT Diploma in TESOL 6 Name of candidate: NGUYEN THI PHUONG LOAN Student No: Email address: ruanshifangluan@yahoo.com Name of coursework subject: INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION Title of this item of work: “LIVING IN VIETNAM”- IN FOREIGNERS' EYES Name of lecturer: Dr. Bao Dat Due date: February 7, 2010 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP: I certify that the above assignment is my original work, and it is based on my own research. All sources used by me have been documented. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement. This piece of work has not previously been submitted for assessment in this or any other subject or course at this University or elsewhere. Student’s Signature…………………………………………. Date………………………… A REPORT ON “LIVING IN VIETNAM”- IN FOREIGNERS' EYES Prepared for: Mr. Dat Bao Submitted date: 6 Feb, 2010 Prepared by: Nguyen Thi Phuong Loan 2 INDEX Contents Mr. Dat Bao 2 A REPORT ON “LIVING IN VIETNAM” - IN FOREIGNERS' EYES 4 I. Topic 4 II. Introduction 4 III. Culture bump 4 a. “International” airport 4 b. What is the kind of food? 5 c. Oh, my God! Vietnamese traffic! 6 d. Business could not succeed without… 6 e. The place I love… 7 IV. Conclusion 7 Thing that makes Foreigners live in a strange country with different culture for a long time is their knowledge including the culture and belief about the country they live in. Although sometimes it really causes something uncomfortably, they want to stay here to work and enjoy things with a special Vietnam. Doing this report, I recognize simple things that are very important to Foreigners. They are not only beautiful beaches, cheaper goods, special food but also the cultural value. Foreigners believe that Vietnam will become more friendly, with better things and more modern society 7 Thank you very much my friend Eddy, the person who help me complete this report. He is really a special friend of mine. Thank you for saving time sharing your real experience which are very useful for me. 8 V. Reference 8 Interviewee: Robert Bruce Eddy, USA 8 3 A REPORT ON “LIVING IN VIETNAM” - IN FOREIGNERS' EYES I. Topic We are living in a creative and informative world. People all over the world have a tendency to learn and communicate together through cultures and customs of each country. Vietnam is considered as a country where people are friendly, warmly, passionately, and sometimes “crazy”. We have different cultures and customs helping to make a special Vietnam of which we are all proud. How about foreigners, what do they think about Vietnam? Does Vietnamese culture make any sense to them? Do they love or hate staying in Vietnam? How can foreigners live in Vietnam for many years? Now let’s find out Vietnam in Foreigners’ eyes! II. Introduction I have chance to talk with a person who comes from United States. His name is Eddy and he is a funny and interesting person. He has lived and worked in Vietnam for quite a long time, nearly sixteen years. He said he has many Vietnamese friends who help him a lot to recognize how “Foreigners deal with culture shock in Vietnam”. Before actually arriving in Vietnam, he has had much knowledge about Vietnamese culture. What mentioned below are related to his feelings and value, as well as culture bump. Eddy is the “person of community”, which means he could adapt to new environment easily and everything was not big problem to him at all. We had a nice coffee in a small but warm garden where he usually goes. He spent more than two hours talking about Vietnam and his experience when living here. III. Culture bump a. “International” airport 4 Eddy arrived in Vietnam in 1994 and he first went to Hanoi one year later. Until now he still remembers the time he put his foot down on the downstairs of the airplane in Noi Bai Airport, the big image appeared in his eyes: nearly 150 passengers in a little room like a class room. “Oh my God, is this really an International Airport of the capital of Vietnam?” First bump! The problem here is a Foreigner might think that the capital of a developing country should be the place where many excellent things were built, especially with the place called the “International Airport”. He really expected to go to the beautiful capital, while Noi Bai Airport was not as good as people think. However, some years later, this problem increased, the latest time Eddy went back to Hanoi was several years ago and he said Noi Bai Airport was much more professional and he satisfied with that flight. I think not only Eddy or Foreigners in general, but also all Vietnamese would expect to see much development in Vietnam in the near future! b. What is the kind of food? Another bump Eddy told me was bad translation in Vietnam. In restaurants, they tend to translate the names of Vietnamese foods into English so that Foreigners could understand what the food is. It seems that the translating makes the original name – the Vietnamese name and the English one completely different. Eddy showed me a very interesting example. When he went to a famous restaurant in District 1, the name of the food “Drily fammy sheep ink is workship” and “Cotton secret ouspy” made big impression on him. Can you guess the name of the food in Vietnamese? The original names are “Bong bi chien gion” for the first food and “Bi cuon tom tai heo” for the second one. Eddy has been living in Vietnam for several years, and luckily he could understand little Vietnamese. He told me that if he had not known Vietnamese, he would not have imagined 5 what exactly the kind of food is. When he pretended to ask a waiter about the long name of the food: “Hey guy, may I try “Drily fammy sheep ink is workship”?” in a funny way, I felt a little ashamed! I was ashamed because of what a Foreigner said about my country, and of the unprofessional way the restaurants translate Vietnamese into English, and it unintentionally causes bad impression on Foreigners’ eyes! Vietnamese food is very tasteful and special. Eddy suggested that even when the name of the food is too special to translate into English, visitors could be very comfortable with good flavour of the food, no need to translate into no-sense food at all. c. Oh, my God! Vietnamese traffic! “Vietnamese drivers do not take well control in the street!”, Eddy said. People go back and forth illegally in the street, they do not consciously comply with traffic rules. On the other hand, the traffic in the United States is so perfect that Eddy told me the culture shock happened to him when he went back to his country. People in the US absolutely abide by the traffic rules. Even when standing in an empty street, they still wait for the right traffic light. This is totally different from our country. Eddy showed that Vietnamese often consider the traffic lights in the ways they want, when the light is green, they drive as usual; when it turns to yellow, they drive faster and they might drive at the fastest speed even when the light becomes red. He showed his annoyance when talking about this problem. Vietnamese people seem friendly, but when they are in the street, they often have some actions like monster - not friendly anymore. This is a big problem which could not be solved without the recognition and knowledge from everybody. d. Business could not succeed without… 6 In business relationships, Vietnamese businessmen tend to invite their partners to smoke, drink as well as take a meal in a restaurant. It is said that in Vietnam, the contract is usually negotiated in a meal. In a meeting party, it seems that people are not enthusiastic if they choose soft drinks or fruit juice instead of wine or beer. Smoking is another custom in business propriety. It may be impolite if a businessman keeps refusing cigarettes from his partners. Eddy stopped smoking several years ago, but when he works in Vietnam, he has to smoke again. This seems inappropriate for a Foreigner who first starts doing business in Vietnam. e. The place I love… Hanoi is the place Eddy loves to stay in. Maybe the thing keeps him in Vietnam until now is Hanoi. He is very comfortable when talking about the beautiful capital. It is really a perfect place to live and work. To him, this place is safe, people here more reserved. They are friendly and passionate but curious. Hanoian have a deeper thinking so they love to communicate by using eye contact. They often look carefully into one’s eyes to see if they can treat their partner well or not. IV. Conclusion Thing that makes Foreigners live in a strange country with different culture for a long time is their knowledge including the culture and belief about the country they live in. Although sometimes it really causes something uncomfortably, they want to stay here to work and enjoy things with a special Vietnam. Doing this report, I recognize simple things that are very important to Foreigners. They are not only beautiful beaches, cheaper goods, special food but also the cultural value. Foreigners believe that Vietnam will become more friendly, with better things and more modern society. 7 Thank you very much my friend Eddy, the person who help me complete this report. He is really a special friend of mine. Thank you for saving time sharing your real experience which are very useful for me. V. Reference Interviewee: Robert Bruce Eddy, USA 8 . with culture shock in Vietnam”. Before actually arriving in Vietnam, he has had much knowledge about Vietnamese culture. What mentioned below are related to his feelings and value, as well as culture. together through cultures and customs of each country. Vietnam is considered as a country where people are friendly, warmly, passionately, and sometimes “crazy”. We have different cultures and customs. Thing that makes Foreigners live in a strange country with different culture for a long time is their knowledge including the culture and belief about the country they live in. Although sometimes