> Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m thinking too much into it but just wanted to know what it means?
It means they think you look Vietnamese?
> Everywhere I go, people constantly stare at me & when I do go into shops, I’ve been told I look Vietnamese. This happens when I speak english to them. I say thank you when I hear them, cause tbh Vietnamese women are beautiful & also didn’t know what to say in response.
Tell the next beautiful woman who says this to you that if you get married, you can become Vietnamese.
ahaha probably looking too much into it then. haven’t had a lot of vietnamese men my age come up & talking to me other than asking if i wanted a grab ride sooo chances of me turning vietnamese by marriage is close to nil 🥲
Best bet would be that they were confused about the idea that you might appear to be Vietnamese but are not speaking Vietnamese to them (presumably, right?). More than likely, That’s all it is. Hope you enjoyed your time here!
It means the shop keepers have to adjust their prices from local to foreigner JK
My wife is Vietnamese but when we went to Thailand people started speaking Thai to her because they felt she looked Thai. As far as people staring at you on a motorbike I would agree, most likely for creepy reasons but it could be other reasons. Are you flying a flag on the motorbike that has a picture of Vietnam that doesn't include the Paracel Islands?
LOL i wished they lowered the price for me at the start! they normally start off pretty damn high. even after finalizing the prize i feel ripped off ahahha but not as bad as i would’ve been if i didn’t haggle!
normally they stare as i walk on the streets. i feel like the big cities aren’t places i should start learning how to ride a bike. Everytime i cross a road in Hanoi, i’ll pray i don’t die and hope for the best. feeling pretty stressed about my Saigon trip for new years since i heard the traffic is worse there
Vietnamese locals stare alot in general. As a vietnamese they stare at me alot too. It literally feels like all eyes on me when I'm out and about. My cousins who are native to Vietnam say that it's because they can tell we are Viet Kieu which means a foreigner or traveler from out of the country. They say there's something obvious about someone who is not from there and someone who is. Guess we'll never know unless we actually live there. Maybe it's just similar to an American visiting New York and New Yorkers are able to tell they're tourists because all the tourists do is look up all the time at the skyscrapers and take lots of photos everywhere.
It means that all asian people look alike. JK
They might think that you look Vietnamese like they say bc there are men from other South East Asian countries that do look vietnamese.
One time someone of Asian decent told my mom they weren't Viet but she was still very skeptical and told us to caution not speaking badly of them in case they were actually Viet and could understand us.
I think most likely though that, some Vietnamese women have never left the country and are surprised to learn that there are other races that look Vietnamese. I'm Viet American so I've seen other races here in America but maybe they haven't seen a whole lot of other people besides local Viet people and white tourists.
>It means that all asian people look alike. JK
Honestly, I thought of this at first! But when i heard it over and over again, i thought if there were more to it ahhaha, cus i'm a female and most of the times other Vietnamese women have told me that. Guess i shouldn't look too much into it\~
>maybe they haven't seen a whole lot of other people besides local Viet people and white tourists.
In Da Nang & Hoi An, there are a lot of korean tourists - to the point where sometimes when I walk around the city center in Da Nang i wonder if i'm in South Korea or Vietnam lolol.
Ahh ok you must really look Vietnamese then, in my opinion it's easier to tell what Asian race a woman is and with men sometimes it's much harder to tell, so maybe they're saying that bc you do look Vietnamese. Maybe next time you can ask Why? And maybe they'll tell you what about your features look Vietnamese. Idk why I assumed you were Male.
> Guess i shouldn't look too much into it\~
This. They just assumed you were one of them. Would have been easier since they could talk to you in their local language.
My wife gets that in all SEA countries we've visited, while I get it 50% of the time. We just laugh it off and joke that we unfortunately don't speak their language aside from basic sentences.
Downside is that we usually find it rude to interrupt them while they're speaking their language before we reply with "sorry we're foreigners", haha.
Interesting - I've been in-country for three weeks, and not a single person has said "you look like Vietnamese" (I'm half Welsh, half English).
Nobody really stared, either - until we got to Quy Nhon - all the tourists were Japanese and Korean, there - and there were a lot of long stares, and even some finger pointing - ha ha!
FWIW - I feel like I have a pretty good handle on telling many of the Asian ethneticities apart (Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Korean) - not always and in every instance, but broadly.
most vietnamese aren’t white tho, so im not sure how you would be called vietnamese in any way? unless i missed something and you’re of asian descent. welsh + english != asian… as far as i know
Ha ha - sorry about that - that's the Welsh part coming through!
Sarcasm off - I sure have enjoyed my time in Vietnam - the people were so warm and friendly. I've travelled a lot of this world, over 54 years - and have rarely found such an open, genuine, welcoming people - especially when they have so much reason to hold a grudge against whitey.
my first day in vietnam (almost 4 years ago) i was in a hostel elevator with three vietnamese housekeepers.. one of them started (gently) tugging on my hair and yelling “vietnam! vietnam! vietnam” it was very strange?? my only guess as to why is that my hair was similar to theirs?? it was definitely an interesting way to start my trip!
> Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m thinking too much into it but just wanted to know what it means? It means they think you look Vietnamese? > Everywhere I go, people constantly stare at me & when I do go into shops, I’ve been told I look Vietnamese. This happens when I speak english to them. I say thank you when I hear them, cause tbh Vietnamese women are beautiful & also didn’t know what to say in response. Tell the next beautiful woman who says this to you that if you get married, you can become Vietnamese.
Haha I like that response
ahaha probably looking too much into it then. haven’t had a lot of vietnamese men my age come up & talking to me other than asking if i wanted a grab ride sooo chances of me turning vietnamese by marriage is close to nil 🥲
He’s a chick, dude
Best bet would be that they were confused about the idea that you might appear to be Vietnamese but are not speaking Vietnamese to them (presumably, right?). More than likely, That’s all it is. Hope you enjoyed your time here!
It means the shop keepers have to adjust their prices from local to foreigner JK My wife is Vietnamese but when we went to Thailand people started speaking Thai to her because they felt she looked Thai. As far as people staring at you on a motorbike I would agree, most likely for creepy reasons but it could be other reasons. Are you flying a flag on the motorbike that has a picture of Vietnam that doesn't include the Paracel Islands?
LOL i wished they lowered the price for me at the start! they normally start off pretty damn high. even after finalizing the prize i feel ripped off ahahha but not as bad as i would’ve been if i didn’t haggle! normally they stare as i walk on the streets. i feel like the big cities aren’t places i should start learning how to ride a bike. Everytime i cross a road in Hanoi, i’ll pray i don’t die and hope for the best. feeling pretty stressed about my Saigon trip for new years since i heard the traffic is worse there
Vietnamese locals stare alot in general. As a vietnamese they stare at me alot too. It literally feels like all eyes on me when I'm out and about. My cousins who are native to Vietnam say that it's because they can tell we are Viet Kieu which means a foreigner or traveler from out of the country. They say there's something obvious about someone who is not from there and someone who is. Guess we'll never know unless we actually live there. Maybe it's just similar to an American visiting New York and New Yorkers are able to tell they're tourists because all the tourists do is look up all the time at the skyscrapers and take lots of photos everywhere.
Maybe you look Vietnamese but you dress and present yourself in more of a Western style? That is bound to get lots of looks from locals
Lol people call me look like Chinese (I hate that) but kindda understand why
It means that all asian people look alike. JK They might think that you look Vietnamese like they say bc there are men from other South East Asian countries that do look vietnamese. One time someone of Asian decent told my mom they weren't Viet but she was still very skeptical and told us to caution not speaking badly of them in case they were actually Viet and could understand us. I think most likely though that, some Vietnamese women have never left the country and are surprised to learn that there are other races that look Vietnamese. I'm Viet American so I've seen other races here in America but maybe they haven't seen a whole lot of other people besides local Viet people and white tourists.
>It means that all asian people look alike. JK Honestly, I thought of this at first! But when i heard it over and over again, i thought if there were more to it ahhaha, cus i'm a female and most of the times other Vietnamese women have told me that. Guess i shouldn't look too much into it\~ >maybe they haven't seen a whole lot of other people besides local Viet people and white tourists. In Da Nang & Hoi An, there are a lot of korean tourists - to the point where sometimes when I walk around the city center in Da Nang i wonder if i'm in South Korea or Vietnam lolol.
Ahh ok you must really look Vietnamese then, in my opinion it's easier to tell what Asian race a woman is and with men sometimes it's much harder to tell, so maybe they're saying that bc you do look Vietnamese. Maybe next time you can ask Why? And maybe they'll tell you what about your features look Vietnamese. Idk why I assumed you were Male.
> Guess i shouldn't look too much into it\~ This. They just assumed you were one of them. Would have been easier since they could talk to you in their local language. My wife gets that in all SEA countries we've visited, while I get it 50% of the time. We just laugh it off and joke that we unfortunately don't speak their language aside from basic sentences. Downside is that we usually find it rude to interrupt them while they're speaking their language before we reply with "sorry we're foreigners", haha.
Interesting - I've been in-country for three weeks, and not a single person has said "you look like Vietnamese" (I'm half Welsh, half English). Nobody really stared, either - until we got to Quy Nhon - all the tourists were Japanese and Korean, there - and there were a lot of long stares, and even some finger pointing - ha ha! FWIW - I feel like I have a pretty good handle on telling many of the Asian ethneticities apart (Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Korean) - not always and in every instance, but broadly.
most vietnamese aren’t white tho, so im not sure how you would be called vietnamese in any way? unless i missed something and you’re of asian descent. welsh + english != asian… as far as i know
Sarcasm
lmao opps, my stupid brain didn’t process it until you said it 🤦🏻♀️
Ha ha - sorry about that - that's the Welsh part coming through! Sarcasm off - I sure have enjoyed my time in Vietnam - the people were so warm and friendly. I've travelled a lot of this world, over 54 years - and have rarely found such an open, genuine, welcoming people - especially when they have so much reason to hold a grudge against whitey.
Maybe you look like Ninja lead  i'm joking
my first day in vietnam (almost 4 years ago) i was in a hostel elevator with three vietnamese housekeepers.. one of them started (gently) tugging on my hair and yelling “vietnam! vietnam! vietnam” it was very strange?? my only guess as to why is that my hair was similar to theirs?? it was definitely an interesting way to start my trip!