ARTICLE

April 25, 2023

Training Trip in Japan #3 – The Ramen Experience

(*The blog is based on the personal opinion and experience of one of the members participating in the training trip in Japan)

--------

Japanese cuisine was so popular in Vietnam. Foods that came to mind when I thought of Japanese foods could be Ramen, Sushi, Takoyaki... Ramen was known as a typical Japanese dish and had been appearing in many Japanese movies, anime. So I decided to go for Ramen as soon as I got the chance to participate in the training trip to Tokyo, Japan.

At 2nd night in Japan, after finishing the training session and party with the ISB Corporation, even though I was a bit full from the party, I immediately went to a Ramen restaurant called "Mendokoro Hanada" which was near the station Ikebukuro.

I arrived at the restaurant about 09:00 PM. There were five people in the queue at that time. The staff supported me to buy a meal ticket from the vending machine at the entrance before queuing. On the machine, there was full information about types of Ramen, toppings, drinks and its prices. After I inserted money and pressed button, a meal ticket was printed. As my observation, the machine just accepted: 1000 yen notes, 2000 yen notes, 10 yen coins, 50 yen coins, 100 yen coins and 500 yen coins. After getting a meal ticket, I returned to my original place in the line. After that, the other staff checked my ticket and asked me whether I wanted to add more vegetables and extra garlic to my order. I didn’t want to add anything more, so I responded: “普通のラーメンでお願いします”.

After waiting about 15 minutes, I had a seat. When I got into the restaurant, I felt very familiar like what I saw in the Japanese movies. The space was quite small, but very close. The counter was very neat and tidy. Maybe because of the limited space, it was only counter seats. But I was able to watch the chefs cook the food which was ordered in front of me.

Just wait about 5 minutes more, my bowl of ramen - Miso ramen was served. It was a large bowl filled with ramen, pork, veggies, eggs. I really wanted to try Japanese Medium-boiled egg, so I ordered the ramen with eggs. The smell of warm ramen spread, it was so good and very suited to the nighttime cold in Tokyo. Furthermore, Water, Garlic and chili powder,... were available on the counter. Because I wanted to try the original flavor of the dish, I added nothing in my bowl of ramen. The soup was thick and quite salty, but it tasted so good. The noodles were thick and chewy. The chunks of pork were very big and thick, but soft. Medium-boiled egg was very greasy. Stir -fried vegetables were also very delicious. When I finished that bowl of ramen, I thought I couldn't eat anything else. I stood up, left the restaurant and finished the 2nd night in Japan.

I had a wonderful ramen experience at Mendokoro Hanada. It's a great memory for me. The ramen was delicious, and the staffs were also very friendly. I hoped I would have the opportunity to return to Japan and eat ramen again with someone.

ARTICLE

March 30, 2023

Some required skills that IT Salesman must acquired

It will not be easy for any of us to become an expert in a field. Yet if we know how to learn from experience, absorb it, and cultivate it, we can gain valuable lessons after a lot of hard work. As I’m a Salesman at ISB Vietnam - specializing in the software development field, through many failures and successes in finding and working with partners as well as customers, I have my own drawn soft skills that are must-haves for a Salesman, especially for those who work in an IT environment.

Understanding the industry and setting in which I have been working:

I must first have a good understanding of the field and environment in which I have been working before approaching new partners or clients. Although it might be straightforward, this is actually highly important and required if I want to become a competent Salesman.

Customer/partner insight:

Beyond having a thorough understanding of the industry I work in or even who is working in this field should also have a strong understanding of the partners. This is one of the essential factors for a Salesman because it demonstrates to them my sincerity in wanting to work with their company to convince businesses to become my partners or clients.

Negotiation:

Negotiation is one of the necessary skills for this major. It is not always possible for me and the other side to come to an understanding during our initial discussions. Thus, I must make an effort to compromise and weigh the advantages that will come to both of us from becoming partners.

Sense of potential companies identification:

One more highly valuable factor is to evaluate and identify potential companies that we can collaborate with. I'll be able to find more potential clients this way and waste less time on inappropriate ones.

Communication:

Influent both Vietnamese and English is a mostly requirement for a Salesman. After facing various personalities and especially foreign customers, I realized that English is an indispensable part of communication. Not only help me communicate with the customer but also help me understand part of the customer's intent. Skillful judgment and handling of situations will help me gain the trust of customers.

Confidence:

The last one is confidence. Not only for Salesman in particular but for all industries in general, being a confident person in what we are doing is the key to creating our own development.

In conclusion, the skills listed above are ones that I have acquired while working at my company and gaining experience as a Salesman. I have considerably improved my search and developed enduring relationships with my clients and partners by implementing these skills. I hope the things I've shared in this article will be helpful to you. I am sure that each of us will have our own tips to develop ourselves into the best version of ourselves. Thus, let's share with us your highly valuable tips, and don’t forget to contribute any insightful advice in the comment section below after reading this blog.

ARTICLE

March 2, 2023

How does IVC respond to Vietnam’s drastically changing labor market in the IT industry?

(*This Blog Post was created based on the interview with Mr. Onogawa Yasuto - IVC General Director after 1 year of applying Motivation Cloud to the company’s employee engagement improvement.

* The interview content was also published on the website of Link and Motivation Inc. Company at: https://www.motivation-cloud.com/case/isb-vietnam)

---------

IVC (ISB Vietnam Company) was established in 2003 by ISB Corporation and is celebrating the 20^th anniversary establishment this year. Our main business is offshore software development, and in recent years, we have been working not only with Japanese customers but also with other overseas customers. Currently, we have about 100 engineers who are diverse and well versed in a variety of expertise in software development outsourcing.

IVC Office - Working Station

The General IT industry in Vietnam has an issue with a high turnover rate. With more and more foreign companies entering the Vietnamese market, we have seen wage increases over the years, and the gap in salary ranges between companies is getting wider and wider. Similarly, if we look at Japanese companies, the current situation is that there is also a salary gap between companies like ours, which mainly focus on offshore development, and other companies that mainly focus on product development.

Therefore, enhancing employee engagement and improving the turnover rate is always a concern for IVC. With this in mind, we have implemented various measures before, but they have tended to be from our management’s perspective and have not been effective as expected. Since the relationship with employees had been a one-way street, we wanted to understand “how employees feel about the company.”

Mr. Onogawa Yasuto - IVC General Director

After carefully researching and evaluating a variety of related human resource systems in the market, we have decided to apply The Motivation Cloud System from the beginning of 2022 with the expectations that this system would support our management to understand how employees actually felt about the company and pinpoint countermeasures then address these issues.

After one year of applying the Motivation Cloud, we believe that the greatest strength of this system is its ability to quantify organizational status by score, which supports us to have an objective assessment of our organization. Moreover, all IVC employees are now able to send out messages and express their intentions through these surveys. It is very important for our company to listen to the voices of employees- we thought.

Especially, in the second survey, when we asked, “How do you feel about this type of initiative (survey)?”, more than 70% of the respondents replied they thought it was a good idea. It was the motivation for the company because our employees have a favorable impression of the survey.

Based on the survey results, we are immediately starting to review our benefits policies. We have many benefits policies, some of which have not changed at all over the years. While we can assume that employees are satisfied with some of the policies and whether or not some policies are utilizing the benefits properly, we have not been able to find out until now.

Since Motivation Cloud allows us to add optional qualitative questions, we knew how employees felt about the benefits, making it easier to make decisions such as “this is fine as it is” or “this doesn’t make sense, let’s change it.” In the future, we will be able to focus on more effective benefits.

After hearing the voice from employees and finding out which policies and activities in the company are evaluated as effective, the company has been putting effort into upgrading some current benefit policies and organizing many company activities to enhance employee engagement.

Moreover, it is important to communicate our philosophy and vision and to make employees empathize with the value of the company’s existence and the direction it is aiming for. This will give employees a reason to stay with the company other than just the salary, and this will make IVC become a stronger organization. The Fixed-points of observations were made on Motivation Cloud so that we can raise not only the “satisfaction level” but also the “expectation level” by consciously communicating the company’s policies.

Salary and benefits are, of course, also an immediate issue in improving turnover rate. The survey also identified this as a priority area for improvement, and it is also linked to the turnover rate. And in order to cope with the changing environment, the company is planning to develop a strategy for the future, including a change of business.

IVC will continue to utilize Motivation Cloud from now on, but on the other hand, we do not think it is a good idea to rely too much on the idea that “using this system will make the company better.” The key point is how the company can make use of it and what measures the company can take based on these results.

In Vietnam, We think there are still a few Japanese IT companies that focus on employee engagement and improve their companies by listening to employees’ opinions. In this respect, we believe that IVC is ahead of the rest, and we would like to take more and more measures to build a strong organization.

ARTICLE

February 3, 2023

Why is Vietnam the next hottest destination for software development outsourcing?

Technology is one of the most important assets of a country and is a crucial driving force behind the economic development of a country. Behind the technological growth of all the industries lies software development and Vietnam is emerging as one of the hottest destination for software development not only in South east Asia, but in the entire world.

With a population of over 100 million in 2022, Vietnam is the 16^th most populous country in the world. Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and the largest city is Ho Chi Minh City (commonly known as Saigon), where most of the corporates are located and is the business city of the country. Vietnam is a member of prominent organizations like the United Nations, WTO, ASEAN, APEC, IFI, IMF, World Bank Group, Asian Development Bank etc. Vietnam is a growing favourite for FDI, with Singapore being the largest investor.

The outsourcing services in Vietnam offers a range of services from custom software development to dedicated offshore teams. The key factors which makes Vietnam a favorable destination for software development outsourcing are:

Education
Skillset and workforce
Initiative by the government
Work Culture

Education: Education in Vietnam is primarily run by the state and it has an extensive network of schools, colleges and universities which provides quality education at affordable price. There are 419 institutions for higher education with more than 250,000 students graduating every year. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) is the most preferred branch of study by Vietnamese students, followed by Business & Management and Physical/Life Science. Overall Literacy rate of Vietnam is 94.52% and youth literacy rate is 98.06%

Skillset and Workforce: The Median Age of Vietnam is 32.5 years, which means that it has a young work force. According to the Global skills Index Report, published by Coursera, Vietnam is ranked 35^th globally in skill trends among 102 participating countries. Vietnam is progressing from a low-tech manufacturing economy to a service-oriented economy and hence, fintech, artificial intelligence, ecommerce and software development has become important, as more and more people are adopting digital means. Vietnam has become a tech hub for technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Blockchain, Cloud Computer, etc.

Initiative by the government: Developing a skilled workforce is one of government’s top priority. With this aim, the government has launched the National Digital Transformation Programme by 2025 with a vision towards 2030. The country is taking measures to attract FDI to accelerate a digital shift and automate processes. Some of the prominent goals included are:

Online banking operations - 50 percent of banking operations by customers to be fully online; 50 percent of population to have a digital checking account; 70 percent of customer transactions made through digital channels.
Digitalization of Govt. Services - 80 percent of online public services at level 4 to be online with access on mobile devices; 90 percent of work records at ministerial and provincial levels are online while 80 percent of work records at district level and 60 percent of work records at commune level are processed online
All national databases including those for population, land, business registration, finance, and insurance are to be made online and connected with shared data on a government reporting information system

The government wants the digital economy to contribute 20 percent by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030 to the country’s economy. It also aims to be in the top 50 countries on the UN’s ICT Development Index as early as 2025.

Work Culture: Just like any other country, Vietnamese people have their own way of doing their work. Their traits include virtues such as punctuality, dutifulness, reliability, and responsibility. In business building, trust and relationship plays an important role. A typical work week in most of the companies is 40 hours/weeks. Some companies also work for 48 hours/week. A typical workday begins at 8am-9am and ends at 5pm-6pm. The time difference of 12hr with the western countries enables the availability of 24 hours of productivity. Since Vietnam is a developing nation, the billing rates are moderate and can result in a huge cost saving and thereby, making it a favorable destination for businesses looking for cost-effective solutions with cutting edge technologies.

Conclusion: Vietnam provides an excellent balance between cost-effectiveness and productivity, making it a favorable destination for outsourcing software development, for both an established enterprise as well as startups. The quality of the employees, the initiatives by the government and the work culture all help towards the common goal of making it as one of the most powerful hubs for software development outsourcing in Asia and the world.

(Kindly contact us for specific sources of the information)

ARTICLE

November 16, 2022

How to find passion in a new workplace

Young adults who have recently graduated from college may not have too much difficulty finding a career that they are truly passionate about. Additionally, it implies that we can swiftly acclimate to the new work environment. However, it can be challenging to adapt to the new environment with aspiration, rather than just for survival. And I used to think that I just needed to learn how to survive in the new environment. But after working at the company, Business Development Department in particular for a while, I realized that I needed to find passion and interest in the work and environment in which I’m working. That is what fully adapting to the new working environment means. In this blog, I would like to share 5 ways how to find passion in a new workplace that I have learned from my experience and hope they will be helpful to you.

Concentration:

When starting your job, you need to make this job your priority and put all your focus on it. This is one of the most important things I learned after working for a long time. I used to handle multiple tasks at once in the past. I thought I would save time by doing so. But because of that misconception, my tasks could not be completed on schedule, or even worse, I made a lot of mistakes and omissions. After these mistakes, I realized how crucial concentration is. You must probably be aware of the 30 days rule of adapting. According to the rule if you do something for 30 days straight without any breaks and with all the focus, the entire thing becomes easy for you to handle.

Make a plan:

I wouldn't have wasted as much time worrying about adjusting to the new working environment if I had planned ahead of time. An example is when I started work at a new workplace, I could barely handle and complete the work on time. But fortunately, I received advice from my superior and coworkers that having a clear plan would help me do the job more efficiently. It's amazing that I not only complete every task successfully but also enjoy taking on new challenges. And at that moment I realized that not only was I doing a job that I loved, but I was also working in a wonderful environment.

Always ask yourself questions and seek answers:

One effective way to help me keep the flame of passion for the work is to continually ask questions and seek answers. It's been incredibly intriguing to get the responses to the questions I came up with. I could learn many of the positive aspects of whatever task I was doing and also identify unexpected mistakes. Nothing is greater than being able to learn from mistakes and advance in knowledge at the same time. And more positive is that my manager and coworkers were always willing to share advice to correct the issues if I couldn't figure it out on my own. These elements are what enabled me to discover my passion for both my career and the workplace.

Seek out a mentor:

Here, "mentor" refers to my supervisor and coworkers. It was great that I have the opportunity to work with them and get insightful counsel and guidance regarding my line of work, workplace, and even life experiences. As a result, I can now complete practically all tasks given to me swiftly and flawlessly. I've come to understand how vital this workplace is where I can continually learn and improve.

Take care of yourself:

The proverb "health is gold" and "health is everything" are not coincidences. Having good health is always my top priority. I always finish my task on time and get good results when I work with a relaxed mind and energetic body. Maintaining the flame of passion in our work or even the working environment won't be a problem once the task is successfully completed, especially for the job we dream of. If we work on our dream job but we frequently miss deadlines or struggle to complete them. We are not managing the tasks successfully. And as we get more disinterested in the dream, we will gradually grow tired of that job. On the other hand, when the tasks are completed in the finest possible manner, we will feel at ease and enjoy the feeling of exhilaration. And when we are content and at ease, it is easy to sustain and grow our initial passion for our dream work or even the task we have never attempted.

In short, finding a dream job is not difficult, but how to maintain that job for a long time is not easy at all. And the key to answering that question is your workplace. Because everything we do becomes special and meaningful once we find our passion in the workplace, even the most mundane tasks become far more intriguing.

ARTICLE

October 31, 2022

THANK YOU! MOM, WHOM I LOVE MOST!

In this article, we would like to introduce to you the article that has conquered the Judges to be the winner of the Blog Contest on topic "Thanks Mom" and "Mom's Memories". According to her share, this is the first time she has enough courage to write love words like this to her dear mother. How about you? Have you ever shown your love, gratitude to your mom in your own way?

--------------

THANK YOU! MOM, WHOM I LOVE MOST!

I had read a quote like this:

“One to five years old, home is everything

In primary school, home is the evening

In high school, home is the weekend

In college, home is vacation

After graduation, home is Tet”.

The previous days, when I read quotes like this, I probably just skimmed them quickly because I thought they were meaningless. But perhaps when time goes by, our thoughts will also become deeper and more complicated so when reading this quote again by chance, my mind suddenly becomes more chaotic. Thinking carefully, it is true that for children working far from home like me, the amount of time spent by family and parents is really shrinking. I wonder how much time I have left to be able to be with my loved ones, especially with Mother - the most important woman in my life.

Thinking scatteredly, a few memories, a few moments about my mother associated with my growth milestones suddenly rushed back, although it was just a few small things, it was enough for me to know that having mom to be with me on the life journey is always the most wonderful and happy thing!

Remember when I was a child, there was a year when the winter was suddenly much colder, and all of my friends were bought an eye-catching woolen scarf by their parents to wear to class. However, my mother was different, instead of buying ready-knitted scarves, she meticulously selected each roll of the warmest woolen and worked hard to knit for me one scarf. She was so busy all day, so she took advantage of her time at night to knit for me quickly because she was scared of cold weather, I would not be warm enough to get sick. The color of that scarf may not be the most eye-catching, not the most outstanding, but for me, it is the most beautiful scarf, a limited edition just for me. That scarf I still keep until now, every time I see it, the feeling of happiness always makes me smile.

At the age of eighteen, everyone will have to face one of the first big decisions in their life to choose the right direction for the future, and successfully reach the university gate, I am lucky that my mother is always my psychological friend and always by my side. She does not force me to do what she wants, instead, she helps me give advice, and helps me know my strengths and weaknesses so that I can make the best decision by myself. That year, I was successful with my choice. Maybe the feeling of satisfaction at that time I no longer remember, but the happiness and pride in my mother's eyes at that time is something that I cannot forget.

After graduating from university, I chose to stay in the city to develop and challenge myself. Mom agreed with my decision, but I knew she worried a lot too, it was just that she wouldn’t express it. Just graduated, the pressure of work and the deadline made a tough girl like me seem to doubt my ability. Every time my mom phoned, I always told her that I was good all the time. However, even though she only saw me through the screen of her tiny phone, she still recognized my sadness, she just gently encouraged "don't feel too much pressure", and "I believe you can do it". My mother's words are simple and ordinary but contain great spiritual strength to help me overcome that hard time, giving me the motivation to try harder every day.

Through the milestones of growth, looking back, I always feel fortunate to have a mom who is always by my side, giving me advice, giving me strength, but it seems that I have never directly said thank you to my mom because the loved words are difficult to say. Looking back and forth, the time I spent with my mother is limited so I will always cherish the moments that I have with my mom, and will practice saying loved words while I can so that I will not regret something. These narrative lines, not sure my mother can read, but from the bottom of my heart I want to say: "Thank you! Mom, whom I love most!"

--------------

ARTICLE

September 7, 2022

HOW TO RECHARGE ENERGY AFTER A HARD WORKING DAY

Have you ever felt tired and out of energy after a long day at work, and cannot focus on anything?

I am working in ISB Vietnam as a saleswoman, sometimes I feel under pressure and stressed at work.

When I get tired and feel burned out, my motivation and communication can negatively impact my professional image as a saleswoman.

This may be the right time to be recharged ASAP!

In this post, I would like to share with you some quick tips from my experience that help overcome it, and hope it is helpful for you to refresh yourself when you are in the same situation.

Get moving – do yoga at home, take a dance break, go for a walk and do something that doesn’t require sitting.

Get a warm bath or shower–a great way to leave tiredness and stress from work behind is by washing away all the tension from your body. Water can help calm your soul and mind. You can take a hot bath or shower to help relax the muscles. Then, continue with a splash of cold water to make the body recover.

Turn on some tunes – listen to your trusty favorites or try something new like different kind of music or relaxing spa sounds.

Be a foodie – cook something, try a new recipe, brew some coffee, and eat some fruits you’ve never tried before.

Give your pets some love – take a play break, bathe them, take them for a walk and play with them.

Spend time with close friends and family – recharge by spending more time with people who boost you up as opposed to surrounding yourself with those who bring you down.

Talk with a positive-thinking person– reduce present stress and help us feel better about the future.

Get more sleep– sleep is the ultimate body recharger. Experts recommend seven to nine hours of sleep per night for healthy adults ages 26 to 64. Getting fewer than six hours of sleep per night is a major risk factor for burnout at work.

Take a day off – read a magazine or a book, walk outside and breathe fresh air, and gossip with your friend.

Take a trip– try and take time out to go for a trip with your loved ones. A change of scenery can help the mind and body equally.

Recharging after work is a very vital thing to do every day. If you fail to recharge, your health is affected negatively. Make it a habit and you will become more productive at work.

By learning how to recharge after work, you live a healthy lifestyle.

ARTICLE

August 12, 2022

Working in Vietnam as a foreigner

Working in foreign countries is never easy.

There are many differences from working in your country; language, culture, business etiquette, etc.
Those differences can work against you instead of enjoying them if you don’t understand them.

I’ve worked in several different countries in the past and have experienced different cultures.
Understanding the unique aspects of each country would help you have reasonable expectations and avoid frustration.

Vietnam is no exception.

Most of the Vietnamese people I worked with have high work ethics.
I cannot count how many times I was pleasantly surprised by their support at work.

They also value the time outside work to spend quality time with families and friends.
I've seen many colleagues have healthy balance between work and time with important ones.

Another thing I’ve noticed is the high engagement in team building, year-end parties, company trips, and the like.
I think it’s a good way to boost morale and helps teamwork and information sharing.
Who doesn’t want high morale at work after all?

Also, there are challenges I’ve faced while working in Vietnam.

One of them is the language barrier; English communication is not quite easy in Vietnam.
I had quite a few challenging times because of the language barrier.

Having an expectation that there will be a miscommunication no matter how carefully you put out your words made it easier for me to adapt to the workplace without stressing over it.
You may want to choose chat communication or email to avoid miscommunication with colleagues you have difficulty in understanding due to the language barrier.

Working in Business development department in ISB Vietnam, I have many opportunities to work with business partners and customers.
Most of them are Vietnamese people and working with them is one of the most precious experiences I had in Vietnam.

Whatever country you choose to work, I believe the key to smooth transition is communication and respect.

ARTICLE

July 8, 2022

My Experience Internship

This past semester, I interned at ISB Vietnam, a software development company specializing in the field of outsourcing and offshoring.

This was my first internship, and it was a lot more than I thought it would be - in the best way possible. As a student majoring in English, all of my time is spent studying, the knowledge and experiences that I learn are only through the pages of books and words handed down by teachers. This means that I have never had practical access to office work or even the field of Sales-Marketing - the field where I interned at this company. Honestly, this presented a challenge for me when I first began working in Business Development Department - also known as BD Dept. The tasks, colleagues, or even the workplace, everything here is fresh. However, thanks to the dedicated guidance of my supervisor and colleagues in the team, I was able to gain many skills and accumulated the essential experiences to become a professional staff in the field of Sales-Marketing.

Besides, I also learned a lot of useful knowledge about IT, which is something that I have never experienced before: it was amazing.

The work in BD Dept that I have done so far includes a wide variety of things and even I could not cover them all in this blog. However, seeking customers and partner companies were the activities that help me improve my knowledge and experience the most. I feel very lucky to have been in contact with so many clients - many different personalities, and different situations - that I have learned more from experience how to choose the right counseling approach for each customer to suit their needs and personality. Learn to handle difficult and unexpected situations as they happen.

In addition, I participated in internal and external meetings and experienced a lot about working style and handling situations.

Thanks to the actual activities and specific tasks that I have been assigned, I have found out what my strengths and weaknesses are so from there, I will try to improve my abilities.

Walking photo

After three months as an intern, I also received the chance to start working officially. Of course, my employment will change when I start working as an official staff, and my workload will increase from when I was an intern. But rather than putting pressure on me, such things inspired me to work more. And I consider myself really lucky to have joined ISB Vietnam as an official staff thanks to the kindness, passionate support of my coworkers, and this dynamic workplace.

In short, I am thrilled to be learning more every day. I know that I wouldn’t have gotten as much experience as I have already if I were to be in another company where interns may not get the chance to have as hands-on experience as I have been able to. This internship has given me even more experience than I had before. It also allowed me to learn more about different business and how I can use my skills in different ways.

ARTICLE

May 13, 2022

Living in Vietnam as Japanese

The image of vast rice fields and people with iconic, triangle-shaped hats was all I could think of Vietnam before I had come to Vietnam in 2018 for the first time when I taught Japanese to Vietnamese people as volunteer.

Since then, my image of Vietnam has changed a lot as I started living here.

In this article, I will describe what it is like to live in Vietnam based on my experience.

As you read, please keep in mind that what I write in this article is solely based on my experience and it will be different from others, and I have no intention to indicate my experience is necessarily true to other people.

-Culture-

Family bonds are very strong in Vietnam.

During traditional Vietnamese new year holidays known as Tet holidays, families come back to their hometown to get together and enjoy quality time with family.

When speaking to Vietnamese people, I noticed they often address their cousins as “sister” or “brother” in English which still makes me confused from time to time.

Even though the western influence is getting more noticeable in the bigger cities, the Vietnamese culture still largely remains, which is one of the reasons why many foreigners are attracted to Vietnam.

-People-

I find Vietnamese people kind and willing to help generally.

Compared to other countries in Southeast Asia, Vietnamese people are shyer when communicating with foreigners in my experience.

That’s more true when you go to the countryside.

English communication is more difficult than the countries like the Philippines, India but the basic communication is mostly fine in urban areas such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City.

And, you would find the difference in people’s behavior depending on the places you visit.

-Food-

Vietnamese foods are relatively easy to get used to and some foreigners are really into the Vietnamese foods.

The examples of famous foods loved by foreigners are Banh Mi (sandwich) and Pho (noodle soup).

In terms of price, if you eat out at local Vietnamese restaurants, it is surprisingly cheap compared to foreign cuisines.

It normally costs only around 1USD for breakfast or lunch if you eat like local people.

What interested me as a beer lover is the local restaurant called Bia Hoi which is translated as “Draft beer”.

These restaurants typically have a large open space with staff serving fresh beer for as cheap as 7,000VND (30 cents/0.3USD) for glass and delectable local Vietnamese foods.

It is one of the Vietnamese-like experiences to eat out at Bia Hoi.

-Housing-

When I lived in other countries, I usually searched for housing and contacted the owner by myself.

In Vietnam, you have the luxury of relying on real estate agencies with no agent fee.

For Japanese, it’ll be reassuring to know there are quite a few real estate agencies which you can communicate in Japanese.

And, while you can certainly live in conventional apartments, there are apartments called serviced apartments.

The serviced apartments usually come with housekeeping and laundry services, 24/7 security guards.

For the person who starts living in Vietnam for the first time, serviced apartments are highly recommended as you’ll have much fewer concerns about the living.

-Honest opinion-

Having lived in Vietnam for over 3 years, I’d say living in major cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City is quite comfortable compared to the country like India where I had lived for 3 years.

It’s mainly because the Vietnam culture is not too hard to adapt even for the person who lives abroad for the first time.

And, if you are Japanese, you have the advantage of easy access to Japanese restaurants for not-too-expensive prices.

Also, there are several Japanese companies which have entered Vietnam market in recent years such as Uniqlo, Muji.

The big downside for me (and many other foreigners) is the chaotic traffic, aggressive driving which might make you feel dangerous.

Having said that, Vietnam would be one of the easiest places to live for foreigners and I could highly recommend Vietnam if you make up your mind to explore and live in Southeast Asia since it would give you so much different experience from your home country despite relative comfort of living.

« 1 … 4 5 6