Excerpt from 'My Vietnam Story': Vietnamese Characteristics

In his memoirs, Palestinian Ambassador to Vietnam - Mr. Saadi Salama - wrote that Northerners are slow and careful while Southerners are easy-going and natural.

My Vietnam Story is a memoir that records stories about the country's culture and customs from the perspective of Mr. Saadi Salama - Palestinian Ambassador to Vietnam. He has been attached to Vietnam since 1980 until now, considering it his "second homeland", witnessing the country's changes over many periods.

On the occasion of the book's release, VnExpress published some excerpts from the book. The names of the excerpts were given by the editorial board.

Cover of the book "My Vietnam Story", author Saadi Salama, published by Dan Tri Publishing House, released in January. Photo: Nha Nam

For me, in nearly 20 years of living in Vietnam, the character and culture of the Vietnamese people are like a book that opens new chapters every day. With what I have received, it is indeed difficult to tell the stories through just a few pages of writing.

But I also cannot ignore the questions that my friends have asked me: Compared to other countries in the region, what is the unique personality of Vietnamese people? Are they a close and enthusiastic people in communication, or are they calm, measured and keep their distance? Is learning Vietnamese difficult, compared to learning Chinese, Japanese and Korean? Is Vietnamese culture a closed culture or always open to new things?

As I see it, the Vietnamese character is different between the North, stretching from Lang Son to Hue, and the South. History has created this difference as the Northern part is where the Vietnamese people have existed for thousands of years since the formation of the Vietnamese nation. On the contrary, the Southern part is the part of Vietnam's territory that has gradually expanded over time. In particular, the provinces and cities in the Southeast region and the Mekong Delta were still wild lands until more than three centuries ago and only gradually developed when the Vietnamese people came here to reclaim them.

From then on, it is not difficult to understand why the Northerners have always been the most typical representatives of Vietnamese culture. With a strategic geographical location, adjacent to a large country like China, the history of the Vietnamese people's development is also the history of the battles to protect their territory. With the harshness of the weather and the threats of natural disasters, the Northerners are all too familiar with the challenges in their daily lives. All of these factors have formed in them a special sacred feeling for their Fatherland and homeland as well as a very close and steadfast attachment and cohesion between each individual in each community and each clan.

Every Vietnamese in the North is very proud of their homeland and the land they live in. My Vietnamese friends often proudly introduce themselves as people from Nam Dinh, Hanoi, Thanh Hoa, Thai Binh and then tell in great detail how their ancestors settled here several hundred years ago.

In this respect, the Southerners are a little different from the Northerners. With a history of only a few hundred years, they are also proud of their homeland and hometown, but they have a simple, gentle view and do not go too deeply into each concept. That is understandable, if you look at countries with a history of only a few hundred years of development like the United States. An ordinary American may not hesitate to change their residence from New York to Los Angeles, from Houston to Chicago if it is convenient and suitable for living conditions. When talking about their ancestors, they will smile innocently and say that their family's ancestor was someone from Ireland, Scotland or Italy. The same is true in daily life.

The reality of life's hardships has soon formed a leisurely, careful mentality in Northerners. Northerners rarely waste and tend to always prepare thoroughly and essential things for tomorrow. Meanwhile, Southerners will be simpler and more relaxed about this issue. For example, when frying rice and suddenly running out of cooking oil, Northerners will run to the store to buy a large bottle of oil to use gradually in the following days, while a Southern housewife will most likely go to her neighbor's house, borrow some oil to finish the meal and will calculate the matter of buying oil later.

Mr. Saadi Salama at the age of 62. Photo: Nha Nam

Similarly, at the beginning of a new month, Northerners will buy basic things like rice, fish sauce, and salt for long-term use, while Southerners usually buy very little and use it for a few days. The way Southerners behave socially is similar, quite comfortable, innocent, and liberal. They are less influenced by traditional concepts of culture and behavior like Northerners, and are not curious, attentive, or talk much about small issues of life and the people around them.

For myself, honestly, when meeting a new friend from the North, I am always very careful because I am afraid of being impolite, as the Vietnamese say about not following their social rules. But with friends from the South, I can allow myself to be more comfortable and natural. For example, to invite you to a meal, a Southerner can say naturally: "Have a meal with me?" While for Northerners, the invitation to a meal can be given a week in advance, and then a few hours before the meal, the host will call you to repeat the invitation again. When going to someone else's house to have a meal, Northerners will mainly care about serving you and eat very little, while Southerners, once they have invited and set the food on the table, will not care too much about how you eat.

Therefore, if moving from the South to the North or vice versa, international visitors will be a bit surprised to see the differences in communication and living. Southerners can be fun-loving and spend lavishly when in the mood, while Northerners often have plans for this. When inviting friends to eat, Southerners prefer to go out to restaurants for convenience, while Northerners prefer to cook at home. Southerners are less interested in politics, while it is a frequent topic in Northerners' conversations. Southerners like to work freely and are less attached to state agencies, while for many Northerners, state agencies are a criterion to evaluate stability and sustainability in work.

That difference creates very interesting diversity for people from other cultures like me to gradually experience and explore over time. Of course, nowadays, many young people's behavioral habits may no longer be as regional as their grandparents and parents.

>> To be continued

(Excerpt from the book My Vietnam Story , Saadi Salama, Nha Nam and Dan Tri Publishing House)

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