US vs Vietnam? Two friends sit down to chat about the differences they see.

But just to do a really quick recap of who we are and what we're doing, Susan, I am in Santa Monica right now. We're at my place. This is Christine. I met her here in Santa Monica like 18 years ago and we were part of a girls get together. We share the same date birthday date. Birthday twins. Birthday twins. We've kept in touch over the years. She moved to Northern California, got married, she has a son. She is Vietnamese, but has grown up here in the States. And last month, I saw her for the first time in all those number of years when she brought her 10-year-old to Da Nang. And we met up there and said hi, and that was great. Her son ended up on the way home leaving his Apple Watch at the airport on accident in security. So, I was able to bring that Apple Watch back to LA and we just got together today and we were talking about the differences between Da Nang and Vietnam and we thought we have a lot of interesting things to share.

Because I've been living over there for two and a half years and I just got back to LA. So, you just you go from one world to one world to the other and then she was over there just recently for the entire month and got back to LA. So, we were just shooting the breeze about the differences and the similarities between Da Nang Vietnam and LA or between Vietnam and the States. And if you have questions, let me just we like the hand language. Awesome. Hi guys. So, sorry we talked away for 10 solid minutes before we realized the sound wasn't on. So, really apologize for that. If you have questions, let us know. We are just going to be riffing here for a while and every occasionally I'll come and see if we can answer any questions. But we were talking about money. We were talking about getting cash from an ATM when you land in Vietnam because it's a cash society. And to when you use an ATM, go ahead and use your ATM card. You can withdraw Vietnamese dong by the million. So you're a millionaire.

Millionaire. What? 1 million Vietnamese dong is about $40. Always decline the currency conversion on the ATMs and let your bank just convert it at the regular rate. But you want to grab cash from an ATM pretty quickly because very few places will accept credit cards. Those that do typically pass the 3% fee onto the consumer. So those places that do allow it, you have to pay the 3% fee. But don't assume that a place accepts credit card. And I actually had that issue before when I went to pay a hotel and they said after I'd been there like two and a half weeks and they didn't accept credit card and then I go to the bank or I go to the ATM and my I was I was hit by the daily limit. Yeah. And I couldn't even withdraw enough. Fortunately, I had a friend who I could, you know, PayPal, Venmo, get cash. But don't make any assumptions and always have don't wait till the last minute.

ATMs might even be out of money. So I went to multiple cities for a full month and I only used my credit card one time. Cash. Everything's cash. But my hotels were already prepaid because of the sites I use. So it was already prepaid. So but there is that daily limit. There are different banks with different limits. You can do your research on which is there are already videos out there which ATMs give the highest limits. But that particular bank always runs out of money. Just want to let you know. Don't make assumptions. Expect the unexpected. Plan ahead, prepare, have a plan B. That's the best advice I can give for traveling abroad because you just don't know what you don't know and you don't nobody wants a surprise. Nobody wants that kind of a surprise. So differences between Vietnam and the US. What we were talking about the conversations like things that because once you come out of the airplane you know first notice the weather is much more humid in Vietnam but you get used to that pretty quickly. it drizzles it rains.

But in the month of July that I was there, it didn't rain too much, so it wasn't that big of a deal. But it's a nice break for my the California drought girl to see rain on a daily basis or not even daily, but sometimes for like an hour or something. So, it's not like that big of a deal. and then once you get out of the plane, you get into a cab. And in Vietnam, it's Grab versus Uber. and the conversations that you'll have and it happened to both Susan and I. That the conversations over there are a lot more blunt and they address things that we don't necessarily have in the first conversation with people and we talk about our taxi drivers, but that's who we have more time talking to because the person taking our order at the restaurant isn't really going to have that long of a conversation. But when you're stuck in the you know cab for like 45 minutes with someone, you get to know them a little. And first off the bat is where are you from? How old are you?

How old are you? You don't ask that in Los Angeles. You'll be asked question number two or question number three by everybody. How old are you? And it's completely appropriate. And I that's out of respect and figuring out pronouns. In Vietnam, we have a lot of pronouns. Should I address you as older sister or younger sister or auntie depending on their generation and our generation or my generation? So, they wanted to show proper respect and address you by the proper pronouns. It's not out of respect. And in Vietnam, they respect older people versus Los Angeles where we kind of fight aging as much as we can afford. I'm I'm here for the respect. But I love it because I've been traveling to Vietnam for 20 year over 20 years and back then I was in my 20s and I was always younger sister. So I feel like it's disrespectful because I don't know how old you are, you know. And whereas now I'm always older sister regardless of where I go I'm older sister. So I like that a little bit better. In like the Los Angeles me might want to like figure it out but without disclosing my age but in Vietnam I don't care. But they said, "How old are you?" And then they ask my son how old he is. And then they're like, "Oh, you had them really late." And you don't say that in Los Angeles. whereas cuz in Vietnam they had their kids a lot younger in their 20s versus in their 30s and I had mine in my 30s and it's perfectly okay here and nobody even

questions. so we had a question. Somebody said, "If money is no object, would you choose to live in Da Nang or LA?" So when I left my software career, I actually I was in I LA as my home base for years and kind of using as my home base and then traveling. I went to Africa. I went to Central and South America and I went top to bottom Vietnam and back. And I would, my answer to that question, I'm curious what your answer is, is it really depends on what's important to you, your stage in life. Your stage in life. I loved living here in Santa Monica. I loved the beach. I love the sunsets. I love flower garden. I love the accessibility to Los Angeles where everything goes through LA. There's a lot going on. And any tour, any speaker is usually in LA. at the same time, I've done it for so many years and I went then to Asia and I thought, I'm loving living in Asia. So, I love the tropical the tropical weather and kind of beachy. I love even like afternoon rain showers, the humidity. I love massages. And I went when I first $8 massages full body massages for an hour all the time. when I first got there, I loved Asia for all the

environmental things that it provided. And it felt like relaxing and peaceful and people really valued being present and sitting on a Tuesday afternoon playing chess or cards or people sit at night just conversing and drinking tea and people watching. There's not it's not that go. after I was there for a while, I thought now I'm really falling in love with the people and the culture. It's more this internal thing that I'm loving. The more that I get to know the people and the kindness and the ways that they act and interact, the how everything's family oriented and community inclusive, very low judgment, anything goes. I'm like, it feels so free. So, I love I love being in Asia now. So, right this very minute, we're sitting here in Santa Monica, which is great. You're staying. You live here, married with a child. I'll be heading back to Vietnam, which right now is my personal preference. there's no right or wrong, good or bad, very, very different. And I think for me because education is a big deal for me and so I think my son has more opportunities here in terms of education and then American universities and various things and opportunities in his long-term life.

But that's why I'm always following Susan because I have this fantasy of one day, you know, moving to another country or Vietnam and just kind of weighing it out. And there are so many different big towns in Viet big cities in Vietnam that every city has its own flavor. Yeah, that's a good point. So Saigon versus Da Nang versus Hanoi, they all are very different. And for me, if I were to move back to Vietnam, I spent three weeks this past trip in Hoi An because I like the smaller town that gave me a little bit of a city life. Had all the conveniences, all the stores and restaurants and various things I needed, but smaller, less traffic, safer to cross the street for my 10-year-old. So, you kind if you're considering moving to Vietnam, you kind of have to maybe stay in a hotel or Airbnb for a a while, definitely hop around different towns and see which is your flavor, favorite flavor, like an ice cream store. You got to try it all.

Yeah. because you can't just because I hate Hanoi. I hate I really hate Hanoi. not my kind of town, but some people don't completely love it. My friends have condos there. They live there part-time of the year. So it really depends on the person. I know people who are currently in Bangkok, which I love to jump on a flight from where I live to Bangkok. It's hour and a half. And then you're there's pad thai and there's malls and there's temples and monks and I'm like this is fabulous but the it's very much of a city so it's a lot more of the hustle and bustle the above ground metro u and then I come back to where I currently am daang it's more beach a little quieter I go ah this I love the beach and I then I see my friends in the community so it's there's just so many different places. And one thing that is important to me right now, not only is is it staying active for people who are building a business, a lot of people want to be in Saigon or in Bangkok where there's just you know lots and lots of entrepreneurs and you know the roof rooftop networking events, businesses, highrises. But I also love being in a place where I can bounce around and I could fly, you know, two-hour flight to Hong Kong or a five- hour flight to Japan and use because right now in my life, I'm not trying to build a

business. I'm trying to I like exploring the world and having a home base that's over there in Asia to be able to explore waterfalls and hiking and travel and people very international food. food. Food yeah, let's see what what other comments came up. So, if anyone hasn't done a YouTube live before, you have to we're using my phone right now. We have to put our finger on the screen and then just move it up. Isn't Vietnam changing with all the laws for foreigners? Tell me more about that. What with all the laws for foreigners? I I think against foreigners owning a business 100% or condos. there's restrictions on real estate on if you can fully own a place if you're not a Vietnamese citizen and it's like a 50-year lease.

Yeah. So if somebody wants to buy property as a foreigner, I cannot own property. The most I can do is I can purchase a condo, but every condo building has a maximum percentage of foreign-owned units and it's usually 30% and they can't go over that. It's also a 50-year lease, so I can buy it, but then I'd relinquish it at the end of the 50 years. So, I'm a renter. I think most of us are renters, but they Da Nang specifically is booming and so they're the government is really supporting the start of foreign-owned businesses. So they have a new digital currency financial center going in. They're making it a luxury lifestyle destination. 30 new highrises are going up along the beach. They have a massive development. It's a $1.6 billion dollar development up right outside of Da Nang called High Van Pass.

I saw it. I saw it when I went by there and we were just wondering developed by Sun World. Yeah, but it was right next to all this industrial like all the ports and various things. So, it's super industrial right there right now. You know what I just saw last week there? You know how Dubai has those man-made islands? Da Nang had is now going to put man-made islands, not off the coast of the main My Khe beach, but the other beach that's on the way to H Hai Van Pass. They're they've approved the budget to make man-made island. So, they're they're it's like a mini Dubai is what it's sounding like they're making this into. All good. There was a question about languages. My son who's 10 years old I wanted him to go to Vietnam, embrace his cultural heritage and we worked with a private tutor that is based in Hoi An which there's fewer English teachers or tutors in Hoi An than Da Nang.

So if you were there and wanted to establish at least your language before and if you want to learn the language more then Da Nang would be a better option because there's just more teachers. Yeah. Yeah. Lots of teachers in Da Nang. Somebody asked the question, do you get nervous that they might not stop allowing the back-to-back tourist visas? That is always that's that's always something that might come up. Now, I do have friends that have lived there for six years on you leave the country and you exit the country and then you can apply for a new 90-day visa to come back. The immigration needs to approve it. You come back into the country and then you're allowed to stay for another 90 days. No retirement visa. There's currently not a retirement visa. There's, you know, work visas and education visas and spousal visas. So, could that happen?

Absolutely. From talking with people, everything is hearsay, right? It's all hearsay. You never know until something gets formally announced. That's that's policy. But a lot of people have asked me, "Hey, Thailand just stopped allowing the back-to-back tourist visas. You can only get two in a year now instead of, you know, every two, three months. And they did do that. However, they did that a year after they allowed a new 5-year DTV visa, which is a digital nomad visa, which is what I got. So, I can go there back and forth as many times as I'd like during a year. So, they first rolled that out. It was available for a year for people to get and then they started limiting the tourists which I think was to get people on the right visa. The Thailand also has a retiree visa. They had something called the elite visa. So hopefully if Vietnam does start restricting tourist visas is after they have other visas that people can move into. But really it's up to them what they'd like to do. and I think everybody knows that and you would pivot to plan B, plan C, and go live in a neighboring country if that is your if that's your only option. If they offer a different visa that you can qualify for and you'd like to, then you do that. So, I don't think that anything will just be

announced that will be a complete rug pull. I'd be surprised by that. I think it would affect businesses. It would affect landlords. It would, I it would affect, you know, people that are staying there long term, that are really integrated into the society. So, it would surprise me, but again, they can, you know, they can do whatever they like and we'll respect that and we would, pivot appropriately. Let me know if that answered the question. Vietnam's not a democracy. Is the political landscape stable? You know, it's Well, that's a touchy subject because are we really stable here in America right now? So what's interesting to me is, you know, here in the States, if you get onto social media, there's a lot of political discussion. For me being in Vietnam, unless I want to know what's happening in the US, I have no idea unless I seek it out where here you're surrounded by it. It's kind of hard to get away from it. It's on the TV. It's what people are talking about the grocery stores over there people aren't really talking about US politics. They aren't talk about US politics, but I did have a discussion with a local, you know, one of our my local friends there and they just don't pay as much of attention into the political what's going on in even in Vietnam because it's a one party system.

It's a one party system. It's a one party system. They dictate the rules. We just follow it. Whereas here in America, we can protest. We can sign petitions. we could try to get Congress or Senate to pass certain bills to where we feel like we make more of an influence. Like I'm in real estate so we do advocacy work because we feel like we can make a difference or change that speaks for the homeowners and various things. So, it's just one of those things where I don't me my personal opinion is that we're not in a very stable political climate right now and the way we're being perceived internationally isn't stable. So, we can't necessarily say like which is better. so it's just one of those things where you live your life, follow the rules, and try not to break as many laws as possible. My observation is I thought here people get really invested and emotional about politics. And when I'm over there, nobody I know, even the locals, are talking about any politics. So, I'll be in large groups with Vietnamese, with expats. Politics is never on the table.

We're all from different countries. People are kind of removed from what's going on in their home country. Vietnamese has the one party system, so they're just doing their thing. The government's just running the government. Nobody's debating anything. Nobody's talk discussing anything. We're we're talking about other things, which I find really refreshing. It's just the whole political discussion is kind of off the table. We're like we're we're just Yeah, we're just talking about other topics that I find more enriching to me. It's exhausting in this country right now. It's been exhausting for a few years. So, okay, did that answer the question? That said, so one thing that I've noticed also is it is technically a communist country, but when I look around, it looks relatively free, surprisingly, even compared to the US. And what I mean by that is somebody wants to start a coffee cart. They just make a coffee cart, they make coffee, they go out to the street corner, they start selling coffee. They have a coffee cart. Is it going to be there tomorrow?

Nobody knows. It might be there for a week, then it's gone. But no, everyone's like, "Oh, great. There's coffee." And you just go buy coffee or freshly squeezed orange juice. you can turn your The houses are very similar and they all have the downstairs living room and then back kitchen stairs to bedrooms. You can turn your living room into a mini mart. You just buy chips and sodas and a cooler and have the doors open. It's a mini mart. So there's and there's little like restrictions and permits and people go, "Oh, there's the mini mart next door. Now it's, you know, next week they've turned it into a foot spa." Foot spa, everyone's happy doing their thing. so I really like that. Just supportive encouragement. there's not a lot of like you can't do that, stop doing that. We thought about living in Vietnam. I've been there several times. I live in Australia, but not being able to speak the language makes me feel a little disconnected from society.

Yeah, I noticed I think it depends on where you go. More and more people do speak English well. They definitely a lot of times they may they might be shy to speak it, but they understand it and they can't keep up with the conversation, but they understand what you're saying. some of them in bigger cities. You'll find less of it in smaller towns, but Vietnam just passed like a mandate where the schools have to start teaching English. Oh, really? I know a lot of my friends over there are English teachers. So, because English is the universal language, at least the younger generation knows it. But I've found even out in the rural areas that they say that language is actually a very small percentage of communication. You can you can communicate pointing smile Google translate Google translate that happens a lot.

So I think Vietnamese is a very difficult tonal language. So it's so it's super difficult because I'm teaching my son and so just the way you say it like is it go is it a rolling sound is it a up or down or heavy sound it changes the meaning completely so I can totally understand that it's it feels alienating to have that barrier but at the end of the day anywhere else you move in the world you're going to have that language barrier but there are a lot lots of teachers, tutors, private tutors, online classes that you can join. I know in Da Nang is one of the larger expat communities in Vietnam and there are like meetup groups that people try to help each other learn the language. And so it's all up to you on how much time and effort you want to learn the language, but it shouldn't stop you from from moving there because the worst that can happen is you move back or just find more expats.

So I think language might be a thing, but I will move to Paris in a heartbeat. I don't speak any French. Yeah. I just like I like experiencing different places. What I found in Vietnam and in Thailand of a lot of the Asian countries is they're making an effort like they're trying to communicate. They're trying to bridge the gap. They want to understand you. So they'll try different things. That's the biggest part. There's a desire to communicate and there's also a desire. They consider foreigners like guests and we want to show them comfort. We want to make sure that they're having a good time, that things make sense, that it's it's it really been remarkable when people ask me if I like it, and if I say, "Yeah, I love it here." They take a lot of pride in that, and like we really want to try to make sure you're comfortable. Do you need a seat? Do you Is there anything that you're looking for? We people anticipate the needs of the people around them, especially foreigners. I was at an eye hospital and I posted a video on this a couple weeks ago. And I'm walking down the hallway and I'm kind of looking around for the room that I'm supposed to look be in.

And I have the room number and I see a doctor jump up from his desk and come running out like, "Can I help you?" And oh, okay, I see. Okay. You go down that hallway. And I thought, "He's probably looking at me like she doesn't know where she's going." So they run out to help. They don't just watch like, "Oh, hope she finds where she's going." But really helpful. That's the one big thing about Vietnam is everyone is very friendly and it's more of a community mentality when you're growing up in Vietnam and same with within my family here in the US. It's much more of a community mentality than the emphasis on individual independence here. Yeah. Whereas we in America celebrate your freedom and your own individual you know expression of yourself and your independence and ability to do things on your own. Whereas Vietnam is like more a showing of support. the family being there, the community being there, your child runs out in the middle of the street, the all the neighbors will do something like we my son decided to ride his bike up the ramp in the hotel and slammed and crashed sideways and I'm on my bike so I can't react as quickly. So the street vendor across the street comes and helps both of us and that's perfectly normal. Oh, one of the good conversations she already

addressed was the sense of community. My son had left his watch at the airport security and the security we emailed the airport and they were actually able to track down his watch and it was in the domestic terminal. So Susan was going to the international terminal so she couldn't get it and our she had recommended me to a taxi driver who I've used like four or five times while I was he's now become a friend of mine. Yeah. And he I said maybe I can hire him like pay him to just go into the domestic terminal, get the get the watch and give it to Susan who's departing like the next day. and he did it and I offered to pay him money. He's like, "No, no, it's a fine. It's a pleasure." I'm like, "I can figure out how to like Venmo or, you know, like there's various ways of paying." and he's just like, "No, this is perfectly okay." So he goes all the way to the domestic terminal parks, goes inside, gets the Apple Watch, brings it to me so that I can take it in my bag when I'm leaving on my international flight the next day and bring it back to LA to Christine. Like that's just the way people are.

That's just the way people are. And it's very consistent. It's not that that's amazing. But he doesn't stand out as a different than any everybody does does that a lot of people do that care and service and that's one of the big things is cash. When you go to Vietnam the hund the $100, 000 bill looks very similar to the $10, 000 bill. So at night in a car or anywhere at night you can't see the comma so much and you might end up giving the wrong bill. But they've always 100% of the time been honest about how much money I gave them or sometimes I'll show them. and they will always 100% of the time in my experience pick out the right amount or tell me to give them something different or just correct me and always give me the right amount of change 100% of the time. In my experience, I feel like what I've learned from the Vietnamese is they want people's heart to feel good. So, I'll ask a question and they don't answer the question with a specific answer. They'll say, you know, what works for you? What is your desire? What would be supportive or helpful or whatever that is? That's what we want to do. That's the answer to the question. And yes, I've really learned a lot that way that it's not just a even hotels, you know, check in, check out, it's it's a very it's not that

strict. It's very relationship. Mhm. It's about the community and the your impression of the community that they're representing each time they interact with you. Yeah. You know, the other thing I was thinking about today that it took me a while to really understand, but it's that people will Okay, so let me just give the example. I think that it's a lack of judgment. Like I mean, not in a bad way. We here are we evaluate each other. And so I might not walk out the door wearing something because I don't want to be judged. I will see say a guy walking down the street holding a little kid's hand, maybe his wife is walking behind and he'll have on a large sun hat with a big pink flower on the front. And I remember the first time I saw that. I'm like, that's a lady's hat. And I thought my brother-in-law wouldn't wouldn't be caught dead wearing a lady's sun hat.

Wow, that guy has a lot of confidence to be wearing a lady's sun hat. Like, he just probably wants to keep the sun out of his eyes. And I that was my first thought. And then my second realization when I kept seeing it more and more frequently is there is no it's just a hat. It's just a hat keeping the sun. Nobody cares. So, here's the other time I noticed it. I was up in Hanoi and there was a huge drone show happening in the sky that night. So this the sidewalks are packed over this lake where there's going to be this huge drone show. It's a misty night. It might rain. There's a group of guys sitting having tea and as it starts drizzling just a little bit, mind you, it's going to get cold like if your head gets wet and nobody has umbrellas. They all pull out clear plastic shower caps and put them on their heads. And I'm like, they're wearing they're all sitting there just continuing their conversation. five guys with clear shower caps on their heads. And I thought that is so because they think it's going to catch a code. They're going to catch a cold when their hair gets wet.

And I know that if I was with friends here and it started drizzling, I'd go, "Hey everybody, here's a shower cap." People would rather sit there and get wet and be freezing than put it on because it will look silly. And so I'm kind of watching these guys thinking, "Oh, are they like, "Oh, we look silly, but we don't care." No, there's no They might as well had an umbrella. And nobody was laughing or joking or judging each other. They just Oh, I thought that's actually kind of brilliant because they're keeping their heads dry. So, they're not going to be wet and they're not going to be cold and they're going to be able to enjoy the whole drone show. What a relief. What a relief that you can pull out a shower cap and put it on your head that you have in your pocket without having to, you know, carry around an umbrella or, you know, there's no room for an umbrella because they're sitting off, you know, just along the sidewalk and no, nobody cares. Literally nobody cares. But they do care on some level that you're walking around respectably. Like when I was walking around Vietnam, I could definitely tell who was the American tourist cuz they'll be in a tube top cuz it's so hot or Daisy Duke shorts, which yes, you're clothed. I get you're hot, but there's that lack of awareness of respectability and what's acceptable in another country. Like that's how they can tell that you're American. Like even Europeans in hot weather, they cover up a little bit more and a little bit more respectable.

There was a case where there were some foreign girls up in Hanoi like on that bar street and they were I think they were wearing shorts and bikini tops and it was all over the news in Vietnam like this is not okay. Like bikinis belong at the beach, not walking around on the streets. And there's a very much a socially acceptable rules where it doesn't have to be you're not they're not breaking the law but it's breaking the social acceptability and that becomes a big thing. So you'll see more of that. So, as you're traveling, I would encourage anyone to look around and see what other people are doing and don't do something just because you can because it is offensive and it does reflect poorly on judgment and on that country and you know just be a good representative and if everybody's dressing conservatively then also dress conservatively or keep your shoulders covered as a woman if every other woman has their shoulders covered.

There's always material like we're both wearing. it's a warm day here in Los Angeles and we're both wearing what is this material? Linen. Linen. So there are always more breathable options that you could choose that still is respectable and you can use it in Vietnam. No one's going to say anything to you, but they'll definitely have their own opinion in their head. And you know, if you're moving there, try to assimilate to what they're doing as well. just as we expect them to assimilate to us if they were moving here. but that being said, I also noticed that everyone, even though it's July, everyone was covered head to toe. They're afraid of sun damage and skin cancer. whereas the Americans are laying out trying to get as much sun as possible and they wonder why they're getting skin cancer. But like Vietnam, it's like 0.2 percent I mean like 0.2 out of 0.2 cases out of 100, 000. Whereas skin cancer have skin cancer in Vietnam. Whereas here in America or California it's 23 out of 100, 000.

Wow. Skin cancer rise. So, yes, it is a hot, but think about what you're exposing yourself to long term. And like with each sunburn, you increase your your likelihood of developing skin cancer. So, even my friend who's an oncologist had skin cancer on his back. So, it's just one of those things where you got to be mindful. Yes, it is hot, but get a pan or Yeah, people wear very covered up long sleeves and if they're riding a motorbike, their jackets will cover their hands. They wear caps with brim and long pants. Yeah, they really cover up from the direct sun. You see people outside at sunrise and at sunset during the hot summer. There is a cultural difference in terms of perception of skin color, too. There's a classist thing also on top of the fear of skin cancer which is first and but there's also a classist thing where it's the nobility remember back in the day not remember like but it's the nobility who's like under shade and doesn't have to work outside whereas it's the day laborers the farmers who are out in the sun all the time and getting dark and exposing themselves to skin cancer. So, it's between those two things.

There's a lot of products that you see on the store shelves that are skin whitening, skin brightening, milk baths, anything to lighten your skin. And, you know, as Americans, we're like, let's go lay in the sun and get a tan. So, it's just a different perception of But that's how we stay younger. Like Vietnamese, like we stay younger, less wrinkles because we're getting less exposure to the sun. but there's always hats. There's neck fans, there's manual fans, which I thought found the most effective because it doesn't run out of battery, but you have like handheld fans. There's just a lot of options. when I go into a restaurant, I ask for the coolest seat and they always know where in the restaurant is the coolest seat. So, there's always ways around it. That's a good point. I go into a restaurant, I'm like, "Wait, let me go stand here and like see the direction of the fan." You kind of move around. Some restaurants are air conditioned, but if it's outside, you the majority of them have an open like at least one full open side. So there's you can only deal with like the regular fans that oscillate and stuff like that. So what other questions do you have? We have a list of items to talk about differences, but please send your questions. They're friendly.

I've never felt like a tourist in Vietnam. I agree. in the big cities. We can communicate in English. I'm going to try to learn the language. Yeah. Oh gosh, I have friends that are in Vietnamese language classes and it's oh, it's so tough. Yeah. So, feel free to send us your questions. And what else do you have on on your list of differences? What? Oh, food. Food is one of those biggest things that food that's such a big topic. It's such a big topic because my whole life I will travel for food. I'm Vietnamese. I grew up with Vietnamese food in the household. but definitely going there for a full month, eating whatever I want and eating out 100% of the time because I was in the hotel. After a whole month I didn't gain any weight. I had my desserts, I had my carbs, I had whatever, but every meal there's more fresh vegetables, less processed foods, less dairy, less cream, fewer carbs, like rice, noodles. Yes, there's carbs, but it's rice compared to burgers or pizza. And so it's just Yeah. So, it's

just differences in how proportional the vegetables are. And there were always fresh noodles versus dehydrated noodles. and lots of emphasis on herbs which is very medicinal. you look up every herb like what the health benefits are for digestion for like my son had a cough and I asked them what I should give them give him and they all like they all the workers at once gave me the exact same answer was honey lemongrass and oh I love that honey lemongrass and like something one lemon as a tea and they served it to him I asked him if it was good he's like no but he drank it anyways because it should help them. But some, you know, but there are herbal remedies for pretty much everything. Long before Western medicine got to them, they had their own combination of different herbal remedies. So, a lot of what they're serving you is already herbal remedies. And so like I think here when I came back from Vietnam, I went to Costco that I start to notice how much more processed foods and box foods and various things were already in the food. And so v Vietnamese people are a lot slimmer because of their activity how much activity they have on a day-to-day basis.

Lots of activity. Even like if you're at a restaurant and you need the restroom, oftentimes it's upstairs and there there's no elevators. There's you're very active just living life over there. Up and downstairs, no elevators, no people movers, jumping on Grab motorbikes, walking down the street. It's very, very active. I've also noticed with the food it's we don't there's no like pastries and cocoa puffs and you know omelets with cheese for breakfast. It's usually a bowl of like a stew like a little bit of protein broth rice noodles vegetables and when I'm eating that way I feel nourished and sustained for hours without snacking and then I get hungry and I have that again. I there's never a time where I feel like I want potato chips. Like that doesn't even sound good when you're having healthy, nourishing food all the time. You're getting hydrated and it those types of foods don't make you crave more of them. You like you eat until you're full.

And one of the things I noticed too is the everything's family style. So they put things on the table. You just sit there and laugh and talk and you just take bites. You might put a little bit in a bowl or you just eat it directly. So you're not eating this mound of food that you got served, but you are laughing and talking over a long period of time. The portion sizes are a lot smaller. You end up eating a lot less. Yeah, portion sizes are a lot smaller. And being that it's, you know, given that it's $2 for a bowl, I was tempted to get two bowls of different things so I have more variety. Are like two $3. But after you finish the first bowl of something, you're already feeling satiated enough not to like get more food, get more snack, get a dessert. And in Vietnam, the dessert is fruit. Like yes, there are desserts. There are like all the different g out there like there are other different foods and pastries were influenced by the French and so there are a lot of different desserts, but for the majority of Vietnamese, fruit is their dessert. Yeah, that's a lot of potlucks. if I go to a potluck, it's why don't you bring dessert? And that's always fruit. And you just swing into any mini mart on any street and there's mango and jackfruit Durian, pomelo, like a grapefruit, there's rambutan, rambutan, lychee, lychee, and you just go to the

refrigerated section, grab it, run, pay for it, take it to your potluck, and it's the after. It's cold, you know, it's hot outside even. She's so civilized. There's so many street vendors on the side of the street that sell like all the same fruit. Or you go to a street vendor, they drive around. Yeah. The motorbikes full of fresh fruit or watermelon, pineapple. Yeah. And that is tastes better to me. Like the cold, really ripe, really fresh, local mango tastes so much better than like a piece of cake. Well, honestly, because they have access to all that tropical fruit. So, it's not like here the same fruit doesn't taste as good because it's picked before it's ripe and then shipped for a few days, get here, get to the by the time you get to it at the store, it's ripened along the way, so it's not ripened. So fruit in Vietnam is better even if you can get it here.

Hi, Susan. Hello. Are the fruits organic? So, I don't think they have the organic stamp like we do. We have you have to meet all these requirements and get certified organic, but if you drive around this outside this the outskirts of the city, you see crops of things and you see coconuts hanging from trees and you see mango trees. You see gigantic jackfruits hanging throughout the neighborhoods. So, I think just by design, it's what I would consider local and healthy. And in Hoi An, my I took my son to a farm and so he's learning to like put some starters into the ground and this is how you grow things and they very much prided themselves on being organic and they're anti- what is the bug killing thing? They're their way of killing pesticides. They're God, I'm hitting that age.

You have to think about it's okay. Roll there. But they use lemongrass as a spray and so that's that wards off the pesty bugs that they encounter. So they very much pride themselves on being organic, but there's no organic certification. Yeah. It's a lot of just local farmers. If you go out in the outskirts, you see a lot of different rice farmers and they're all working together at harvest time to harvest everybody's fields. Everybody has the same crop. so it's it's less of the huge industrialized imported fruit, which yeah, probably everything together is what makes us feel just so good and healthy. I don't intend to eat healthy when I'm there. It's just that's what's there and that's what's the most abundant. And somebody had said, "You're a healthy eater over there, but you know, mo not that's not like the norm, right?" Or, " and I said, "It is. Everybody's eating fur, rice, some meat, fruit for dessert. That's just it's it's more the exception to eat to go into a store and buy junk food."

Vietnam is a haven for vegans. it because when a Buddhist, which is a lot of Vietnam, when a Buddhist goes vegetarian, which culturally people do adopt the vegetarian diet, it means they're vegan. It's either you hurt animals or you don't hurt animals. And so there's no like I'll eat butter, I'll I don't eat I eat eggs or cheese or none of that. like there's no middle ground on picking and choosing what kind of vegetarian you are when you get to Vietnam. It's either vegan or not. That's it. Those are your choices. But that being said, we've gotten very creative over the years and different substitutes for meat. So, you can like banh mi, you know, they have a vegan ones. You've seen it. So, pretty much everything does have a vegetarian option. Yeah. Lots of lots of different vegan restaurants around where I live. So, someone asked if I want to start a business or how hard it is to start a business. personally, do I want to start a business? I don't because that just sounds like a lot of work that I want.

She's not going to work. I'm retired. So, I am enjoying all the activities and freedom and traveling and all those things. I did do have a friend that did start a business. she ran a wellness center for a while of her own with Tai Chi and cacao ceremonies, lots of different kinds of yoga. and it's just I think when you start out you have the idea of you in her case like all the wellness things are so part of her life but the reality of owning a business is people management, hiring, payroll, the building it just that kind of thing and is that how you want to spend your time to hopefully be profitable. So that's something to consider. I do know plenty of people who have started businesses and if it's something that you're interested in, I know that the government is encouraging it right now and very supportive of it with foreigners. But I have a friend who has a smoothie shop. You'll see some locallyowned or foreigner owned restaurants or coffee shops.

Different thing different things like that. Well, if you're at all interested, drop Susan a line and I'll give her my contact. But I do have a contact who's a lawyer who's American trained, but he's like me born in Vietnam, raised in America, educated in America, decided to move back. So, he's an attorney in Vietnam, and he is an immigration lawyer, so he can help with all your different questions on all your different business types. And he has been doing it for over 20 years. So he has a lot of experience on the types of businesses, what's acceptable, what's not acceptable, what permits are required and then your own visa issues that he can also help with. So there he's in based in Saigon, but that being said, you could do a lot of things online nowadays and remotely. So he can answer a lot of your questions if at all you're interested. It's a really good point. resources.

I also know a company that is experts in any kind of residency and they run workshops in Da Nang. They're like do you want to be a resident of Costa Rica or Portugal and all the different requirements like that's their area of expertise. they really what I liked about listening to their presentation is it wasn't only these are the require requirements but here are things to consider that you may not have considered if you are looking at that country how long are the visa requirements what are the top reasons for moving to that country how expensive does it cost so I do have a resource for that if anybody is interested and then I also have a friend who is a immigration attorney on the opposite way helping Viet Vietnamese who want to immigrate to the US and helping them with their visas. So, you have any questions on any of this stuff, we both know lots and lots of people who are experts in their different fields and we can get you hooked up with the right resources. So, just reach out. Hello. Hello.

And yeah, what I've been really impressed with the government is they've been having there, well, there's different branches of the government, but there's fantastic city Da Nang that is the tourism branch and they will regularly meet with different groups of us that have been around for a while and they'll talk about the future of Da Nang and say, "We want to make sure that we're also including you. We want to hear what you have to say about this growth and that we're not overlooking your demographic of people and you know you have your own perspective that we want to hear. They are very supportive of events. I have friends that run like the Da Nang Nomad Fest and the government meets with them and they're like great we're here to support you. What do you need? Let's work on this together. It's not a it they don't they don't create barriers or hurdles, but they more like let's all work on this together. This is great. So that's been that's been nice to see.

I am glad that the government is more supportive of foreigners and development and it's a real estate boom over there. Lots of properties being developed and construction everywhere, especially in Da Nang. But you can't avoid it. like every even small town that I've been to has big developments going on and you kind of have to be responsible when you're thinking about purchasing property where it is, how it got there. One really sad story I know of is that in Ha Long Bay, I've been on cruises there long before and there are fishing communities that live on the water full-time and some of those communities have the government just took away their homes. Like they can do that. They just can kick you completely out of your home, not pay you a dime. now you had to live in the mainland because their reasoning was oh because of climate change and it being riskier for you to live on the water and your kids will have more access to schools and various things that didn't happen on the water. So it's just one of those things where they could just swoop make their own decision and clear out a community. But that said, there I know of a development of like luxury villas and resorts that is coming to Ha Long Bay which is UNESCO site and I'm I'm I'm in real estate.

I'm pro-development, but I'm also eco-conscious in terms of where you develop. And you can't just kick out a community, can't let them live there because of the danger, and then move in a luxury community in the exact same place and ruin the natural environment. Like, if the fishing community's been there for hundreds of years, don't mess with them. That's part of the community. That's part of the landscape already. But like, it's it's sad to see this. But that being said, the harbor where my cruise was departing, I see ghost buildings meaning like completely abandoned, completely empty. some of the windows are open. So, you know, the birds are flying in. There's poop everywhere. It's not maintained and it has never been rented fully out. no one's ever lived there. And you know, you really look this up and it's Vietnam's property boom that's going on and b potential bust and there's a lot of real estate professionals within Vietnam who are afraid of this because and forewarning of a lot of these things because developers, foreign developers as well as Vietnamese developers are interested in the luxury real estate market which is more profitable for them versus having government subsidized housing which a lot of Vietnamese people need. And

with those developments, they're going the luxury developments, they're going up so much and so fast. And if you think about Vietnam's average wage versus the affordability of the homes that are being developed, it's becoming a mini China problem where the people who built the these towns and developments can't afford to live there, but the government regulates that only x amount percentage like 40% of foreigners can own in a building. And it could have changed, but so you're 60% area. I don't know. Yeah. So, so it's just one of those things where please be responsible, do your research on where your property is being developed and how it got there. And so it's one of those things that because we're foreigners, we can affect the real estate market and prices a lot for the locals. So, at least do your research.

Nice. What else we got? Tipping culture. Yeah. What depending what business? Oh, somebody had said can you running a business bend down the street? Do they have to do paperwork? I don't know the answer to that. depending on what business you're in. I work remotely, but some company do not allow for work outside the US. It appears you have to have your own remote business to be able to move abroad. You know, it really depends the there's a lot of different types of remote jobs. There are a lot of independent people like solopreneurs and they're doing they're teaching English online. They're doing drop shipping, fulfilled by Amazon. They might be a coach. they might be I knew somebody who was they worked for a real estate appraiser. So they would crunch the numbers during their day and send it back to the real estate company.

Once they had all the information, they would create the appraisal. So yeah, there's a lot of US companies that do not allow remote work outside of the US. Like you can work from home, but I think it might have to do with Oh, I think it has to do with like taxation and they just don't want to get into it. But is company by company because company by company. So I met a Moroccan woman who lives in Da Nang. I met her at a coffee shop in Hoi An and she works for an American accounting firm. So she keeps American work hours which is completely opposite. Totally opposite. But that being said, she has a lot of hours in the dark so she can actually go and enjoy the cooler weather. There you go. Someone asked, "Is there a middle class in Vietnam?" And I can't say specifically, but I will say that the culture there seems to be it's very homogeneous. So, you'll see houses are built very similarly throughout the the blocks and blocks and blocks.

They're similar size, similar furnishings, and there's not a lot of emphasis put on your interior design as much as we do here. where here you have your home is your oasis and it's an extension of yourself and you choose your colors and your style and all the the knickknack things and the mirror on the wall and paint color where what I notice in the apartments and for in the Vietnamese homes I go to there'll be basic furniture, white walls, not a lot of extra things, but people aren't living inside their h homes here. Here we live inside our homes. We entertain inside our homes. We have people over. We go out to a restaurant, but we spend a lot of time in our homes. And I noticed for myself over there, I live outside and you are in a restaurant. You are they meet friends at restaurants instead of inviting them events. Even if you're at somebody's house, it's almost like if you are inviting somebody over to, I don't know, your hotel room. Nobody's thinking about what the inside looks like. just meeting there to do something, watch a movie, go there's go to a mall. There's there's very I very infrequently am I inside my place just chilling out like if I need to work on the computer I'm doing that then I'm out. and I think here we come home, we have dinner inside our house and a lot of times we stay home in the house all evening long. That's not

that's not the Vietnamese lifestyle. But in terms of middle class I think Vietnam has a growing middle class whereas in America we have a shrinking middle class. Vietnam because of all their development and booming economy, they actually have a growing middle class. But in the cities like Saigon and Hanoi and Nang, they're a little different in terms of the way they show how much money they have like designer bags, fashion, jewelry, and so forth. It's a little bit different. For the majority of Vietnam, they're less ostentatious about the way they present themselves. they know a lot of people around them may not be as fortunate, so they're not over decorating themselves. They are more practical in their dress. And so, yes, there is a growing middle class. That's a good point. Whereas it used to be more poverty before. And when you compare 20 years, it's with the economic development in the last 20 years, there's a growing middle class, but they're not showy as much as the bigger cities.

There you go. Tipping culture. Tipping culture. Here in America, we are forced to do 15% plus tax. So, it's very confusing for international people, especially during FIFA that we've they've discovered a lot of people weren't tipping because they're from most other countries where they are paid a living wage and don't need to rely on on tips. Whereas here in America, sometimes it's minimum wage or below minimum wage because weight staff in restaurants can be below the minimum wage because they will make more in tipping. So they are dependent on tipping whereas Vietnam they're they don't expect you to tip but they certain industries and certain people and I think everyone appreciates the tip. You're not going to offend anyone like in other countries. and sometimes I was in a luxury hotel and I tried to tip and they're like no don't need. I was in the luxury train and I tried to tip them. They said that's okay. Thank you.

It's included. It's interesting. So, in my experience in Da Nang, I see it a little bit changing with more foreigners coming over. However, when I arrived back there, it was February of 2024 and I was talking with a friend of mine from Hungary who's lived there for five years. And I said, "Hey, tell me about tipping." He goes, "Do not tip." He goes, actually, that's not what he said. He said, "Do not bring your messed up American tipping culture to this country. It ruins everything." And he said, "Just think about it." I said, "Well, " I responded back and I said, "Getting a massage and then like walking away and not leaving a tip or not leaving a tip at a table. I'm so used to it. It feel I feel so cringy and uncomfortable." And he said, "Get over it. get over it. He goes, "Don't bring that here. It only causes problems." And I had to sit with it for a while because it feels wildly uncomfortable when you're coming from America. But it helps also talking with people from other countries where they said, "What the heck is going on? Why don't if something costs 20% more and I'm expected to pay it, just put it on the menu so I don't have to sit there like figure it out. Just add it to the price." But they said there is a incorrect

understanding or assumption that the higher the tip means the better the service. And I read this study years ago and they said it's actually the opposite. I remember going to Europe and we had the best service and you just leave the extra change like you round up best service and I was not receiving that same service. Here it's an expectation. It's part of the price is everybody's understanding. It's just an unspoken understanding. So, where it gets funky is do you tip 15%, do you tip 20, do you tip 25, who do you tip, what are people expecting, and then it starts to turn the just the job that people would be doing and the experience from relationship to transactional. And so, I I was getting a massage one time from a a local who had, I guess, heard about tipping. So, while I'm getting the massage, she's leaning in my ear saying, "Please tip me." And that is not making me comfortable during my massage. So, I'm not going to say anything to the spa owner because I don't want her to get in trouble. But, it just seems to cause so much confusion, hard feelings, upset, somebody didn't tip enough, just obligation. And so now that I've kind of gotten over that hump and I realize you pay what the price is, it's like going to a McDonald's. You just pay what the price is. Everybody pays what the price is. It's the common

understanding. Everybody's very clear. There's no expectations. There's no weirdness. It feels so refreshing and clear. I love it. I hate it here in LA because here in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, we have like 9% tip. We see it in the bill. So on top of the at minimum 15% tip you're expected to give, you're looking at 25%. But now the credit card companies, they give you your bill when it prints out, they give you like 20%, 25% and you could automatically select on the keypad, which and they start at 20%. I'm like, what happened to 15? That's the problem, right? Because everybody here pays with credit cards. So, I'll go get a coffee and they hand it to me across the counter. They turn it around and it says, "What tip do you want to leave?" 20% 2530. I'm like, "You just handed me a drip coffee." But literally like So, so where like I always wonder like where because now it's literally everywhere. It has that tipping thing. So, it's like where do you draw the line? Is it service or literally you're behind the counter, you're not you're literally delivering me your the food that you're supposed to because it's your job. So why should I give you tip on top of that versus It's so confusing. See how confusing it is where at the person the person at the grocery store isn't getting a tip, but the person handing you a coffee is getting 20 to 30%.

Yeah. So it's it's weird. It is really weird and it's confusing. And so I also now really like to see there's a number on a menu and that's exactly this is going to be the final number. Final number and it if they build in whatever they need to pay the people, great. Just the final number is very clear. It also is great because you go out to eat with a group of people and they do two things. One, you at the end of your meal, you just I'll walk up to the register and they pull up the table and they go I say, "Oh, I have this, this, and this." And they're like, "Great." And you pay. The other five people might still be sitting there. There's not like let's all get the bill and try to confusion trying to calculate. There's no tip. Nobody's confused. Nobody's piling in money. There's no Venmos. It's just it's so clear. It's so easy. It's if it's 100K, it's 100K. You pay your 100K, you walk out the door. Like that's tipping the blessing. That's the worst thing.

One of the worst things. And I think too what's it really has brought back the true meaning behind tipping. So, for example, if I order food for delivery, they come and bring it. You pay the amount, the drivers get paid, and I'll I'll run downstairs, get my food, and take it to my room. But say, for example, it's pouring rain outside. Then after I receive it, and that comes up to, you know, to rate it, you know, one through a five, you also have the option to add a tip. And I go, "Yeah, I do want to give them tip because they're driving around in the pouring rain to bring me my food, which is why I ordered it to be delivered. So I do want to give a little extra to like thank you so much. But it feels like that's more the true meaning behind you know here let me give you a little extra because of the you're doing extra work right now. Can I can that transition to bargaining culture? Yeah.

So, cuz like in Vietnam, bargaining is expected, especially in all the sidewalk vendors and most places except if it's a really nice establishment with the price already put on the item, those stores will not bargain. But every other place, you're expected to bargain. And yes, they do a tourist markup. And yes, if you look like a foreigner, you're going to be charged more. Yes. And I tried to teach my 10-year-old like you're expected to go to half, you know, like and then you go back and forth and you'll get to a number and you then you think to yourself, am I willing to pay that much? Because it could be more than what a local pays. But at the end of the day, my son's like, it's 50 cents. Exactly. the same way. Like one of my friends, she's American, but she was born in Vietnam. She's like, "It just makes me crazy that, you know, I'm being charged."

But when you're bargaining to you in your head like an American in our head, it's like $25, 000 is a dollar, you know, like but 25, 000, you're charging me $25, 000 extra. Like you can haggle, you can get upset, but literally that's $1. The prices are so reasonable. And I also feel like if I pay a little more than a local, I'm okay with that because the exchange rate, you know, the the money that we receive for an hour's worth of work and the money that the Vietnamese receive for an hour's worth of work, when we have our exchange rate, I'm going to end up with more and I don't mind. You know, it's similar. Like I noticed in some countries they'll say to get into a museum there's the local fee and there's the foreigner fee and it's different and there's a little more for the foreigner but it's the foreigner has the better exchange rate and you want the locals to be able to enjoy their museums, the amusement parks and I'm okay with that.

I'm perfectly fine if they had a citizen rate versus a tourist rate. Yeah. Because your exchange rate is a little different for every country. But at the end of the day, it's just one of those things. There's nothing to get upset about. do your best with bargaining. It is expected. But at the end of the day, if you're really going to be upset with that 50 cents difference and not walk away that with that souvenir that you can't get anywhere else, that you paid, you know, a over $1, 000 for your flight to Vietnam. So yeah, you might go to a market and there's a bag and you're like, "Oh, I want to, you know, get it for a better price because you know that you're getting a little bit of the touristy price, but yeah, just like Christine said, it's like $2. Just I'll go $2 extra. Go buy it, go on your way, love your bag, go do your thing." How I logic is that I'm bargaining and then what I save, I often end up giving away to less privileged people.

That's great. you know, like there in Vietnam there's a lot of older people or just people selling lotto tickets. I don't even have any idea how lotto tickets run, but if they're older or handicapped and they're selling you little trinkets, that's them trying to make a living for themselves. I've tried to give money to handicapped people and they've rejected it. They want me to buy and take their item which I don't have time I don't have place in my suitcase for but I will buy it and give it away give it away or like a lot of older women are like selling food on the street that they've made and I will literally buy it cuz and take it and turn around and give it away to someone else just to support them. they're not begging and they, you know, you just want to really honor those people that are out there really working to support themselves, especially when they're older, especially when they're handicapped and like, you know, thanks for your hard work.

That's one other big difference I noticed in at least Santa Monica, Los Angeles versus Vietnam is that yes, there is poverty levels higher poverty levels in Vietnam, but it's not so blatant in Vietnam. People are well they're dressed, it's generally clean, they're trying to work for their money, however little the amount is. It could be little lighters. It could be like flying little birds. you know, toys and various things. They're trying to make a living. whereas here in Los Angeles, I know I notice more mental illness and I'm mental illness and drug issues. Drug issues. And so it's much more noticeable here. maybe because I live here and know what to look for, but other I think other people around the world notice those things and there's plenty of YouTube videos is, you know, Los Angeles going to be cleaned up in time for the Olympics.

Olympics. So, it's just, you know, and when are the Olympics here? 2020. But we just had FIFA. Oh, yeah. We just had FIFA here, so we had a lot of different people. But it I think I don't know what the social structure is in Vietnam, but I from what I can tell the family dynamic and the community is much more supportive of that handicapped person, mentally challenged person or you know like people don't really like look the other way like oh that's a problem. Yeah. They it gets handled where I think that's just a little overwhelming because around here Yeah. you see a lot more of that. It's like you don't you can't really take it on. There's a running joke in the Vietnamese American community. Everyone's got that crazy uncle, you know. So, and what do we do with them? We support him. You know, like I have a crazy uncle. And when you're talking about a country who's been through so many wars for hundreds of years, PTSD is the thing.

Even if you weren't born that way, you might get that way because of the war. And so, there's a lot of empathy and compassion around that. And so there's more family support regardless of whether or not you like that crazy uncle, you're going to support it. So we are at right now we're at hour and a half or over an hour and a half. So I think we're going to wrap up. Thank you for joining today. If they have any last minute questions, let us know. No tips in Vietnam makes it. Yeah. Nope. No tips in Vietnam. We just keep the prices and everybody pays the price, everybody's happy. Everybody knows what to expect. Everyone knows what their paycheck's going to be. It's not this weird ambiguous thing. if there's no more questions, we're going to wrap up for tonight and thank you for joining us today here. If you think of anything after this is posted, please leave comments. Thank you, Christine, for joining today and sharing all of your expertise from your point of view. And especially having just been there and coming back, it's fun to reconnect. And here we are in Santa Monica. In another couple weeks, I'll be doing more lives back in Da Nang, Vietnam. Until then, yeah, if there's any questions you have, please feel free to leave them in the comments and we'll see you next time. Do you have anything left?

Vietnam is a beautiful country. Beautiful. Lots of wonderful food, very friendly people. Definitely, if you haven't been there, definitely at least travel there if you're considering moving there. Susan's the expert. Yeah. And there's Yeah, there's so many countries around. You know what's I'll wrap up with this. It was funny. One of I was telling a friend that I lived there and they said, "Oh, where do you live and what's it like?" And I said, "I live at the beach." They're like, "There's beaches in Vietnam." And I thought, "What?" Entire coastal country top to bottom. There's beaches galore and there's islands and snorkeling. I have to apologize for that person because we're not the world like Americans are not the world's best geograph. Yeah. And I think because what we always saw of Vietnam is jungle. That's all we ever saw. And that's that's the only image people have. But yes. Oh, because of all the war movies. Mhm. There's cities, there's beaches, there's rural, there's rice fields, there's charming UNESCO villages with bougainvillea and little rice terraces, lit up boats, and it's it's very charming. Very, very nice place. Thanks again for joining. We'll see you next time.