Colors of Phu Quoc Island - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

Remember that not everyone in Phu Quoc speaks English and that the Vietnamese don’t really like the tourists, who look like Americans. This is the effect of their political differences. By the way, what is unexpected, is that many local people speak Russian. You shouldn’t worry a lot about the language barrier, the Vietnamese don’t always understand each other either. Multiple dialects and accents, however, don’t affect the sense of national unity – the locals are truly committed to the values of collectivism, and it is common for them to consider the interests of community and family first, and their own later.

Keep in mind, that the Vietnamese usually express the emotions not with the intonation but with facial expressions. It is also appropriate to touch a person you are talking to during a conversation. Though friends of the same gender can easily hug each other and express their goodwill, young couples do not show their feelings in public – it is not common here. The locals usually do not criticize another person and don’t answer “no” to an offer. Consider this when you make arrangements with someone. If you insist on your conditions, a Vietnamese can easily agree with you and then not complete his part of a deal without any moral doubts. Punctuality is also not among the strengths of the Islanders.

All the above-mentioned features of this national character can be defined as “tincam”. Tincam is a combination of emotionality, friendliness, sensibility, and hospitality, which is hard to translate. The letter one has quite a peculiar form by the way. It is not common here to invite a stranger to your house but if you find yourself in a Vietnamese’s house, you will be the center of attention for the whole family. A special guest place, food, beverages, and even a place to sleep will be offered to even a total stranger if he is in a house of a Vietnamese. By the way, if you are dining with the Vietnamese, remember – it is not common here to eat everything that was on your plate. An empty plate means that you are still hungry and want some more. Anyway, you can have some more after making sure, there is enough for everyone. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Sometimes, if you address someone on the street with a simple question, you can get a lot of questions in return about who you are and what do you do for a living. It is not about suspiciousness, it is just the local mentality. It is interesting that in most families here there is matriarchy, while women can be quite tempered. Probably this is the reason, why the level of harassment towards the female tourists is very low – a girl can safely travel here on her own, not worrying about unwanted attention. Another interesting fact, is that people on the island love to read, but to have a heart-to-heart conversation with an intelligent person, you will have to win his sympathy first, as spontaneous intellectual conversations are not common here.

Someone can think, the locals are not very civilized – the leftovers can be thrown to the table, at home they usually put the food on the floor, sometimes they can spit during the dinner right near the next person, public places are not cleaned regularly. And at the same time there’s rare cohesiveness, helping those in need, almost perfect self-control even after drinking alcohol. The habits of the inhabitants of Phu Quoc seem controversial and contrast to people from Eastern culture. But if you want to have your own opinion about the Vietnamese, you have to come here.