western tourists getting more strange....

at present in ho chi minh city visiting my son and daughter in law .... anyhow I go for coffee the morning at a small cafe here thats off the usual haunts of western tourists and businessmen minding my own business having coffee ( vietnam has excellent coffee ) ... surfing ats on my mobile when next thing know theres a westerner standing in front of me at the table - american from the clothes and accent ... telling me " I know what you are and I'm not afraid of you while at same time he is making some kind of gesture waving a bible around .... rather than cause further scene pulled my usual dont understand english act and quietly told the girl at the coffeeshop in vietnamese to call the police to deal with the lunatic ... paid for my coffee and started to leave when the idiot westerner decides he is going to follow me and continue spouting his gibberish... he made mistake put hand on my shoulder I dont put up with strangers putting a hand on me much less crazy westerners.. applied a simple wristlock on him at that point and held him that way till the police showed up and took him in for causing a disturbance. really wish they wouldnt give lunatics passports... ahh well hopefully the rest of the day will be less eventfulll... are things getting that bad over there that they let the lunatics out of the asylums?

reply to post by Expat888

are things getting that bad over there that they let the lunatics out of the asylums?

No. Things really are that bad.

I live in a tourist strip and the things that I see here are beyond crazy.

There are signs everywhere saying do not swim as crocodiles live in the water. So I am sure you can guess where the tourists swim.

So you are grouping an entire part of the world into one category because one person acted crazy to you? Wow, just wow. Stereo typing is really rude.

Did you ever think that maybe that person lived there as well?!?! Just because someone is a westerner doesn't always mean they are a tourist. You made your assumption on looks and language.

There are nut jobs all over the world!

reply to post by Expat888


No it hasn't gotten that bad at all.... You were just unlucky enough to meet one of our more colorful characters. He was probably on a "mission" to convert "heathens" or some nonsense. Don't pay him any mind, there are crazies in every culture... Luckily for us the one you encountered is far away from home. Cheers!

PS - I know what you are, and I'm not afraid of you.

Was he putting his hand on you in a threatening manner or was he just trying to get your attention?

Seems like you over reacted a bit. Maybe the next "crazy westerner" will know how to handle himself.. Be careful out there.

reply to post by Expat888


Why do you think we give them passports?! Can't you guys put them to use farming or something?

By the way, what kind of symbol was he flashing you?

i know what you are and I AM afraid of you...

can you send me some of that smooth smooth coffee you were talking about..

ps, if they carry a bible, you can guarantee the crazy...

Something happens to westerners when they go to live in Asia.,..they get full of themselves, arrogant..they think they are big brave explorer types who are the first to do what they are doing...they begin to crave attention and think their mundane observations about this or that are far more interesting than they really are... "pay attention to me, nobody has ever done what I've done before, I'm so special, I'm charaisma man..." no, sorry, you are just another dude who got into a little metal tube called an airplane and flew from one part of the world to another...chill, take it down a notch, nobody cares, you aren't special and unique.

reply to post by magma


can well believe it on what tourists get uo to .... cant help laughing at the picture that comes to mind of fat crocs smiling watching tourists swim....

reply to post by mblahnikluver


this one was definetly a tourist - they dress , act , talk different than the expats do .... as to judging based on one ... nope lived in the west before and familiar with westerners ... just not used to encountering the odd ones...

reply to post by TinkerHaus


when someone has a hand on your shoulder and attempts to turn you around when your walking away from them its threatening. thus warrenting appropriate defensive response ...

reply to post by Osiris1953


lmao... your probably right ... have to laugh as on the rare times theyve gone to the villages the children run ahead of them yelling for everyone to hide the evil ones are coming ...

Originally posted by Expat888
at present in ho chi minh city visiting my son and daughter in law .... anyhow I go for coffee the morning at a small cafe here thats off the usual haunts of western tourists and businessmen minding my own business having coffee ( vietnam has excellent coffee ) ... surfing ats on my mobile when next thing know theres a westerner standing in front of me at the table - american from the clothes and accent ... telling me " I know what you are and I'm not afraid of you while at same time he is making some kind of gesture waving a bible around .... rather than cause further scene pulled my usual dont understand english act and quietly told the girl at the coffeeshop in vietnamese to call the police to deal with the lunatic ... paid for my coffee and started to leave when the idiot westerner decides he is going to follow me and continue spouting his gibberish... he made mistake put hand on my shoulder I dont put up with strangers putting a hand on me much less crazy westerners.. applied a simple wristlock on him at that point and held him that way till the police showed up and took him in for causing a disturbance. really wish they wouldnt give lunatics passports... ahh well hopefully the rest of the day will be less eventfulll... are things getting that bad over there that they let the lunatics out of the asylums?

.
How many times have you heard this. The lunatics run the asylum here. Sure seems like it.

reply to post by Expat888


That's too funny. Kids call it as they see it. I don't think we're evil, but I can just imagine them hauling butt from some guy in a Hawaiian shirt with a fanny pack and camera... Great visual.

reply to post by Cuervo


not really sure what it was supposed to mean but - he held up his left hand with the index finger and little finger raised waving it around while rambling on ...

nevermind it's not worth the trouble.

reply to post by cavalryscout


I agree with you. What makes this even more...sad, I guess...is that the OP is a Westerner himself. And given his user name it seems he takes a great deal of his self-image from the fact he is a westerner in Asia. Like the other poster said, get over it, it's not that special or unusual.

What if the thread were "I saw a new Yorker in Cleveland acting weird, what does that say about New Yorkers ?" uh, nothing really. The op seems to think that because he is in Vietnam rather than Cleveland it means something more...no sorry, Vietnam is just another place, like cleveland, it's not a magical land where everyone has sparkly anime eyes and all western expats deserve a cookie and a special ribbon for their mere existence. Or maybe this thread was just a roundabout way of trying to grub for attention: "I live in Asia as a westerner. But I'm special and different from those wacky tourists. Pay hommage to me for my profound experience and secret expat knowledge" no sorry.

Maybe I'll start a thread about being an Asian American girl in Cleveland and generalizing about all of Asia based on the behavior of one Asian tourist I observed there. See how weird it sounds from the other side?

reply to post by KarensHoliday


Star for Ya! More for the Fact, Your Avatar looks like my wife when I've had to-much Jack Daniels Kinda like Now

As far as Westerners in Asia Goes,,,,,, You need to see me during Chinese New Year in Harbin with the Locals,,,, I'll wear,,, Lets forget that part, It's All About FUN!

Originally posted by cavalryscout
reply to post by Expat888

 

*snip*

lol
issues?
you sound like a perfect example of the craziness that gets into westerners when in asia

"dangerous when wet" they used to call it, back during the vietnam war