In the Background, articles on Vietnam market entry and successful foreign business practices. Inc. All rights reserved. In the Background By Terry Hartley Reprinted with the kind and generous permission of Viet Nam News. What follows is the last in a long series of weekly columns published by the State Owned Viet Nam News, but written by an Australian journalist living in Hanoi.
Many commentators write about Vietnam.
Few, if any, who don't live there, can truly understand a culture and people so different from their own as are the Vietnamese from almost every other culture of the world. Many foreigners who do live here are ensconced in foreign enclaves. They also eat in foreign restaurants when their housekeepers can't cook foreign foods. They rarely enjoy their time with the local people. They are often heard to complain about the domestic locals, who are excluded if not shunned from the intimate experiences of their time here.