Honest question: my wife and I are overweight and not thick-skinned. Are comments or jokes about body weight common in Vietnam? Just want to know what to expect and how to react.Thanks.Honest question: my wife and I are overweight and not thick-skinned. Are comments or jokes about body weight common in Vietnam? Just want to know what to expect and how to react.Thanks.
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in our experience, not outright but if they do feel comfortable with you, they do tell what’s on their mind in a friendly-jokingly way.
I don’t think they worry about your weight. But as a westener we could think about the fact, that only 3% of people in Vietnam or Japan have overweight against 30-40% in the USA. And the reason isn’t that they have less money.🤔
My wife wanted to buy fabric, so I got about AU$400 in VND (about 4M VND) and went to Đồng Xuân market. Women in the stalls mocked my wife, with one following her doing exaggerated impersonations.
I’m worried about this because I have polycystic kidney and liver disease. My kidneys and liver are the size of footballs which makes me look pregnant.
oh, you big you rich.
I am a big guy, some ladies in the local markets would come and rub my belly and say happy budha for good luck, all very friendly and lovely people, had a good laugh , my wife had here hair died black with a red strip, the ladies wants to touch the red hair, they were fascinated
Its true, they will comment about your physical appearance and have no filter. The thing is Vietnamese ppl are used to a society where people conform, not celebrate uniqueness. Also as a Viet person who has gone thru this pain my whole life, I believe emotional intelligence isn’t something that’s commonly taught or valued.
Nobody is walking around roasting tourists.
This is a tourist asking, not likely to be meeting Vietnamese families in their kitchens! Unlikely anyone will even notice you, let alone comment
Being overweight in Vietnam is quite bad but mostly its for locals, as many mentioned already – their moms, aunties etc will comment. That being said – Vietnamese culture is also very direct , not at all like US or Europe so it might happen that you will hear a comment or weight related question but it wont be from bad intentions. Just keep in mind that it might sound rude at first if you are not familiar with the culture