Cultural Differences

I am just fascinated with cultural differences. Today, I read an article about 'Rest Hotel' from Vietnamese God. He wrote about places in Hanoi renting hourly. I was curious and wanted to know if young, unmarried couples in Vietnam are going there? Are these couples having pre-marital sex? It made me think about what I saw when I was in Hanoi a few years ago. While I was visiting Vietnam, I caught a late flight into Hanoi. It was well after 10:00pm. On the drive from the airport to the hotel by Hoan Kiem late, we passed some undeveloped area. As the taxi headlight passes these roads, I saw many couples, with their parked mopeds, making out in the dark, on the side of the roads.

In America, it is not uncommon for young people to have pre-marital sex. Because most young people leave their home and go away to college, living at college campus, they are often not bound by their parents rules. Even if you are still living at home, most young people have freedom to come and go as they please, dating whoever they want, even if their parents do not approve of their boyfriend/girlfriend. This is their "rite of passage" age where parents consider their 18 year old an adults.

American students attend high school until the 12th grade, most of them graduating from high school when they are 18 year old. Even though these students can not legally buy alcohol or vote, they could still have a lot of freedom at 18. Those that choose to attend college can still live at home and go to college OR go away to college and live on college campus. Most college campus have dormitory, with 2 students sharing a small room and 4 students sharing a bathroom. When I went to college in the early 80's (wow! I'm so old!), co-ed dorms were not common. Nowaday, it is not uncommon for boys and girls to live in the same building. Some college campus will have same-sex (all girls or all boys) dormitory building and some will have girls and boys on every other floors. Even if the high-school graduate may choose not go to college, he or she can move out of the house and live on their own. Without a college eduation, most can barely support themselves by working a full-time job. In America, a full-time job consist of a minimum of 40 hours a week. May be I'll write about working hours here in another blog. OK, sorry, didn't mean to get off the subject, but being out of the house from parents allow you freedom to do mostly whatever you want - stay out late, party with friends, date (actually many students dates in high school), and that will probably follow with sex.

I would love to hear from some Vietnamese students, even anonymously, about what they thought about pre-marital sex in Vietnam. Is it more common than people think? Is it not spoken because it's still unacceptable? Is it still unacceptable? If you are a Vietnamese student, here in the US on a student VISA - what did you think the first time you saw boys and girls living in the same dorm? What is your opinion of the lifestyle here.