A Couple More

I thought of a few more points about Vietnam that I didn't post earlier.

• Vietnamese sofas aren't like the fluffy sofas and couches that you see in American living rooms. What I enjoy about my living room in California is that I can throw myself onto the sofa and sink into the plush pillows. If you did that with a Vietnamese sofa, you would either hurt yourself or cause the sofa frame to collapse. Vietnamese sofas have boxy wood/lacquer frames and feature rectangular cushions that sit loosely on the frame. The cushions aren't connected to the frame (although they may have a string that can help tie it down), so after you've sat on the frame for awhile, your shifting weight might cause on of the cushions to slowly come out from under you. Therefore, to sit on the sofa without drawing attention to yourself, you end up sitting pretty stiffly, trying to balance your weight out equally, and all the while trying to feign comfort.
• Old Vietnamese ladies are TINY. Once they reach middle age, they tend to start getting even smaller. This stands out to me because I realized that these ladies have each carried 6+ children each. This also made me think of the physical labor that comes with carrying so many children, plus the stress and work that comes after the babies are born. One thing is true -- Vietnamese women are very resilient.
• Vietnamese dog owners are protective of their dogs. If their dogs happen to wander away or are kidnapped, the worst is assumed -- that the dogs were taken away to be made into food. It's a harsh reality for dogs.