Moving to saigon

thanks for your advice- its invaluable when thinking of making such a big decision. only problem is they have offered me the job after an interview and want a decision in the next couple of weeks. im working full time here. need to make a decision based on research and others suggestions. what about the society is difficult would you say? i've lived in mumbai for a short while, is it similar in terms of crazy loud busy dirty streets and people trying to convince you to buy anything and everything?

Hi Laura, if you lived\liked Mumbai you will like it here. It's as crazy or not as you want it to be and plenty of opportunities to make friends.
I will say the streets are a cleaner and the people aren't as pushy as Mumbai, once you get recognised as not a tourist they pretty much leave you alone, but even those that don't will\do take no for an answer :-) On the whole its no where near as pushy as Mumbai.
D1 is loud but there are plenty of quiet areas to live in. Society wise the people are great friendly and helpful. Not everyone is out to try and rip you off, I've had people help me with directions and no language between us, a guy helped me fix my motorbike and numerous other things and non have then hassled me for money and some even saying no when I've offered.
The begging situation is almost non-existant compared to Mumbai also.
Alone as a woman your as safe as any city as long as your sensible, I'd safer here, there is little street crime as such but like any big city its around.
The Ex-pat community is small here but you can make friends easily enough and you soon find where people hang out.

Thanks for your advice. Its so hard to decide whether to take the job without coming to the country myself. pretty much got to decide on others advice. A few people on blogs have mentioned to me that the culture is pretty hard to get used to in terms of how everything is organised and how people go about things. ive also been told that people aren't very friendly or welcoming. ive never heard that before i started researching, what do you think? where are you from? what job do yuo do? how did you find it at first? you say that making friends and meeting people is easy? did you find that personally? i will be working at a school so will hopefully meet people through that but if not whats the best way to meet people do you think? also where is good to live?
sorry to bombard you with questions but your last message was realyl helpful so hoped you could give me more advice.
thanks again- really appreciate it!

Hi Laura, I'm from the UK, I moved here with my wife so we had each other as company, add to the fact we also knew someone here too, I guess we had an advantage over others in that respect.
That said we didn't see them much after the first week as we wanted to get to know the place for ourselves.

Moving to a new country is always tough if you've never been there. We had never been here before and didn't have any jobs lined up either!. We just thought the worst that could happen is we head back home if things didn't work out.

The culture here is different and takes a little getting used too. I find the people really helpful, but with the language barriers sometimes things get lost in translation. And you find the Vietnamese always say yes to everything, regardless if they actually understand you or not :-) This can be a little frustrating at times, but I just tend to go with the flow and remember I am a guest in there country after all. Some of the red tape etc is also frustrating but that's a whole different ball game :-/
We have some great people here mainly expats but a few Vietnamese too with numbers growing. I've never found any of the locals to be rude or unwelcoming but maybe I've been lucky. I've been to a lot worse places in my time in that regards!

Where to live is a tricky one, somewhere near where you work would be a good start (Do you know where you will be working) We spent a month in D1 to get a feel for the place and I said its noisy (it was like living in the west end of London!)

I work in IT and was lucky in finding a job pre-tet (Lunar new year) I work with 3 other expats and around 70+ Vietnamese. My wife is a teacher (or trying to be, newly qualified) and work dried up pre-tet. She has been told finding work now Tet is out the way should not be a problem. One school has already expressed an interest to start in the new term (around 4thMarch I think).

Meeting people here language barriers aside is the same as anywhere, if your confident and outgoing you will find them. Ok it's a little harder as a single woman, but unlike other places not everyone is going to try and "hit on you" and will offer help\friendship\advice where they can. You need to go out obviously, and you can chose your circle of friends accordingly. We mix between the backpacker (cheap n cheerful\colourful) and posher places depending on if there any events on that I need to attend etc.

bit more of a mouthful that time, but more than happy to answer any questions as best I can :-)

Hi Laura,
I'm Vietnamese, I think everywhere has good and not good people. Thanks for Laidbackfreak talking some good things about Vietnamese.
With me as also Vietnamese Students,We'll be willing to help people who get problems if we can,whether they are Vietnamese or Foreigners.
Safe - You will be very safe here because Vietnam is peaceful. Evething is ok but the traffic is complextive.
Hope you can decide your job. Any way good luck to you !!

I have been living in Vietnam now for 6 months i come from Ireland and have been living in Australia and Vietnam is a lot safer than those two Country,,, Crime here is pretty low apart from leaving your front door open  or your laptop on the street things are good here, attacks and asaults  are pretty rare ,,, in some areas be careful your handbag been snatched,, Over all Vietnamise ppl are great and friendly  people and very helpful.
Take the job and Im sure You will make friends with pleanty of English teachers from uk etc.

All the best

Eoin

Otherwhile,you can meet a lot of good people from swing dance club wwww.saigonswingcats.com
All are expat and good vietnamese full of knowledge,english speaking so you feel home with their friendship.
Vietnam is welcome you!

Best wishes
Emily

Laura,
I'm American and lived here for more than 4 years. As far as I'm concerned, I could live here for the rest of my working career and beyond. I absolutely love it - mainly the weather. If you like summer year-round, this is the place. It can get rather hot at times, but I'd rather be hot than cold.

As for everything else, the Vietnamese people, etc., I agree with everything everyone else has said. It is very safe here for foreigners. There is some petty crime, such as purse-snatching and pick-pockets, but if you are careful, that won't be a problem. Although I don't advise anyone to do it, I've found myself out late at night alone on downtown streets and never felt threatened or even approached - except by certain types of "solicitors". Furthermore, my wife was at her friend's house late at night and decided to ride home on her bicycle (again, not a good idea for anyone, anywhere). She made a wrong turn and got lost. She speaks no Vietnamese, but some nice locals on the streetside helped direct her to Ben Thanh market, where she then found her way.

I notice you are from the UK? I know and have met many nice people here from the UK, Australia, USA - really from everywhere. You should have no trouble finding friends here.

Best of luck to you with your decision.

Hey Saigonmonkey welcome,, i joined here yesterday....

So your liking Saigon/Vietnam happy days there not a lot to dislike  aye...wat do u do for work here if u dont mind me asking??

Cheers Eoin

Thanks everyone- all your advice has been great! i have decided to take the job and so will be posting on here again nearer the time i arrive and probably asking a million more questions. its great to know that most of you think its easy to make friends and its safe- my two biggest worries. really excited now that ive heard some positives! whats the weather like year round- everyu website says something different- some say unbearable constant rain for a few months- others say its not too bad. will be in the city all year round except july as will be going home.

where do you suggest i live? i want to get to know people in my situation trhats not too crazy but dont want to be in an area without any 'real' vietnam around to experience. want to be able to go out and have fun too. what do you all think?

thanks again- you've all been great

Hope it all goes well for you.

Cheers.........

Here is an excerpt I found about deciding on a place to live.  Hope it helps:

When looking for a new house or apartment in Saigon it pays to consider where best to live. Some expatriates work at industrial zones far outside the city, but this can lead to isolation so many decide to put up with a long commute in order to improve their social options.

Likewise while some expatriates relish the opportunity to discover and immerse themselves in a new culture, for others it is more important to live in familiar surroundings with similar facilities to those they left at home. Nobody likes to commute and traffic in Saigon can be pretty horrific, so its not a bad idea to think about where you will be working or your kids will be attending school too.

In general most people have a choice between going for the all-out expat experience in District 2 or District 7, where life is more like home than Vietnam proper, or diving into the entertaining chaos that makes up the city center and outlying districts. Here is a brief overview of the districts of Saigon and the atmosphere and facilities you can expect in each area

District 1
District 1 is the central business district of Ho Chi Minh City, where many companies will base their offices and where the majority of bars and restaurants are. Although rising rents have pushed a lot of the simpler local street food and restaurants out, there remains a wide range of eating options with cuisines from around the world, and shops bringing goods from across the world for those who enjoy their shopping. While  District 1 certainly has a different atmosphere to much of the city, it is still uniquely Vietnamese in character.
The streets in District 1 are broad and generally tree-lined, and although it is the city centre the traffic is generally worse entering or leaving District 1 than within the district itself, so if you can afford to live in the centre or like the bright lights of the city  it can make an excellent choice to settle in.

District 2 - An Phu / Thao Dien
District 2 is a huge area, much of which is currently undeveloped marsh land, so generally when expats refer to District 2 they are talking about An Phu and Thao Dien wards, where much of Saigon's western expatriates settle, as well as wealthy Vietnamese.
Despite being split in two by the massive Highway 1, the roads around An Phu/Thao Dien are fairly peaceful and not too scary to negotiate by bicycle. Many of the houses here are very large - villas with pools designed for those whose housing is included in their contracts - and some are within walled compounds - but there are still affordable houses available for rent. The number of eating and drinking options in An Phu is growing, with a number of nice bars, riverside cafes and shops, which is a good thing since the commute to District 1 is generally around 30-40 minutes, and there are several major international schools and nurseries in the area.
An Phu is certainly a friendly area, referred to as 'the village' by residents, and while some may find it rather Westernised and a little far removed from a genuine Saigon experience, others will relish the peace and quiet and safety it provides for their children.

District 7 - Phu My Hung / Saigon South
The massive Korean Phu My Hung development, around 40 minutes to the south of District 1, was conceived as a 'satellite city' for Ho Chi Minh, and has been designed from scratch with wide, tree lined roads and towering apartment blocks and villas. So far there is little other development in the area which means unparallelled access to green space, and there are a number of sports clubs, swimming pools, and international schools and universities in the area.
There are many expatriates living here, the biggest group of which are East Asians such as Koreans and Japanese, but there are a growing number of Western expatriates too. The area used to recieve a bad rap for being something of a 'toy town' - the area certainly appears sterile when compared to some of the inner city areas with little to no street life and a small but growing number of shops and restaurant, but over the years it has become a more lively place, and in the late afternoons being able to sit on the grass and appreciate the breeze is great after a hot day in the city.
District 7 is certainly not your typical Vietnamese experience, but if you can't take the noise and chaos of the centre or wish to raise your kids with a bit of space to run around it is not a bad option.

District 3
District 3 is considered by many Vietnamese people to be the ideal place to live, with large, old colonial villas hidden behind trees, great proximity to District 1 and a decent quality of life. It is less 'westernised' than District 1, but compared to much of central Saigon is a very peaceful place with lots of local places to eat.
One popular Vietnamese expression states you should go out in District 1, eat in District 5, but sleep in District 3. It certainly has many beautiful buildings but many have been adopted by the government while others are in varying states of repair - for villas in good condition expect to pay a rather high rent, but there are also plenty of townhouses in the area too.

District 4
District 4 used to be known as the 'mafia district' - housing Saigon's main port and many of the city's poor gave plenty of opportunity for crime. This seems to be a thing of the past, and improving transport links to District 1 has seen a recent bump in land prices as more and more apartment blocks for executives are built - in some places a commute into Downtown District 1 might only take 5 minutes, and rents are much cheaper than District 1. The Saigon port is set to close in years to come and the whole area is due for redevelopment - perhaps in coming years it will have a similar amount of restaurants and shops to District 1, but for now it is more of a throroughfare between Districts 1 and 7.

District 5
District 5 is a good choice for those seeking proximity to District 1 - commutes range from 10 - 20 minutes, with lower congestion than some routes into the city, but with lower rents. District 5 is famed for its street food, and its history as the city's Chinatown means there is a fair mix of cuisines in the area.

District 10
District 10 is traditionally where many of Saigon's student population live, with great, cheap options for food and good, low rents. The area is very densely populated though and has quite narrow streets so traffic in and out of the centre can be a pain, but as the crow flies it is not far to the downtown area. The area is also rich in amenities, with lots of swimming pools and sports centres to suit the student population, as well as a good number of coffeeshops.

Phu Nhuan
Phu Nhuan is one of the most densely populated areas of Saigon and has a number of main roads running through it. The area is certainly not without its charms with a number of parks and interesting streetlife, but traffic to and from the centre can get pretty tiresome quickly. Still, if you work in the E Town area in Tan Binh, or anywhere near the airport, living in Phu Nhuan can be a good option to be near work yet not too far from social activites in town.

Binh Thanh
Binh Than is squeezed between District 1 and District 2, and is known for cheap housing that is popular among English teachers on low wages. However the area has seen near constant roadworks for over 3 years, and is the primary point of entry for hundreds of HGV trucks that pour into the city every night. It is also very prone to flooding, even on the main roads, making driving around at night a fairly scary prospect and offering very low air quality, with dust from construction and trucks mingling with diesel fumes.

Hi Laura
I too , had been offered a position at an IB World school in Phu My Hung two weeks ago. It took me for a while to make my decision since I like my assignments (all honnors and AP courses) and have great rapport with my students at my current school .
For me, the compensation from the new school is good and the benefit is even better with many extras. However, the most important factor that influents my decition is that an IB school provides me a better platform to advance my career. Once you set your foot in  this organization and prove that you can teach at a high level, you can switch/apply to other IBWS school  all around the world every two or three years.  (Talking about travelling around the world and get paid ). That what international teachers do.  I will be moving to Phu My Hung in the middle of July. How about you? It would be nice if you teach at the same school as mine.