Of course, one of the first things we did when we got here was open a bank account with a Vietnamese bank. It took about a week to get our ATM cards, but that was okay, because we had brought enough cash. In the meantime, we discovered several oddities about the Vietnamese banking system.
It is truly a cash economy, which is why they have ATM machines everywhere. It's very easy to lay your hands on your cash when you need it, and you will definitely need it. There is no such thing as a checking account because there are no checks. No debit cards, either: everyone pays cash for everything. Everything except real estate, that is. To buy a house, you need gold.
No checks means that on payday, we get envelopes stuffed with several million dong--no such thing as direct deposit. It also means that when the bills come due there's no bill pay, no check in the mail. It's much more direct.
How direct? Well, tonight at around 8:00 the doorbell rang. We weren't expecting anyone, so I went out into the courtyard and just outside the gate was a young man on a motorbike. He spoke no English, but was able to convey that he was here to collect the monthly bill for our internet service. I gave him his $5, he gave me a receipt and went on his way. Same for electricity, water, trash, etc. Very odd to us, but it seems to work.
P.
3 comments:
When you say $ are you talking $ or Dongs....$55--$110 seems like prices here...
How about the Arts....theatre and such...any groups doing anything in English...and movies...do you get the latest?
Missed you over the holiday...we did some damage at 'succulent gardens' at Castroville...
Wow - record keeping has got to be the pits there! A friend from Norway was telling me that his country is a completely cashless and checkless society. All bills are paid online and all purchases made with credit or ATM cards. Quite the opposite!
Ruby - much of what we have seen is entered manually. We went to get our Hep B booster and before the nurse gave us the shot, she took out what looked like a large scroll and very carefully wrote our names, our ages and the shot we were each receiving. All so very interesting.
E: Prices for exotic items are very comparable to US prices. Home grown goodies cost so very little.
Lots of night life - not necessarily that interests us. Although we were going to see a techno-punk band this evening - The Handsome Furs - but I got called in for three classes tomorrow - the first one is at 8am - so I stayed home to work on lesson plans and to get to sleep at a decent hour.
Many of the latest movies play in English w/ VN subtitles. I've yet to go - P's been a couple times and enjoyed it.
One of the most popular attractions here is The Water Puppet Theatre. A puppet show that takes place in an indoor "lake". I can't count the times we've been asked if we've seen it - quite the rage here.
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