What’s different about a Vietnamese’s daily schedule?

Although Vietnamese use the Western clock ( unlike countries such as Ethiopia which have their own time – 6 hours different ) you will be surprised to see the daily outline of events does not match the typical timings of the West. And in the beginning, this can be rather confusing!

Vietnamese’s waking up time

In the West, most people wake up at about 7 am ( which would still be considered quite early ) and anything earlier than this would be admired! If you go outside at 7 am in the West then you will find almost totally empty streets with only a few joggers etc and the early morning newspaper delivery people. In Vietnam however it is a totally different story –most people are up before 6 am and ready to leave the house at 6 am for morning exercise or popping to the market.

As Vietnam is a hot country, timings are dictated by the weather – with about 6 am ( and before ) being the coolest time in the morning – and about 6 pm onwards the coolest time in the evening. Even though it can be bitterly cold in the Winter in the Northern part of the country, the daily routine of times does not alter with both Winter and Summer times being the same in relation to daily timings.

Markets are open from about 6 am onwards and you will be amazed to go down super early and see packed streets of people buying fresh meat, fruit and vegetables for the day.

Parks are also jam-packed at 6 am in the morning – you will find large groups of people carrying out Tai Chi, other groups meditating and still others carrying out coordinated group exercises. There will be queues for the outdoor exercise machines in the parks and the paths will be full of Vietnamese jogging around.

Vietnamese’s working time

In the West, it is pretty rare to find a school or office that opens before 9 am, with normal business hours being 9 – 5 pm. In Vietnam however, it is common for teachers to be asked to be at school for 8 am – with pupils arriving shortly after.

Working days are long – with teachers typically keeping long business hours ( 8 – 5 pm ). Even though pupils leave at 3.30 pm ( or thereabouts ) it is usual practice for companies to require teachers to stay until 5 pm. That’s when they can have meetings / prepare materials etc.

Lunchtimes in schools for teachers is typically 12 – 1 pm. This is after supervising the mealtimes of pupils who eat earlier.

Lunchtime

Lunchtime in Vietnam is early – although the West would not dream of eating before 12 noon ( and even that would be early ) – in Vietnam lunchtime can start from about 11.15 with about 11.30 being the most popular time.

This means that at this time,cafes are full of a rush of people and will continue until about 1 pm when the crowd usually dissipates as the lunchtime rush is over. This is good news for those from the West who may be accustomed to eating after 12 as if you simply wait until 1 pm then you will find cafes are moderately quiet.

Vietnamese’s bed time

Although you would assume that if Vietnamese are waking up so incredibly early then they would need to go to bed early, in reality, this is not the case. This may be due to the fact that if at all possible, the Vietnamese go to sleep for at least half an hour during the day ( straight after lunch ).

Vietnamese do not have incredibly late hours ( unlike in Arabic countries where shopping malls can be open until midnight ) and instead evening hours are comparable with Western nights, with restaurants closing at about 9 or 10, gyms closing at about 9 or 10 pm and buses starting to taper off about 9 pm.

Beware of the little noise-makers at night!

One very interesting thing is Vietnamese children typically go to bed at about the same time as their parents. This means that when you go to a restaurant in the evening you will typically find hordes of children running around and children are a common sight wherever you go in the evening time.

Depending on your apartment block, this can have a big effect on the quality of your evening as in some places children are allowed to play in the corridors. This may mean that you have loud noises right outside your door all evening – and you may even be in bed with the children still playing right outside your door!

Apartment corridors can be indoor playgrounds until late at night. Initially, you may find this quite irritating as you may be looking for a quieter experience – however, it is important to accept that this is the way it is!

Overall, the timings in Vietnam take some getting used to. It is important to simply adapt to what is going on around you instead of trying to live in your own Western bubble!