Last weekend I went to dinner with my friend Tu. I didn't know where the street restaurant was so I followed him on my motorbike. For the first fifteen minutes Tu drove calmly and relatively within the law. However, at some point the Vietnamese male gene took over and he turned to me and said, "Follow me!" and began to drive like a maniac. First he ran a red light, then he drove in the opposite lane and then he cut in front of a bunch of cars. As I watched him speed away -- and attempted to keep up in the safest way possible, Mom -- I kept thinking: "Is he trying to kill me?"
When I finally caught up to Tu I said to hi, "Dude! You're driving like a crazy person." He turned to me and said, "It's okay, I took a motorbike safety course once." Well, he said something like that -- it was hard to tell as he sped off and cut across the road.
I've always taken great pride in being a good "Follow me" car leader back in the states. If someone is following me I always drive extra cautiously -- I slow down at yellows, I put my blinker on way in advance, etc. Here, well, I guess they don't get that lesson in driver's ed*.
Chalk this up in the "Things I'll never get used to in Vietnam" category.
* No they don't have driver's ed in Vietnam.
