Over the holidays

One annoying thing during the trip that kept happening again and again:

You see, Rick and Jack speak fluent Vietnamese, and Steve & I don't. When the two talk to the locals like in buying food or petrol, the locals would look at me and start talking to me. Sometimes they're not that polite, and are nearly screaming at my face. As if they need me to translate whatever Rick and Jack told them. They can understand them if they just look past the white skin. And they had to tell the locals every time to stop talking to me 'cause I don't speak Viet, and they can perfectly understand Rick & Jack. Some apologize, others don't. But we've always gotten what we wanted in the end, so they really understood them from the start. Momentary shock with these Westerners speaking the local language, i guess. They don't talk to Steve, since he obviously looks like a foreigner. As these guys all pointed out, I don't look like a Viet, I'm distinguishably a Filipina. But I look Asian, and for these people, I guess it equates to Viet. Sometimes Steve would say: "They're talking to her again, and she can't understand them." 'Cause I was facing in the opposite direction, oblivious to all the Viet people talking to me (or shouting at me!). I guess I learned how to shut them off my mind. Haha.