I don't normally pay that much attention to the nationalities of the people around me because in this expat community there is a mix of people from all around the world. One thing I have noticed though is that people who speak a common language tend to hang out with other people that speak that same language. This shouldn't be that big of a surprise because of course you want to hang out with people where conversation is going to be as effortless and relaxing as possible.
I have been noticing in the past year that while I am walking down the street there are an awful lot of people that are speaking Russian though, and it wasn't like this a few years ago. I think you know why that is.
I do not speak Russian, I don't even know any words in that language but I can tell what it is when I hear it. Or at least be able to determine that they are from somewhere in that part of the world. It seem like at least in my neighborhood that the Russian population makes up a rather large portion of the overall expat mix and no, I don't have a problem with that. I don't pay a lot of attention to global politics but the other day I did have a chance to sit down with one of the members of the Russian conglomerate and spoke to him about his life and it is pretty interesting.
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I suppose it is pretty understandable that Vietnam and Russia would have good relations with one another given the history of the two nations dating all the way back to when Russia was the USSR. Therefore, Vietnam has not engaged in blocking travel or boycotting Russia in any way. They also remain completely quiet as far as the conflict in Ukraine is going. This is just my own personal experience but I also don't spend a lot of time watching Vietnamese news since I speak very limited Vietnamese.
Getting back to my new friend from Russia. We talked about the usual stuff before I brought it up because I didn't want him to feel like I was prying or being rude. I simply asked him if his continued living in Russia had anything to do with the conflict that is going on and he was not at all ashamed to tell me that yes, it was a factor. He is in his early 30's so there was always the fear that he would be drafted to be in the military. He told me that this wasn't the only factor though and a lot of his reasons for living here are the same as my own: Because it is cheap to live here and his quality of life is a lot better here even though he has a greatly diminished salary. Basically it is exactly like my own life: I make about 1/2 or even 1/3 what I could be making in my own country but my outgoings are so low that I probably am able to live richer and save more by living here than if I was making a lot more money back in USA.
He did admit that the reason why we are seeing so many Russians between the ages of 20 and 40 is because they are avoiding getting drafted as well. I don't know what would happen to him or the others if they were drafted and the refused to return to Russia and he doesn't know either. All he could say is that if there is any official correspondence between him and his home country, that he wouldn't respond.
That's a pretty scary way to be living one's life and since the relationship between Vietnam and Russia is so good, it is unlikely that he would be granted political asylum by Vietnam. This is something that this guy says that all of the Russian expats living here are in fear of. They also fear what could happen to them if one day they decide to return to their home country.
So I guess you could say that this little talk with my new friend has made me appreciate my own life a bit more since I do not have this fear. There is no hatred towards the Russians that are here but I do believe that they, as an expat group, don't make much of an effort to have anything to do with other nationalities unless they are business owners like my new friend is.
I would be willing to bet that Vietnam is just one of many places around the world where people who could be drafted to the military are hiding out. I do know that there are a lot of them here and I would probably do the same thing if the shoe was on the other foot. He didn't offer his opinion on how he feels about the Russian/Ukraine conflict and I didn't ask. I didn't want to make our otherwise friendly conversation bad. I hope nothing terrible happens to these guys because they simply don't want to fight a war.... which I think is very understandable.
One of the restaurants that I frequent is owned by Russians. I have only been here a few years but I have noticed a dramatic increase in the amount of Russians that are living here.... and I don't have a problem with that at all. It is certainly understandable that there are a lot of people that would prefer to not get drafted to go die in a war they maybe don't believe in.
So you have noticed it too. Another aspect that I have seen is that the Russians tend to not really integrate with the non Russians. I think it is a language thing as I have not met many Russians just in general that speak English fluently.
Yes, many Russians and Ukrainians do not want to participate in this conflict - this is not a conflict of interests of people, this is a conflict of politicians!
indeed. They don't really talk about it, at least the few Russians that I have spoken to here. Not a lot of nationalism among them, they just want to be alive I guess and I can't blame them for that!
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ
This makes a lot of sense about the draft. Back when National Service in SA was a thing many went overseas and worked the bars and even the fish packing factories in Alaska. If I had the choice again I would have done the same as within 3 years of me completing my 2 years service it was discontinued.
Does National Service mean that it was compulsory for all males to be in the military for a certain amount of time?
Yes it was for 2 years and then 1 month of camps every year for the next 10 years. I did my 2 years and attended 2 camps before everyone ignored the call ups. I didn't mind at the time as I got to see the country.
I'm guessing there must not be any consequences for ignoring callups.
Translated and formatted with Hive Translator by @noakmilo.
Thank you.