Two Thoughts in the Dark

I've got another, longer blog entry in the works, but for the time being, I wanted to get a few thoughts down on paper. Before I do, however, allow me to share a funny anecdote from yesterday's fieldtrip to Saigon Square, HCM City's second largest collection of pseudo-authentic consumer goods. Backstory: once-a-week, we take a field trip to a restaurant or market to practice Vietnamese with the locals. This time, since I needed to buy a few DVDs anyway, my teacher agreed to take me to Saigon Square.

Setting: Burberry Shirt Stand #1,832.
Characters: Matt (Me), Saleswoman 1 (at said stand), and Saleswoman 2 (at an adjacent stand).
Time: Approx. 10:10 AM

Me: "Xin loi, chao em. Cai nay bao nhieu tien?"
Saleswoman 1: "Cai nay la 113,000."
Me: (Action: I tug on the shirt a little bit to test its quality - Dave taught me that one.)
Saleswoman 2: (To Saleswoman 1) "Anh lam gi?"
Me: (Action: I turn around and look right at her.)
Me: "Anh hieu."

I love speaking Vietnamese. Every evening, I try to convince Evan, Florence, Tina, and Jen to do it, and more often than not, they're willing to indulge me. In an attempt to cultivate a "disheveled semi-intellectual" look, I've been growing my beard and wearing long-sleeve shirts and an off-balance hat. Sam asked why I hadn't shaved, to which I replied: "Vi Matt muon de xem ba muoi tuoi" (loosely: because I want to look like I'm 30).

Alright, so here are the observations, and yes, both came to me while I was riding around on the back of a xe om.

1. It's common practice in Vietnam to share wealth with one's family, a concept Westerners sometimes find uncomfortable. For instance, in a movie we watched called Daughter from Da Nang, an American woman reunites with her Vietnamese mother after 30 years of estrangement. Throughout the documentary, our hero conveys her disappointment: she expected to find a woman who was at once deeply apologetic and passionately loving. Instead, she met someone seeingly hoping to capitalize on her American daughter's perceived richness. This typifies the kind of cultural gap Americans share with Vietnamese. As I was thinking about it, I realized that if there were ever a cultural predisposition one could classify as being conducive to socialism, this is it. However, as a representative from 3M told me last week, financial disparity is becoming more and more acceptable. We're witnessing a clash between cultural norms and neoclassical economics. Which will prevail?
2. Although I understand why they feel the way they do, I wish corporate magnates could stifle their enthusiasm for authoritarianism. Some take it so far as to call it a blessing. Go talk to the woman outside Diamond whose hotplate gets lifted periodically by men in uniform and therefore has to spend another 30% of her income on a new one just to salvage the remaining 70. Go talk to the blogger who sits in his room worried that if he writes more, he'll never be able to come back and continue his research. Incentives.

Anyway, that's it for now. I think I'm gonna write some more Vietnamese, then play pool at Carmen with Thanh. I'm really feeling it these days - maybe it's the Aramith pro-speed tournament balls, or the Simonis 860 cloth. Who knows? I just feel like I'm thinking more clearly.