The Mid-August Celebrations
Well, the big news for August, as usual, for me..is MY BIRTHDAY. Happens every year. This year is different. This year, I'm counting backwards. I turned 30 last year. Dirty Thirty. Its a sexy age. 31? where's your wife and kids? and lawn mower (i still want to get me one of those - as soon as I get some lawn). Anyway, 31 is not a functional or sociable age to be single. 31 in SE Asia AND single? dirt stinky pervy old sod! SHAME on YOU!! Might as well go and marry a bar-girl.. thats what the worlds expecting you to do at that age and single. . probably would, if she could help me get the lawn-mower and grass.
Nononono 31 will never do. Its too old, too wise, it should know better. I'm turning 29 this year. I'll keep counting down until its not convincing anymore, then I'll try plastic surgery.. or the bar-girl... or maybe just the lawn mower.. well at least the lawn.
So enough silliness. Its time I came up with the goods, and told you what actually happened. First of all, I must say that I am quite surprised at how important a mark my Vietnamese friends and workmates thought the day was. I always thought that a lot of asian cultures did not bother much with birthdays. However, EVERYONE in Vietnam seemed to know about my birthday. I got text messages from people starting at 12 midnight. Even from people I only met a few times, and hadnt spoken to in ages!
The work guys took me to lunch twice and got me full of nice food and drink. Once on the saturday previous, and then on the following monday. After Saturdays lunch, they took me to Karaoke to sing some songs. Of course usually I hate karaoke, but it was nice of them to think of me, so I had a good time. I sang the Beattles and Bon Jovi. Its a little retarded, because they only have mass produced electronic music as the background, but I rocked it up a bit to compensate. Im not sure what the guys thought about that, they are very modest when they sing, and always sit down. Not me. Its show time~! when I sing.
A note on Karaoke. Karaoke with tonal languages can be incredibly difficult. Its quite hard to match the tones of the individual words to the melody of the song. And if you cant do it, then things become very unpleasant. I remember reading Douglass Adams "The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy". Early in the book, he discusses the poetry of the Alien Vogons. He describes listening to this poetry as being one of the universes most horrible and torturous experiences. Tonal Karoake, done badly, is Earths real life answer to that fictional hell.
Fortunately, the guys from work sing ok.
It gets better, they ALSO took me shopping! and bought me a shirt and some jeans. That was really sweet. I do however, have incredibly bad dress sense, so they might have been doing it for their own benefit. Either way, I was very grateful. I havent managed to buy any new clothes since I've been here, primarily because even the XXXL size hardly fits me! I CERTAINLY can't find shoes here. There are streets FILLED with shoe shops, and not a single pair is big enough for me. I'm stil wearing the same crappy rubber thongs I wore here on my first day. They do not match the new work clothes my friends bought for me!
Finally, on sunday, the 13th, the actual day, I had an second big effort. I did a honky trick, and went bowling with a whole bunch of other foriegners. I actually didnt think many would turn up, I always thought that lot hated me for some reason. That was fun. Interestingly, I pulled of another of my remarkable stunts, and lost my keys. Meaning I had to walk home. IT took about 2 hrs.
The walk home was not a total loss. The route home goes through some of Hanoi's newest and quite expensive areas. Its the area that this years APEC meeting will be held. Theres a lot of construction going on. Very unlike the rest of Hanoi, it has long broad staight avenues, with large grassed traffic islands. Also, there are still quite inviting corridors of natural vegetation - or at least weeds and cleared land - for local wildlife to wander through. The traffic islands I discovered are quite a lucrative grazing area for a number of the local buffaloes.
In the twilight, I saw a sizeable herd of about 20 beasts, munching away on the lush green grass, and crimping off huge buffo-turds while roaming to their fancy. This picture was framed by two streams of brightly-lit motorised Vietnamese hurtling past on either side. It was quite a spectacle. I hope the buffaloes are still there when John Howard gets to town, its not much, but a small "Farmers Protest" would open the meeting nicely.
Nononono 31 will never do. Its too old, too wise, it should know better. I'm turning 29 this year. I'll keep counting down until its not convincing anymore, then I'll try plastic surgery.. or the bar-girl... or maybe just the lawn mower.. well at least the lawn.
So enough silliness. Its time I came up with the goods, and told you what actually happened. First of all, I must say that I am quite surprised at how important a mark my Vietnamese friends and workmates thought the day was. I always thought that a lot of asian cultures did not bother much with birthdays. However, EVERYONE in Vietnam seemed to know about my birthday. I got text messages from people starting at 12 midnight. Even from people I only met a few times, and hadnt spoken to in ages!
The work guys took me to lunch twice and got me full of nice food and drink. Once on the saturday previous, and then on the following monday. After Saturdays lunch, they took me to Karaoke to sing some songs. Of course usually I hate karaoke, but it was nice of them to think of me, so I had a good time. I sang the Beattles and Bon Jovi. Its a little retarded, because they only have mass produced electronic music as the background, but I rocked it up a bit to compensate. Im not sure what the guys thought about that, they are very modest when they sing, and always sit down. Not me. Its show time~! when I sing.
A note on Karaoke. Karaoke with tonal languages can be incredibly difficult. Its quite hard to match the tones of the individual words to the melody of the song. And if you cant do it, then things become very unpleasant. I remember reading Douglass Adams "The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy". Early in the book, he discusses the poetry of the Alien Vogons. He describes listening to this poetry as being one of the universes most horrible and torturous experiences. Tonal Karoake, done badly, is Earths real life answer to that fictional hell.
Fortunately, the guys from work sing ok.
It gets better, they ALSO took me shopping! and bought me a shirt and some jeans. That was really sweet. I do however, have incredibly bad dress sense, so they might have been doing it for their own benefit. Either way, I was very grateful. I havent managed to buy any new clothes since I've been here, primarily because even the XXXL size hardly fits me! I CERTAINLY can't find shoes here. There are streets FILLED with shoe shops, and not a single pair is big enough for me. I'm stil wearing the same crappy rubber thongs I wore here on my first day. They do not match the new work clothes my friends bought for me!
Finally, on sunday, the 13th, the actual day, I had an second big effort. I did a honky trick, and went bowling with a whole bunch of other foriegners. I actually didnt think many would turn up, I always thought that lot hated me for some reason. That was fun. Interestingly, I pulled of another of my remarkable stunts, and lost my keys. Meaning I had to walk home. IT took about 2 hrs.
The walk home was not a total loss. The route home goes through some of Hanoi's newest and quite expensive areas. Its the area that this years APEC meeting will be held. Theres a lot of construction going on. Very unlike the rest of Hanoi, it has long broad staight avenues, with large grassed traffic islands. Also, there are still quite inviting corridors of natural vegetation - or at least weeds and cleared land - for local wildlife to wander through. The traffic islands I discovered are quite a lucrative grazing area for a number of the local buffaloes.
In the twilight, I saw a sizeable herd of about 20 beasts, munching away on the lush green grass, and crimping off huge buffo-turds while roaming to their fancy. This picture was framed by two streams of brightly-lit motorised Vietnamese hurtling past on either side. It was quite a spectacle. I hope the buffaloes are still there when John Howard gets to town, its not much, but a small "Farmers Protest" would open the meeting nicely.
posted by Pseudomys at 9:19 PM
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