Antidote to Burnout

Cultural compass

There is a wonderful article in today's (11 June 2008) New York Times by Michael Slackman entitled "Don't Leave Home Without a Cultural Compass".  Here are a few quotations that I respond to:

Navigating Egypt can be a challenge of understanding, and not just language but also culture, values, norms. A pile of trash may look like litter to a foreigner, but it is a commodity to poor people who recycle and reuse almost everything. In Egypt, it is routine, absolutely routine, to get the wrong directions.

That is not because people are mischievous, but because if you ask for help, they feel obligated to try to help — even if they send you off in the wrong direction.

I am not going to say that the same applies to Việt Nam as a cultural norm, but this has certainly been my experience here in southern Vietnam.  I have learned to triangulate between several different sets of directions given.  The article goes on:

“Here, even if someone sends you in the wrong direction, he still feels that he did what he was supposed to do,” said Hamdi Taha, head of a charity, Karam al-Islam, and a professor of communications at Al Azhar University. “He doesn’t think he misguided you. He helped. Right and wrong is a relative thing.”

The point of the article is that we, and especially our current president and State Department, have lost our ability to be sensitive to the small cultural differences that contribute to understanding of larger issues between us.

It is those kinds of assumptions — that the citizens of foreign countries want to be liberated by America and live like Americans — that can really get under people’s skin. Egyptians may give out wrong directions — but only when they are asked for directions.

Tet Parties

My Tết holidays this year were enjoyed in Dắk Lắk Province at the home of my Vietnamese friend's parents, introduced in this previous posting.  A subsequent posting presented their home as a typical rural Dak Lak house.

Since the Tết Nguyễn Đán season is all about the gathering and visiting of family and friends, we spent many hours at parties before and after the first day of the lunar new year (7 February in this year 2008).  The pre-Tết parties were more lavish large affairs, with a variety of food.  On Tet (the first day of the lunar new year) and the days after, individuals travel around to the homes of relatives, friends, and neighbors.  Since everyone is on the road, dropping in at random unannounced times, the visiting parties are much shorter and don't involve much food.  There are always a beer or two, or a glass or two of rice wine, followed by liters of green tea.  Available at every home, and usually only during the first days of Tet, is a platter of watermelon seeds (hạt dưa) and ginger candies (mứt).

Vietnamese crack open the seeds with their teeth at a rate of one every 5 or six seconds, leaving the shells on the table or the floor.  Since no sweeping is done in the first days of the new year (in order not to sweep out the good luck of the new year), the result is a huge pile of shells on the floor.  I never did get the hang of cracking and extracting the seed in one smooth motion like the Vietnamese do.

The big pre-Tet parties were the real peak experiences for me.  They were opportunities to meet the extended family and friends in one or two parties so that I had familiarity with them in advance of the smaller after-Tet visits.

Since these parties involved over 30 people at each, all of the furniture is removed from the sitting room, and multiple dining mats are put down to receive the food.

Most of these large gatherings used propane gas burners for hot pots of broth, in which the various meats and vegetables were cooked.  I particularly liked the fish and the various pork innards.

Like most Vietnamese meals, the food is very healthy with well-balanced portions of vegetables and grain (rice, of course) to offset the meats.

The guests sit down cross-legged on the floor in a circle around the perimeter of the room.

The younger women and the children sit in the adjacent room.  These were the women that prepared and served the meal.

The great-grandmothers join the men in the main room.  Most of the men are 35 or younger, members of the Vietnamese baby-boom beginning in 1975.  There are very few great-grandfathers remaining in these families.  The ancestor altar always features the portrait of the grandfather or great-grandfather husbands of these grandmothers.  There are also few family members my age, including women.  It turned out I was the second oldest male in the room (at age 61), which was a shock to me since I constantly live under the impression I am still in my thirties (and not out of vanity -- I just continue to think that way -- I still haven't grown up psychologically -- and all of my Vietnamese friends are in their late 20s or early 30s).

I also had the realization that these families came from the northern province of Nghệ An, the birthplace of Hồ Chí Minh.  The men my age might have fought in the American War (my friend told me his father did at the tail-end of the war on the nothern side (he is five years younger than me)), and certainly the grandmothers would have experienced to some degree the French and American Wars.  Like many Vietnamese (and many American veterans), they don't talk about the war years.  On the whole, in my opinion, the Vietnamese are very present and future oriented, and optimistic that the new year brings good luck, so they don't dwell on the past.  When meeting new family members and friends, they would ask where I was from, and the answer that I was an American always brought big smiles and handshakes.

It certainly helped that I was able to keep up with all of the toasts and chugging of beer.  Getting right down to it, the food is only a companion to the real event -- the beer or wine, and the toasting for good luck.

I was down at the "young end" of the party.  The young man next to me is a medical doctor.

No one seems to get really drunk at these events, and Vietnamese do not seem to get belligerent at all when they do have too much to drink.  The smiles never end.

All of these parties end with relaxing around pots of green tea

while the younger women clean up the aftermath on the grass mats.

I am very grateful to my friend for inviting me to his parent's home, where they accepted me like a member of the family.  Even though we do not speak a common language, there was no barrier to the hospitality and love they extended to me.  And these are all people of great humor and sociability -- I was proud to be accepted among them.

Cultural differences

Most of the Asians I know don't totally fit the stereotypes I unfortunately carry around in my head about what people should be.  The same applies to how other people view me -- my neighbors often wonder why an American expat (supposed to be rich) lives in what they consider to be a Vietnamese ghetto.  Nevertheless, we laugh as we read the long lists of characteristics we ascribe to ourselves because there are often elements of truth in them.

Tim Johnson of the journalism blog China Rises recently posted a series of pictographs  illustrating perceived differences in culture and outlook between Germans and Chinese.  The following poster illustrates the differences in behavior at a party, with the German pattern in blue on the left, and the Chinese pattern in red:

This pattern is consistent with my own different experience at American vs. Vietnamese parties, and as documented by Duong Lam Anh in his blog about Vietnamese life.  This particular pattern for Vietnam might have two or three circles instead of one.

These posters were designed by a Chinese designer named Yang Liu and were exhibited at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin this summer (photo from the yangliudesign.com website).

It is interesting that these perceived cultural differences have been given the imprimatur of a government agency.  Although we politically-correct ones would like to think we shy away from such generalizations, I think there are differences and commonalities to be learned about each other as we view these pictographs and compare them with our own experiences.

We are back "home" in Ho Chi Minh City after our month in the USA.  We went there for the wedding of our older daughter.  I have been putting off posting anything about this wonderful event, while running through a debate in my mind as to whether this blog has become (and should be) more journalistic and much less personal.  My original intent was to mix the two, but the past year has been predominately journalistic.  But even professional journalist bloggers like Tim Johnson, Beijing Bureau Chief for the McClatchy Newspapers, occasionally gets family personal in his excellent and prolific blog China Rises.

So here's a wedding photograph of Kristine's wedding to David Nakamura, Washington Post journalist.

The setting is a mountain lake in western Montana just southwest of Glacier National Park.  Montana is my home state where I was raised and achieved my B.Arch at Montana State University.  After that, though, it was off to see the world, and learn how to live in big cities.

Kristine has never lived in Montana.  She chose this location to bridge between her friends, colleagues, and David's family in Washington, DC, where she and David live, and her friends and relatives in California.  She also wanted to encourage her relatives and friends to take some time off for a vacation in Montana.

This brings me to some thoughts as to why I would return to Saigon.  Why not just retire in Montana and enjoy this wonderful setting?  Or at least stay in San Francisco, one of the acknowledged prime cities of the world.  My plan is to someday retire and try to spend four months of the year in Montana (July, August, November, and December), four months in San Francisco (May, June, September, and October), and then January through April in Viet Nam, which is the best time to be in HCMC, and the worst time to be in either Montana or San Francisco.

I am intrigued by people's reasons for choosing a location to live.  I suspect most people stay where they were born (like most of my neighbors in Saigon) or go where friends and relatives beckon them with good jobs and support (Mexican immigrants in America).  Upon reaching retirement, many Americans have many options for relocating away from their former workplace.  How do they choose where to live?  I admire Virtual Doug for his version of retirement, and he is especially inspiring when speaking of his devotion to caring for his mother.

So what is it that attracts me back to Ho Chi Minh City?  Beyond the heat that I love, the friendliness of my neighbors, and the healthy food, I especially like the intensity of life and environment here.  And this is from a person who most enjoys his leisurely breakfast and coffee in the morning, a nap at lunchtime, another coffee hour at the cafe in the late afternoon, and beer on the roof terrace in the evening with dinner.

I get energy from being around lots of people (even though I can't talk with them), and HCMC is the perfect balance of high density population in a relatively safe environment.  The neighborhood is generally low-rise with an average of three levels.  But the lanes are narrow, and the doors and windows are open, so there is constant contact with people.  That also means that the neighborhood is very safe.

The intensity here is sensual -- many colors and angles and variety of visual experiences; many sounds including wonderful Vietnamese music (but yes, there is a downside sometimes); and fragrant smells from cooking that provides wonderful tastes.  Does this intensity of life arise out of the density or out of the local culture?  This is a question I hope to study over the next few months.

Voting Day today in Việt Nam

Today, Sunday, is Voting Day for the delegates to the 12th National Assembly in Việt Nam.  The flags are out on everyone's house in the hẻm (lane) since this is a government holiday (even if it is Sunday).  According the Wikipedia, the National Assembly is elected once every five years, and meets twice each year.

There has not been much visible campaigning over the past weeks, so this holiday kind of snuck up on me.  On the other hand, if I try to imagine myself as an immigrant in San Francisco who did not understand English, then I realize that the immigrant might not notice an American election campaign either, except for the clutter of signs on all the utility poles around town.  They don't do that here, partly because the cluter of signs would get lost in all the other clutter of commercial signs on building here.

The campaign statements of each candidate for delegates in the local district are posted outside each polling place however.

The article below from the Saigon Times Daily (English language) yesterday sums up the stakes:

Vietnamese to vote Sunday to elect 500 NA deputies

(SGT-HCMC) Vietnamese people will vote on Sunday to elect 500 deputies to the next five-year tenure of the National Assembly.

There are a total of 876 candidates running for the 12th National Assembly elections and by Wednesday they had completed their campaigning efforts.

From May 3 to 16, through the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, the candidates fanned out to the 182 constituencies nationwide, elaborating on their plans of action if they are elected to the legislature.

Voters highly valued issues put forward by many candidates in their action plans which relate to building laws in line with the country’s situation and international integration, and those concerning anti-corruption, anti-wastefulness and thrift practice, the Vietnam News Agency reports.

They expected candidates to improve the efficiency of the National Assembly’s supervisory role, accelerate administrative reform and seek ways to generate more jobs.

Saigon Times Daily, 18 May 2007

The polling places looked like typical American polling places in the neighborhoods, with a few more flags to draw attention to each location.

Cà phê at cafés in HCMC

Jon over at the blog The final Word...in Saigon posted the other day about places to "chill out" in Ho Chi Minh City, meaning cafés, otherwise known as coffeehouses in the western world.  Jon subtitled his posting "Part I", indicating there are other posts to come about this subject since he is writing a feature article about such places in Saigon.  In the spirit of friendship and blog collaboration we expat bloggers are famous for in Vietnam, I offer this selection of cafés to add to Jon's list.

Speaking of blogger friendship, my friend Kevin over at the SaigonNezumi.com blog beat me to the punch yesterday on my first café selection -- the Café Hi-END at 217 Nguyễn Văn Thủ in District 1 of HCMC.  Although I have never seen another westerner in the Café Hi-END, I am not surprised that Kevin has been there since he has many Vietnamese friends that probably introduced him to the café.  I was introduced to the café by a Vietnamese businessman.  This café is close enough to other venues frequented by expats so there could be an increase in expats hitting the Hi-END and other Vietnamese cafés if Jon, Kevin and I keep plugging them.

Jon's selection so far has featured cafés downtown in Districts 1 or 3 where tourists and expats hang out.    The Le Petit Café draws a good mixed-crowd of Vietnamese and westerners.  I like to hit the Café Park Bach Dang once in a while to gaze across the river at Thu Thiem as Jon recommended.  I keep thinking about potential real estate over there in the swamps.  The prices at Bach Dang are certainly my style at less than US$.50 per cup.  I avoid places like Highland's coffee because they don't specialize in Vietnamese cà phê -- they do Starbucks-style espresso coffee drinks at western prices.

Most of the cafés I will feature here will be full of Vietnamese people rather than tourists or expats, and they will usually be located deep within thoroughly Vietnamese neighborhoods.  And they almost always have Vietnamese names rather than English-language names.  That doesn't mean tourists and expats should be afraid to venture into these cafés -- I have always felt welcome in these cafés.  You just have to work to find some of these locations.  The Vietnamese have developed a true café society -- they throng to the cafés in the mid-morning for business, and crowd the cafés at night for socializing.

Café Như Ngày Nào

My favorite cafe's are out in the Phú Nhuận District neighborhood where I live.  I try to hit the Café Như Ngày Nào once a day in the late afternoon to reflect on the day's events and plan for the next day.  This café is located at 26 Doàn Thị Điểm, a narrow street accessed off Đường Phan Dăng Lưu just north of the intersection with Đường Phan Đình Phùng.

Click on the photos to see larger image sizes

This café is a real garden, so most of the café is open-air.  There are two terraces that are covered, and other areas have a gravel surface.

For the heat-challenged among us, there is a small air-conditioned room.  Given a choice at a café between an air-conditioned setting and an outside setting, I always sit outside.  There are usually enough breezes wafting around HCMC to be comfortable.

The garden features several long pools with large tropical fish and many small fountains as well as one large waterfall.  There are a couple of rabbits scampering around the terraces and gardens eating the plants.  The owner is continually adding to the collection of very diverse plant material and artifacts.

The result is a club-like setting that I enjoy.  Since there are usually two or three tables of chess-playing men along with spectators, the atmosphere is truly like a men's club.  Note the men in the photo above in white shirts -- one has his cell phone to his ear -- this café like many in HCMC caters to businessmen who seem to use the café as their office.  Nevertheless, there are many women who come to this café for its sinh tố fruit drinks and kem (ice cream).  Although most Vietnamese cafés do not offer food, this café seems to be in the vanguard of a new movement of cafés that offer small rice dishes at lunchtime.  The cà phê đá (very strong Vietnamese iced coffee -- my standard drink of choice and bellwether for pricing) runs 10,000 VND (US$0.62).  This price range is typical for Vietnamese neighborhood cafés taking up substantial real estate -- small curbside stands run about 4,000 VND (US$0.25) to 7,000 VND (US$0.44).

The audio system here has the usual tinny sound from small speakers, but the music here is played at a reasonable level, unlike at many Vietnamese cafés.  This café plays a well-selected mix of Vietnamese traditional and pop music along with western oldies and world music.  Therefore this is a good place to carry out a conversation.

Khúc Giao Mùa Café

I try to take long walks through different neighborhoods a couple of times a week, and I usually look for interesting cafés to stop at for a break.  The Khúc Giao Mùa Café at 110A Nguyễn Đình Chính in Q. Phú Nhuận is a good example.  Many nice café's are often down side lanes like this one, so you have to be willing to explore a bit and take a chance.

This café is also a garden setting with an option for indoor tables in a villa on the property.

There are private table settings like this one

in addition to larger areas of tables.

This seating area features a lush waterfall (the water is difficult to see in the sunlight in this photo).

I suspect this is a very romantic place in the evening.

The music here is pop and traditional Vietnamese music (which I love), and it is played at a reasonable sound level.  Prices are a step up at 17,000 VND (US$1.06) for cà phê đá (iced coffee).

Hi-END Café

Back to the Hi-End café, this café is in an air-conditioned building, but it does not look particularly appealing on the outside, and looks dark inside, which it is.  Normally I prefer open airy bright cafés, so I have bypassed this café previously.

It is not as dark as it looks inside, although the walls are painted a rich dark brown.  The interior reminds me of a vintage NYC Greenwich Village or Berkeley folk-music coffeehouse.  The chairs here are not the usual hard café chairs -- they are very comfortable sofa-like chairs.

Kevin at SaigonNetzumi.com mentioned the home-made sound system -- it is also very beautiful with illuminated vacuum tubes.

The sound quality is incredible with a soft lush quality unlike any other café or venue I have heard in Việt Nam (or in the USA).  Sound-absorbing materials and textured surfaces have been used on walls and ceilings (unusual in Việt Nam) to provide excellent acoustics without the reverberation typical of most hard masonry spaces typical in HCMC.  (Maybe all the Marilyn Monroe photographs on the walls help).  The music is a very intelligent mix of acoustical and folk music that is played at a reasonable level that allows good conversations.

Cà phê đá  here runs 17,000 VND (US$1.06) in the daytime, and 30,000 VND (US$1.87) in the evening, which is a peak time for most HCMC cafés.

Vietnamese journalism

In the comments to the preceding post, Jon asks where in HCMC the sinking bridge is located.  I should have been more careful to provide background for the story and the pictures.  But note that the Thanh Nien News article itself does not provide enough background about the locatiion and circumstances of the sinking bridge.

This is unfortunately rather typical, in my opinion, of Vietnamese journalism.  Vietnamese reporters often neglect important elements of background for a news story, and do not answer the basic questions:  Who? Where?  They usually get the "What?" answered, but often do not speculate on a "Why?"

For example, note this opening sentence in a 19 March 2007 article in the Vietnam Investment Review online:

"Although HOK did not yet have any specific projects in mind for Vietnam, they had shown interests especially in building airports."

The reporter did not get around to defining the who and where of HOK until much later towards the end of the article.  Since I am well aware of HOK, the article caught my eye.  Otherwise, this opening line raises many questions without giving a real sense of the article to follow -- my first reaction is "Huh?".

Visions for downtown HCMC

Jon over at The final Word...in Saigon just posted a very comprehensive and thoroughly researched description of current and planned development projects in TP. Hồ Chí Minh.  He is looking forward 13 years to a dream of "gleaming highways and sleek Japanese style bullet trains" by the year 2020.

I agree with Jon's vision of infrastructure development by 2020.  But there seems to be a current malaise within the TPHCM government at this time.  Jon alluded to the delays in getting subway lines under construction.  Current infrastructure projects including canal cleaning and sewage infrastructure are delayed due to inadequate financing by construction contractors, and other infrastructure projects have failed, such as the bridge across Rach (canal) Van Thanh on Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh Street, which has subsided unevenly.

And while there are several high-rise office and condominium towers under construction, there are many more planned that could be constructed but are currently held up by the City's lack of vision for its own development.  Those that are under construction now were approved for planning years ago, and it takes a couple years after project planning  approval to arrange financing, complete design documents and secure construction approvals.

Việt Nam's Construction Law requires city governments to be clear with its citizens what the master plan is for their neighborhoods.  But TPHCM has not been able to complete its master plan for the downtown areas of District 1 and portions of Districts 3 and 4.  Therefore developers find it very difficult to obtain information from the City about parameters for development, and those submitting plans for large projects are finding the City unable to approve them until the City can complete its zoning vision for downtown.

Does the City want to maintain the urban environment downtown at somewhat the same heights and density of development?  Or does it want to build a vibrant dense international commercial center to rival Hong Kong and Shanghai?  Or does it really want to shift the commercial center of TPHCM across the river to Thủ Thiêm in District 2?  If it does, there are several years of infrastructure to complete before that can happen.  Until the City can answer these questions and agree on its vision for development, development will slow to a snail's pace regardless of the increasing pent-up demand for office space and apartments as new investors crowd into TPHCM.

Maybe this delay to agree on its vision will be a good thing for the people of TPHCM in the long run.  But Việt Nam needs growth in investment, and it can only be delayed so long until investment goes elsewhere.  Assuming the City comes to grips with its development over the next year or two, and improves its leadership to equal the energetic and visionary leadership currently provided by the national leaders, then the people of TPHCM can achieve their dreams similar to the dream described by Jon.

I had the good fortune to visit Shanghai and Beijing in the early 90s on business trips, and I would place TPHCM at about the level of development of those two cities in those days.  Since then, those cities, as well as most cities in China, have made unbelievable progress in development.  Shanghai built an extensive subway system, a complete freeway system, a new international airport, and 500 high-rise buildings in ten years time.  So the people of TPHCM can reach their vision for 2020 if they develop a similar will to do so.

The question is:  What kind of living and working environment will result alongside the freeways and subways that will be built?  I personally hope that the City will not decide to demolish whole areas of the City in preparation for development.  That is what both Beijing and Shanghai have done, and it is the Chinese model for development, which follows an old discredited American urban-renewal model.  And Chinese cities have often become the worse for their people with commercial areas bleak and empty at night and the people crammed into soulless monotonous housing towers away from the center of the city.

I hope that the people of TPHCM will decide to increase the city's urbanity by letting development proceed on individual lots all around the city in accordance with morket forces.  That seems to be current model, and it retains city life around the clock in neighborhoods mixed with housing, shops, and commercial offices.  There are those that say this environment is messy and chaotic, and it will be for a time.  But in the long term, all areas of mixed neighborhoods develop and improve over time as market forces drive up values and allow improvements by the people themselves.

Any excuse for a party

While other VN expat bloggers raced to post the first articles on the Tết new year season a couple of weeks ago, I will be happy to bring up the rear here with a posting about the presumed end of the Tết season.

Here we are on sixth day of the new lunar year in Việt Nam. Most businesses, except major restaurants or businesses catering to tourists have been closed now for seven days. I was told everyone would go back to work today.

So the business behind our house did start up today, but at 8:30 a.m. in the morning they commemorated the return to work with a drinking party, shouting "Một, hai, ba, yôoooo....." as they drained their glasses of beer.

This is why I love living in Việt Nam. Any excuse for a party. This will be a great place to retire in someday.

I do wonder about the hit to the economy, though. I am told that this is everyone's annual vacation, but when everyone takes it at the same time and businesses close for over a week, that has to add up to a serous loss of productivity.

Inter-generational celebrating

I have said before that the future of Việt Nam is in the good hands of its young people.  This group of young people confirms my faith that Vietnamese youth have the motivation and intelligence to carry through the modernization of the economy started by Việt Nam's current generation of leaders.

I enjoy the fellowship of these young people.  In exchange for leading this group in speaking English (not teaching, just conversation practice), they help disabuse me of inaccurate perceptions I may have gained about Vietnamese culture or society.  We talk primarily about business topics, though, and they help me to understand the basics of Vietnamese business practices.  Going around the table clockwise from the left, Hui is a software design engineer for a Japanese company, Hùng was an information technology technician for a Taiwanese company manufacturing for Nike in Vietnam, Sammy is a production planner for the same company, and Hao is an accountant for a Vietnamese trading company.  I am the old guy whose 60th birthday they are celebrating in this Vietnamese restaurant.  They all speak English fairly well -- they seek to improve their vocabulary and listening skills to help them advance in their careers.

Hùng has a new visa to emigrate to Canada to help care for his grandmother there.  Many Vietnamese young people tell me they would love an opportunity to emigrate to Canada, the USA, or Australia, especially for educational opportunities.  I try to tell them that the best opportunities are here right now in Việt Nam.  But I can understand the desire for new experiences and perspectives -- that is why I came to Việt Nam at a rather inopportune time in its history thirty-four years ago.

Thanks to wife Hiền for organizing this surprise birthday party, and thanks to these good friends for their fellowship and gifts.

Lending a helping hand....

I have heard that Vietnamese people will go to great lengths to help a friend, and certainly a family member.  Paradoxically, I have also heard that they will not go out of their way to help someone in distress, such as in an accident.

I have personally experienced many small acts of friendship from Vietnamese I have met, and they always show a genuine interest in you from the first time you meet.  Luckily, I have yet to see an accident in Viet Nam over the first eight months we have been here.  However, I understand there are many motorbike accidents everyday.

In this case, I was out for a walk and turned the corner right after a motorbike lost its load of live shrimp.  They were flopping all over the street.

As you can see, though, several people jumped in to get their hands dirty picking up the shrimp to toss back into the bins.

And we think we are the most active bloggers in Viet Nam...

While Charvey and The Final Word were dutifully chronicling the Blog Summit of the three most active HCMC bloggers held last night, I took advantage of my wife being away to head down to the Saxn'art Jazz Club afterward.  I got there just in time for the beginning of the first set featuring the virtuoso Vietnamese saxophonist Tran Manh Tuan.  Trained at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Tran mixes creative contemporary jazz sounds with traditional Vietnamese music, and is a great showman.

Back at the Blog Summit, charvey in vietnam (Chris Harvey), The final Word...in Saigon (Jon Hoff) and I gave credit to noodlepie for increasing traffic to our young blogs by including us on his Vietnam blog list.  But it is interesting to note how quickly a local English-language blog scene changes -- the stars of last year have moved on:  noodlepie left Viet Nam for France after 8 to 9 years here.  No Star Where returned to the U.S.  The rice bowl stopped posting last February.  Down and Out in Sài Gòn and Diacritic remain in Saigon, but post infrequently nowadays.  And the most thoughtful blog of all of us, Virtual-Doug, has returned to the U.S., but continues to compare Vietnamese mores with American life.

In Hanoi, there has been a slowing of English-language blog postings, with Target Vietnam and Xe Maybe not posting for a long time, and even the prolific food bloggers Stickyrice are slowing down.  HanoiMark returned to Canada but left for us valuable archives of his observation of social mores.  Our Man in Hanoi continues to grace us with his thoughtful and heartfelt commentary, but he has announced his leaving next spring.

I keep qualifying these blogs as English-language blogs, because we expats sometimes forget that there should be many Vietnamese-language blogs out there too.  So while we three expat HCMC bloggers meet for a very staid dinner and conversation, noodlepie informs us that over a hundred Vietnamese bloggers met in Hanoi recently for an "offline party".  Be sure to view the YouTube video offered at noodlepie's posting -- we expats are so restrained compared to these fun-loving Vietnamese, who seem to have no inhibitions towards performing for each other.  noodlepie picked up the video and chronicle of the event from the Elmoooh's English-language blog, but Elmoooh also writes a Vietnamese blog that has more videos of the Hanoi Bloggers event.  Elmoooh describes the event as

"After laughing-guts-out kinky ticklish games in the morning, we headed for lunch before coming back to the everyone-knows-what-it-is "section" Karaoke."

Whoa!  Am I out of it or what in my old age?  Can anyone translate that for me?  I want to get invited to that party next time.  No ticklish games with Charvey and Jon for sure, and no unmentionable karaoke, either.

Looking for expat bloggers who pose at experts...

The "A Rice Cracker?" posting here three weeks ago engendered ongoing contributions of comments regarding these fairly controversial issues.  Chris of the blog Charvey in Vietnam came in a little late yestersday, though, and posed a challenge to antagonists to present evidence of expat bloggers felt to be presumptiously posing as experts in a foreign location or culture.  Since this is an important direction in this thread of issues, I want to elevate it out of the relative obscurity of the comments to that posting and bring it forth in this posting where others might more easily see it and respond.  Here is the challenge:

Ok, so I've read this comment thread as well as the posts and comments in several (but not all) other blogs. I'm still confused though.

There's a lot of talk about how some small number of expat bloggers claim to be absolute experts on Vietnamese society. Obviously that's bunk. But I haven't seen one citation of this phenomenon. Could someone point to a representative post make the "expert" claim and then makes an erroneous generalization? [emphasis added by layered]  It would be good to get an unfiltered read on what all the fuss is about.

Thanks,
Chris
Posted by: charvey | 24 September 2006 at 12:44 AM

Chris, the practical point I think I learned from this exchange is that the problem is generally one of omission -- one doesn't at the outset qualify one's position to offer viewpoints of a culture not his own. In addition, bloggers (especially travel bloggers) tend to make generalizations that may not apply to an entire country or culture. I am constantly having to remind myself that the remainder of Viet Nam and Vietnamese may well be quite a bit different from what I observe in HCMC. You have lived in Washington, DC, and I in San Francisco. I think we both know that we cannot characterize America or Americans based on our experiences in those two cities.

There was an interesting interview of the noodlepie blogger in the blog Shortcut a few days ago, wherein Graham Holliday ("pieman" of noodlepie) states "I feel I have gained a real insight into the country and the people, both the good and bad. I don't think I wasted my time there. It's been educational in many ways. And of course, I learned MASSES about the food." I believe him because I know he lived in Viet Nam (both HCMC and Hanoi) for 8 to 9 years. But I am sure there are many Asians (my wife included) who might say that it would be impossible for a caucasian to ever understand an Asian culture, including its food.
-- Mel
Posted by: layered | 24 September 2006 at 09:58 PM

I couldn't disagree with you more, Mel. Although I have not lived in every city in America, I *can* make characterizations of America and Americans based on my experiences living there nearly all my life.

I also disagree with what seems to be the fundamental thrust of this thread -- that anyone living in another culture (i.e. western expats in Asia) cannot really get a sense for that culture.

The Graham Holliday quote you cite is utterly innocuous: "I feel I have gained a real insight into the country and the people, both the good and bad." I don't see him claiming to understand everything about Vietnam. He's saying that he "feels like" he has made "real insight" into the culture. And why shouldn't he? He lived there for 8 years!

Regarding whether it's impossible for a westerner ever to "understand" Asian culture (or an Asian to "understand" western culture) depends on how you define "understand." If you define it as "have identical thoughts and beliefs as a native" (a crazy high bar) then perhaps understanding is in fact impossible. If you define it as "getting a good sense for, learning the reasons behind certain customs, adopting local mannerisms (for example here in Vietnam, receiving a card with both hands) then yes, understanding is quite readily available with some effort.

Of course, a stranger in a strange land should think twice before making sweeping generalizations and presenting them as absolute truth. But I don't think we need to pour on massive disclaimers before rendering an opinion. As long as an opinion is presented as such, I just don't see a problem.

I enjoy reading raw, unvarnished opinions and impressions of bloggers of all stripes and nationalities. Keep those posts coming!

Posted by: charvey | 24 September 2006 at 11:16 PM

Chris, OK, I agree with you that the Graham Holliday quotation is innocuous -- maybe not "utterly", but at least "fairly". My concern is for others who will disagree on principle that a non-Asian cannot possibly begin to really understand Asian culture. I agree with you that we need to hear from these people, if there are any -- I may be overly concerned.

I shouldn't use locations like Washington, DC, then as an example of a place different from the remainder of the USA since I have not lived there (although I have visited my older daughter who lives and works there several times). But I know that as one who lived in San Francisco for over thirty years, I find it hard sometimes to understand the remainder of America and Americans. It takes travel to other places (like my annual trips home to Montana) to remind me how interestingly different San Francisco and its citizens are from mainstream America. The point is, I have to remind myself of this difference and seek out ways to better understand America, whether that be more diverse media and blog sources, or bettter yet, travel and discussions.

Chris, since we're kind of hidden here in this old thread of comments, I am going to copy our latest discussion to a posting today, in the hopes of drawing a response to your original challenge to cite some specific blog examples of expat experts.
thanks,
-- Mel
Posted by: layered | 25 September 2006 at 12:23 PM

Meeting the future of Việt Nam....

Back on 2 September, I wrote about my frustrations in not having friends here in Việt Nam to communicate with.  I received some very supportive comments to that posting that I appreciated very much.  However, I obviously had to be the one to take action and find a way to develop some conversation partners.

Charvey had the best suggestion, seconded by Jon Hoff -- attend the "English Conversation Hour" at 8:00 a.m. at the large youth center in downtown Saigon.  So I did today -- there were 500 Vietnamese young people there (plus a few older citizens), and me, the one non-Vietnamese person there.  There was no leader -- everyone just distributed themselves into conversation-sized groups and started in.  The conversation "hour" lasted until 11:00 a.m., though, which is a lot of talking.  I wish there had been some mechanism to encourage the shifting of participants every half-hour or so -- there was some shifting in of new people into and out of our group, but I spoke with many people in our group the entire three hours.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed this gathering very much.

These young people seem to take the importance of learning English very seriously.  Many of them told me that speaking English fluently was imperative for advancement in their careers.  It certainly takes a great deal of motivation to give up three or four hours on a Sunday morning to come in and work hard trying to speak a second language.  Most of them said they come every Sunday even though the conversation topics are somewhat limited to what people can ask, and are therefore repeated over and over.  Many of the students came from living places far out in the outer reaches of HCMC (there is a large university in Thủ Dức, a suburb of Sài Gòn, but still within the city limits of TP. Hồ Chí Minh.)

Although this group of Vietnamese is probably not representative of the population as a whole (being mostly university students), they impressed me for the future of Việt Nam.  They were lively and gutsy individuals and weren't shy about jumping into the conversations.

I am sure there will be some good friendships developing with some of these young people.  I am looking forward to working hard to earn their friendship.  Some said they will help me to learn Vietnamese, too -- I need all the help I can earn.

Looking to global voices beyond my postings...

The value of any blog often lies in the comments available at the end of each posting.  It is the interaction between blog author and readers in the form of reader comments that amplifies and clarifies the author's ideas expressed in the blog posting.

The posting below on "A Rice Cracker?" is a prime example.  Click on the Comments button at the bottom of the posting and you will find 13 comments that offer far more than than the original transfer of ideas I expressed in the posting itself.  Many of these commenters have much more developed ideas than I have about this subject, and many of them write much better than I do.

This is why I love writing and reading blogs so much -- I especially respect and enjoy good writing and insightful ideas, even though I struggle at both myself.

For a moment in time here online, I have met some new friends with ideas to compare with mine.  Even though we may not meet again online for a long time, they have helped me to clarify my ideas, and I have learned a little bit about them, although it is such a small sampling that there is no way to picture these new friends accurately at all.  It helps to point the way, though, to their blogs where a better but still fuzzy picture begins to emerge about a person.

As more and more foreigners (both tourists and expats) flood into and multiply in Viet Nam over the next few years, these topics will become even more important.  Many of these new foreigners will be insensitive to the Vietnamese society and people, which will lead to misunderstandings and resentments.  Therefore discussions like this might help a little bit in providing resources to tourists and expats as they prepare to travel through or live and work in Viet Nam.  Mark just published an article on the Harvard Law School blog Global Voices (Vietnam page) that summarized  for us the sensitivity and humility foreigners bloggers should consider in observing and writing about Vietnamese life.

I give thanks to Mark for writing his article and for him and all of the commenters on my posting below for enriching our understanding of these ideas and for the beauty and intelligence of their writing.

A Rice Cracker?

D. has posted a provocative thread of ideas on his blog VA to VN entitled "Everyone's an expert" (5 September 2006).  He points us to the website Ethnically Incorrect Daughter, published by what he describes as a "conflicted Vietnamese adoptee."  He writes,

"One of her posts spoke about how some ex-pats return from a stint abroad with a greater sense of "understanding" of the foreign culture than they truly have obtained. It was a riff off of this post from What Happened to Your Hair? These two posts stirred within me a latent impression of a few of the expat discussions on blogs and forums. It seems everyone thinks they're an expert - be it from two weeks or two years in a foreign land, all the while living high on the hog......It's wholly presumptuous to think that you've done anything other than scratching the surface of a culture and a society when you don't (1) speak the language (2) look like a local - even a fat V.K. doesn't cut it - and (3) earn a living like everyone else. It's great that you've used your passport, it's great that you've learned to order beer in a foreign language. But, for god sakes, realize that hundreds of thousands of other people have done this - they're called immigrants. They just don't blog about it."

D.'s link to the posting on the blog What Happened to Your Hair? is entitled "The Rice Cracker" on 26 August 2006, written by Kev Minh of Seattle -- here is an excerpt:

"What is it with white American males who travel to a foreign country and come back presuming they "know" a whole culture? Are w