how do i put this.
i guess i wont.

vietnam. annam.

"Here when it is dark, trees and plants moan in awful harmony. When the ghostly music begins it unhinges the soul and the entire wood looks the same no matter where you are standing. Not a place for the timid. Living here one could go mad or be frightened to death." Bao Ninh, ex VietCong infantryman, The Sorrow of War

and then the cities. they are are made of the same dull gray cement that they used all over east Europe. surely the formula was from somewhere in the USSR. its the same stuff they used to make the staircases with different sized steps in Azerbaijan; the same stuff that they used to ruin the once colorful cityscape of Havana. its the same stuff they used to build the mazelike streets of hivelike, identical, perfectly equal sized houses in Romania. in the book "a wrinkle in time" - this concrete would have built the identical houses that IT built in Camazotz.

on top of all of this gray there now sit Pepsi signs, Toyota ads, Nestle Milo slogans; a very young culture of commerce. its a wierd contrast. in Saigon, there are even giant Tokyo-style moving video billboards, while nearby, the communist sickle and hammer sits perched above a garishly opulent (especially amid all of the surrounding poverty) Party office building. something doesnt quite make sense.

someone must have brought these things here.
who?
american and hong-kong businessmen in the early 90s, apparently.

"It was Nam, man, and they were back. They'd gleaned the language and attitude from a hundred movies and a frayed copy of Michael Herr's "Dispatches." They were "in country," on their "second tour," they lived a "few clicks" out of town. Vietnamese were cool this time around, they were looking for a deal, they loved Americans. This was the new frontier, the lucrative wreckage of Communism's latest collision with capitalism. It was the land of opportunity, millions could be made by a lucky few who got in early and figured it out. Robert Templer, Shadows and Wind: A View of Modern Vietnam

im not sure i understand this place. i thought that i may have had some insight based on the fact that i grew up with a lot of vietnamese kids. yet, the vietnamese do indeed seem "sly and inscrutable". i wonder if any outsiders have ever really understood these people - or if it has been a series of miscommunications - from the Chinese, to the French, to us Americans. the misunderstanding definitely continues, on our end at least.

"For some, Vietnam was an emblem of something in their own lives -- a lost youth or a political consciousness honed in opposition to the war -- and this lent it an importance that marks it out from other Southeast Asian countries. The importance attached to Vietnam by its recent history has if anything hindered a richer understanding of the country and its people. In most of this history Vietnamese are invisible to the West, they little more than ciphers. Both French and Americans from across the political spectrum projected their views onto them, forcing them mostly into two camps; they were either innocent victims or the faceless components of a vicious Marxist war machine." Robert Templer, Shadows and Wind: A View of Modern Vietnam

i don't think the vietnamese totally misunderstand us, though - only because most of those who would harbor misconceptions based on the war .. were killed during the "American War". seriously. you can see it in the streets - particularly in the north. the 40 somethings are missing - the generation was nearly wiped out. the great majority of vietnamese are under 26 - born when their parents returned from the fronts in 75-76. aside from the many blighted by birth defects from Agent Orange (you see them around often), they are too young to know the war. they, like most young people around the world, are more interested in material goods: pirated DVDs, games, their moto-bikes. America to them is primarily a source of quality goods, the internet, Eminem - and secondarily, vietnam's former enemy.

these kids dont care. they just want a decent chance at living somewhat comfortably, and participating in something bigger than themselves in some way. the government is insular and corrupt - and religion is somewhat discouraged by a communist education. this, to me, then leaves only pop culture to participate in. power is bleeding, quickly from the party, and its going somewhere. i feel like its pop culture and open markets. i feel like Nestle Milo and J-Lo's butt are going to win.