February 2012
29 posts
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A Vietnamese friend was explaining the gift an English teacher received from some students on Teachers Day in Vietnam:
Channel five, she said.
Channel five?, I asked.
She repeats herself this time making a button pushing motion with her thumb that makes me think channel five even more.
Channel five?, I say again, this time with a scrunched up in confusion expression on my face.
Channel five,...
One of my neighbours is playing We Are The World …
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Peeing on heart shaped urinal mints (actually, this being Vietnam, they are more likely to be moth balls).
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Slim of the waist, long of the hair, navigating traffic, without a care …
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A rat runs across a puddle, a man on a scooter runs a red, a cockroach dashes across the counter, stooping I bash myself on the head.
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“I order whatever the bloke next to me is having. It turns out to be a mixed grill, chops, eggs, sausages, bacon, just protein and grease, the West on a plate.”
— Joe Bennett, Where underpants come from.
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The meal finished, the coffee begun the flies move in.
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“Backstage on Western culture”
A reference to being in a Chinese factory which produces all the stuff western, first-world countries consume.
— Joe Bennett, Where Underpants Come From
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“You’ve got a bicycle: you’re a millionaire.”
- Hunky Daddy (Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea)
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I have begun reading a book by Joe Bennet titled Where underpants come from. It’s basically about China vis a vis the raw materials and production required to produce underwear (pants, in England).
Although taking place in China the first three pages reflect many of my feelings and observations in Vietnam.
It’s informative, easy and fun read; as good as any way to introduce yourself...
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“I don’t date photographers; you keep terrible hours, you drink too much and you’re crazy. There’s bad stuff, too.”
—The Bang Bang Club (movie)
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January 2012
62 posts
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