I feel alienated and separated. Once a week, on Friday, we've been going out to get American style food and this past week we went to Larry's Bar at the Sofitel Hotel. Larry's is described as the place where all the expats hang out. The food was excellent (I had the buffet), the service was top notch, the atmosphere was fun, they had Jenga and a pool table, and I felt like I was back home somewhere. Yet I felt a distance from the actual wait staff and cooks, who were Vietnamese. I felt like I was a member of the colonial aristocracy that once ruled this country. I enjoyed myself, but spending the extra cash to go there and the seeming distance Larry's attempts to create, made me feel a little guilty. I also lost at Jenga which didn't help.
You wanna revel in your own cultural identity without feeling like you're alienating yourself from everything around you?
ReplyDeleteNext time, get whatever ingredients you can together to approximate some American cooking as close as you can, and then have a dinner party with some vietnamese friends or maybe students. I'm sure the other expats will be up for it too so you can make it a whole event.