..circumnavigate.with.me..

On a SAS sponsored trip in Vietnam, we took a slow boat out to ‘explore’ some islands off the coast of Nha Trang.  The only inhabitants of these islands were concentrated in small fishing villages at the water’s edge (with many living in houses on the water).  During the heat of the day, we wandered through the village, peeking in huts to see many people napping to avoid the sun.  There were some children stirring in a school yard, but the atmosphere was sleepy.  I did the ultimate double take when passing by the open doorway to a dark house: I passed by, came to an immediate halt, and stepped backwards without breaking my gaze from the door.  Inside was exactly what I had imagined that I saw.  A young man was sitting on an archaic looking barstool watching an English professional football game.  I stared long enough to determine the teams playing and the score.  Before I disappeared down the street with the rest of the group, I noticed the man had shifted his gaze on me and was beaming at my interest in his television program.

I guess I wasn’t as close to the middle of nowhere as I had thought.

A couple of days later on the walk from the War Remnants Museum to the Ben Thahn Market I caught the sound of cheering and banging across the street from where we were walking.  It seemed to be pouring over the tops of stalls selling sporting goods.  I was entranced by curiosity and I absentmindedly abandoned the group in search of the sound’s source.  Passing through a gate, I came upon a weathered Vietnamese man reading a newspaper.  He signaled me over with enthusiastic motions and said “student game, student game!”  I traced the direction of his gestures and discovered a football match in session.  Even at 11am the air was already heavy with heat, but the players seemed unfazed.  The crowd was small and mighty.  Numerous percussion instruments were represented as fans banged together rhythms and chants.  An elderly drum-less woman frantically beat together two empty plastic bottles in hopes of stirring up the players that she favoured.   Because of my interest in the culture and passion for the sport, I was unable to tear myself away from the game.  I gladly traded in my shopping to sit on the dirty bleachers, surrounded by shouting Vietnamese sports enthusiasts who loved football as much as I did.