Tao Dan park is full of benches. As I walk through it tonight, every bench, every single one, has a Vietnamese couple on it, whispering sweet nothings into one another's ears. And I'm the only person not on a bench. I wish there were a good way to capture this. My camera/pics don't cut it. Dozens, possibly north of a hundred, benches. Whatever number of benches, multiply by exactly two (no more, no less) and that's the number of people who are here besides me. All on benches, in perfect pairs. A paraphrase of Dana Carvey's standup comes to mind: "If you're alone in Tao Dan park, you're probably a retard, get on a bench!" Weird, wild stuff.
On the south side of the park there is an amphitheater. It's closed to the public, and I can only peek inside. The theater is full of people - probably sold out. A man is lecturing the crowd in Vietnamese, bright spotlights upon him. Intrigued, but with a theory, I sit and listen. The man rarely pauses for breath; the crowd is silent and seemingly rapt. I'm timing: three minutes go by. I look around for an attendant, to see what's going on. More lecturing. Another three minutes, barely a pause, nary a sound. I find a woman, likely a ticket-taker. I ask her what's inside. Strugging with her English, she slowly replies: "Comedy show." Just as I suspected. The meager laughter finally arrives as I walk away, dumbfounded, almost on cue.
On the south side of the park there is an amphitheater. It's closed to the public, and I can only peek inside. The theater is full of people - probably sold out. A man is lecturing the crowd in Vietnamese, bright spotlights upon him. Intrigued, but with a theory, I sit and listen. The man rarely pauses for breath; the crowd is silent and seemingly rapt. I'm timing: three minutes go by. I look around for an attendant, to see what's going on. More lecturing. Another three minutes, barely a pause, nary a sound. I find a woman, likely a ticket-taker. I ask her what's inside. Strugging with her English, she slowly replies: "Comedy show." Just as I suspected. The meager laughter finally arrives as I walk away, dumbfounded, almost on cue.
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