Music crosses all national boundaries...

This last week I have had a number of 'cross-cultural experiences' that have all involved music of some description. Funnily enough, none of the music was Vietnamese.

On Monday, I was invited to attend a 4th July celebration at the international guest house where some researchers from an American university were staying. 4th July is not really my scene at all but the people there were useful contacts so I went along. In one of those surreal Vietnam moments earlier in the day I had gone past the 'Lucky 17 saloon' bar which had a huge banner outside inviting people to come and 'celebrate America's independence'...it is interesting that one of the few points of commonality for America and Vietnam is that they were both once colonised countries...amazing how short term memory loss causes so many problems in this world.

Anyway, went to the US 4th July celebration and found myself in cross-cultural hell. Country and western music was blaring and the students were teaching their Vietnamese room-mates how to line dance! I sensibly hid and cringed from afar. After that, the kitchen staff, who had been slaving away all day brought out home-made hamburgers.....'yum'.

So that was Monday then on Wednesday I was wandering towards my local net cafe when the sound of a brass band playing drew my attention. A few doors up one of the shops had been converted into a funeral parlour for a traditional Vietnamese funeral which involves everyone wearing white pyjamas and headbands for a few days and hanging out with the coffin (not a very PC description but am short on time) I guess in a similar way to a Maori tangi minus the pyjamas. Anyway, the music was coming from a naval-uniformed brass band, complete with saxaphone, that was playing very upbeat jazz tunes while standing around the coffin. After 2 songs they stopped and wandered off down the road - not quite sure how it works but it was interesting to watch anyway.

And then today I went to watch the fabulously named Yale Whiffenpoofs - apparently one of the oldest, most prestigious male a capella vocal groups from Yale University in the USA. They are at the halfway point of a 20 country world tour that the group does every year. Despite the name they were bloody marvellous and would have kicked the arse of any American idol contestant any day but it was more than a little strange to be watching them do-wop-ing in a hotel in the middle of Saigon.

And now, I am chilling out (well, sweating - but that's not unusual) in my local net cafe and bopping along to old Michael Jackson - every day is a little treat to guess what fab music will be playing!

Over and out :-)