Yesterday was payday! To celebrate, Michael, Harley & I went out with a couple of students to a restaurant for dinner & beer. Afterwards, Harley suggested we go to a club.What an experience!
As we entered the club, the VERY LOUD MUSIC came blasting through the door at us. The bass was so strong that it made my body beat. I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest.
The room was full of tables surrounded by people drinking. There was no dance floor, just tables & people. In fact, there were gruff security guards all over the room who would put their hand on your shoulder to stop you if you danced too much. It was impossible to have any sort of conversation, so we were reduced to looking around at all the people & doing a little chair dance if we danced at all.
The above photo is the only one I was able to take of the experience. As soon as I took out my camera, a security guard came over & motioned for me to put it away. No photos. No dancing. Okay.
Our table came complete with 10 cans of Heinekin & two packs of gum. We were also served a huge platter of fruit that we all nibbled on through the evening. We basically had a private waiter that would change out the big chunk of ice in our drinks every few minutes, & fill our glasses when they got low.
Most of the club goers were men. The few women that were present were probably, um, working ladies. I noticed that a woman would hang around a table full of men for a while. Then she & one of the men would suddenly be gone. About 15 minutes later they would return to the table. Soon after, everyone at that table would leave & she would start hanging around another table. None of the women ever approached us.
I went to the restroom once during the evening. Michael led me through the crowd & waited for me at the bathroom door. Inside, there were women primping & chatting. I felt like I was behind the scenes of a major theatrical production. I guess in a way, I was.
Back out in the club, a couple of security guards had warmed up to our table, probably because our Vietnamese companions had been giving them sips (or rather gulps) or their beer. One Vietnamese man from another table started talking with us, but Michael motioned for the security guard to get rid of him - & he did.
By midnight, the club started clearing out. We left the club around 1:00am. The streets of Bien Hoa were empty as we drove the short distance home.
2 comments:
Wild, eh! I can't say my experiences in China have ever been quite like this, but the differences in such seemingly common culture can be the most striking. I think the weirdest nights I've had so far have been in hooker bars in downtown Hong Kong. It's like... intensely seedy, and yet, so... transparent and commonplace, that a lot of people don't think twice about conducting regular business in these places. Sometimes we would even go to one particularly seedy bar just because the live Latin band was unusually good. Theatrical is the word for it!
So are you earning as much as you were expecting to earn?
I have a friend who is interested.
Post a Comment