I Shop, Therefore I Am

There’s a big mural on the back wall of one of the expat cafes in Hoi An town that’s got Bruce Lee with a big can of Coke in one hand, and on the other side, there’s a Mona Lisa wearing an iPod. In the middle, it says in big letters, “I shop, therefore I am.” In the front salon, there’s a huge painting of Bono in a Superman outfit, below his portrait it says “Superbono!” in huge letters and to one side, it said “Giving, not bombing.” I was unsure how to take any of this stuff – is it ironic, sarcastic, serious? Who can say? It’s impossible to tell and the Vietnamese girls aren’t saying.

I talked to an Actual Artist ™ that told me that most of the work in town is copies, he’s the only guy showing original work. It was awful stuff, clumsy and ugly with bits of computer parts stuck into the surface – he told me he likes to do work about the balance between modernity and tradition, but hearing that didn’t make the work any more attractive.

We did end up dropping a little money in the tailoring sector of the economy that seems to drive this town. We had some modestly successful copies of my travel pullover made – the zippers aren’t quite right, but otherwise, they’re okay. J. got two pairs of pants, I got one, and then, on the way back to the hotel, I caved in and bought three silk shirts, very pretty things in dark colors with bits of embroidery on them, and blissfully unlike anything else I’d seen in town.

It’s hard to shop when everything looks so much the same. Stores stand shoulder to shoulder with stores selling exactly the same merchandise. “You come look my shop!” the girls shout. “You buy something new! You come look around!” But the third time you have been down the block you realize that there is nothing all that different about what’s in shop one as compared to what’s in shop 23. It kills the shopping buzz – that and the rather close distances the shopgirls keep. They are at your shoulder, you can not browse or touch or just look because they will not leave you alone. I suppose that’s the method that works if you are from here, but it just leaves me feeling like a shoplifter.

• Weather: Still cool and breezy. It’s just not tropical. Tomorrow, hopefully.
• Health: I’m looking forward to a room that hasn’t been underwater recently. That should help with my cough.