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Project 2 – Ho Chi Minh City
By Paul
Padegimas
 Vietnam
was a very beautiful, incredible, and especially interesting place to
visit. Being a communist country, at least
in name, there were certainly strict limits placed on the ability of
the country to truly cater to more transnational influences. The vernacular aspects of the culture are
obviously apparent throughout the city: The
vendors walking around the streets with boards over their backs,
baskets or boxes attached to each end and selling the goods in the
baskets, was a sign of the local culture. In
Ben Tanh market, the booths selling live and otherwise fresh fish,
every single piece of a pig imaginable, and the fresh vegetables all
showed how the locals lived. The ever
present motorbike carrying everything imaginable, from people to food
to scaffolding to entire dining room sets.
The fact that anything but
Vietnamese food was somewhat difficult to find was another defining
aspect of the city. It is a given that
downtown, in the small area of tall buildings, there were international
interests represented such as Citibank, HSBC, Sheraton, The
Renaissance, among others. However, if one looked closely into the
other parts of the city it is obvious that transnationality has
permeated all aspects of the culture. The
Ben Tanh market, with its vernacular outward appearance, truly is an
international experience. Given that there
are parts of the market that specialize in local products, food, and
groceries, much of the market is focused on the international traveler
with international products. This aspect
of the market relates very significantly to Elizabeth Vann’s article
“The Limits of Authenticity in Vietnamese Markets.”
The sale of DVDs, mostly of American movies, is one sign. Another is the bootleg goods that are for sale
absolutely everywhere throughout the market, from fake Rolexes to fake
Northface backpacks, to all kinds of clothing. These
all were international brands, focused on attracting the international
customer to come and visit and spend money to support the local economy. A blending of both the vernacular and
transnational certainly occurred in Ben Tanh, in a most interesting
manner.
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