Sai Gon, June 12, 2001
The WEDDING. I forgot to tell you about the WEDDING. On Saturday night I went to a true Vietnamese wedding (well, okay, the reception) of the forty-something son of my Di 9's sister-in-law, whom I've never met. I missed the morning session where the son and his parading family had to go collect the bride and her parading family (like we did with my uncle in February), but made it to dinner. Vietnamese weddings are extraordinarily noisy. There were tables of beer-drinking men behind us who would grab their brews, count to 3, and yell "vo!" which means "in!" and they'd all clink mugs, take a swig, and sit back down. They'd do it about every 7 or 8 minutes. On stage, there was great d飯r of red everything, balloons that popped confetti when the newly married couple walked in, silly string, and an emcee on the mic. The house singers sung and later passed their mics on to guests who wanted their turn at karaoke. Singers were rewarded with long-stemmed roses that were purchased (I think) by spectators from the girls in ao dais carrying them in baskets, the way you see flower peddlers in Olde Towne Alexandria in romantic restaurants.

In the meantime, while we were served our multiple course meal, as all respectable weddings of the Vietnamese must be (my mother once paled at the suggestion that buffet weddings were not only practised, but perfectly acceptable for Americans, though she's seen enough now to know that there isn't anything wrong about them), the bride and groom swept from table to table to table being photographed with all their guests. Of course, the bride changed into three different wedding gowns in this hour long process. The Vietnamese say "well, you're only married once. You might as well wear as many as you can."

No cake was cut (as the cake is fake, and only for show), and as soon as the dessert (lychees) was served, tables cleared as the majority of guests went home. The entire fantastic affair lasted until 9:00 (It was scheduled to begin at 6:00, but since we are on Vietnamese time, we did not arrive until 7:30). And that was it. A Vietnamese wedding.