LOCATION: HOI AN, HANOI, CAT BA ISLAND, (VIETNAM)

"So do they not have dinner tables at home?"

The off-hand comment rung out like a gunshot in the air as I walked through Hoi An's touristy yet charmful inner streets. The visuals occurring before me were something I had subconsciously accepted and never really thought about. Until that moment.

As I biked through the old ancient town and its outskirts, I would get strings of Deja vu as I would wonder if I had already just passed the laid-out set of durable plastic that graced my peripherals. In reality, I was simply bypassing a looping signature of Vietnamese life.

Rather than perceiving it to be a clutter of childish furniture or potential for hazard, the intricate yet chaotic setup of chairs and table sets that look like it can facilitate a bomb ass kindergarten lunch party, serves for much a far bigger purpose than one would think. As a matter of fact, it provides a stage for one of the most important aspects of culture to occur in its natural form, that being the sense of community bonding  and socialization.

See, as I shared a lunch with a newly made friend ,Will from Montreal, we discussed how we ended up in a marriage of a market and a mess hall. We then discussed how the Vietnamese people were very sociable in their nature. Quite frequently, you would see heaps of people out on the streets sharing meals, daily quips and most importantly, company and friendship.

What I loved most about the scene, was the clash of persons and personality in one setting. At one table, you can spot check a mother feeding her child while she allows her Pho to settle, a worker grabbing a bite of chicken rice before displaying a rather graceful balancing act of straw hats on the rear of his motorbike, and the group of elders who have joined for their morning ritual of coffee and games. The one cool thing was they were very welcoming, atleast towards me, often signaling for me to join them.

I suddenly thought, wow, all those years of trying to find my place in the highschool lunchroom paid off. I finally got invited to sit with a group of peeps! There were no rules of divide or judgement of standards, just open invitation for company.

TAKE THAT KAREN FROM MEAN GIRLS!

Not to mention the great selection of food that you can experience while injecting yourself into the very thread of Vietnam's sidewalk communities. 

Pick your poison of Chicken & Rice, Cao Lau, a noodle based specialty of Hoi An, or Pho, a vietnamese soup dish that is currently making waves all around the world's urban communities. It's almost like stepping into someone's kitchen and having a sit down for a meal. Get to watch them pull and deliver magic out of their silver pots and pans. The "home" aspect is what makes the experience all worthwhile.

So next time you're strolling out and catch a glimpse of an empty seat, pull up and simply let yourself become part of a tradition embedded in the social norm of a country that has endless experiences to offer, especially in terms of their cuisine. Find your balance amidst the chaos occurring around you, and see not only how LOW you can go, but also how LOCAL you can get.

-PASSPORTkenny