Seafood and Arm Wrestling Vietnam Style

There are those moments in life that take a turn for the unexpected, the bizarre and wonderful. The question is.."Are you open to it?"..."Are you feeling adventurous?" I spent four days in the south of Vietnam in and around a small beach town called Quy Nhon with two friends. We had a great time, but there was an afternoon that took that very unexpected turn and feel grateful for the experience. Quy Nhon is famous for its seafood. We had our taxi driver on the way to the beach drop us off at a place he recommended and it did not disappoint. Picture if you will a large open air restaurant, across the street from the beach, completely empty except for us and a few others. We ordered octopus, scallops, spring rolls and okra. The middle of our table had a built in grill that we were pleasantly surprised was to be cooked by our waitress, especially when you have no clue what to do with these exotic creatures of the deep. The experience was visually and tastily incredible. I never thought octopus could be so good. We were sipping our beers, enjoying the sights and tastes. Everything was wonderful and relatively normal until three local men sat down at the table behind us. That is when our experience turned to the wonderfully bizarre. The three Vietnamese men already had been drinking and in a very happy mood. It is not unusual for local men to test your strength and manly hood by consuming copious amounts of liquor with new or old friends. The elder of the three was the boss and insisted we begin what was one of many full and fast beer gulping episodes. It was fun at first, but with my desire of simply drinking my beer slow, became an adventure in letting go of inhibitions. It is rude to refuse, but one must eventually say 'no more'!!! As intoxication set in to our brains and the empty bottles began to pile up, it became clear there was no turning back. Eventually arm wrestling was as important as drinking. This was a rare step into the world of Vietnamese male culture of bonding, egos and fun. How incredible this experience was considering the fact that even with limited language abilities and failing judgment, we were so welcomed.

This event I speak of was important in many ways. One, it was yet another experience to become closer to Vietnam. Two, phenomenal food with new friends. Third, and perhaps the most important to me, was the fact that my friends and I are gay and the three Vietnamese men I assume were not. It was incredible in this world of so much intolerance to not ever have being gay an issue. We were six men, from different cultures, that simply enjoyed a brief moment in life, without judgment or expectations. This is the way life should be and I am a better person because of it. Thank you Vietnam!!