-^-for posterity-^-

there are is a variety of ways to measure development in a country. i prefer the coffee-shop coefficient.

tonight i went with my friends to the newest coffee shop in town. it’s called the ‘coffee bamboo.’ we sat under blue lights and enjoyed fruit drinks of all sorts.

the shop is the bottom floor of a house. it has been redecorated and all of the walls have been painted and the atmosphere is the forefront of all conversation. there was a wheel made out of bamboo which turned when water was poured over it. the walls were painted in a way that blurred the vision and clouded the mind. the music was soft jazz. there were televisions mounted on the walls. there were fishing nets hung from the ceiling with dried leaves tied to them. this was modernity. this was a coffee drinking experience.

i’ve talked to a number of my friends and they measure the development of their city by the number of modern coffee shops in town.

there are a million places to drink coffee in this town. you can go to any corner, see any old lady sitting by the road and ask her for a cup of coffee. it should cost you about 10 cents. she’ll sit there stirring a bit of strong, espresso-like coffee she has in jar with some sugar. she’ll add ice and she’ll serve it to you with a pot of tea.

the next class of coffee shops up is the type of coffee shop where i normally have my morning cup. this class of coffee shop has a number of girls running around asking you what you would like to drink and bringing you countless superfluous cups of ice. the prices are higher (about 5 cents for a cup) but the service is better and the coffee is phin, which means it is passed through a filter on your table. it means a lot of waiting but the coffee has a much stronger and a more credible taste. the music is loud and there are televisions but the ambiance is lacking.
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since i have been here, there have been three new coffee shops opened up that are worth noting and that are of the higher class. the first to open was called (and i’m not translating, the name is in english) ‘number 1’. it was an instant success and we were immediately taken there by our students. the music was unbearably loud. there was a giant neon sign outside. there were people everywhere and too many lasers to count properly. the coffee was outrageously expensive (about 1 dollar a cup) and the conversation was pathetic.

the next to open was called (and i’m not translating) ‘yesterday’. it was a quaint coffee shop off of a busy road that was also packed since the day it opened. you park your motorbike on the road and walk down an alley. at the end of the alley you’re met with all sorts of flowing water and lots of soft lighting and music. the soft lighting and music make the experience more enjoyable than ‘number 1’ and the water makes everything seem like you’re in the middle of a stream. all in all, ‘yesterday’ is an ok place to drink coffee.

the final place to open since i’ve been here is ‘coffee bamboo’ (every caoffee shop of this caliber must be named in english to retain allure. i described it above and it’s a nice place to drink coffee. of all the high class coffee shops, i’d suggest going to ‘coffee bamboo’ even though they switched the letters around.

and that’s that. in vietnam development is judged by the ‘coffee shop coefficient’. if there aren’t enough shops that cater to the proper class of people, you must look elsewhere for a place to live.