Soccer Hooligans: Or, How I Became a Walking Communist Flag
So, the other night in Saigon there was a massive motorbike rally after Vietnam’s soccer team advanced into the Asian cup for the first time ever. From teenage boys to families with babies, people were riding for hours in a loop of city blocks at the heart of downtown District 1, cheering and waving flags. Quite a spectacle– and people got so ridiculously excited by my merely taking pictures of them as they passed by, that when I walked by a woman selling small flags for less than a dollar, I figured hey, why not amuse the crowd even more?
At first I carried the flag in my hand and walked beside the motorbikes, but soon felt too self-conscious to actively wave the flag. So I pulled up my hair and stuck the flag in my ponytail instead. Much better. So I walked along for a while, and it seemed to make a lot of people’s nights– lots of cheers and laughing, a few people (including what seemed to be professional-photographers) asking to take my picture. So it’s very possible I’m in some random publication or other…
And better, a clip of the rally– which ends with a cute Vietnamese girl wearing a USA top.
And the thing I’m kicking myself for is that I accidentally deleted a clip a small band (drums, other instruments) who paused at a monument to strike up some patriotic song that got everyone into a(n even greater) fervor.
