almost famous

If this sort of attention is anything similar to what it's like to be famous, count me (and the kids) out of the "I want to be famous" group. Not that I ever really wanted it anyway, but this concretes it. Everywhere we go, we are watched, pointed at, touched, yelled to and, occasionally, surrounded.

I felt like we were actors pulling up to the film premier when we arrived at Sam Son beach. We could barely open the door for all the people that swarmed the taxi. "Just push through," I told the kids, as we had to get out their side. The entire trek down to the water, I continued having to shoo people away, saying "Khong, cam on" so many times until it dissolved into an abrupt "Khong!"

The cameras had been pulled out and, yet again, people wanted to take photos of themselves with my kids, Audrey especially. But she's done her duty and at least a dozen or two people have photographs of them with some Western girl that they don't know. It's a bit creepy if I think too hard about all these people with photos of my daughter. So, again, I told them no, this time with no smile, no faux kindness, despite what all the "Living in Vietnam" books encourage. I just couldn't fake it anymore.

We were followed into the water, down the beach, up the rocks and back down again. After about 40 minutes, we seem to have lost novelty, but there were still momentary interludes, like when 15 (yes, I counted) Vietnamese adults stood pointing and watching my kids play in the waves. They stood there for at least 10 minutes, just staring, and I couldn't help but think Just stay there, kids. You're safer in the water.

When we went to eat dinner at a restaurant across the street, we were followed and had an audience to us ordering our food, waiting for it and I'm sure they'd have stayed to watch us eat, but we took a taxi home instead (which was good because the chicken wasn't even half-cooked!).

I just want to be anonymous for one day here. Just one. But it seems we're either seen as potential sales (in Ha Noi and Hoi An) or idyllic mutants (everywhere else). I understand in the big picture, really I do, but just once, it'd be nice to go somewhere and have no one notice our fair skin, light hair and Western noses.