Vietnam, Indonesia and Alcohol
[Somewhere warm]
1: Just making this warmer.
2: Sure.
1: So where you from ethnically? [I wanted to say China but refrained.]
2: Vietnam, you?
1. Pakistan
2. Pakistan. Oh okay.
1. So did the American’s lose in Vietnam?
2. Basically yeah. They left.
1. So when was this?
2. Uhh, hmmm
1. In the 70’s?
2. Yeah.
1. So what was the war about?
2. Well the Americans were with the South, against the North
1. Oh. Were they communist in the North?
2. Yeah. Kinda like North Korea and South Korea.
1. Ok.
2. Yeah but it’s all one country, Vietnam, it’s not divided like in Korea right now.
1. Yeah now that I’m thinking about it, the communist government committed a genocide against Muslims in Viet Nam.
2. You sure about that? Not sure about Muslims in Vietnam. I know in Cambodia and Laos there are a good amount of Muslims.
1. There are?
2. Yeah.
1. Do they look Asian?
2. Cambodians look like Indonesians.
1. Oh, yeah Indonesia is a Muslim country.
2. I’ve bin there
1. Really? So you see mosques every where?
2. Oh yeah.
1. So can you go out?
2. Yeah yeah.
1. Like restaurants, parties?
2. You could do all that no problem. There’s alcohol everywhere.
[A third guy joins us]
1. Serious?
2. Yeah.
1. But it’s a Muslim country?
2. Yeah well…
1. Like in Pakistan, there’ no alcohol anywhere openly. It’s only in Christian areas and hotels. You need a license.
3. Just like Ontario. The only place you can buy beer is the Beer Store.
1. Not convenience stores?
[Both say No]
1. Oh. Not like in New York. You can get it from any convenience store.
2. Yeah.
1. So you can’t get the good stuff quick eh? [smile]
[Everyone smiles and agrees]