But twas not to be as the fair air was o' so rocked at the Ambassador's reception in the Royal Club of Hanoi by by conversation that would be unlikely to be thought acceptable in the homes of our own dear Queen.
By some accounts, it does seem to happen rather a lot. One particular gentleman, despite having his heart set on enjoying the meagre hospitality offered to the full, vowed that he would never return to the land of his birth. Full of foreigners apparently, unlike Vietnam, that is full of Vietnamese (women). Sexual harassment is relatively unheard of here - this is a good thing apparently, as is the lack of rules.
The attitude was not unlike that held by erstwhile espousers of the Abrahamic faiths in declaring that 'man is man, and woman is woman' but recommended lifestyles based on these conclusions diverge rapidly at this point.
A later conversation involved an open telling by a local of an encounter with a chinese prostitute; in female company. I was expected to object as we heard how the shackles of oppressive chinese imperialism had been thrown off by this very act, and indeed how much the experience had been enjoyed by both the oppressor and the oppressed. I did remark that paymasters are rarely criticised but it was clearly not the moral indignation required of one working in part on gender issues.
Here the elephant in the room is at least worthy of remark - but pushing it up the stairs will take more than a bit of moral indignation.
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