Hanoi has a vibrant street culture. A plethora of stores and restaurants flourish inside structures and on the sidewalks. A woman sells fruit from baskets balancing on a pole over her shoulder. Baguettes sold on the street corners. Men, on bicycles and with cases, sell accoutrements for men such as lighter fluid, wallets, and belts. Shoe shiners offer to make your shoes respectable again. The occasional kid sells gum. People are just out. Not to mention the thousands of motorbikes whizzing around. As time passes from morning to night, so shift the businesses. By day, a store is selling goods, but after closing, a street restaurant opens up.
Beside the hectic buzzing of the city, a culture of sitting and relaxing with friends, whether at a formal cafe, or a makeshift one on the sidewalk, also thrives. In the formal cafes coffee prevails, but on the streets it is tea. This is not the formal British high tea or the meditative traditional Asian tea. It is tea for the masses. It is cheap, fast and easy. The furniture is a small plastic table with tiny stools on a patch of sidewalk.
Mostly it is women setting up these little businesses. The tea lady job is not one passed down from generations nor is it held in high esteem. It is a job that people back into because they possibly have no other options. Sometimes they are unable to find a job in a factory or such, but also it is a job women can do with small children. The startup costs are minimal. The profit margin is large. On average they can make about $6 a day which might be more than they would make in a factory. They do not have to travel far, work for a boss, or in a very oppressive environment. As a tea lady, she sets her own schedule, and pace, while socializing with her customers, family and neighbors.
It is difficult to describe the fondness I have for such a thing as tea on the side of the street. Why are the tea stands so near and dear to my heart? For one thing, they are everywhere. They give you a place to sit, relax, and refresh, for just a minute or two, like a little rest stop, albeit without toilets. I remember wondering about these little places on the side of the street on my first visit a few years ago. I fortunately had one right outside where I was staying. So when waiting for someone, I would often sit and have a tea. Years later when I returned to Hanoi to work, I would sometimes find myself early for appointments and would wile away the time by having a tea. I felt that my fellow patrons were, like me, in between appointments. I loved these places. It seemed so civilized to me, to have a place to just recuperate for a few moments. When I stopped, no one hassled me. I just sipped my strong green tea and relaxed. The business is very informal. People sit. No one tries to get you to buy anything. People may even help themselves, particularly to the snacks.
As an artist with a history of performance, it seemed natural to immerse myself in the Vietnamese culture by being a tea lady. On the appointed day I arrived at 5pm. I sat and had tea with Thuy, the tea lady from whom I would rent a setup. We chatted a tiny bit but I really don't speak Vietnamese. I told her a friend would come at 5pm. When my college−student translator arrived I set about learning to be a tea lady right away. Thuy showed me how to make tea in a well−used porcelain teapot, kept hot in a wicker basket with a padded fabric lining and cover. We used hot water from large thermoses and loose green tea in a large clear plastic bag. The makings sat further away from the customers, I think because, if the police arrive, those things would be safe. Tea is served in small glass water glasses, 1,000VND (about 5 cents) or larger, perhaps plastic ones, for iced tea 2,000VND. The iced tea is made from the second run of tea from the pot. The tea is diluted with water in old plastic soda bottles and store-bought ice from a Styrofoam chest is added. There was a small bucket with water and limes to "wash" the glasses. Cigarettes, both loose and by the pack, are available (1,000VND per cigarette) as are lighters to use, usually with a piece of hose on it so as to not be accidentally taken home. A bamboo water pipe is also on hand for those who smoke loose tobacco. At some of these places bottled drinks are available, but Thuy has none. She also doesn't have a table, but instead only a basket with some snacks. Snacks consist of a few packaged cakes and seasonal fruits or vegetables, such as cucumbers, green mango and plums peeled and sliced on the spot, served with ground chili pepper and salt. Gum is also available.
We all sat on little red plastic chairs. Thuy told me how to serve the items and how much to charge. My interpreter was not required but I relied on her heavily anyway. I asked about police and received no definitive answer. They wouldn't come until after 10pm. I don't know why. It isn't exactly legal to sell things on the streets. In the more upscale neighborhoods, this activity is severely curtailed by confiscating the wares. No ticket is given and the items can be reclaimed the next day for a fee which would be less than the replacement value. I made the tea lady and her husband go away but, thankfully, they hovered around the edges. My translator left which made me rely heavily on gestures. The older Vietnamese men wanted to practice whatever foreign languages they spoke in years gone by with me: French, German, English. It was really very nice. One man insisted upon trying to converse with me in Vietnamese. I told him in Vietnamese I did not understand, repeatedly. He persisted. People were super honest and would give me money and explain exactly how much everything was. Two street cleaning women kept coming back for a tea or a smoke. They didn't stay long although it seemed to me that there was no boss present to hassle them. First there was the after work crowd to meet with a friend for a quick tea and chat with friend. Off and on all night the customers came in waves. Some would only do a quick purchase of a few cigarettes to go. Very few stayed for any real length of time which perhaps is testament that I make a very poor tea lady. This experience warmed my heart. The customers were nice, friendly, and helpful probably out of loyalty to Thuy.
Surprisingly very few expats came but the locals did. It seems Thuy has a thriving business of locals. They all came. They had tea and cigarettes. I made 85,000VND ($4.50) for her in about three hours. I suspect that was lower than usual but I don't know. It was fun and a little stressful because I have never been a tea lady before and I don't speak the language. It was great fun though. It was really a positive experience and if I had these types of experiences with these types of people, my view of Vietnamese people would be greatly improved. So I served them, they paid me. It was all fun and games. But it was also hard work to keep up and remember to do all the stuff.
