Welcome to Authentic City: Pop. Innumerable

I had an interview today that was slightly different from most interviews I do.

I was the one being interviewed, and the topic was Bát Tràng, a village near where Sana and I live that has literally hundreds of craft pottery shops, a museum, places to make your own pottery, etc.

You should do a Duck Duck Go search, they have really amazing photos, and this little village is world-renowned for its pottery. Indeed, a vase made in Bát Tràng is a brand in its own right.

One of Sana’s students at the university she teaches is doing a research project on the foreigner’s experience visiting Bát Tràng, and since there are very few foreigners in Vietnam these days due to the lockdown on int’l travel, he was rather eager to speak with me.

Funny thing about the interview is that he used the word “authentic” over and over, and he did so without any real context, nor specific application of the word. He would ask things like, “How did visiting Bát Tràng affect your perception of an authentic experience?”

He’s Vietnamese, and speaks really good English, so you give the kid some grace when his questions aren’t exactly to our standards, right? So I did my best to perceive what he was asking and give an answer to the best of my ability.

But one thing he did that had me cracking up throughout the interview was he would say “authentic city” whenever he used the word “authenticity.”

So a question might sound like this: “When you’re visiting Bát Tràng, does it affect your perception of its authentic city?” That’s not a verbatim quote, but you get the idea.

Overall, he acquitted himself impeccably. We dove into some meaty topics, and he kept his composure with my answers and when I got a bit frustrated with his lack of clarity in his questions.

But it got me to thinking about how the word “authenticity” is a hot buzzword in our time. But how many people who use it so liberally like that disgusting fake butter on movie popcorn really know what it means to be “authentic”?

I submit that very few have the slightest clue, yerronner.

People seem to have the notion that some silly gag with a face mask on Instagram is akin to being “authentic.” I think they’re chumps who wouldn’t know an independent thought if it hit them in the head.

Well, I’ve distanced myself from social media for the last few years because of its authentic endangerment of privacy, manipulation of children and what not.

But I was the first to hop on board with a new social media platform called Social Lair, because I trust and respect the two individuals who started it.

There is a bit of work involved getting into my brand new lair, i.e. you need to go through a short sign-up process to get in – and it’s invitation only for the time being. I don’t want a whole horde of people in it while I’m still learning the ropes myself.

So if you want in, just send me an email, and I’ll send you the instructions you need to get access into my world 🙂