‘I love Vietnamese Tet’

Vietnam’s Tet is a really happy time

David Ponlevoy, 38, language editor for VOV5, made this remark when he spoke about the Lunar New Year festival. David had welcomed the Lunar New Year in Vietnam five times. The moment of transition from the old year to the new one was so sacred, he said.

Many of his friends wanted to arrive in Vietnam to enjoy Tet, David said, adding that he had advised them to stay with a Vietnamese family to feel the full atmosphere of a Vietnamese Tet, because it will be boring and meaningless to celebrate Tet alone.

David told VOV that Vietnam’s Tet often lasts one week or even two while the Christmas holiday is only about three days long.

David said during Tet, he was first impressed by the way his mother-in-law prepared for the new year. She often prepared several chickens for Tet, and then jammed all of them into the fridge. Vietnam’s family concept is usually larger than that of Germany. “If you visit a German family during Christmas, usually you could meet only very close relatives – grandparents, aunts and uncles,” David said. “But in Vietnam you could meet many relatives.”

Tet is cheerful and warm, said Wael Almulla, Iraqi, who owned the Dragon Fly restaurant in Hanoi.

Wael has spent 10 years in Vietnam. Wael said Iraq’s traditional New Year shares many similarities with Vietnam’s Tet. “I’m especially fond of the Lunar New Year’s Eve in Vietnam because it has firework displays. My friends and I often go to Hoan Kiem Lake to view the display of fireworks. For the past decade, I have never missed any firework display there.”

In addition, Wael said he found branches of peach or kumquat trees very impressive. “Oh, and banh chung (square sticky rice cakes) - they are very delicious,” he added.

During Tet, Wael usually visits the families of his Vietnamese friends and brings along liquor, tea or chocolate as gifts for the hosts. Wael said liquor and alcoholic drinks are banned in Muslim countries but his Vietnamese friends often invite him enthusiastically to drink liquor, and it’s difficult for him to… refuse.

‘Luckily, my wife is Vietnamese’

Raja Janjua, 33, Pakistani, who works for a Vietnam-Pakistan company, said his country does not welcome the new year. Instead, he said, it has two major holidays – Eid Ul Fitr, and Eid Ul Azha in November and December. During these days, Pakistanis often slaughtered cows or goats to offer to God. But the first days of the new year are like routine ones.

This practice is obviously quite different from Vietnam, he said. According to Raja, he is the first Pakistani that settled in the country. Raja told VOV that the Pakistani community in Vietnam is very small so he often meets only his trade partners during the Tet holiday. Because he has few friends in Vietnam, he often celebrates Tet together with Indians in hotels or restaurants. Given this, he said he is lucky to have a Vietnamese wife, and therefore on Tet, he also follows Vietnamese customs to visit his wife’s family. Both he and his wife are eager to purchase goods for Tet and to decorate their house. “Of course, I love Vietnamese Tet,” he affirmed.

‘I still want to wrap chung cakes’

That’s the wish of a Lao student at the Hanoi Economics College.  21-year-old Alinsa said she has stayed in Vietnam for three consecutive years to observe Tet because “I want to taste more flavour of Vietnamese culture”. Alinsa said she enjoys the bustling atmosphere during the days before Tet, when the streets are thronged with people rushing to buy goods for Tet celebrations.

“Before New Year’s Eve, my friends’ families took me to markets of flowers and lantern-lamps. I was also given lucky money and had a chance to drink ‘can’ wine and wrap chung cakes.” But she admitted that she had so far failed to wrap a chung cake and had pledged to successfully wrap one in the years to come.

Liu Lixian, a Chinese student at Hanoi University, said she will try to spend Tet holiday with many Vietnamese families.

Lixian said both Vietnamese and Chinese people are happy to stay in the atmosphere of the Tet holiday, which is the most anticipated of the year. “Hanoi’s streets are so crowded in these days,” Lixian said. “The whole family stay together for the New Year’s Eve party and pay Tet visits to other people. I love this warm atmosphere very much.”

The 21-year-old girl said she was invited by many Vietnamese friends to celebrate Tet at their homes and she set the target of enjoying Tet with as many Vietnamese families as possible before leaving Hanoi./.