Let me tell you about a important holiday in vietnam.
It is Tet that is the vietnamese new year
marking the arival of spring based on the lunar calendar. Tet takes place from the first month of
the lunar calendar until at least the third day. This period begins one or two weeks before the
actual celebration. the happiest time is these day before tet and people preare for it. I really
enjoyed going to market with mother on these day. Although I don’t buy anything. I like coming
after and carrying things for my mother.. The general atmosphere leading up to tet is in the bustle
of shopping, decorating, cooking traditional food and waiting for relatives to return home.
In the days leading up to tet, each family cooks special holiday foods such as banh chung and
banh day. Banh chung is one of the most traditonal special foods for the lunar new year in the
north of viet nam.it is made of stick rice, pork and green bean all ingredients are wrapped inside
a special leaf, the rice and green bean have to be soaked in water for a night. The pork is usually
seasoned with pepper and salt for several hours. Banh chung is boiled for 8 or 10 hours.
Preparations for these foods are quite extensive. And during the time Family members often take
turns to keep watch on the fire overnight, telling each other stories about tet of past years.
Beside, there also are many foods such as watermelon seed, dried candied fruits,…
. Parents buy new clothes for their children so that the children can wear them when tet arives.
The first day of tet is reserved for the nuclear family. Children wear their new clothes, give their
elders the traditional tet greetings before receiving the lucky money from them in exchange. The
traditional greetings are happy new year) and gracious wishes of the new spring). People also
wish each other prosperity and luck.
Vietnamese believe that the color of red and yellow will bring good fortune, which may explain
why these colors can be seen everywhere in lunar new year . you can esily see peach blossom
trees, and orange trees. They also buy flowers to decorate their homes. Above all, time to tet is
counting down, l. On the new year’s eve, vietnamese have a spectacular celebration which
involves the whole nation- some may gather around tv and watch the tao quan show. Every
family usually have a family altarVietnamese . they have a tray of five different fruits on their
altar .
Traditonally, the threee kitchen guardians for each house return to heaven on the 23rd day of the
twelfth month by lunar calendar to give his annual report on family members to the jade
emperor. Since the vietnamese believe that the very first visistor a family receives in the year
determines their fortune for the entire year,. This special activity is called xoong ddat, which is
one of the most impotant rituals during tet.. People also supposed sweeping during tet is unlucky
since it symbolizes sweeping the lucky away. tet is a very special occasion for vietnamese family
to reunite. After al, tet means so much to me
