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Young international friends interested in Vietnamese Tet
Young international friends interested in Vietnamese Tet
5/2/17
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| Young international friends are learning to make Chung cake for Vietnamese Tet |
Coming from different
corners of the world, these youths share a common love for Tet, Vietnam’s
Lunar New Year holiday.
Nathalie Halbete, a French national living in Ho Chi Minh City,
brightened up as she spoke about Tet. Born and raised in Paris,
Halbete said her past six years in Vietnam had been the most beautiful
time in her life.
For a foreigner, Halbete knows a lot about Vietnamese
customs and traditions, including the country’s taboos. She said one should
avoid visiting others outside of their family on Lunar New Year’s Day, as it
could bring bad luck to the hosts.
Though speaking little Vietnamese, Halbete said she
had never felt it a challenge to live in Vietnam
as she had already considered it her second home, where she even has more
friends than back in France.
She added that Tet is her much-awaited time of the
year, when she would blend in with the crowd on Lunar New Year’s Eve to wait
for the fireworks.
As the city has announced the cancelation of any fireworks show this year, Halbete
hopes to see alternative entertainment programs being organized for locals and
foreigners to join.
For Vilaysak PhanDanouvong, a Lao exchange student at
the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam in Hanoi,
the thing about Tet that touches him the most is the tradition of Vietnamese
youths who live far away from home to be reunited with their family over a New
Year meal.
The feeling was shared by Canadian man Austin Carter,
co-founder of Vietnam’s first education review community EBIV,
who said he had the first taste of Vietnamese Tet in 2016 when he spent the
holiday at a friend’s hometown in southern Vietnam’s
Vung Tau City.
This year, Carter joined his friend’s family to visit
their relatives and neighbors to exchange Tet wishes, a tradition observed by
many Vietnamese families demonstrating the country’s communal culture.
He said he was glad to see many young Vietnamese
spending the weeks leading up to Tet to do charity work and help the less fortunate in the country, which he
said is also common in his home country.
Benjamin James, a music producer from the UK, is brushing up on his Vietnamese to better
integrate into the local culture, and he has promised to write a song about the
people and life in Ho Chi Minh City
when he has enough experience about the city.
James was surprised to see many Vietnamese trying
their best to be reunited with their family during Tet or other holidays, as it
is rarely seen in his home country.
Dressed in a male design of the Vietnamese ‘ao dai’
dress, James said he felt smarter and more gentlemanly each time he put on the
national costume of Vietnam.
For Erik Perttu, a Swedish IT manager, each of the
past three Lunar New Years has been a different experience for him as he had
spent it in a different region of the country.
Perttu has a Vietnamese girlfriend who was born in Nha Trang City, so he said he had been able to compare how
similarly and differently people observe the holiday in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City.
Yazan Ayaydeh, a Palestinian exchange student at Hanoi University,
said Vietnamese Tet bears many resemblances to the traditional New Year in Palestine, as people also
wear new clothes and visit family members on New Year’s Day.
The tradition of giving lucky money to children on the first day of the new lunar
year is also observed by Palestinians as a way of wishing good luck, health,
success and happiness, Ayaydeh said./.
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All comments [ 10 ]
Vietnam has a very interesting culture
On the occasion of Tet, I wish all of you good luck, health, success and happiness
Vietnamese people enjoy a diverse culture life without any restrictions from the Government
I love Vietnamese Tet, I hope I can come to Vietnam at the time of Tet
You have a very good culture to have a Tet time for all Vietnamese to come back to their family after a long year of work
There are not many countries that have a good tradition of holding a Tet time for all people like Vietnam
the party and State of Vietnam always put their people at the center of all policies
Happy New Year everyone!
2017 is a lucky year for all Vietnamese
I think the international friends of Vietnam should come to this country to see the beauty in the culture life of Vietnamese, especially at the Tet time
Your comments