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The flower market on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street attracts many foreigners. Photo N.T
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Dr. Peter Todd, a New Zealand expert on aquaculture, has worked in Binh Dinh for two years. He often buys small scrolls with different color to decorate his house when the Tet is coming.
This was the second time he’s enjoyed Tet in Vietnam, he said. He saw the scrolls when going out with his friends last year and he is now interested in them. Finding out some scrolls in the drawers, he tried to say the words written on them in Vietnamese, such as “Chuc mung nam moi” (Happy New Year) or “An Khang Thinh Vuong” (Wish you a healthy and prosperous new year).
Patrick Fitzgibbon, another New Zealand man working in Binh Dinh as an aquaculture conservation consultant, has also celebrated Tet here for a second consecutive year.
He always shows his interest in flowers of different kinds displayed along Nguyen Tat Thanh Street. “Peter and I have never seen many kinds of flowers displayed along the whole street before,” Patrick said. “We often enjoy them on foot or by bicycle.”
“There are no such flowers with different colors in New Zealand,” he added. “I realized every house has many kinds of flowers when the Tet comes.”
“Peter and I also bought a pot of apricot blossom last year and put it in front of our house,” Patrick said. “Peter likes small flower-pots very much.”
Peter and Patrick know well about Vietnamese customs in the Tet holiday. They, for example, presented Tet gifts and postcards to their Vietnamese friends before the Tet comes. Coming to friends’ houses during Tet, they also give tien li xi (fortune money) to children.
Banh tet (cylindrical glutinous rice cake filled with green bean paste and fat pork) and vegetable pickles also leave them with good impression. Also, Peter likes drinking bau da wine.
Barbara Dawson, Barbara’s kiwi owner, gets familiar with Tet for she has lived in Vietnam for a long time. When the Tet is coming, she always gives her staff New Year bonuses, organizes a year-end party to help them enjoy Tet, and give them several days off to visit their families during Tet.
She also plays a role as a “consultant” in helping foreigners who will celebrate Tet in Quy Nhon for the first time. “They all want to know Tet customs in Vietnam and show interest when I told them that Vietnamese people often go to pagoda on the first day of the first lunar month, give fortune money to children, and have meals with their relatives and friends during Tet,” she said.
“Some of them tried Vietnamese dishes in the Tet holiday and like them very much,” she added. “When the pub has a very few customers I also visit and extend Tet greetings to my friends and enjoy Vietnamese dishes.”
Foreigners who enjoy Tet in Vietnam also feel the atmosphere of a traditional festival to some extent when receiving such Tet greetings as “Happy New Year” and “Best wishes for a New Year”. Flowers of different kinds and the family affection also leave them with good impression.
Like our Christmas holidays, Tet was the time for the family gathering, but the gap among family members in Vietnam was narrower, Peter said. Vietnamese people often have meals together and give best wishes to each other during Tet, making us experience vicarious happiness.
