Tet New Year!!

The past few days have been a whirlwind of drinking, eating, and trying to stay awake. The staying awake part had nothing to do with being bored or lack of fun activities, rather it had everything to do with very late nights of partying.


After spending a few cold and drizzly days in the ancient city of Hue we took the train back to Tam Ky to spend the first three days of the Tet New Year with Mrs. Hanh and her family. As soon as we got back into town Mrs. Hanh came to take us to her house, and nourish us with her delicious food that we had been missing the past few days. Then it was time to get ready. We helped to prepare offerings of cookies, nuts, candies, and watermelon seeds for each of the Buddhist alters in the house. Then we helped with the last bits of cleaning, since at the beginning to the new year everything must be clean and fresh. In fact, almost the entire neighborhood could be seen washing down their motorbikes or the front of their houses.


While Kenny and Mr. Nyugen disappeared into a crowd of beer drinking neighbors, Mrs. Hanh and I went out to get manicures, pedicures, and our hair done. In addition to everything getting cleaned for the new year, everything also has to be new. We went back to our hotel to change into clothes that had never been worn before, watch the fireworks and wait for Mrs. Hanh to come back to get us. The first visitors of the year to any Vietnamese home are the ones who determine the luck of the house for the coming year. We were honored that Mrs. Hanh and her family wanted us to be their first visitors. However, we also wondered what on earth she could be thinking after getting to know us for the past month. Most of the traditions that occur during the first few days of the New Year are to bring luck for the coming year. Since we were feeling lucky we headed out for some late night Karaoke.


The first day of the Lunar New Year was full of family, food, and thankfully some napping. With Kenny, Mr. Nyugen, and Trung on one motorbike and Mrs. Hanh and I on another we headed out to visit each family member in their home and to take them with us to the next house. When everyone was collected we all rode out, caravan style to the cemetery where Mr. Nyugen's parents and uncle are buried. The cemetery was a strange mix of a carnival and a church service. The traffic to the cemetery reminded me of the traffic at a Christmas Eve service. Yet, there were vendors all along the road selling flowers, incense and offerings to bring to the ancestors. As I understand it, the ancestors from each family are invited back from heaven for the New Year celebration so that the whole family can be together. Afterwards the entire family went to eat together and visit other family members.


The second day was much of the same thing, riding our motorbikes around to visit friends as well as entertaining them when they came to visit the Hanh house. Most of the neighbors also wanted us to go to each of their homes, which we were more than happy to do. However, at each home we were given a beer, or a shot of rice wine. After visiting about nine homes between the hours of 9 am and 11 am we were in severe need of a bathroom break, black coffee, and a nap. We headed home for some of Mrs. Hanh delicious spring rolls, a snooze on the couch, and we ready for an afternoon of much of the same.


Being with the Hanh family for the biggest Vietnamese holiday was a unique and special experience. We were so welcomed by their family and friends and so appreciative of the abundance of hospitality we were given. When it was time for us to head to the train station, not only did the entire Hanh family come to see us off, but grandma and grandpa, as well as some of the neighbors came to say goodbye. Mrs Hanh even packed us delicious picnic dinner for us to savor the last of her cooking on our train journey north. I think these three days may have been some of the most memorable and special of this entire trip.