The little country named Vietnam and its holiday
The little country named Vietnam: Most people in the US know Vietnam from a war that happened more than 30 years ago. Well, I’m happy to tell you that things look very different now.
Our holiday: Tết Nguyên Đán (Feast of the First Morning), more commonly known by its shortened name Tết, is the most important and popular holiday and festival in Vietnam. It is the Vietnamese New Year which is based on the Chinese calendar. (It is usually around February of the Western calendar and lasts for about 10 days)
Traditionally...
Vietnamese people return to their families during Tết. Some return to worship at the family altar or visit the graves of their ancestors. Others return to where they grew up…Preparations for Tết start months before the actual celebrations. People try to pay off their debts in advance so that they can be debt-free on Tết. Parents buy new clothes for their children so that the children can wear them when Tết arrives. On the first day of Tết, children wear new clothes and say New Year greeting to their elders, so they could receive “lucky money”… If you’re interested, you can learn more about our holiday here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E1%BA%BFt
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, you can watch these sideshows below to have a quick look of what Tết is really about: (Sorry, the sideshow quality is not that good; but I couldn’t find anything better on You tube)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OFAgqrSDGig
You can have a peek of the "modern Vietnam" here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/e8club/collections/72157600163388854/