Tet
Trip Start
Mar 21, 2005
1
76
354
Trip End
Ongoing
Saigon,
Vietnam
Sunday, January 29, 2006
This year, Tet, the Lunar New Year, the Chinese New Year, was officially celebrated at midnight between the last day of the twelth month of the year of the Rooster and ushered in the first day of the year of the Dog under the darkness of the new moon--the 29th of January.
Tet celebrations are about happy endings and auspicious new beginnings
01 Woman Selling Tet Ornaments
.In Vietnam, everyone celebrates their birthday on Tet, so it's easy to remember someone's birthday: "Happy Birthday. It's your birthday, it's your birthday..."
Tet festivities began during the last and waning quarter moon of the year, when families cleaned their homes and adorned them with flowers and golden good-luck charm ornaments. Parks turned into flower markets bustling with families and couples searching for the perfect flowering tree and several pots of bright yellow chrysanthemums.
As I checked into Phan Lan, a.k.a. the friendly family-run Guesthouse 70, one young man was painting the walls as others were cleaning the floors. They bought a large flowering tree decked with ornaments, placed a cornucopia of offerings at its feet, and gave their guests sugared fruit candies.
All this effort is, aside from being entertaining, to appease a spirit that resides in the kitchen. At the end of the year, each home's spirit of the hearth reports to Ong Tau, the God of the Hearth. The better their house looks for the spirit, the more likely he will issue a favorable report and return in a good mood to begin the new year.
Soon thereafter, Kevin arrived and we walked the streets, playing Frogger as we crossed the busy thoroughfares. The energy level for Tet was increasing as we passed families in preparation for the Tet.
02 Chrysanthemums Under Fluorescent Lights
Several days later, when we returned from Phu Quoc, Tet eve was in full swing. Thousands of families and couples were riding their motos through the city center around Nguyen Hue Street, the Hotel de Ville, and the Municipal Theatre. Lion and dragon dancers performed, dispelling evil spirits; singers performed and danced in front of crowds; bands played music. The energy level was a shock to the system after relaxing on Phu Quoc.
Along Nguyen Hue street, two pedestrian walkways led thousands of Saigon families taking pictures past floral displays, artificial waterfalls, rice growing demonstration areas, dozens of professional photographers at the ready, food vendors, and sculptures.
Kevin and I ate at Mr. Sushi where a waitress wore a tee-shirt saying "I'm here to kill you," drank a beer at the rooftop bar of the Caravelle Hotel, then we walked back to Guesthouse 70 and joined family and guests to watch the midnight fireworks from a local park. This was the apex of the festivities, the ending, and the beginning.
After the fireworks and some "ooohs and aaaahs", we returned to the guesthouse for wine and Vietnamese snacks
A Family Outing
.The next three days were the relaxing denouement of Tet. On the first day, people relaxed with their families. On the second day, people relaxed with friends. On the third day, people visited their teachers. Children received "lucky money" in red envelopes known as Lixi. The lion and dragon dancers performed at paying homes and businesses.
During this time, certain guests may be deemed good luck and others may lead to misfortune. Everything you do determines the fate of your new year so "you'd better be good for goodness sake."
And your ancestors are watching, so you want to keep them on your good side.
Ancestor worship is an important part of Vietnamese life, reaching a climax during Tet, when false paper money and paper mansions are burned to bring good fortune to ancestors in the afterlife. Vietnamese may believe in Buddhist, Catholic, Taoist, or Cau Dai but they share ancestor worship as a common spiritual bond.
I thought about my ancestors going back to the apes of ancient times and, more recently, my grandparents
Festivities of Tet
. One of my favorite grandparent stories began when my mother's father, John Bruce, living in the small Eastern Shore town of Cheriton, started losing his sight.All he wanted to do was drive to Paul's Restaurant to meet his friends, smoke, and drink coffee, so he memorized the sight chart to pass his driver's test.
Soon the small town officials figured this out and revoked his license.
That didn't stop John Bruce. Since you didn't need a driver's license to drive a lawn mower, he souped up a sit-on-top mower, complete with a rain-proof cab. He then was able to drive to Paul's whenever he wanted. The town officials didn't bother him after that.
Karen, Nate, Ben and Nancy, Noah (7), and Sam (5) joined us on the evening of the 29th. Ben and Nancy and their sons live in the Repulse Bay Apartments with Kevin, Karen, and Nate, who just got two best times at his latest swimming meet. School and work were closed so they had precious vacation time to visit southern Vietnam. Soon they were mastering the art of crossing busy intersections and enjoying Vietnamese food with us
Girl Raking Rice
. The kids were all adventurous and tried a variety of dishes.The second day after Tet, the octet left to visit the Dai Cathedral and the Cu Chi tunnels, symbols of the American Resistance War and the diverse religious beliefs in Vietnam.
That night, I said goodbye to everyone--a brief gathering--and played some pool with Kevin: they were going back to Phu Quoc for some rest and relaxation and I was going to the Mekong Delta.
Kevin and I learned that the only places to play pool in Saigon are brothels and go go bars. The women, beautiful and scantily clad, understood we just wanted to play pool, so we drank some 333 beer and played three games of pool. You could tell the women there were just doing their job, making a living to pay the bills, and hoping for a better future within the context of a male-dominated Asian society. One asked for a kiss on the cheek as we left so I obliged: "lucky day!" she said to her co-workers."
Indeed. I wished her a happy new year, the year of the dog, and wished Kevin a good trip on Phu Quoc. Tet was a moment not to be forgotton. Not just a lucky day, it was a lucky week.
Comments
luck
i have a lucky tee-shirt - literally. it says 'lucky' across the chest (um, not 'i'm going to kill you'). i think i'll throw it on in honor of your lucky week. maybe some of that luck will rub off on me.
congratulations!
You have now traveled 3% of the world! Your lucky week in Vietnam earned you a lucky percentage point in your quest for world travel domination.
Re: luck
Hope you were lucky!
Re: congratulations!
Thanks Carolyn, I feel like I've accomplished something real and potent. 97% to go! Ha, ha.