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While some foreigners left Vietnam for romantic beaches in
Thailand or Bali during the lunar New Year holiday, many stayed in the country
to welcome the traditional Tet.
Mark Conroy, 65, representative of East Meet West in the central city of Da Nang,
said that he has celebrated 18 Vietnamese Tet with his family. He often spent
his entire time with his family.
He said the most interesting thing of Vietnamese Tet, is that Tet is the time
for family union and for friends to visit each other. Conroy said he often
helped his wife make banh chung (square glutinous rice cake) and decorate their
home.
Conroy could not forget his first Tet in Vietnam with his wife’s family. At that
time, he did not know all about Vietnamese custom so he was very surprised of
“mung tuoi” (money-giving) custom. He said that custom is very interesting.
Vietnamese Tet is also very enjoyable for Kathlee, 60, and her husband, the
American owner of Bread of Life restaurant in Da Nang city. Kathlee said she and
her husband were very surprised to see Vietnamese people to go shopping tens of
days before Tet and they grouped up and visited each others for many days.
Kathlee’s husband, Bod, 63, was very interested in going to Tet flower markets,
play folk games and especially being invited to Tet parties by locals. The
couple also prepared banh chung, ginger jam and some Vietnamese food to welcome
their friends.
Fourteen years ago, after several tours to Vietnam, the couple decided to settle
in this country. They opened a restaurant for foreign tourists in Da Nang. It is
very special that the restaurant staffs are all hearing-impaired children.
Richard KH Chua, Singaporean Manager of Bao Son Group, who has been living in
Vietnam for over ten years, said that Tet is also an important holiday for
Singapore. This is a chance for people to visit their elderly relatives.
Richard’s wife is a Hanoian woman so in the first day of the year, he and his
wife visited his parent-in-law and his wife’s elder sister. They visited their
friends the days later.
Anthony Gill, General Director of La Residence Hue Hotel, said: “We are very
busy during Tet. Though the weather is sometimes gloomy, January and February
are still the good time for tourism. Some visitors of ours know clearly about
custom and tradition of Vietnamese Tet, but some of them question why all shops
close during Tet,” Gill said.
This was Gill’s fifth Tet in Vietnam. He said he liked the warm atmosphere of
Tet. He also liked the “mung tuoi” custom. He still remembered his first Tet
when he and his wife joined a dinner with Vietnamese singer Ho Ngoc Ha.
Albert Lafuente, Business and Marketing Manager of The Nam Hai Resort, said he
liked the similarity between Vietnamese Tet, the Christmas and New Year holiday
in the Philippines, where he was born. In both countries, this is the time for
family union, for visiting friends, for presenting gifts to each others and to
make special cuisines.
They like the Tet atmosphere and family union but they do not like the “party
way” and the increase of prices during Tet in Vietnam.
Jim Sullivan, Managing director of Mandarin Media Jim, said that he had to
pretend to have hepatitis A to refuse drink.
Keith Thibeth, whose wife is a Hue woman, said that Tet is being commercialized.
Traders take advantage of this time to raise prices of goods.
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