Most people have heard of the Lunar New Year at some point in their lives. It’s often called the Chinese New Year, but in Vietnam, it has a special name: Tet.
This holiday not only marks the end of one year and the start of another, but it’s also a time to pay homage to ancestors and spend time with family. The holiday itself may be a bit on the quiet side, but the week leading up to it is pure chaos of the best kind.
Homes are cleaned out and scrubbed from top to bottom. The cooking continues nearly 24/7, and the smell of incense burning in freshly-cleaned shrines fills the air — along with that of pastries and dozens of other kinds of food.
Many people have the week leading up to Tet off work, so the streets are always bustling with people running about and doing errands in preparation for the holiday. The streets themselves are lined with temporary vendors that appear seemingly out of nowhere, selling everything from small statues of the Buddha to watermelons just off the vine, and everything in between.
I purchased flowers to set outside my door. Here’s to hoping for a lot of money in the coming year!
Flower markets open on every corner as people purchase flowers to decorate their homes. The most popular color is yellow, with pink coming in as a close second. The color yellow resembles gold, and serves a symbol of wealth for the coming year. The color red is also popular, because the Vietnamese word for ‘red’ sounds very similar to the word for ‘lucky.’
I spent several nights the past week on one of these corners, trying to draw attention to the flowers my friends were trying to sell. While I wasn’t overly successful in selling flowers, I did get a lot of people to look my way by acting silly, dancing with a flower pot held over my head.
After spending the day working, only going out to see what was going on in the streets, I was invited out to a party tonight at Bia To, a beer garden here in Bien Hoa. My friends and I ate everything from fresh vegetables to boiled octopus, and then headed to a roadside juice bar to hang out for a little bit longer. I went home shortly after that, only to barely make it into the gate of my apartment building before I was invited to sit down and have a drink with a group of older Vietnamese men.
I didn’t have time to snap too many shots, but I love the way this one looks.
They were tremendously welcoming, and eager to show me the different Vietnamese traditions. We spent half an hour or so talking and laughing, before I went inside to grab my camera and head up to the roof.
After all, it was time for fireworks.
Having never been to the roof of my building before (it’s normally closed except for special events) I was blown away by the view. The city stretched out before me in every direction, the river cutting a black path through the lights behind me. It wasn’t long after I reached the top that I heard the first booming explosion, and the bell of a nearby church began to ring urgently. A cheer rose up around me as the other people on the roof heralded in the new year.
Everyone came out to watch.
As I watched, fireworks began to split the sky in every direction. I counted at least nine different places along the horizon where red and yellow flowers burst into the sky, their silent presence marked only be the gasps and squeals of pleasure of the watching children.
Somewhere on the street below, a noisemaker went off, and people burst into song. Children on a rooftop nearby began to chant a happy verse, although I don’t know the meaning of what they said.
The atmosphere was incredible. As I watched the sky light up, I could feel the grin crawling across my face. There is something timeless about fireworks, and watching them from that rooftop made me feel just like a little kid again.
But I was also struck by the realization of how absurd the entire situation was — I was standing on a rooftop, in a strange city, listening to chatter in a language I didn’t even begin to understand, some 10,000 miles away from home.
And I loved every second of it.
The excitement was palpable, and I felt nothing if not honored to be a part of the celebration. For the people of this nation, the Lunar calendar is the most important year. For me, it’s another holiday — but it also presents me with an opportunity many other people do not have: the chance to evaluate how things are going thus far, and the chance to make changes to any aspect of my life I’m not happy with.
Most people give up on their resolutions shortly after starting. I have the chance to start anew, or form a whole second set of them.
I have the door to my balcony open while I’m writing this post, and I can hear the constant traffic outside as thousands of people make their way to pagodas and shrines throughout the city. They go to pray to their ancestors and ask for blessings for the year ahead.
Although I don’t share the same traditions, a small red envelope can be seen peeking from the inside of my wallet, it’s exterior adorned with good luck symbols. I can only hope the year ahead grows to be more amazing than it already has.
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