Celebrating Bunpimay Festival in Nghe An
When Vinh City has begun to change color and the exam days are approaching, it is also the time for Lao students to celebrate their traditional New Year. Bunpimay in Nghe An does not have the warm atmosphere of a family, does not have all the traditional rituals, but that does not make it any less joyful and warm.
Bunpimay Tet - Tet of the Lao, Thai, Cambodian and Khmer people (Vietnam) traditionally starts on the sixth day of the fifth month and ends on the fifth day of the sixth month, in which the main festival Wun Salong is held on the full moon, when the sky is clear and the big rivers are full of water, symbolizing a new year of prosperity.
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Splash water together for good luck. |
Lao New Year is celebrated for three main days from April 13 to 16 every year. During these days, Lao people have a day off, do not work and do not conduct any business activities. On April 14 (like the first day of Tet in Vietnam), in the morning, families often go to the temple to burn incense and pray, in the afternoon, they often invite monks to come to wish them well, tie a string around their wrists and then splash water on everyone for good luck.
For international students, Tet is a special moment for everyone to turn to their family, their country and wish for a lucky and happy new year. On the afternoon of April 13, the first day of Tet, we went to Vinh University Dormitory, where more than 300 Lao students are living and studying. From afar, we could hear the New Year atmosphere filling the 5-storey building with the sound of guitars, singing, and cheerful greetings.
The New Year was more clearly present with the rows of banners with the words "Happy New Year - Sa bai dee pi mang" hung by the dormitory management board all over the entrance. As soon as they climbed the dormitory stairs, water was poured on them. Although they knew about the Lao water-splashing custom, the strangers were still surprised.
After a moment of hesitation, everyone immediately smiled at the smile of a Lao girl named Kai (a second-year student of the Faculty of Economics): For Tet, we have nothing, just prepare water and candy to welcome everyone. Indeed, wherever we go, we are met with water and water, along with good wishes for the new year... Welcoming the first Tet away from home, there are not enough spices to prepare traditional dishes such as chicken and shrimp, sticky rice, laap... but the 18-year-old female student Peng, who has just been in Vietnam for 5 months and is in the process of learning the language, and her roommates are also busy preparing a big hot pot to invite the "Vietnamese volunteer teachers in the Hoa Cham Pa Club" to celebrate Tet.
And of course, before sitting at the banquet table, we must perform the wrist-tying ceremony and splash water on the teachers. The more water we splash, the more luck we will have. Taking us around the dormitory to wish everyone a happy new year, Somsalith Mailorkhem, a native of Xieng Khouang province, a student of the 48th class of the Faculty of Finance and Banking, and deputy head of the Laotian student executive committee, said: this year, many students did not return home but stayed at school to celebrate the new year, making cakes together, preparing food, performing arts... to prepare for the traditional new year of their country. Every year, the school's Board of Directors, Student Union, and Vinh University's Youth Union organize traditional new year activities for international students.
On the evening of April 14, at Hall A, Vinh University held a traditional New Year's Eve party with overseas students. The activities of meeting, exchanging New Year greetings, sharing cultural activities took place enthusiastically with the jubilant music, Lam Vong dances, hand-woven threads with wishes for luck and good fortune, making a New Year away from home for Lao students in Nghe An more cozy...
Khanh Ly - My Ha
