Foreigners happily celebrate Vietnamese Tet.

(Baonghean) - For many foreigners, celebrating the traditional Vietnamese Lunar New Year is a fascinating opportunity. The people we met and spoke with below showed that they were truly impressed by the unique cultural features and the warm, hospitable spirit of the people of Nghe An.

Provincial leaders extend New Year greetings to foreign investors. Photo: SM

When we mentioned their memories of celebrating the traditional Vietnamese Lunar New Year, Ms. Choe Yeongja and Mr. Hwang Kyoungmin, volunteers from the Vietnam-Korea Industrial Vocational College (referred to as the Vietnam-Korea College), both exclaimed with bright smiles: "Oh! It was so much fun, we were really impressed celebrating Tet in Vietnam!"

The story begins with Ms. Choe Yeongja, born in 1956, a Korean language teacher. Since 2012, her husband has been working at Thai Nguyen University in Vietnam as an expert for KOICA. Ms. Choe recounts: “In phone conversations and each time he visited home, my husband talked a lot about the hospitality and warm feelings that the Vietnamese people showed him. I myself had traveled to Vietnam five times as a tourist, so I felt that clearly and was very eager to work in Vietnam. Therefore, at the end of 2013, after retiring, I registered with KOICA as a volunteer to work in Vietnam…”

In February 2014, Ms. Choe celebrated her first Vietnamese New Year in Ho Chi Minh City. She was truly impressed with Vietnamese culture, especially the traditional banh chung (rice cake). “The traditional Vietnamese New Year has many similarities to the traditional Korean New Year, so I felt close and warm, like I was at home.” This year, 2015, she welcomed her two sons from Korea to Vietnam so the whole family could celebrate Tet in Nghe An, the birthplace of President Ho Chi Minh. “If we can do that, it will truly be the most exciting Tet we’ve ever had…” – Ms. Choe excitedly shared.

Ms. Choe and Mr. Hwang speak with reporters. Photo: MQ

As for Mr. Hwang Kyoungmin, born in 1985, a teacher in the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Vietnam-Korea School, who spent the 2014 Lunar New Year in Nghe An, he shared: “I was very impressed with how Vietnamese people celebrate the New Year. Especially the way they display peach blossoms and kumquats. This past Tet, my colleagues in Nghe An gave me a small peach blossom tree and a small kumquat tree... Everywhere I went, I was warmly welcomed with many traditional dishes.” Like Ms. Choe, Mr. Hwang was particularly impressed with banh chung (Vietnamese sticky rice cake). “My colleagues gave me a lot of banh chung. Many people worried that I wouldn't be able to eat it all, but I ate it every day without getting tired of it, to the point that after two weeks of Tet holiday, I gained more than 1.5 kilograms,” Mr. Hwang said with a smile. Regarding the Lunar New Year of the Goat, Mr. Hwang said: “Some Korean volunteers in other provinces contacted me to invite me to travel with them, but my friends in Nghe An all invited me to celebrate Tet with their families, so I decided to stay in Vinh City to create more beautiful memories. This Tet, I will definitely practice wrapping banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes) and making some other traditional Vietnamese cakes so that when I return to Korea, I can make them for my friends to enjoy…”

In recent years, English language centers in Vinh City have often had foreign teachers, and Dustin Gerding, a 29-year-old American, is one of them. Born and raised in New York, after graduating from university with a degree in international relations and culture, Dustin mainly worked as a volunteer abroad. Before coming to Vietnam, Dustin had worked in 18 countries. Since then...17/2/2014He arrived in Vinh for work and his schedule lasted until the summer of 2015. According to this American teacher, almost everything in Vinh is pleasant, from the weather to the people. “The winters here are warmer and the summers are cooler than in New York. The people are very hospitable. Only the traffic is a bit complicated, but I’m gradually getting used to it and now I can confidently ride a motorbike on the roads.”

Dustin said that before coming to Vietnam, he had read quite a few books and articles about the traditional Vietnamese Lunar New Year. “Since this is my first Lunar New Year in Vietnam, I’m very excited and eagerly awaiting it. It will probably be very different from the Lunar New Year we Americans have. Last year, even though I arrived in Vietnam after the Lunar New Year, I was lucky enough to see some of the remaining peach blossom trees and enjoy banh chung (traditional rice cake). It was wonderful! And this year, many friends have invited me to their homes to celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families, and it’s hard for me to refuse anyone…” – Dustin shared.

The traditional Vietnamese New Year has special significance and is increasingly attractive to international friends. It is always filled with warmth, reunion, solidarity, and rich cultural traditions that are being promoted in the modern era...

Minh Quan