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Autoethnography - Luna New Year
In the western countries, people have greeting seasons such as Christmas and New Year. It is the biggest events in the year. While in Asian countries, for instance, Vietnam, we celebrate the Lunar New Year, named Tet in Vietnamese, a biggest event in a year. Tet normally falls on January or February as it is the first day of the lunar calendar. Rich or poor, people spend time and money to prepare it by decorating the house, buying some food for treating their visiots on the first days of the Lunar New Year because they don’t go to markets on these days, purchasing new clothes to wear for outings. According to me, some ritual practice people follow on these day are good but some really bad in terms of morality and health.
In the western countries, people have greeting seasons such as Christmas and New Year. It is the biggest events in the year. While in Asian countries, for instance, Vietnam, we celebrate the Lunar New Year, named Tet in Vietnamese, a biggest event in a year. Tet normally falls on January or February as it is the first day of the lunar calendar. Rich or poor, people spend time and money to prepare it by decorating the house, buying some food for treating their visiots on the first days of the Lunar New Year because they don’t go to markets on these days, purchasing new clothes to wear for outings. According to me, some ritual practice people follow on these day are good but some really bad in terms of morality and health.
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The statutory holidays conclude the last day of the previous year and three first days of the new year. However, lots of people take some days off prior to Tet to prepare themselves for the traditional festival. All of students take two weeks off to enjoy the Lunar New Year. This brings to their parents a burden. They stay home while their parents still go to work, so who stay home to take care of children. As all supermarkets, malls, stores are closed in three first days of the new year, people have to buy foods to eat, to treat their relatives, friends, colleagues who visit their home on this occasion. They also purchase new clothes, or pieces of fabric to have their suits made. It is an opportunity for wealthy people to spend money, time or to show off their prosperity. Some think they work hard all year round, it is time to enjoy what they have earned in last year. Life is not long, man should enjoy moments of rest.
On the last day of the previous year, around at noon all markets, outlets shut down for three days. People prepare delicious food to make offerings to and welcome the ancestor's souls to their home during three first days of the year to enjoy Tet along with children, grand children. Their concept is that it is an opportunity for a family reunification. Those who are working far from home have to come back to the family. It is time for the dead and the living to live together. It is also a way for the living to show their love, respect towards the dead. After making an offering, all family members have a many-dish meal. In the evening, people pour out into the downtown of city to visit the Lunar New Year Flower Fair organised by the local authorities. Thousand kinds of flowers coming from every corner of the country are displayed at the fair. From the middle of the previous year, the authorities held a contest of fair designing under a specific topic of each year. A panel of judgment estimates every design to vote the first prize that will be the design of the next year’s flower fair. Prior to the Lunar New Year, it takes a month to prepare the fair in the center of the city. I think this is relaxing moments of the city residents to admire beautiful flowers of various provinces where they don’t have a chance to travel to see in person due to their livelihood in the hustle and bustle of city.
Thousands of people go to the downtown not only to see the flower fair but also to watch the firework that is held at the midnight. They sit down along two sides of an avenue to wait this moment. Life seems to stop for a while when people cease thinking of busy work to spend a few time with their family, their loved ones after a year sinking into the livelihood. When it passes the midnight, it is the first hour of the Lunar New Year, some go home to sleep as it is too late and they are tired of travelling, others continue to come to pagodas to pray for their safety, prosperity, and happiness if they are Budhha worshippers. When they go there, they burn incense sticks which make air polluted. Additionally, they pick up flowers in the yard of the pagoda to bring home as a gift of good luck. I think this practice does not show their unfriendly environment attitude.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, everyone gets up late as they go to bed late last night. Some didn’t go to pagodas yesterday, now they go to pray, others come to churches for the early mass. They greet and wish the best together when meeting on the street. The taboo is visiting other people’s houses on the first day of the Lunar New Year. They think the first person to come in may bring a good or bad luck. If they have bad happenings in a year, they blame the first visitor for this. It is really a prejudice. Some people spend free time going to cinemas, theaters, others go to sea, mountains to restore their health.
On the second day of the New Year, people visit their family members, friends, colleagues. They have big meals, drink lots of alcohol. As a consequence, some men have traffic accidents when going home due to alcoholic effect. According the city’s statistics, the Lunar New Year is time the traffic accident increases, causing the piteous loss of many men's lives whose wives become widows, and their children lose father’s love, care. Some get a problem of liver for consuming lots of alcohol, beers after three days. A ritual practice is gambling. They want to know whether they are lucky or not on the new year. Winning money is lucky or losing unlucky. But the bad thing is when they lose, they play more to win. If the ones who are winning a lot deny playing abruptly, the losers don’t agree, leading to a quarrel and finally a fight. For me, everything must be moderate. If we play cards excessively, we have to suffer a bad result.
On the third of the New Year, they make offerings to see off the souls of their ancestors that have stayed with their children three Tet days. I like the Lunar New Year as we take a rest after a hard working year. Life flies quickly, we always think of our daily work, children have to go school. Parents and children have few time to spend together. So the Lunar New Year is time for family unification, happiness. We stay away from work to enjoy happiness with our family. We visit to our relatives, friends to have a talk, exchange thoughts, condidences on life, share experience on work. We wish the best together. We have time to decorate our house. Every time we come home after a work day, a nice place will appease our tiredness. Home is an important place for everyone.
Everything has good and bad sides. The point is we know how to control ourselves, not to go excessively, then we don't have to suffer the loss, damage, even harmful to our life. I would present one of my rituals in my countries. For European peers and faculties, this writing would help them make, in their dream, a tour to Vietnam on the Lunar New Year. For foreigners, I think it is really boring to them to travel in big cities in this occasion. They have no entertainment, restaurants to enjoy during these days. A good advice is not to travel in Vietnam on the event. It is for Vietnamese who live and work in foreign countries come back homeland to visit their old parents, siblings. We sit together to tell our stories. It is really a warm, close moment.
On the last day of the previous year, around at noon all markets, outlets shut down for three days. People prepare delicious food to make offerings to and welcome the ancestor's souls to their home during three first days of the year to enjoy Tet along with children, grand children. Their concept is that it is an opportunity for a family reunification. Those who are working far from home have to come back to the family. It is time for the dead and the living to live together. It is also a way for the living to show their love, respect towards the dead. After making an offering, all family members have a many-dish meal. In the evening, people pour out into the downtown of city to visit the Lunar New Year Flower Fair organised by the local authorities. Thousand kinds of flowers coming from every corner of the country are displayed at the fair. From the middle of the previous year, the authorities held a contest of fair designing under a specific topic of each year. A panel of judgment estimates every design to vote the first prize that will be the design of the next year’s flower fair. Prior to the Lunar New Year, it takes a month to prepare the fair in the center of the city. I think this is relaxing moments of the city residents to admire beautiful flowers of various provinces where they don’t have a chance to travel to see in person due to their livelihood in the hustle and bustle of city.
Thousands of people go to the downtown not only to see the flower fair but also to watch the firework that is held at the midnight. They sit down along two sides of an avenue to wait this moment. Life seems to stop for a while when people cease thinking of busy work to spend a few time with their family, their loved ones after a year sinking into the livelihood. When it passes the midnight, it is the first hour of the Lunar New Year, some go home to sleep as it is too late and they are tired of travelling, others continue to come to pagodas to pray for their safety, prosperity, and happiness if they are Budhha worshippers. When they go there, they burn incense sticks which make air polluted. Additionally, they pick up flowers in the yard of the pagoda to bring home as a gift of good luck. I think this practice does not show their unfriendly environment attitude.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, everyone gets up late as they go to bed late last night. Some didn’t go to pagodas yesterday, now they go to pray, others come to churches for the early mass. They greet and wish the best together when meeting on the street. The taboo is visiting other people’s houses on the first day of the Lunar New Year. They think the first person to come in may bring a good or bad luck. If they have bad happenings in a year, they blame the first visitor for this. It is really a prejudice. Some people spend free time going to cinemas, theaters, others go to sea, mountains to restore their health.
On the second day of the New Year, people visit their family members, friends, colleagues. They have big meals, drink lots of alcohol. As a consequence, some men have traffic accidents when going home due to alcoholic effect. According the city’s statistics, the Lunar New Year is time the traffic accident increases, causing the piteous loss of many men's lives whose wives become widows, and their children lose father’s love, care. Some get a problem of liver for consuming lots of alcohol, beers after three days. A ritual practice is gambling. They want to know whether they are lucky or not on the new year. Winning money is lucky or losing unlucky. But the bad thing is when they lose, they play more to win. If the ones who are winning a lot deny playing abruptly, the losers don’t agree, leading to a quarrel and finally a fight. For me, everything must be moderate. If we play cards excessively, we have to suffer a bad result.
On the third of the New Year, they make offerings to see off the souls of their ancestors that have stayed with their children three Tet days. I like the Lunar New Year as we take a rest after a hard working year. Life flies quickly, we always think of our daily work, children have to go school. Parents and children have few time to spend together. So the Lunar New Year is time for family unification, happiness. We stay away from work to enjoy happiness with our family. We visit to our relatives, friends to have a talk, exchange thoughts, condidences on life, share experience on work. We wish the best together. We have time to decorate our house. Every time we come home after a work day, a nice place will appease our tiredness. Home is an important place for everyone.
Everything has good and bad sides. The point is we know how to control ourselves, not to go excessively, then we don't have to suffer the loss, damage, even harmful to our life. I would present one of my rituals in my countries. For European peers and faculties, this writing would help them make, in their dream, a tour to Vietnam on the Lunar New Year. For foreigners, I think it is really boring to them to travel in big cities in this occasion. They have no entertainment, restaurants to enjoy during these days. A good advice is not to travel in Vietnam on the event. It is for Vietnamese who live and work in foreign countries come back homeland to visit their old parents, siblings. We sit together to tell our stories. It is really a warm, close moment.
Source: Thanh Nien News News Vietnam.org