Celebrating Tet in Pictures

Here are some of the promised pictures from our Tet celebrations so far:

The parade:

From our potluck dinner:

Chuc Mung Nam Moi! (Happy New Year!)

Today is Tet Nguyen Dan, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year.  It is the biggest cultural celebration of the year in Vietnam, and Molly and I will celebrate it every year from now on.

As it is our first Tet together, I have made a lot of effort to learn what it is about, and 'how' to celebrate it.  I know I will always fall short of 'authentic', but instead will create our own style over the years.  Perhaps sometime in the future we can travel to Vietnam to celebrate it there.

Last weekend Molly, Uncle Ron and I took part in the very first Vietnamese parade held in Vancouver!  It was a very small and short parade, but at one point, we actually joined the parade and walked a couple of blocks together with other families with Vietnamese children.  It was great to be part of the grassroots event.  Ron's pictures will follow later in a separate posting.

This afternoon, the Fab Five kids and their families (sadly, with the exception of Lesia and Mylan who were not able to come over from Victoria) are coming over for a potluck dinner.  Vietnamese food, of course!  I have cleaned and decorated the house, as is the custom, prepared lucky money in red envelopes for all the kids, bought 'banh chung' - a special rice cake cooked especially for Tet, and made a five-fruit plate to put on display.  Again, details and pictures will follow later.

On the weekend, we will also join the larger community of families with Vietnamese children, and watch the big Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown.  China, Vietnam and Korea all celebrate the same new year, and of course, the Chinese community here has been celebrating in a big way for many years.  Wish for good weather!

Finally, the following weekend, for the 3rd time, we have been invited to join a group of families to celebrate Tet together.  This group has a dragon dance that goes to houses in the neighborhood, the children perform traditional Vietnamese dancing, and there is a cultural martial arts demonstration.  Plus a huge buffet of Vietnamese food, a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and red envelopes for the children.  I am so excited to be able to bring Molly to this celebration this year.  We are really looking forward to it.

Welcome to the Year of the Cat!