[Thriving Despite Us] Multicultural Monday 4: Birthdays in Vietnam
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Kate
Jan 30, 2012, 8:44:23 AM1/30/12
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If you follow this blog, you know that last Wednesday my little Rosie turned 6. I love birthdays. I make a big deal about them. The house is decorated, special dinners are eaten, presents are opened, parties are thrown. This year Rosie had an awesome party at a nearby horse stable…thanks to a Groupon.
I began to wonder if that is how it’s done everywhere…My good friend Mary would say it’s not how it should be anywhere and that I am a bit of a birthday freak. Not surprisingly, I think she’s a birthday scrooge and on this subject we have reached an impasse.
I thought it would be fun to talk about how birthdays are celebrated in other countries. On this Multicultural Monday, I decided to research how birthdays are celebrated in Vietnam. The next birthday we celebrate in our house I am going to look into how birthdays are celebrated in another country.
The Vietnamese celebrate everyone’s birthday on the same day…New Years Day or “Tet,” which is celebrated on the same day as the Chinese New Year. The Vietnamese do not focus on or even acknowledge the actual day they were born. A baby turns one on Tet no matter when he/she was born.
Mary would love this because she’d only have to throw one party. Granted it would be one heck of a party as Tet lasts for three days. And there would be a lot of cooking and cleaning to do leading up to the celebration as that is all part of the traditional Tet preparation. But as Mary says, "that's okay, because I'd only have to do it once."
Once Tet starts you are not supposed to sweep because you may sweep luck away. I wonder if I could say that preserving our luck is the reason why I don’t sweep enough in general. You are also supposed to pay off all of your debt before Tet so that you start the New Year debt free. I think Mary already subscribes to this tradition. However, this would be a tough one for me to pull off.
The first day of Tet is to be spent with your nuclear family. Red envelopes filled with lucky money are given to children. Another tradition Mary would like as it is a practical gift and she wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time shopping for presents.
The first visitor a family receives is very important as this visitor determines the family’s fortune for the entire year. The remaining days are spent visiting relatives and friends. Typically on day two you focus on friends and day three the focus is on teachers. Children spend their money on toys or on gambling games which are part of the street celebrations. Mary would be okay with this so long as it was only once a year and they didn't spend all of their money on one "stupid stuffed animal."
There are dragon dances and decorations that sound beautiful and include cherry trees and bonsai and other flowering plants. ‘People greet each other with "chúc mừng năm mới" (Happy New Year) and "cung chúc tân xuân" (gracious wishes of the new spring). My favorite New Year wish/greeting is “May money flow into your house like water and out like a turtle.” Mary likes this one too.
Food is a very important part of the holiday and there are many special dishes that are made only during Tet. People cook for the days leading up to the holiday. Sticky rice with meat wrapped in Dong leaves are a traditional Tet dish. Roasted watermelon seeds, pickled onions and cabbage and candied fruits are also things you might see on a Tet menu. I found most of the information on Tet at Wikipedia.
The information on Mary comes from our almost 14 year friendship (and the phone conversation we had this morning).
I love the idea of a birthday celebration that everyone in the country is celebrating with you; tons of food, visitors, and a clean house to boot. It sounds amazing and what could be better than dragon dancers and fireworks in the streets as part of your big day? It is the huge celebration that I like about Tet. Mary likes Tet as a birthday celebration because it takes the focus off the individual child. The focus is on family and the New Year and not on presents or parties.
I will admit that birthdays have become a bit extreme, but what I like about our birthday celebrations is exactly what Mary doesn't. I like the one day a year where the focus is on just one of my four children. A day where the birthday boy or girl is made to feel like the center of the universe. Because with four kids, being the center of the universe does not happen very often at our house. And when I saw the smile on Rosie's face as she took her lap on a 1200 pound beast named Ruffles, I knew that her day as birthday cowgirl princess will be one she remembers forever.
--
Posted By Kate to Thriving Despite Us at 1/30/2012 08:44:00 AM
I began to wonder if that is how it’s done everywhere…My good friend Mary would say it’s not how it should be anywhere and that I am a bit of a birthday freak. Not surprisingly, I think she’s a birthday scrooge and on this subject we have reached an impasse.
I thought it would be fun to talk about how birthdays are celebrated in other countries. On this Multicultural Monday, I decided to research how birthdays are celebrated in Vietnam. The next birthday we celebrate in our house I am going to look into how birthdays are celebrated in another country.
The Vietnamese celebrate everyone’s birthday on the same day…New Years Day or “Tet,” which is celebrated on the same day as the Chinese New Year. The Vietnamese do not focus on or even acknowledge the actual day they were born. A baby turns one on Tet no matter when he/she was born.
Mary would love this because she’d only have to throw one party. Granted it would be one heck of a party as Tet lasts for three days. And there would be a lot of cooking and cleaning to do leading up to the celebration as that is all part of the traditional Tet preparation. But as Mary says, "that's okay, because I'd only have to do it once."
Once Tet starts you are not supposed to sweep because you may sweep luck away. I wonder if I could say that preserving our luck is the reason why I don’t sweep enough in general. You are also supposed to pay off all of your debt before Tet so that you start the New Year debt free. I think Mary already subscribes to this tradition. However, this would be a tough one for me to pull off.
The first day of Tet is to be spent with your nuclear family. Red envelopes filled with lucky money are given to children. Another tradition Mary would like as it is a practical gift and she wouldn’t have to spend a lot of time shopping for presents.
The first visitor a family receives is very important as this visitor determines the family’s fortune for the entire year. The remaining days are spent visiting relatives and friends. Typically on day two you focus on friends and day three the focus is on teachers. Children spend their money on toys or on gambling games which are part of the street celebrations. Mary would be okay with this so long as it was only once a year and they didn't spend all of their money on one "stupid stuffed animal."
There are dragon dances and decorations that sound beautiful and include cherry trees and bonsai and other flowering plants. ‘People greet each other with "chúc mừng năm mới" (Happy New Year) and "cung chúc tân xuân" (gracious wishes of the new spring). My favorite New Year wish/greeting is “May money flow into your house like water and out like a turtle.” Mary likes this one too.
Food is a very important part of the holiday and there are many special dishes that are made only during Tet. People cook for the days leading up to the holiday. Sticky rice with meat wrapped in Dong leaves are a traditional Tet dish. Roasted watermelon seeds, pickled onions and cabbage and candied fruits are also things you might see on a Tet menu. I found most of the information on Tet at Wikipedia.
The information on Mary comes from our almost 14 year friendship (and the phone conversation we had this morning).
I love the idea of a birthday celebration that everyone in the country is celebrating with you; tons of food, visitors, and a clean house to boot. It sounds amazing and what could be better than dragon dancers and fireworks in the streets as part of your big day? It is the huge celebration that I like about Tet. Mary likes Tet as a birthday celebration because it takes the focus off the individual child. The focus is on family and the New Year and not on presents or parties.
I will admit that birthdays have become a bit extreme, but what I like about our birthday celebrations is exactly what Mary doesn't. I like the one day a year where the focus is on just one of my four children. A day where the birthday boy or girl is made to feel like the center of the universe. Because with four kids, being the center of the universe does not happen very often at our house. And when I saw the smile on Rosie's face as she took her lap on a 1200 pound beast named Ruffles, I knew that her day as birthday cowgirl princess will be one she remembers forever.
--
Posted By Kate to Thriving Despite Us at 1/30/2012 08:44:00 AM
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