- Giới thiệu: ( Nhung )

As you can see, Tet holiday is right around the corner and preparation is
in full swing so today, I will dedicate this video to this special holiday. It is
single-handedly the most important holiday to Vietnamese people, the
highlight of the year. Tet, to many people, means family reunions and joyful
memories and for me is eating fat from all the Banh Chung. Tet marks the
beginning of a lunar new year which usually falls around late Jan to early Feb
in the Western Calendar and since it is a nation holiday, people usually get a 1
– week off work and even more for students. Thus tradition has lasted for
thousands of years and is embedded in the minds of generations. There is a
variety of activities that people partake in during Tet. However, in my opinion,
the most significant one involves those who live and work far away all coming
back to their hometowns to celebrate the occasion with their loved ones . Tet is
probably the only time that all members in a family can reunite and be with one
another. Seven days prior to Tet, each Vietnamese family offers a farewell
ceremony for Ong Tao to go up to Heaven Palace. His task is to make an
annual report to the Jade Emperor of the family’s affairs throughout the year.
And an interesting vehicle for the God is “Carp Fish”. People said that the
bigger the carp is the faster he could reach up the Heaven.
 Chợ ( Thạch)
Tet activities can last a week, sometimes even more. Preparations can
begin well before Tet as well, and many traditional rituals will be practiced.
When Tet is slowly approaching, the streets are often very crowded, flooded
with vehicles. The busy scene of flower market near Tet days can bring on both
excitement and nostalgia. There are many traffic congestions but it is
understandable, as people often go cut and buy ornaments to decorate their
houses. In the market, there are many colorful things such as: flowers, festive
items, couplets,.. that can be used to that. However, there is one custom that I
will always, always do every single new year, expecially during one of those
first days of new year which is asking for calligraphy to wish for prosperity
and also fortune in the year ahead.

- Hoa (Trinh)
Traditionally, every house is decorated by yellow apricot blossoms in the
central and the southern parts of Vietnam and peach blossoms in the nothern
part of Vietnam. Northern people say that peach blossom in spring – during Tet
holidays while most other flowers still stay silent, symbolizing the strong
vitality and a brave heart. Moreover, the pink colour of peach blossoms shows
the love and joy spread among people in this unique time of the year. The
apricot blossom in the South has another meaning. The golden yellow of the
flower means the noble roots of Vietnamese (folktales said that the ancestors of
Vietnamese is a couple of dragon and fairy). In addition, it also symbolizes the
wealth and passionate love among people. Meanwhile, marumi kumquat bears
different story. As a whole, it represents wealth and luck brought to the family
in the new year. The tree kind of also represents the start of something new,
something exciting. The street is lined with vendors peddling their creations
and the offerings really run the gamut. You have like the more diminutive
plants to the graniose
 Trang trí, dọn dẹp ( P.My)
It is a common belief that cleaning the house will get rid of the bad
fortunes associated with the old year. Some people would paint their house and
decorate with festive items. As in most Asian countries, the luckiest colors are
red and yellow and this is reflected in the traditional decorations for Tet.
People would decorate the inside and outside of their homes, and businesses
adorn their shop-front windows. Potted plants, lanterns and other knick knacks
fill the markets to the brim weeks before Tet. Many VN people prepare for Tet
by buying new clothes, cleaning their houses and cooking some traditional
special holiday food which is pork paste, roasted watermelon seeds, dried
candied fruits and an indispensable, which is Banh Chung. Banh Chung is
tightly packed with sticky rice, meat and mung beans filling, wrappes in dong
leaves. Then the cake will be boiled in about 12 hours by wood. The Green
Chung cake has nutrition with an original tasty flavor and may be kept for a
long time. Eating Chung cake with vegetable pickles will bring you
unforgettable taste!
 - Thờ cúng (Xuân)
Tet is also one of the best time of the year for Vietnamese people to
spend time on their spiritual life, visit graves of their ancestors and pay respect
ro the religious institutions. Visting pagodas on Tet has long been a deep-
rooted tradition. No matter how busy Vietnamese are during the hilarious
atmosphere of Tet, everyone attempts to burn an incense to wish for best
wishes for the New Year like healthiness, happiness and wealthiness. In
addition, an indispensable is the plate filled with five types of fruits sits on the
ancestor’s altar in every Vietnamese home during the New Year. The fruits are
colorful and meaningful. They make New Year more lively and sacred. In
Asian mythology, the world is made of five basic elements: metal, wood,
water, fire and earth. So, the plate of fruits is one of several ways to represent
this concept. Is traditionally contains five to eight types of fruits: banana,
pomelos, lemons, oranges, tangerines, apples,…. People world only choose the
best looking fruits and arranged them in a pyramid. The plate of fruits gives the
family altar a cozy and colorful look. It helps to stress the importance of family
traditions and family life.
- Sự khác nhau giữa tết xưa, tết nay: Thành
Looking back, 2020 was a strange year for all of us, right?
But fear not, because the lunar 2021 is gonna be here any minute. The thing is,
Tet always been dubbed as the time for gathering. It is when nuclear families
reunite and for members who might not have seen each other in a long year to
finally catch up and reconnec, and at last, it is time for them to pay respect to
their parents and the elderly in the family. But for some reasons, maybe it was
the deeply set culture of Vietnam that a gathering goes together with a meal so
the Lunar New Year were in the past, and very likely has been a dreadful time
for the females. The cooking is tedious enough from shopping for groceries
and then preparing them and whipping all the ingredients into a feast to
dreadful scene of washing up all the dishes with piles of greasy ceramics. And
not to mention all the driking and the probable aftermath. However today, Tet
is less of a courtesy to your relatives and acquaintances but more of a chance
for you to get closer to your dearest. Some families even skip the traditional
Tet, in which you stay at home and go from house to house to give the best
wighes to the house owners. They would instead travel together, so something
unimaginable in the past, right?. I guess having quality time is all that matters.
The fathers would go out less, the mothers cook simpler meals and also a lot
fewer of nosy questions like…”When are you getting married” or “How much
do you earn a month”. Of couse, the true symbols of Tet still stands such as the
lucky money and or huge extended family feast but I think today Tet has been
taking its true form, not as a time we fear and also the time that we have to eat
a lot but as a rare get-together to tighten the bond between the families
member.

KẾT ( Trinh)
Tet is the occasion that people can actually forget about the troubles of
the past year and hope for a better upcoming year. On behalf or Group 4, I
wish you a year fully loaded with hapiness. May this year bring new goals,
new achievements, and new insprations on your life. Happy new yearrrrr