Thursday, February 07, 2008

A New Year

We are forutnate enough to be visiting Vietnam during Tet. Tet is a time when a new year is celebrated and this year it happens to be the Year of the Rat (both Jessica and I were born under the Year of the Rat). The traditional meaning for these celebrations is to actually spend your time with family eating throughout the designated days. Tet started Thursday and ends next Tuesday. Those most important to you are invited and food is eaten continuously. This is also a time where gratitude and appreciation are expressed, you avoid confrontation and negativity as this will bring a years bad luck to anyone you express these feelings too. All smiles today.

Because of the first day of Tet most shops are closed so this gave us an opportunity to walk around Hanoi in a much less crowded time. We were able to walk the streets and watch the local families gather and spend time together. Many had their shop doors open and you can watch as they sit around in their eating areas and express joy and happiness.

The rest of the day/night we relaxed in our hotel and prepared for today as we plan to travel to some outskirt areas and also visit a mausoleum. Until then take care.

1 comment:

David said...

Sounds like a nice, quiet day, without all the typical hub-bub of the city.