KIDPROJ MCC: Lunar New Year // Tet

A Page From the KIDPROJ Multi-Cultural Calendar
Lunar New Year // Tet - Vietnam
by Roger Nguyen

Floating Date in February

Annual Date: 94/01/31 : 95/02/10

TET

February 10 th the Vietnamese celebrate TET. It is like Chinese New Year, but some things are different. On that day many Vietnamese children who are in the USA do not attend school because it is a holiday for us and many relatives will come to visit or we will go there. First we wake up early. The ladies wear red and yellow because those are the colors of the Vietnamese flag. All the men wear all black. We first go to church and there we eat earth cake. Earth cake is a square cake made with rice, beans, and pork. We also eat fried rice. The church is not always a building but can be someone's home. After this we wait for 1/2 hour for the passing of the red envelopes. Only the kids get red envelopes and there is usually about 10 or 20 dollars in each envelope. Sometimes we get red envelopes at home too. Some Vietnamese children give their teachers red envelopes with money in it. If the teacher refuses to take it that is an insult to us. Then we go home for awhile and watch TV. After that we go back to the house at night and watch the dragon dances. We also use a lot of red firecrackers. As soon as the dragon dances are done we go home. The next day there will be big Vietnamese TET festivals at different places in Orange County where everyone is invited and they do not have to be Vietnamese to attend. At one local college there will be games, carnival rides, food booths and contests. This year we will also be out of school on Feb. 11th for Abraham Lincoln's birthday, which happens to be my birthday too.

Roger Nguyen
age 10
Clinton-Mendenhall Elementary School
Garden Grove, California, USA

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Vonnie Phillips
<vphilli@eis.calstate.edu>

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