TET preparations

Twp days to TET !

It has been so fascinating to be able to be in Vietnam and to get to follow the preparation for the TET-holiday. TET is the biggest celebration in Vietnam, it is the celebration of the lunar new year. 

This year the holiday takes place between the 5th and the 14th of February. The week prior to the holiday is spent by cleaning and decorating the house. Some schools even organise a day when the students join in for the cleaning of the school. After this, schools arrange an event to start off the holiday. I have been invited to one of these events at my main high school; Thai Phien. Thai Phien is the second best high school in Hai Phong, and my favourite school. The events will be very glorious, and will include for example a competition of making the traditional Chung Cakes. Chung Cake is made of rice and shredded pork meat. I shall be wearing a bright red national dress of Vietnam; ao dai (pronounced ao zai). 

One of the main TET decorations is a tree; this sort of reminds me of the western tradition of a Christmas tree. It is tradition to buy a peach or a pomelo tree and decorate it for the holiday. People also buy branches of cherry blossoms. At the moment all our main road sides are full of street vendors selling these trees, the prices go up to ten million. Some of the trees are enormous; I have seen some very imaginative ways of transporting these trees. A friend of mine got hit in the head but someone pushing a tree into the back of his bike! All my life, I never thought that it would even be possible to be smacked by a tree when standing at traffic lights. 

Unfortunately, this holiday has made the roads a lot more dangerous than what they usually are. Traffic in Vietnam tends to be a little crazy on daily basis but not it has been taken to another level. The tree smacking is just one of many examples. This week I have seen so many things accidentally falling off bikes, causing others to quickly jump on their brakes. I have had to develop some ninja moves recently due to people irrationally driving to the wrong direction, randomly doing a 180 when they have spotted a tree they love or bouncing zigzag from one side to the other. The average speed has dropped by more then 10 km/ an hour. That's not bad news, it is nice to browse the trees while driving. Not to worry, I am being very careful. Just half an hour ago saw another crash. Luckily, not a bad one. 

A lot of my schools have cancelled classes this week so I have had a lot of time to prepare for the upcoming holiday. I couldn't be more excited to go to Cambodia and Laos. It turned out that a lot of my friends are headed to Siem Reap as well so some dates have been arranged. We have planned such a great itinerary for us! Two of my friends are flying from Ha Noi on Friday as well so we are all taking a private car there together. The car costs a million, the drive lasts for approximately two hours. It is ridiculous how cheap you can get a private car ! It will be about 10 euros per person.
For now, very excited for the Thursday's event. I will be keeping you up to date with some pictures afterwards! And then Cambodia and Laos. I hope you all have a good skiing holiday (if you are in a country that does celebrate that), or otherwise a fabulous February ! 

Happy new year :) chúc mừng năm mới ! (Chug mug namm mooi)

Mira