In these days, whole Vietnam is upside down: Two weeks before the New Year’s celebration, families have begun to prepare the feast and decorate their homes. On Tet everyone tries to be with the beloved ones. But what do Vietnamese expats who do not have the chance to go home during holidays? Here is the story of Kieu Oanh Tran.

On February 13 Kieu Oanh Tran from Würzburg will phone her parents in Vietnam. She hopes for a good connection so she can be with them on the most important day of the year. Kieu Oanh left her home town Hanoi in 1991, and did not come back for Tet since then. “Due to some immigration issues and my son’s attending school during that time, I could not be in Vietnam for Tet for the last 19 years,” she tells. Still, as her parents are just a phone call away, she can be with them: “I call them a few minutes before midnight. Then my parents light inscense sticks, we pray together, wait until the incense sticks go out, and wish each other ‘Chuc mung nam moi’ – a happy new year.” But sometimes the situation makes her parents so sad that they cry on the phone.

At least, it is a little scrap of comfort for Mrs. Tran that, according to her parents, today’s Tet is not anymore the festival it once used to be. Many young people go out with friends instead of staying with their families. Besides, lots of Vietnamese prefer to order their meals at a catering service and, thus, avoid bothering to cook for hours.

“When I used to live with my family in Hanoi, we looked forward to celebrating Tet the whole year round. We saved our money to buy good clothes just for these special days. Also, we cooked for about five to six hours to make seven to ten kilos of Banh Trung, and adorn the rooms with pink, violet and white flowers and different fruits. And my mum always bought a big tangerine tree. Then the entire house smelled wonderful.”

Almost everything Kieu Oanh Tran knows about Tet comes from her memories when she was a child. “Comparable with Christmas, children like Tet best. They are excited about the fireworks. And they are the only ones who get presents, in the form of money!” Mrs. Tran goes into raptures when reminiscing about Tet: “Every family had their own fireworks and even firecrackers, which are forbidden meanwhile.” She misses the New Year’s celebration lasting three days. “Then in Vietnam, we always went to the cemetery to commemorate the grandparents. We brought them fruits and flowers, and lit paper money,” she remembers.

In Germany, Kieu Oanh Tran always prays the first and second day of the new year for “peace and a happy life, free from worries.” Certainly, she also wishes to be in Vietnam during Tet soon again.
___________________________________
Kieu Oanh Tran is 40 years old, works at a Thai restaurant and lives with her son and husband in Würzburg, Germany.