Vietnamese Salesians in Italy celebrate Tet: a message for family and friends
by
Tran Van Tien (Francesco) Tien sdb
ROME: 21
January 2012 --
Tết Nguyên Ðán, more commonly known as simply
Tết, is the Vietnamese
New Year. The Vietnamese calendar is based on the Chinese
Lunar
Calendar.
It is celebrated at the same time as the Chinese New
Year and
shares many customs in common with the Chinese. Tết occurs
sometime in
January or February. There are special dishes, people do a
'spring
clean' of their homes, visit their parents, go the temple.
Children
always get special attention during this time and often
receive money
in special red envelopes called lì sì.
Then of course there are fireworks, dragon and lion dances to
scare off the evils spirits and bring good luck in the new
year.
This year the celebrations take place on 22 January, when New
Year will be celebrated in Vietnam ( The Year of the Dragon)
We Vietnamese Salesians in Italy are unable to celebrate with
our
families and so this year we have made a video to send to all
of you,
Vietnamese and other Salesians around the world, for our
friends,
relatives......Enjoy, and Happy New Year!
