Vietnamese New Year and Friends
January 27, 2013
On Saturday I met a friend at the Vietnamese New Year Festival, and saw many friends from my previous school. The festival was a huge event where food, plants, and merchandise were sold. There was an awesome opening ceremony complete with the traditional Vietnamese dancers and dragons.
At my previous school there were many Vietnamese students and teachers. Every year there was a big T'et (New Year's) program and celebration. The families were wonderful and made all of the food for the celebration, which took many hours of labor to prepare.
Every student in the school was given a red envelope with money in it for good luck in the new year.
"In Vietnam, red envelopes are called lì xì (similar to the Cantonese pronunciation "lai see") or, in some cases, phong bao mừng tuổi (happy new age envelope)." from Wikipedia article.
I was already very familiar with the red envelopes, because I had spent much research on Feng Shui years previously.
However, getting to know the Vietnamese students and teachers was a gift I shall always treasure. We saw many of my former students and their families at the festival. We shopped and we ate.
There was a particularly intriguing booth/table with a large assortment of glass bead jewelry, simulating jade, pearls, etc. My friend immediatly purchased a jade bead bracelet, which was beautiful and reasonably priced. I was fascinated by the pearls. My pearls, which I have written about previously, needed the clasp repaired.
I asked about the seller's pearl necklaces, none of which were simple pearls. She said she could make a string of pearls for me while I enjoyed the festival. I chose the size and color of the pearl, the length of the necklace, and the clasp color. We returned about 30 minutes later and the necklace was completed. Perfect. It looks similar to this, but smaller pearls and no extra bead decoration:
But wait, there's more. The money from the sale of the jewelry goes to "Sandals for Leprosy", or Chuoi hat hy vong (Beads of Hope)." This is a project in Vietnam for making sandals for those in remote villages who have leprosy. They need new sandals every six months as the disease progresses. The project was started by the late St. Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan. Funds also help the children of the leprosy sufferers. We were very moved by this project's efforts.
As if the festival food was not enough, my friend and I then headed to an afternoon meal at Little Saigon, our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Orlando. We spent a nice time visiting and enjoying the wonderful food.
This year is the year of the snake, so don't forget to give your friends and family members little red envelopes with a little money inside for good luck and a good life.
