Tet leftovers

Tet is a very non-western holiday--Imagine Christmas with all the family and food but no presents. For Saigon, it's a major exodus as everyone hops on a bike for a long trip to their hometown in the country. All the English teachers take exotic trips to Thailand, Bali, India or wherever. We had the whole city to ourselves.

Tet is about yellow flowers and red tassles. While commercialism is limited for this holiday, people do often go all-out for decorations.

Lion dances are everywhere. One moment the streets are deserted, then the drums start and people grow out of the concrete. Here a lion pays tribute to our corner coffee shop, even though it's closed like everywhere else.

Love brings all sorts of folks together. My new relatives are a beautiful, exotic people who look like they'd be comfortable riding Bactrian camels. It is touching at times how they absorb me into the mix. Other times I have to endure the odd Vietnamese sense of humor. I just have to remember that they make fun of me because they love me--it's really true! Here, Dad and Uncle (likes me to call him "old man") are in the serious business of extracting tiny sunflower nutmeats.

A big Vietnamese past-time is gambling. The one game is blackjack, and it's an unusual variety that is very, very open to swindlers. For one thing, when they cut the cards they just put the top half back on top.

Karaoke is also serious business. There always must be someone in the chair, like a sentry guarding against...I don't know, peace and quiet. Dad is always the man for the job.

Ah, lucky money.

I did say this is a non-commercial holiday. So instead of presents, kids (unmarried adults are "kids" too) get cash in colorful red envelopes. They practically salivate for it. But to get it, they have to beg. Even me, in Vietnamese. Which means I stand around for an awkward five minutes until someone tells me what to say. I'd pay not to be in line.

Well, of course there's food. The main dish here is home-made springrolls. They look absolutely scrumptious. Unfortunately I didn't have a single one.

Because we had to crash another party. We had a communally shared jug of brandy from the highlands. Pretty pleasant, not that I swallowed.

A new tet ritual we invented. We did get out to Jenny's Aunt's in Bien Hoa. The highway was much less crowded/ dangerous during tet, but the amusement parks were full. So we had some refreshments and, after some hilariously bad planning, didn't go to Ho Coc, Binh Chau, or Vung Tao but had dinner at the country home and then back to saigon.