Norwegian Ambassador to Vietnam Hilde Solbakken enjoyed Tet atmosphere in Hanoi. (Photo: KT)

Tet means gatherings

I know Tet is the most important public holiday for the Vietnamese people with celebrations lasting over three days, but I noticed last year that many people celebrate for up to a week. Interestingly, Vietnamese Tet, like the Christmas and New Year celebrations in Norway, is all about family reunions and reconnecting with friends and people we love. Many people take this time to travel home, spending quality time with their families, paying homage to their ancestors, and catching up with friends. Many agencies and companies will close to give their workers time off to have the chance to be with their loved ones.

What I like about Tet is that this is a special occasion for Vietnamese people to express their gratitude towards not only their ancestors but also the upper Gods, from the Kitchen Gods to Upper Sky God and Mother Earth.

Tet is colourful and flavoury

I love how the streets get more crowded and colourful the closer we get to Tet. Flowers of different colours particularly peach blossoms in red and pink, and kumquat trees in orange, are sold everywhere from the big streets downtown to small alleys.

Vietnam has many traditional special dishes for Tet, including Bánh Chưng and Nem (deep-fried spring rolls). My daughter especially loves Nem, and we think Banh Chung is quite tasty, although different from any Norwegian dish. Besides, as a tropical country, Vietnam has various candied fruits for Tet including candied lotus seeds, candied coconuts, candied mango, even candied gingers, candy sweet potato, candies carrots, etc. We do not have this kind of candied fruits in Norway, although tradition dictates that we should bake seven different kinds of cookies for Christmas. I have never managed to make more than three.

Vietnamese people have a big Tet celebration, I have to say. You prepare a lot for it – I have the impression that women especially have some extra work during this time!

Tet has many traditions

Like Christmas and New Year in Norway, many Vietnamese people also take Tet to reflect on the old year’s achievements and even non-achievements and make resolutions for the new year.

It is interesting for us to experience very distinct symbolic traditions of the Vietnamese Tet. I would like to mention the first one - "lucky money". It does not have to be a big amount but only a small amount of money in the red envelopes can convey a wish of luck and good things for the new year to children, and express love and respect for older people.

First footing is another interesting tradition. Last Tet, I was chosen to be the first footer in the Embassy. It is believed that the first person who enters a house after midnight on the Lunar New Year’s Eve would have a bearing on the family’s progress throughout the year. This made me a little bit stressed because of the “important mission” of the first footer. But it turned out that I fulfilled my mission in 2023 a lot of achievements in Norway-Vietnam bilateral cooperation, including the official visit by the Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan to Norway and many other exchanges between the two countries and our businesses.

Tet means exploration

Last Tet, my husband bought a peach blossom to decorate the Residence in Hanoi. We love red peach blossoms because red is the symbol of good luck and happiness. We also hung some decorations on the tree, but in a Norwegian way, with pieces of red paper with our New Year wishes or resolutions.

As we spent our first Tet in Hanoi, it was a rare opportunity to see Hanoi for a day or two with less traffic, and we took the opportunity to walk around and take lots of photographs of the beautiful streets in the Old Quarter. We visited the Temple of Literature and learned a little bit more about the history of the first university of Vietnam and calligraphy. We had the honour to meet a young calligraphy master, who gave us the word Happiness.

This year, we might travel during Tet. It is time to see how other parts of the country greet Tet. It would be exciting.

On the occasion of Tet, I would like to wish the readers of the World & Vietnam Report a joyful and relaxing Tet, and a happy, healthy, and prosperous year of the dragon! Chúc mừng Năm mới Giáp Thìn!