Happy Lunar New Year!

Or as we say in Vietnamese - Chúc mừng năm mới!

Every year, we celebrate Tết, the lunar new year, sometime in late January or early February (it changes every year). The new year celebrates the arrival of spring and is a time for us to leave wrongs in the past and to start anew. This year is the year of the Rat. According to folklore, the animals in the zodiac are depicted by their personalities in a race the emperor challenged all the animals to participate in. For a quick summary of the different personalities - check out this page. Interestingly, I was born in January so all through my teenage years, I thought that I was a dragon, but I later found out that I was a cat (!!) Considering the vastly different personality of the dragon and the cat, I have been very confused ever since. :)

Tet is a national holiday in Vietnam and is treated as such! The holiday is sparked by eating traditional new year cuisine, lion dancing, games, and gifting of money in red envelopes. Each year, my family makes banh tet which is a pork and egg mixture rolled up in sticky rice, bamboo leaves, and is steamed for hours. Every new year I’m excited to celebrate our traditions and feast on delicious traditional food!