2023, Global Internships, Local Culture, Short-term Experiences, Student Life, Vietnam 8-week Internship (2023)

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới – Happy Lunar New Year

by Lanee Waho

Welcome dinner to Vietnam. Day 2 of our arrival, where we ate a buffet of different Vietnamese cuisine and enjoyed getting to know each a little more.

In the last 3 weeks I have been so busy at work, social events and learning all about the biggest celebration of the year in Vietnam.

Chúc Mừng Năm Mới – Happy Lunar New Year. This celebration in Vietnam is really big, all of the people that work in the city, leave and go back to their hometowns to celebrate the year with their family and friends. Vietnamese do not celebrate Christmas, New Year or Thanksgiving. The entire city shuts down for 7-10 days, and the smog lifted over this time.

They prepare special food and give gifts to each other, also giving each other envelopes with lucky money inside.

This group photo is after we visited a blind orphanage and elderly people home.

The Year of the Cat

2023 is the year of “The Cat” here in Vietnam and is the 4th animal symbol in the 12-year cycle of the Vietnamese zodiac, taking the place of the Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac.

In Vietnamese culture, the year of the cat is said to bring attentiveness, compassion, and sensitivity. There are a few theories as to why Vietnam includes cat and not rabbit, finding this information in the books and among Communities. One of the most popular beliefs is the similar pronunciation of rabbit and cat in both Vietnamese and Chinese – the ancient word for rabbit, “mao” sounds like a cat’s meow sound, and The Vietnamese word for cat (méo) is also similar to mao.

Another theory is that the cat fits better in the zodiac, according to Vietnamese feng shui, as it has cultural relationships with other animals, such as the rat, dog, or tiger.

There are celebrations all over the city, with flower shows and fireworks. I have felt a strong culture here while these celebrations have been happening. The giving of lucky money is common in the workplace and amongst friends and family.

This picture shows the gift bags we prepared for Blind Children and Elderly people.
We also prepared lucky money to give to blind children and the elderly. The Auckland and Waikato students also donated money towards the gifts of lucky money. It was a lovely day enjoyed with traditional food and being amongst the indigenous people of Vietnam.
This is some of the traditional food they eat over the Tet period. They celebrate in many ways. This is candy, made from Vegetables and dried coconut and ginger, also with seeds. The yellow flower is the flower of luck that you can find all over the city.

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