Here's my latest song inspired by It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas. (I uploaded another version last year.) The Vietnamese version is below. Thanks to các cháu Thảo, Thanh và Duyên for their help! Reaching New Heights together! 😉 Enjoy! Peace, MAA It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Tet It's beginning to look a lot like TetEverywhere you … Continue reading It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Tết/Đã bắt đầu trông như Tết rồi
lunar new year
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Tết!
Photo by MAA It's beginning to look a lot like Tết, everywhere you go. Take a look at the kumquat trees flying in the breeze, peach and other flowers sold on the road. It's beginning to look a lot like Tết, traffic jams galore. Appeasing the Kitchen God, welcoming in the new, cleaning up, and … Continue reading It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Tết!
Season’s Greetings from Vietnam!
For your reading pleasure, here's the English version of a December 2021 article I wrote about Christmas as the kickoff to a long holiday season that culminates in Tết, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration: Christmas in Vietnam: bookending a long festival season. Even though most Vietnamese identify as Buddhists, Christmas has become a popular secular holiday in recent years, which is why … Continue reading Season’s Greetings from Vietnam!
Tết: Climax of a Long Holiday Season
Happy Year of the Cat! Below is the English version of my latest essay for VNExpress Kỳ nghỉ siêu dài, published on 22.1.23, Lunar New Year's Day. It's a continuation and elaboration of this 12-21 article for VNExpress International about Christmas as the beginning of a long holiday season in Vietnam. Shalom (שלום), MAA One of … Continue reading Tết: Climax of a Long Holiday Season
Season’s Greetings 2022/Happy New Year 2023!
To all of you who celebrate, wishing you a very Merry Christmas. Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, Rewarding, & Peaceful Solar New Year! Here's an article I wrote last year about Christmas in Vietnam as the kickoff to a long holiday season that culminates Tết, the celebration of the Lunar New Year, which falls on … Continue reading Season’s Greetings 2022/Happy New Year 2023!
Christmas in Vietnam: bookending a long festival season
Here's my latest essay for VNExpress International. Even though the percentage of Vietnamese who celebrate December 25 as the birth of Jesus Christ is in the single digits, Christmas has evolved into a full-fledged secular holiday in recent years. A sure sign Christmas is approaching is when elaborate and colorful holiday displays at banks and … Continue reading Christmas in Vietnam: bookending a long festival season
Of Fish & Kitchen Gods: A Tết Ritual Needs To Be Carried Out in a Humane & Non-Polluting Manner
Dead carp floating in the To Lich River in Hanoi on Thursday. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh (February 2018) On a recent commute to my office, I noticed numerous signs on the bridge over the Red River. They asked people not to throw fish into water river below. As this 2018 article notes, "the ritual is an … Continue reading Of Fish & Kitchen Gods: A Tết Ritual Needs To Be Carried Out in a Humane & Non-Polluting Manner
Christmas in Viet Nam
St. Joseph's Cathedral, Hanoi. Photo by MAA Having lived in Viet Nam for over 15 years, I can say with absolute certainty that I enjoy Christmas here more than in the US. Even though most Vietnamese are not Christian, it is still a special and even magical time. You see children (and adults!) posing for photos … Continue reading Christmas in Viet Nam
Happy Lunar 2020!
Wishing all of you a very Happy, Healthy, Rewarding, & Peaceful Year of the Rat! Chúc mừng Năm mới hạnh phúc, mạnh khỏe, vui vẻ, thành công và an lành! Shalom (שלום), MAA
Chinese vs. Lunar New Year: A Mini-Lesson in Cultural Sensitivity
Image courtesy of Báo giao thông Since it's that time of year again and the Lunar Year of the Rat is right around the corner, I feel compelled to state the obvious. With all due respect to China, it does not have a monopoly on this or any other Lunar New Year. Tết Nguyên Đán … Continue reading Chinese vs. Lunar New Year: A Mini-Lesson in Cultural Sensitivity
An International Educator in Vietnam 
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