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RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR
The Vietnamese Dental Students Association rang in the “Year of the Horse” in a lunch-time celebration February 13. The Tet New Year, based on the lunar calendar, is an important day of celebration across Southeast Asia and nowhere more so than in Vietnam. Kim Mai, president of the VDSA, wished the noon-time crowd gathered in the east lobby “Chúc Mùng Nam Mói,” happy new year, prior to offering some very tasty Vietnamese cuisine including banh trung, a traditional new year dish of sweet rice, pork and green beans, wrapped in banana leaf.
A three-day national holiday in Vietnam, the new year is a joyous time and, for the young, can also be quite lucrative. During the Tet festivities, the younger members of the family wish their older family members long life and good health in the coming year and in return receive red envelopes with money enclosed, explained one Vietnamese student. While no red envelopes were seen floating around this year’s VDSA Tet celebration, everyone in attendance profited, gastronomically at least.
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