An Tat Nien

Hoa dao is in bloom, which means that Tet is right around the corner. In fact, it is exactly one week from today. Feb. 18th is a good day, an auspicious day. It is a day filled with red colors and li xi and food and lights and celebrations. BaMe has promised rang se goi qua CA banh chung va banh tet! Yumm! BoMe da goi bang tay tai nha, va se goi bang UPS nam nay co the nem mui banh chung banh tet tu tay BaMe lam.



This coming week is the last week of the lunar calendar, a time of festivities to end the year ("tat nien"), which requires that we "an Tet" (literally meaning "eat Tet"). Yet, the house has not been painted, and I do not have any kumquat trees in the corners. Cung khong co mai hoac dao. Khong son cua nha. Khong chung bay "cau dua du soai." Co le vi biet rang nam nay minh kg can thiet nhung mon gi het, vi da co day du lam roi. (Khong biet khi nao goi qua se den. Mong rang se co bao li xi!!) Though our Christian background has shooed away all remnants of our observing the Kitchen God's departure from our home, I am sad that I forgot that he was supposed to travel to see the Jade Emperor to report on the comings-and-goings of our petite household. A ma maison, I have much to tell, and I'm sure he's written a very lengthy scroll to report.

This year, I also decided not to viet so Tao Quan. Viet thi vui thiet, nhung cong viec cung hoi lu bu nen nam nay Ong Tao phai tu viet so de trinh len, chu minh se kg viet dau. Hehe... Tai sao cang ngay cang quen mat nhung customs cua nhung ngay xua? Buon ghe...

Nam ngoai, minh da an Tet tai Saigon, khong khi nhon nhip. Dem Giao Thua thi co phao hoa, va moi nguoi deu an mung. Nam nay, cung nhu nam 2004, Tet troi qua im lang va than nhien nhu kg co gi dac biet, ngay nao cung nhu ngay nao...