The taste of spring home

For many Vietnamese people living and working abroad, Lunar New Year is not only the end of the old year but also an occasion to return to their homeland, reunite with family, and enjoy happy, warm moments.

Talking to a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mui emotionally said that as soon as she got off the plane at Tan Son Nhat Airport (HCMC), she could smell "the smell of spring in her homeland".

The 70-year-old woman felt the excitement of Tet decorations as she sat in her car moving through the streets. She was moved because having been born and raised in Thailand for many years, she had never breathed such a Tet atmosphere.

For many years, Mrs. Mui has wished to return home to celebrate Tet, and this is also the wish of many Vietnamese people in Thailand. "Although I do not live in Vietnam, my heart always turns to my homeland," she said, choking with happiness.

Overseas Vietnamese visit Ho Chi Minh City by double-decker bus during the days before the Lunar New Year 2024. Photo: HOANG TRIEU

Unlike Ms. Mui, Mr. Tran Ba ​​Phuc - Member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Vice President of the Association of Overseas Vietnamese Entrepreneurs, President of the Association of Vietnamese Entrepreneurs in Australia - returns to Vietnam once or twice a year to celebrate Tet or handle work.

Returning during the traditional Tet holiday always brings him special feelings, making him feel more attached and closer to his homeland. He said that every time he sees the bustling streets celebrating Tet, people shopping for decorations and enjoying traditional dishes that are indispensable for this special occasion, he feels equally excited and happy.

Everyone has different feelings when returning to Vietnam, but Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Lien, a Vietnamese living in Udon Thani province - Thailand, is most excited to meet her relatives again. It was even more memorable when during this visit to her homeland, she performed the opening performance of the program "I love my mother tongue" at the Hanoi Opera House on January 30.

Unable to hide her pride, Ms. Lien expressed her wish to continue returning to Vietnam to celebrate Tet in the coming years.

Also returning from Thailand, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lai prepared 5 Ao Dai sets in her luggage to stroll on the streets decorated with flags and flowers in Ho Chi Minh City. Showing off to a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper an Ao Dai made from Thai fabric, Ms. Lai said she has 30-40 Ao Dai sets and often wears her home clothes in Thailand.

However, in the context of the global economic difficulties, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Luan, Director of Global Trade Link Company Limited (Meet More coffee brand), noticed that the Tet atmosphere this year in Ho Chi Minh City seemed to come late.

Living and working in Australia, Mr. Luan said he has celebrated Tet in Ho Chi Minh City for several years, but this year it was not until December 23 that he began to feel the more bustling atmosphere at the Tet stalls and spring flower markets. For him, witnessing the city change so dramatically is a great joy and emotion, motivating him to make more efforts to contribute to building his homeland.

Joining in the joy of welcoming spring, for Mr. Phan The Phuong, an American expatriate and Chairman of Lien Ket Viet My Company Limited, Lunar New Year is a sacred time when everyone wants to return home.

This year, he plans to celebrate Tet with his family in his hometown, Cai Lay town, Tien Giang province. Having been in Ho Chi Minh City before returning home, Mr. Phuong realized that the city has developed remarkably in the past 10 years and hopes that in the future, Vietnam will become an Asian dragon.

"Bring Tet home to your children"

Perhaps the special thing that connects all Vietnamese people who are looking forward to Tet in foreign lands is the desire to "Bring Tet home to your children". This is not a project, nor is it a campaign. It is simply the desire for children born in foreign lands to know the traditional Tet atmosphere of the Vietnamese people.

I love Tet! And perhaps because I am a traditional woman, I love everything about the ancient Tet even more. Having lived in Berlin for 10 years now, I love life even more when I see the green, red, purple, and yellow Ao Dai fluttering around the streets of the German capital. The children wearing Ao Dai and wooden clogs playing at the Brandenburg Gate are so adorable that there are no words to describe them.

Not only me but every mother wants to bring wonderful things to their children. For Vietnamese mothers, it is to pass on to their children the beauty of Vietnamese customs. Decorating the house with their children, making peach blossoms, making apricot blossoms, wrapping banh chung, making spring rolls, making fish on the day the Kitchen Gods return to heaven… Hopefully, when the children grow up, these moments of preparing for Tet will become the foundation to guide them back to their homeland and roots.

Quynh Chi (From Berlin - Germany)

Source: https://nld.com.vn/huong-vi-xuan-que-nha-19624020521254009.htm