Warm dinner at the end of the year

When I was little, every day after the Kitchen Gods returned to heaven and when the farm work was over, my mother would urge her children to clean the house, wipe the flower vases and incense bowls on the altar to prepare for Tet.

On the 30th of Tet, my family, like many other rural households, is very busy because we have to worry about shopping for Tet, wrapping banh chung, slaughtering chickens and pigs, and preparing the New Year's Eve dinner to welcome our grandparents and ancestors back to celebrate Tet.

My family was very poor, almost all year round there was hunger and missed meals during the lean season. Therefore, only during Tet holidays did my siblings, grandparents and parents get to eat a little. The New Year's Eve dinner at the end of the year was usually the first meal of the Tet holidays when the whole family gathered together and had lots of delicious food, so I often looked forward to it with excitement.

People often say that the best meal of Tet is the New Year's Eve meal because it is the first day of Tet so people have not yet felt bored with the food. My mother knows that my siblings and I are eager and are at the age of eating and growing up, so my parents always make a sumptuous New Year's Eve meal so that the children can be satisfied and full. When the whole family sits around the warm meal, my mother always tells the children to eat freely because this is Tet, not a normal day, so we have to be frugal.

One year, my eldest sister went to work in Saigon and missed the train and bus, so the family's New Year's Eve dinner that year was not very happy. My mother and father were sad because of her hardship, so the atmosphere during the meal was very quiet. My brothers and I also felt that the food was not delicious because we missed her, felt that there was something missing, even though the tray was full of food. When we finished eating, the whole family was sitting and drinking water, my mother said sadly: "Your eldest sister has worked so hard, working hard all year round to make a living, but we can't even reunite with the family for just the New Year's Eve dinner at the end of the year!"

When I was young and had not had the opportunity to be away from my family, I did not understand the meaning and importance of the reunion dinner at the end of the year. My grandmother often said: "Tet away from home is very sad, I miss my home and relatives a lot, even though I may not lack money and everything. Hometown and family are the roots for us to return to during holidays, Tet, and festivals...". When I grew up, I also understood what she said and I saw that no matter where we work and live, during Tet people always rush to return to their family and hometown to have fun, meet and celebrate Tet. I have never had to celebrate Tet without my father or mother and have never been absent from the family dinner on the 30th of Tet because my family lives in a nearby suburb, but many of my friends have had to endure the situation of celebrating Tet without their family and relatives. Someone once wished, “If only on the 30th of Tet, I could gather with my parents and relatives and have a New Year’s Eve meal full of soy sauce, eggplant, vegetables, salt… that would be fine!” However, that small wish is often difficult to come true in each person’s life due to different factors and circumstances…

The old year is about to pass, a new year is coming and the New Year's Eve dinner is about to be served. Every family does not want any member to be away from home because a full Tet reunion is the most joyful Tet...

Essay by NGUYEN THI LOAN