New Year's Eve away from home for Vietnamese students studying abroad

In his first year away from home, Pham Nguyen Minh Tuan, a first-year medical science student at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia, went to his friend's house to celebrate New Year's Eve.

Flying from Vietnam a week ago, the male student brought two types of coconut jam to have the taste of home. He was a bit regretful because he had to come early and could not celebrate Tet with his family. However, the cozy atmosphere and warmth of his friend's family helped Tuan ease his homesickness. He and everyone else prepared a tray of offerings with sticky rice, boiled chicken, banh chung, and gio, watched the Tao Quan program and counted down the moments to the new year.

"I just talked to my parents in Vietnam, the whole family is preparing a New Year's Eve offering. This is the most special Tet for me," Tuan shared.

For Tuan, 2023 is a year with many new things. Tuan decided to study abroad during Tet last year and now has set foot in Australia with a full scholarship. Looking back, he feels this is a meaningful and precious journey.

"My plan for the new year is to finish my studies well, meet friends from all over the world and explore new places in Australia," Tuan shared.

In China, Vietnamese students abroad entered the new year an hour before their home country. At the exact moment of New Year's Eve, Dao Viet Trinh, a master's student at Guangxi University for Nationalities, and other international students in the dormitory gathered to celebrate the new year. It was very cold so Trinh and her friends did not go outside but watched the fireworks from the balcony of their room.

Before that, Trinh wished her teachers a happy new year and enjoyed a traditional Chinese New Year meal with fish and chicken. Trinh said she was excited to celebrate the new year in China for the first time. To create an atmosphere and introduce Vietnamese culture to international friends, on February 7-8, Trinh made traditional dishes such as fried spring rolls and banh chung and invited her friends to join.

"Everyone had fun wrapping the cakes. We wrapped 15," Trinh said. Because she couldn't find string, she and her friends tied the cakes with wool. The wrapped cakes were boiled on an electric stove because the dormitory did not allow the use of charcoal or firewood stoves.

For Trinh, the experience of celebrating Tet with international friends is a beautiful memory of her study abroad journey. During the 1.5 month Tet holiday, she plans to stay in the dormitory to study and do homework.

On New Year’s Eve, Le Quynh Anh, a first-year finance student at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, went to Chinatown with her friends to experience the Tet atmosphere. Quynh Anh said the streets were bustling and brightly decorated, but because they were too crowded, she and her friends had to return home.

"We feel a bit regretful, but if we go home we can call our parents to celebrate New Year's Eve. If we stay, we probably won't get home until 2am," Quynh Anh shared.

Nearly two weeks ago, the female student participated in the "Tet Tam Tinh" program with the activities of wrapping Chung cakes and making coconut jam organized by the Vietnamese Student Association in Singapore. This is the third year this activity has taken place, aiming to bring the atmosphere of Tet in the homeland to overseas students.

"This activity helps us feel warm as Tet approaches," Quynh Anh shared.

In Russia, Le Trong Nghia, a student of business administration at Polessky State University, celebrates Tet with Vietnamese families in the city. New Year's Eve in Vietnam is 8 p.m. in Russia, so every year at this time, he gathers with everyone to watch the year-end program and calls his parents.

"I feel warm when being taken care of by the Vietnamese uncles and aunts here. Even though I'm far from home, I can still enjoy all the Tet dishes," Nghia said.

Nghia said the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia organized a Tet program and invited Vietnamese people to attend, but because of busy school, Nghia and his friends could not go to the capital to participate.

Nhu Dinh Nguyen, a second-year student at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, took the opportunity to call his family early because New Year's Eve in Vietnam is 12 noon Canada - when Nguyen is at school. In the past few days, seeing his friends posting pictures of cleaning their houses and shopping for Tet, Nguyen also wanted to go home to reunite with his family.

"What I remember most is the image of the 30th of Tet cleaning and decorating the house with the whole family," Nguyen said. Last weekend, the Vietnamese community in Ottawa organized the "Vietnamese Tet Ottawa 2024" program for families and students here. Everyone wore ao dai, made Tet decorations together, danced bamboo poles, tug of war, and learned to make banh chung.

Last year, Nguyen completed his studies with excellent results and achieved a perfect GPA of 4.0. After graduating next year, Nguyen hopes to find a job in his field.

"I want to return to Vietnam to visit my family after graduation. I also hope to have good health to complete the goals I have set," Nguyen said.

For Le Thuy Duong, a master's student at Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, USA, this year's Tet is different.

Duong is currently the President of the Vietnamese Student Association at Gonzaga. This year, Duong and nearly 50 Vietnamese international students brought a truly Vietnamese Tet atmosphere to the heart of Gonzaga, thereby introducing the national culture to international friends.

On February 10, at the main school cafeteria, the first floor will become a Vietnamese food court with beef noodle soup, grilled pork vermicelli, sandwiches and traditional dishes such as braised pork and desserts. The second floor is a Tet market where people can find handicrafts, snacks and booths introducing traditional culture such as ao dai, lucky money...

The idea for the Tet event came from Duong's own experience of celebrating Tet away from home for many years.

"The first years celebrating Tet away from home were the hardest. The memories of Tet from my childhood, the New Year's Eve dinner and the New Year's Eve moment... are always imprinted in my memory," Duong shared. She hopes to maintain this annual activity so that international students can feel warm at the New Year's moment.