This is a post I started last year but never finished because I was gearing up for the move to Cambodia. Oh heck, I'll admit it -- I was just being lazy. I'm dusting it off because, incredibly, it's Chinese New Year again. In Vietnam it's called Tet. Actually, in English it's called Tet. In Vietnamese it's called Tết! (That's actually short for Nguyên Đán Tết, "Feast of the "First Morning".)
If Americans know anything the holiday it's because of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. On January 31, 1968, on the first day of Tet, the North Vietnamese unleashed a massive, coordinated attack on more than 100 towns and cities. The US and its allies were caught by surprise but were able to regroup and respond. Although a military defeat for the North Vietnamese the Tet Offensive did much to turn public opinion against the war in the US. You know, because before that it was going so well... It was the beginning of the end.
I have always found it fascinating that the US was caught by surprise. What sort of man would lead his troops into battle on a holiday?
This is Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's famous painting on "Washington Crossing the Delaware" to attack Trenton. He crossed the river on ... wait for it ... Christmas. Of course, you wouldn't expect the US military command to remember George Washington's first victory in the Revolutionary War...
(The flag in the painting is an anachronism. The Stars and Stripes didn't appear until 1777. Critics of the painting also like to point out that it is unlikely that Washington would have been standing in the boat, and that he is depicted as doing so merely to make him look more heroic. The eminent historian David Hackett Fischer, who I had the honor of interviewing when I was a reporter, turned that argument on its head. He said because it was so cold, and because its likely the boats weren't entirely watertight, everyone in the boat would have been standing, to avoid sitting in the icy water. What does all this have to do with this blog post? Absolutely nothing. I just wanted to namedrop. Aren't you impressed?)
Tet is the biggest holiday in Vietnam. That it is a reminder of their victory over the US is merely a happy footnote. Many (in China, Vietnam and Cambodia) celebrate the holiday by returning to their "homeland" to perform "ancestor worship", which means praying to family members who have passed away.
In Vietnam there is also a massive reverse migration, as people from the countryside pour into the cities to sell ceremonial plants. Hundreds of people invaded the park by my home and lived there for the week. I lived next to park 23/9 in Saigon. It is a beautiful park, a shockingly pleasant oasis smack bang in the middle of the crazy Phạm Ngũ Lão tourist district. It has perhaps the worst name of any park in the world, since it's just the address. I suppose it's better than, say, Adolph Hitler Memorial Park or Poop Park, but come on, you couldn't do better than that?
My adorable friend Nhan took me on a tour of the park and did her very best to explain the significance of each type of tree. A year ago when I started this post I knew the difference, but now all I can seem to remember is that each is supposed to bring some sort of luck. Nhan is a tiny girl but even so you can tell these flowers are enormous.
I am glad I made the move from Saigon to Phnom Penh. I don't miss much but I do miss my friends. I got to know her because she waited tables at the restaurant where I went for my bi-weekly pizza fix. Some of my fondest memories from Vietnam are my movie outings with Nhan.
These, I believe are lime trees.
There were literally acres of trees and flowers for sale.
The colors mean different things. I've forgotten and am too lazy to do a Google search... Some of these plants are enormous.
How on earth do you get one of these giants home? This is Vietnam. You carry it the way you carry everything else, on a motorbike.
This might look crazy to Western eyes, until you consider that I saw guys who had strapped wooden platforms across the back of their moto seats and were carrying four of these. Also for sale were various types of sculptures, made of plants. These dragons were made of some sort of gourd-like thingy.
Dragon fruits grow on trees, but not like this.
It's another sort of sculpture, with the plants and fruits all tied together. The park is always busy, but was even more so during Tet. I've said it before, I'll say it again: I think it's great how Asians (and Russians) enjoy taking photos. In the west we consider a chore. Come on, take the picture already! I love watching the elaborate choreography.
If Americans know anything the holiday it's because of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. On January 31, 1968, on the first day of Tet, the North Vietnamese unleashed a massive, coordinated attack on more than 100 towns and cities. The US and its allies were caught by surprise but were able to regroup and respond. Although a military defeat for the North Vietnamese the Tet Offensive did much to turn public opinion against the war in the US. You know, because before that it was going so well... It was the beginning of the end.
I have always found it fascinating that the US was caught by surprise. What sort of man would lead his troops into battle on a holiday?
This is Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's famous painting on "Washington Crossing the Delaware" to attack Trenton. He crossed the river on ... wait for it ... Christmas. Of course, you wouldn't expect the US military command to remember George Washington's first victory in the Revolutionary War...
(The flag in the painting is an anachronism. The Stars and Stripes didn't appear until 1777. Critics of the painting also like to point out that it is unlikely that Washington would have been standing in the boat, and that he is depicted as doing so merely to make him look more heroic. The eminent historian David Hackett Fischer, who I had the honor of interviewing when I was a reporter, turned that argument on its head. He said because it was so cold, and because its likely the boats weren't entirely watertight, everyone in the boat would have been standing, to avoid sitting in the icy water. What does all this have to do with this blog post? Absolutely nothing. I just wanted to namedrop. Aren't you impressed?)
Tet is the biggest holiday in Vietnam. That it is a reminder of their victory over the US is merely a happy footnote. Many (in China, Vietnam and Cambodia) celebrate the holiday by returning to their "homeland" to perform "ancestor worship", which means praying to family members who have passed away.
In Vietnam there is also a massive reverse migration, as people from the countryside pour into the cities to sell ceremonial plants. Hundreds of people invaded the park by my home and lived there for the week. I lived next to park 23/9 in Saigon. It is a beautiful park, a shockingly pleasant oasis smack bang in the middle of the crazy Phạm Ngũ Lão tourist district. It has perhaps the worst name of any park in the world, since it's just the address. I suppose it's better than, say, Adolph Hitler Memorial Park or Poop Park, but come on, you couldn't do better than that?
My adorable friend Nhan took me on a tour of the park and did her very best to explain the significance of each type of tree. A year ago when I started this post I knew the difference, but now all I can seem to remember is that each is supposed to bring some sort of luck. Nhan is a tiny girl but even so you can tell these flowers are enormous.
I am glad I made the move from Saigon to Phnom Penh. I don't miss much but I do miss my friends. I got to know her because she waited tables at the restaurant where I went for my bi-weekly pizza fix. Some of my fondest memories from Vietnam are my movie outings with Nhan.These, I believe are lime trees.
There were literally acres of trees and flowers for sale.
The colors mean different things. I've forgotten and am too lazy to do a Google search... Some of these plants are enormous.
How on earth do you get one of these giants home? This is Vietnam. You carry it the way you carry everything else, on a motorbike.
This might look crazy to Western eyes, until you consider that I saw guys who had strapped wooden platforms across the back of their moto seats and were carrying four of these. Also for sale were various types of sculptures, made of plants. These dragons were made of some sort of gourd-like thingy.
Dragon fruits grow on trees, but not like this.
It's another sort of sculpture, with the plants and fruits all tied together. The park is always busy, but was even more so during Tet. I've said it before, I'll say it again: I think it's great how Asians (and Russians) enjoy taking photos. In the west we consider a chore. Come on, take the picture already! I love watching the elaborate choreography.
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