Final Project

Vietnam Country

Do you know Vietnam? Vietnam is a part of Asia, located to the South China and next to Cambodia. The population of Vietnam is about 20 million. Vietnamese concentrate a lot on their families, and they also have a lot of traditions in their lives. The most important aspects in the lives of Vietnamese are the New Year’s Day, equality and independence, as well as eating and drinking because these things show about the traditions, and the customs of Vietnamese.

First, Vietnamese New Year is the most important Festival of the Vietnamese people. For this holiday, some companies are closed for seven to ten days and all schools are closed for two weeks to three weeks. Everyone has an opportunity to celebrate with their families, friends, and relatives. The New Year’s Day comes between late January or early February, it depends on the Lunar Calendar. First, one week before the New Year, Vietnamese clean their house, buy new clothes and buy something for their house. Second, at the New Year’s Eve, Vietnamese buy apricot blossoms and buy fruits such as: apples, oranges, grape fruit, and mango to put on the altar. They also put things on the table such as: candies, cookies, fruit. At midnight, the family gets together to eat a big meal and then they watch fireworks. Next, in the morning of New Year’s Day, all the shops are closed, and the streets are empty. People dress in their new clothes. The older people give children a gift of money in red envelops. Red is a lucky color, so all people want to use it. In the afternoon, people go to visit their friends and relatives. In the evening people will play cards, dance, and sing. They can stay up all night. Finally, one day after the New Year’s Day, people leave their houses and go to travel places with their friends. So the New Year’s Day is a big tradition for Vietnamese people.

Second, the concepts in my country about equality and independence are not important. People are expecting special favors and treatment in their lives. They can buy presents for their bosses, their teachers as bribery. Moreover, the boss or people of high status like to speak loudly, and sit in comfortable chairs. When you go to eat with your boss in my country, the boss will order the food before you, sit in a comfortable chair at the head of the table. For the concept of independence, teenagers in my country don’t find summer jobs when they are not in school. At home, they do not help their parents with chores or any house work. After they get 18 years old, their parents don’t want their children to leave their houses for living alone. As for me, I think each person is responsible for his or her own life. However, living alone has some bad aspects. For example, if he or she leaves their families after they get 18 years old, they will easily become corrupted and turn to crime, because they don’t have any live experiences. Independence is good or bad depending on the person.

Finally, eating and drinking is also one of the special aspects of Vietnamese. They usually eat with spoons and chopsticks. They don’t eat fast food and cheese, but they usually eat rice with meat. Vietnamese like eating spring roll and Pho noodle when they host a party at their houses. Spring roll is made from meat and sea food covered by moistens rice-paper wrappers, and Pho noodle is made from noodle. Vietnamese like sweet food, so they use a lot of sugar when they cook. For drinking, Vietnamese drink a lot of alcohol for special events, such as Weddings, Birthday, and the New Year’s Day. So if you visit a party in my country, you will easy see a lot of people who are intoxicated by alcohol.

            I think Vietnamese are special from others in the aspects of the New Year’s Day, equality and independence, as well as eating and drinking because I love these special traditions and customs. Vietnamese people put their families in the firs place, so they always take care of the children too much, which will make children not confident to live alone.