Anahoops sent me to this very good site about Vietnam, truly better and more interesting than wiki's for festivals; http://www.saigoninfo.com/tet/meaningoftet.htm (it asks me if i want to install a font, i said no and have no problems with it)

There are three wee paragraphs at teh bottom I thought were particularly fun ideas for incorporating:

"LE GIAO THUA

The transition hour between the old year and the new year. It is one of the most importamt times during the TET holidays. It occurs at the midnight hour on New Year's Eve. GIAO THUA is the time when a family ushers out the spirits of the old year, a ritual called LE TRU TICH. It is especially important to give a warm welcome to the Spirit of the Hearth, TAO QUAN, who has been to visit the Jade Emperor, Drums, gongs and firecrackers announced the hour of LE GIAO THUA

CAY NEU

A bamboo pole (New Year's Tree) stripped of its leaves except for a tuft on top. Red papaer decorates the tree which is planted outside the house during the Tet holidays. It is supposed to ward off the evil spririts during absence of the Spririt of the Hearth who leaves the family at this time to visit the palace of the Jade Emperor. See more...

CAU DOI

A literary art form of Chinese origin (parallel sentences). A cau doi, "sentence pair", consists of two sentences or lines. Each line corresponds with the other meaning as well as tone pattern and individual word meaning. The cau doi is usually used to convey good wishes on the Tet holidaya. It is highly specialized form of poetry.


I love the last bit with the sentence pair, we could easily hold a card writing event, perhaps even paired with a select your own lunar card type of thing such as the Hellas greeting card center (but clearly smaller)?

Also, I had seen the jade emperor and house spirit thing mentioned before, but I found this explanation to be more easy for me to absorb. There must be something we can do with the top two paragraphs, incorporate them somehow into the first part of our Vietnam day? Anyone at all with some ideas?