Cre: The New York Times
For us Vietnamese, the biggest and most important festival of the year is Tet which is Lunar New Year in some other countries.
But for most of the western countries, it is Christmas. That is the time when people would gather around and have dinner together, give each other meaningful gifts and hang Christmas stockings on the fireplace wishing that Santa will come and grand their wishes.
Like our Tet, people usually get excited when that day is coming and they want to fully celebrate it by cleaning and decorating their houses with many twinkle lights, candles, snowflakes on the windows, etc. But most importantly, one thing that cannot be missing in every home is the Christmas tree. As a tradition, it is the symbol of hope and new beginnings. Each family’s Christmas tree tells a unique and beautiful story that is special to them. People would place many glass or silver ornaments on the tree to represent each milestone, reflect on vacations and times when they spend together.
In Vietnam, we do not really celebrate Christmas as it is not one of our official holidays, but that does not mean that we cannot spend that day as a day to call back meaningful and everlasting memories of ourselves and our beloved ones; or to give presents to each other so that we can spread the love and really make it a special day.
Do you know about the Secret Santa tradition? Basically, before Christmas Day, you can choose a person you would like to give the present to, your identity is remained a secret and will not be told to anyone. On December 25th, the group or community you chose to do the job will deliver your present and message to that person, which might be the cutest thing a person can receive in a day.
So next time you think of making anyone’s day special, try to prepare a present and turn yourself into a Secret Santa if you do not want to make it so obvious.
Ngọc Huế