Chúc mừng năm mới!

First and foremost, happy new year to all my Vietnamese friends out there. May the year of the rat bring you much happiness, health, and children (where applicable and desired).

As Emily indicated in her last post, I convinced the dynamic duo to come with me to Tết in Seattle. From the video, you can see that Emily and Summer enjoyed the festivities immensely.

 

When we weren't rocking out to various performances (traditional and otherwise), the primary activity of the day was eating.  Unfortunately, Emily has yet to develop a penchant for Vietnamese food. Thwarting my desires to blend in (admittedly, her spikey blond hair prevented this from the get go), I made a trip to a nearby food court to get her some pizza and an orange julius.  Eager to prove that we hadn't stumbled into the pavillion on accident, I quickly ordered enough phỏ, bánh xèo, chả giò, chè ba màu, and bánh tết for two and proceeded to devour it on my own.

 

Around this time, the sound of thousands of explosions engulfed the building. Not wanting to induce hearing loss in Summer at such a tender age, I left the girls inside and ran out to see the lion dance. I've never been sure if I'm supposed to do anything during these dances, so I did as the Viets did: took pictures.