Tea and Tết
As a Vietnamese, I love Tết from the bottom of my heart. Tết for me wouldn’t be actual Tết without blossom tree, chưng cake... and especially tea which dad never forgets to buy from Thai Nguyen province ( most well-known for growing tea in Vietnam). Occasionally we receive Tết gift from my parents friends, and most of the time, tea is the indispensable part included. There are so many kinds of sweet, jam, candy for Tết, why tea is always the first option that every one wants to give to their friends and loved ones when Tết is coming?
The hustle and bustle of modern life in big city makes us always get busy with work and study, we barely have time to sit together and exchange stories around the hot tea pot. That’s why I love this time of the year so much, when Tết is right on the corner and all I think about is reuniting with my family , enjoying tea either while we’re waiting for New Year Eve or the first day of the luna new year... Tea always joins in the small party and become such a great and meaningful way to start the conversation.
Each kind of tea has its own exclusive flavor and fragrance, but I’m sure the sweet after taste and the warmth of the small tea cup will bring to you the same feeling of greatfulness and warmness. It’s probably because of that, the stories of guests when they come to my house always seem to be longer and longer, endlessly.
Inviting tea and enjoying tea is considered a fimilarly custom of traditional cuture which profoundly pins down in daily life, drinking tea is not just a simple activity like drinking water, but also taste and enjoy the essence of tree, grass, soil and air... that is consolidated day by day. Enjoying tea together is such a beautiful tradition to show the respect and greatful with your guests.
The calmness as well as the peacefulness of enjoying tea seems to slow the rhymth of daily life down, to not only bring up to us peace and rest in mind, but also give us a chance to intergrate with nature when the first moment of year coming.