15/01/2008

This afternoon, I went to Ueno with Dungx to buy a coat for my baby, we visited a GAP store to find, but I could not find any coat or clothes for her, Cuoi, and Son. Some are very nice, but very expensive, and some cheaper but the size is not fit to. It is very difficult to find clothes for them. All items were made in China or Vietnam, the other hand, these were more expensive than in Vietnam. Every time I go back VN, the most difficulty for me is to buy gifts for my relatives. I have to think a lot, it is suitable or not, and it is expensive or not…… I make me very headache.

The time is walking very slowly. I am counting day by day passing and wish the time flies. There are more than 2 weeks for me to meet my family. I like lively “atmosphere” before Tet (không khí trước tết), we often buy a Peach branch or mandarin orange tree or kumquat tree to put inside the house. I like the peach from Tam Diep or from the country side areas. There are two types of Peach tree in VN are Dao Bich and Dao Phai, Hanoian often enjoy Dao Bich, it is a smaller peach tree, there are many petals in a flower, and the petal is thicker, and the color is pinker than Dao Phai. In the other areas in the north of Vietnam, people like Dao Phai, with a very big branch, from one tree we can have 3 or 4 branch. In rural areas, they often gift one branch for their neighborhoods. Each flower of Dao Phai has only 5 or 6 petals, it rarely has 6 petals, I still remember that when I was a child, we said that the more flower with 6 petals it has, the more happiness, prosperous will come this year. Many times I tried to looking for 6 petal flowers…..I was very happy when I found it and on the contrary. In some days closed to the New Year day, we used to go to a flower market to buy cheap flowers. My mother likes flower so much. But at that time my family didn’t have money to buy any expensive flowers, therefore, we had to go to Ninh Son that is far 3 km from my house to buy cheap flower at the farm gate. This year I will go back my hometown three days before Tet, I will very busy to prepare a Tet for my parent and parent in law. But now I think the Tet is quite bit different compare to that in the past, may be now we have enough money to do everything, to have enough food to eat, to have enough nice clothes to wear every time…..then we don’t expect Tet any more.