-^-for posterity-^-

the 25th day of the last month of the lunar new year.

mass student exodus from campus. they leave in droves and mill about waiting for a motorcycle taxi to pick them up. they have their backpacks slung over their shoulders and are all beaming and talking constantly as if they have an extra source of energy that magically appeared in the past few days. it’s like christmas and thanksgiving all rolled up into one and sprinkled with a bit of the fourth of july.

they do not live far from here but most come from poor families and thus do not have access to a motorbike. they live in surrounding villages and will return for two weeks to enjoy life with their family. they’re, for the most part, going to be returning celebrities. in an area with a population of about 20,000,000 people and two universities, those that do go to school are the cream of the crop. they will return and the whole village will greet them and they’ll walk around in freshly pressed shirts tucked into dress pants beaming and passing out nuggets of wisdom. now they’re just waiting for a bus to take them. they wait and beam.

going home is the most important thing anyone can do over the lunar new year. a family must be together, they must eat together, they must celebrate together.

i drive my motorcycle around town and lazily drink coffee in this or that coffee shop. i have made friends with hundreds of waitresses and thousands of motorcycle taxi drivers. at my favorite coffee shop, this will be a typical pre-tet conversation.

‘what are you drinking?’ (the waitress knows but she asks anyways. she stands politely and doesn’t smile. she means to show me respect.)

‘iced coffee’

(she brings the coffee.)

‘teacher jon, (once again with the respect) are you going home for the tet holiday or will you stay in long xuyen?’

‘i will stay in long xuyen. i don’t have enough money to go home.’ (that’s my textbook excuse. i’m going to be going home this summer and that will be a lot more important than going home randomly at the end of january for a couple of weeks to enjoy snow, ice and, most likely, various illnesses related to the weather.)

‘so, you will enjoy the tet holiday in long xuyen?’

‘yes. i will eat at some friend’s house and relax.’

‘teacher jon, i’m sure you will be very sad to be so far away from your family. i hope you are not bored here.’

‘i’m sure i will have fun. i wish you a new year of prosperity, health and success in everything you do.’

‘i wish you the same.’ (by this time her boss is glaring menacingly over at her for interrupting my coffee and she scurries away. such is life.)

so, the question that is brought up so many times is whether or not i will be going home to spend tet with my family. tet truly is more important than christmas. families are, in general more important over here. to spend tet away from home should be eating a hole somewhere deep inside of me. i should be depressed and out of my mind. but, just thinking about home at the end of january makes me want to sit out on my hammock and enjoy the balmy breeze blowing through the palm trees.

i think i’ll have coconut juice for lunch and maybe will order a few slices of juicy, ripe mango.

(i know that my family always has problems meeting up with our extended relatives on christmas because of the logistical problem of choosing between going to the wife or husband’s family. here, that is not a problem. upon marriage, the wife is officially a part of the husband’s family. it’s as if the family adopts another member and every future tet, she will spend with her husband’s family.)