"Tet Trung Thu"

This is commonly known of as "Children's Tet" or "Mid Autumn Festival". It is an exciting time in Hanoi for parents and young children (big kids enjoy it too!). There are so many beautiful colors on the streets. One of my language teachers along with her family took me and the boys out to experience some of the celebrations. It's difficult to describe because there are so many customs and stories that go along with it. The Chinese have a similar one but Vietnam has applied it's own uniqueness to their celebration. Typically, parents will buy toys for their children during this time. The toys are not expensive and sometimes they are very traditional hand made toys. I tried to take some pics of the street but they didn't turn out too good. There are also several traditional foods that are eaten during this time such has grapefruit and "banh trung thu" (a type of small cake made just for this celebration).

The pics below were from the home of one of my teacher's good friends. The party table was decorated with fruit and a "dog" made out of a grapefruit. The "flower" looking thing was carved out of papaya. The picture of the family is very special for many reasons. If I understood accurately, the older lady is 93 and her late husband was a friend of Ho Chi Minh and served in his cabinet. This particular family has a long list of political ties. I'm not sure why we were there? The lady on the far right, front row is one of the most well respected professors in Hanoi. She speaks exceptional English. They were all very kind and gracious to me and the boys. When we left they gave us several gifts to take home in honor to Tet Trung Thu.