Hypothetical Family Stay

Life in a Vietnamese family would be, overall, very traditional.

A typical day in a rural town for someone around 14 years old would consist of the following:

	5:30 - be awaken by the chug-broom-chug of the occasional traffic outside your two-storey house.
	6:30 - get dressed in trousers and shirt
	7:00 - eat a Vietnamese breakfast - pho
	7:30 - walk to school
	8:00 - commence school - learn grammar, mathematics, language
	11:00 - stop morning's work and go to have either a sleep or relax. This time of 2 hours in the middle of the day is similar to the European siesta, in which all shops close and children go home. Eat lunch - pho is a traditional beef noodle soup with beef broth.

	13:00 - recommence school - learn morality, creative arts
	17:00 - finish school for the day
	18:00 - have dinner consisting of rice, vegetables (bok choy etc.), meat (beef, duck, pork) with fermented fish sauce and spring rolls
	21:00 - go to bed

The above would be a routine that would be undertaken Monday to Friday. During the weekend, much the same routine would occur except for there being no school. In place of this, children would assist the adults in their work on the fields - cultivating crops etc.

Vietnamese food is renowned around the world for its richness. Here are a few quotes:

"The delicate perfume of a herb or a leaf constitutes perhaps the greatest contribution of Vietnam to world cuisine" - Le Khoi

"Lightness and subtlety are the hallmarks of Vietnamese cooking" - anonomous

"A meal without greens is like a fight with out an argument" - Vietnamese proverb

There are many Vietnamese festivals that take place throughout the year. Some of the more notable ones that the population makes a big deal about are:

	late January and early February - Tet: the most important festival of the year. It marks the new lunar year and the advent of spring.
	during April - Holiday of the Dead: commemorates deceased relatives
	during June - Doan Ngu: human effigies are burnt, symbolically becoming soldiers in the army of the god of death
	August 2 - Wandering Souls Day - the second largest festival. Food and gift offerings are given to the 'wandering' souls of the forgotten dead.

During these festivals, contests in wrestling, rowing, tug-of-war, climbing and chess take place and spectacles like cock fights, buffalo fights and pigeon races occur. To the Vietnamese, festivals are a way of remembering natural heroes, celebrating religious freedom and undertaking religious ceremonies.

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This website was last updated on Tuesday, 05 November 2002