Usually, on the last day of the year, almost every family in my hometown has finished shopping and decorating their house for Tet. Only a few families, because their children live far away and come home late, only run out to buy more when they see something is missing.
The main job of this day is to prepare the New Year's Eve meal, then focus on wrapping Chung cake and Tet cake and that's it.
That said, when the sky was still misty, the village road was already crowded with people going to the market. It turned out that people went to the market to shop secondary to the main purpose of going to the Tet market.
I also woke up early to welcome the spring coming to my hometown, spreading in my house. Joining in the atmosphere of Tet in my hometown, I also went to the market early instead of my mother. Actually, everything for Tet had been carefully prepared by my parents, the last day of the year going to the market was just to buy fresh flowers, then buy some more ingredients to prepare dishes for the next few days of Tet and that was enough.
However, I am still very excited about going to the market on the last day of the year. Because Tet market in the countryside is not only to go to the market to buy things but also to go to the market to see, to see how bustling the Tet atmosphere is in the countryside.
Going to the market on the last day of the year, what I like most is the area selling Tet flowers. At this time, fresh flowers are brought from everywhere to sell along the streets in town, the roads leading to the market. Some years the flowers are sold at quite high prices, some years the prices are considered "dirt cheap", but no matter what the prices are, flowers are still sold all over the market. And I, a child far from home, still like to walk around, look around to my heart's content, then calculate and choose to buy the most satisfactory flower pots.
Last year, to find the right pots of apricot flowers, my sisters and I had to go to the market several times before making the final decision.
While women go to the market on the last day of the year to buy more necessities for the family, on the last day of the year, men and young people organize to clean up the village roads and alleys.
Each family sent one person to help clean the village road; families with only elderly people had the youth help out. The village road was clean, and became even cleaner and more beautiful at the end of the year.
Not only cleaning the village roads and alleys, men and young people in the village and hamlet also focus on decorating the village gate and the village hall with flower pots and flashing lights with the familiar words "Happy New Year".
After cleaning up, everyone gathered to discuss how to celebrate New Year's Eve. Every year, on New Year's Eve, the village's cultural house was bustling with joy. Each family contributed a few hundred thousand dong, and those who came from far away contributed more depending on their circumstances to organize a collective New Year's Eve party for the whole village.
While waiting for the time to go to the village hall, my father also lit the fire to cook banh tet. Many other families' kitchens were also red hot, the pots of banh chung and banh tet were boiling. In my hometown, almost every family cooked banh chung and banh tet. Small families would make a few kilos of sticky rice, large families would pack dozens of kilos. Banh chung and banh tet were started on the wood stove to cook from noon on the last day of the year until New Year's Eve when they were taken out.
During that time, no matter how busy, there is always someone watching the fire beside the pot of banh chung. Because for the fire to burn evenly, the water must be changed regularly for the cake to be delicious, soft and chewy. In the cold of the earth and sky at the moment of transition between the old year and the new year, I love the scene of cooking banh chung and banh tet in the corner of the kitchen.
While the pots of banh chung and banh tet were boiling, in the village hall, the youth union was busy moving the karaoke system, tables and chairs, and arranging them neatly in the hall yard to serve the people coming to celebrate New Year's Eve.
New Year's Eve parties usually consist of simple, ready-to-eat dishes that don't require any cooking, such as dried chicken, dried beef; banh chung, banh tet, pickled vegetables; and drinks include wine, beer, and soft drinks.
The New Year's Eve cultural program in the village started at 6 pm, after each family's New Year's Eve meal was completed. Each person in the village had the opportunity to try their hand at being a host, musician, or homegrown singer, but everyone had a great time. The village's best singers had the chance to come back to their hometown once a year to sing their hearts out with songs celebrating the New Year. After one person finished singing, they did not forget to introduce the other person to the "stage".
The neighbors had a chance to meet after a long time so everyone was very happy. The older people also joined the youth, performing lively songs, suitable for the coming spring atmosphere.
And so the program lasted until New Year's Eve. At the end of the party, everyone wished each other health, peace, and prosperity in the new year before going home.
Before the collective New Year's Eve movement, my village and neighborhood were not as happy as this, each family stayed at home on the last night of the year. Since the collective New Year's Eve celebration like this, the village and neighborhood have become more closely connected.
That is why on New Year's Eve in the countryside almost no one goes to sleep. The lights are always on, eagerly waiting for the new year.
Source: https://baodaknong.vn/ron-rang-ngay-cuoi-nam-240937.html
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