VIETNAMESE LOCALS HANG ONTO TRADITION.Byline: Sharline Chiang Daily News Staff Writer The aroma of banana leaves and sweet rice cakes from Nu Doan's breakfast table this morning will evoke memories of New Years past, memories of home. Like so many Asian-American immigrants, Doan, a mother of four, will start the lunar new year Lunar New Year may refer to the beginning of the year in several calendars. It is commonly assumed that they are all based on a lunar calendar. However, this is not the case. today by preserving the rituals of what was the biggest holiday in her homeland of Vietnam. ``This is about my culture,'' she said. ``I have to help keep it.'' In the pre-dawn darkness of her kitchen Sunday, Doan took on the 15-hour task of cooking the sweet rice cakes, bahn chung and bahn tet, that are the most traditional of treats for Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. Sitting lotus-style on a bamboo mat, she worked quietly, swiftly, alone, filling banana leaves with rice grains, pork strips and mashed mung beans. If her family were still in Saigon, they would greet the day in new clothes, waving smoldering smol·der also smoul·der intr.v. smol·dered, smol·der·ing, smol·ders 1. To burn with little smoke and no flame. 2. sandalwood sandalwood, name for several fragrant tropical woods, especially for Santalum album, an evergreen partially parasitic tree either native to India or introduced there centuries ago. incense at the Buddhist temple to pray for good luck. They would visit loved ones loved ones npl → seres mpl queridos loved ones npl → proches mpl et amis chers loved ones love npl , going door to door bearing gifts of rice cakes and fresh watermelon watermelon, plant (Citrullus vulgaris) of the family Curcurbitaceae (gourd family) native to Africa and introduced to America by Africans transported as slaves. Watermelons are now extensively cultivated in the United States and are popular also in S Russia. . Children would bow before elders to receive their lai see - red envelopes filled with money. Homes would be filled with laughter and the rich smell of main courses, including a meat-and-egg dish called thit kho trung. To honor this new year in their Canoga Park home, Doan, a manicurist, and her husband, butcher Giac Tran, planned to take today off, relaxing at home or maybe visiting her cousins. But their four children - Khank, 29; Hung, 26; Huong, 23; and Viet ``Mike,'' 14 - will be too busy with their Americanized routine to celebrate the holiday of the old country. Eldest brother Khank must work all day at an auto repair shop. Sister Huong will be at classes at Pierce College In 2006 the Library won a national Excellence award. Academics Pierce College offers associate's degrees, mainly in the arts and sciences. There are also certificate programs in early childhood education, social services, dental hygienist, and others. studying computer science, and little brother Mike will be at El Camino High School "El Camino High School" may refer to:
Middle brother Hung will miss the entire holiday. He'll spend the day at Pierce, where he studies architecture, and the night at his job as an electronic assembly line worker. It's a common job for Vietnamese immigrants in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . Thoughts of Tet celebrations back home fill the children with pride and nostalgia. ``My friends and I would get our lai see and then hang out and play all day,'' Mike Tran said. Keeping Vietnamese traditions like Tet has been increasingly difficult in what Hung Tran called ``a whole different world.'' Trying to juggle making money, learning English and, for the kids, getting into college, everyone in the family is working more and seeing each other less. They're not alone. The Valley's Vietnamese enclave in Canoga Park accounts for many of the 18,674 Vietnamese-Americans living in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and offers the convenience of Vietnamese restaurants and cafes, and Asian-food groceries. This holiday season is especially difficult for elders like Nu Doan, who spent most of Sunday slowly boiling the traditional rice cakes on her own. ``She gets sad because she misses her cousins, my grandmother,'' Huong Tran said. ``Around this time the family would have gotten together to cook, everyone making the cakes.'' Huong longs for the days when the family spent more time together - especially for the lunar new year. The only daughter knows soon she must learn her grandmother's recipe for the rice cakes so she can make them for her own children someday. ``I'm going to have to learn it from her, to keep my culture,'' she said, ``so I can let my kids feel like we're Vietnamese.'' THE YEAR OF THE TIGER Today thousands of Asian-Americans will ring in the lunar new year - the Year of the Tiger, 4696 - by honoring ancestors, showing off new clothes, visiting loved ones and indulging in fine dishes. Chinese-Americans also call the day Spring Festival. Vietnamese-Americans call it Tet and celebrate with banana-leaf-wrapped rice cakes. Korean-Americans enjoy the holiday they call Je-sok or Je-ya with traditional duggook, a rice soup. What it is: The day marks the start of the Chinese lunar calendar Noun 1. lunar calendar - a calendar based on lunar cycles calendar - a system of timekeeping that defines the beginning and length and divisions of the year , created in 2637 A.D., in which each of 12 months contains 29 or 30 days. The new year is marked by the second new moon after the start of winter. When and where to celebrate: TODAY 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Korean New Year Korean New Year (Korean: Seollal; hangul: 설날 or 구정, hanja: 舊正) is the first day of the lunar Korean calendar. It is the most important of the traditional Korean holidays. It consists of a period of celebrations, starting on New Year's Day. Festival. Includes ``village cleansing'' performers, drumming and food. 420 E. 11th St., downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or . FRIDAY 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Chinese New Year Chinese New Year (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: Chūnjié), or Spring Festival Carnival and Golden Dragon Parade, sponsored by Chinese Chamber of Commerce of L.A. Includes dragon dancers and street fair, 601 N. Broadway, Chinatown. SATURDAY 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Vietnamese Tet Festival. Includes lion dance Lion dance (Simplified Chinese: 舞狮; Traditional Chinese: 舞獅; Pinyin: wǔshī , games and food. The Vietnamese Association Center, 7245 Corbin Ave., Winnetka. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Chinese New Year Carnival, sponsored by Chinese Chamber of Commerce of L.A. Includes dragon parade and street fair, 601 N. Broadway, Chinatown. SUNDAY 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Vietnamese Tet Festival. Includes lion dancers, games and food. The Vietnamese Association Center, 7245 Corbin Ave., Winnetka. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Chinese New Year Carnival, sponsored by Chinese Chamber of Commerce of L.A. Includes dragon parade and street fair, 601 N. Broadway, Chinatown. 1 p.m. Korean Roaming Street Festival. Includes drumming, dance and music. North Hollywood Swap Meet swap meet n. An informal gathering for the barter or sale of used articles or handicrafts. , 7355 Lankershim Blvd. Continues at 2:30 p.m. at Valley Han Kook Market, 17643 Sherman Way, Van Nuys. FEB. 21 6 p.m. to midnight. Chinese New Year Banquet, sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Chinese Cultural Association. Dinner and entertainment. Universal City Hilton. Tickets are $40 each. Call Juliet Chiu at (818) 709-3963. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, box PHOTO (1) Instructor Hung Tran, left, absorbs a kick from Quan Luu during a martial-arts class at the San Fernando Valley Vietnamese Community Center in Winnetka. John Lazar/Special to the Daily News (2) Cake is one of the foods used to celebrate Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. David Sprague/Daily News BOX: THE YEAR OF THE TIGER (see text) |
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