In Kristoffer Leandoer’s mind, Vietnam is a great place to live and work. This Swedish man loves the country, the culture and especially the Tet Lunar New Year festival. Due to the closing of the Swedish Embassy, where his wife works, his family is about to leave Vietnam. He regrets saying goodbye to this exciting and special place.
Having read a lot about Vietnam, Kristoffer Leandoerwas very enthusiastic at the opportunity to come to Vietnam in August 2008, when his wife Elsa Håstad had to move here for work at the Swedish Embassy. Vietnam immediately made unique impression on them. “It was like another world,” he recalled. Hanoi in his memory from that time was chaotic - the traffic, the smells, the dirt everywhere.
Kristoffer loves to talk about Vietnamese culture. It is very far removed from Western culture, and he finds some aspects of Vietnamese culture so sophisticated and clever – the handicraft skills, the food and clothes, the deep knowledge of yoga, feng shui, massage and Zen meditation, and the closeness with Buddhism.
Kristoffer’s impression of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year is very special. He feels that Tet here is similar to Christmas in the West. Tet celebrations sometimes stretch for over a month: preparation for nearly one month and celebration for another month. Preparations are in full swing before Tet, with decorations of flowers and lanterns, and rice cakes like Banh Chung and Banh Day. However, he thinks the Vietnamese Tet is more child-like and innocent: Tet is clearly a holiday for children.
Since over Tet holiday both their kids are on break from school and the embassy is closed, it is memorable time. He said, “Most of Hanoi is closed. We generally buy a Tet tree. We are usually invited to the house of a friend’s family. There is so much food, and lots of toasts. I generally find Vietnamese food delicious and healthy, and I love spring rolls. We usually have some friends over with traditional gifts such as the fantastic candle light lantern that spins and shows pictures or lucky money for the children.” He added “We give lucky money to the children of our friends and employees, not to our own children. People’s wishes for their children are universal: We wish for them to grow up in a peaceful and healthy environment, to feel loved and to be able to realize as many of their dreams and hopes as they can.”
For the beginning of this Tet, he plans to stay in Hanoi, visiting friends’ houses and walking the streets, enjoying the jubilant and colourful atmosphere, joining with the crowd to buy some things for Tet. And then he and his family will leave for Myanmar. In previous years they travelled to Cambodia and Laos over the Tet holiday.
Vietnam is a very good place for their family. Christoffer said they have a good life here; their children go to a great school, they love the climate, they have many friends here, his wife has a fascinating job, and they travel widely in the region. He regrets having to say goodbye to Vietnam. “I think it is a huge mistake.
Sweden has invested 40 years in the development of Vietnam. We were here during the really hard years and I think that leaving now is a waste of human capacity, there is a wealth of knowledge that is wasted. I also seriously think that Vietnam could benefit from Sweden in the process of realizing the promises of a transparent society and implementing the UN resolutions concerning human rights and freedom of belief and expression that Vietnam had pledged itself to - we have a lot of experience in that field.” However, he said, it is the decision of the Swedish government.
Nguyen Huyen
Vietnamese
