Haden Do Prof. Bolet ESOL 0354 20th October 2015 Comparison Essay Words count: 917 New Year’s Holiday from Different Ways New Year celebration plays an important role in social life as it reflects how people overcome their past days and welcome coming days ahead. Different cultures from all over the world have their own way to celebrate New Year. Apparently, an Asian country like Vietnam will have their holidays different from America. The similarities and differences between the Vietnamese cultural New year and the American New Year are characterized by the preparation, the time off and the celebration. Vietnam and United States come from two continents, so they have different traditional ways to prepare for New Year’s Day. First of all, …show more content…
A common symbol of New Year's Day in the United States is “Baby New Year” which is about a white male baby dressed in a diaper, a hat and a sash. People claim that “Baby New Year” grows up and ages in a single year. At the end of the year he turns old and then his role would be turned over to the next Baby New Year. Compared to the United States, Vietnamese people have the "five-fruit tray”, which on the ancestral altar during the Tet Holidays, symbolizes how Vietnamese people admire and show their gratitude to Heaven, Earth and their ancestors. Moreover, it also demonstrates their hopeful wishes for a life of plenty. It demonstrates a Vietnamese percept of life, "When taking fruit, you should think of the grower". On the other hand, symbols of New Year’s in the United States are fireworks that significantly explode over landmarks and people gathering counting down until midnight as the year begins. Likewise, Vietnamese people invite their friends or family to count down and enjoy the firework together. During New Year’s Day, when Americans meet each other, they exchange hugs and kisses. After that, people enjoy their party as they drink and toast with champagne or other sparkling wine. Unlike American, when Vietnamese people meet each other at the time during “Tet”, adults give away their red envelopes which symbolize luck and wealth to the young people. It is very common to see older people giving sealed red envelopes containing some lucky money to younger people. Before receiving the envelopes, younger people have to perform a certain greeting. After that, the older ones will return good advice and words of wisdom, encouraging the younger ones to keep up with the schoolwork, to live harmoniously with others, and obey their parents. Furthermore, at party in New Year’s holiday, American people eat black eye peas which means hope for the good income. Meanwhile in Vietnam, families and