UN News Service

23 November 2011 – The United Nations envoy for children and armed conflict today secured a commitment from top officials in Somalia’s transitional Government to start a process to end the recruitment and use of children in the country’s armed forces. 

Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, secured the commitment from the President and the Prime Minister during her visit to Mogadishu, the capital, where she also spoke with children who had escaped from the ranks the Al-Shabaab insurgency, which is fighting against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). 

“Completion of an action plan will ensure that the TFG is child-free,” said Ms. Coomaraswamy. It would also “allow the United Nations to remove the Government from the ‘list of shame’ of parties that commit grave violations against children.” 

During the meeting with Ms. Coomaraswamy, President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and Defence Minister Hussein Arab Essa recommitted the TFG to the signing and implementation of a Security Council-mandated plan to end the recruitment and use of children in its forces, and pledged to immediately nominate military and civilian focal points within the Government to work with the UN to achieve that goal. 

Ms. Coomaraswamy visited a camp in Mogadishu where Al Shabaab defectors and those who had surrendered are being held. Among them are 37 former child soldiers. She met with a 16-year-old boy who escaped after being trained as a suicide bomber and was injured in battle. 

The boy’s case “highlights the fact that children associated with Al Shabaab are victims,” she said. “They must be transferred rapidly to civilian child protection actors, and be separated as soon as possible from adult Al Shabaab ex-combatants in order to begin the transition back to civilian life.” 

The UN supports programmes for the reintegration of children associated with armed forces and groups. Such programmes promote rehabilitation of children through counselling, back-to-school initiatives and skills-based training, including family reunification. 

In a meeting with Ms. Coomaraswamy, General Fred Mugisha, the commander of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM), reiterated the force’s commitment to protecting civilians, and children in particular, during military operations. 

He pledged to continue to provide maximum support for efforts to identify and separate children from the TFG forces, including through the appointment of a child protection advisor in AMISOM. 

Ms. Coomaraswamy urged all UN partners to work closely with the TFG, AMISOM, and donors to step up efforts to prevent the recruitment of children, and the release and reintegration of those formerly associated with armed forces and groups. 

“With Mogadishu more secure following the withdrawal of Al Shabaab, the onus is on the international community to assist the Government’s efforts towards stability,” said Ms. Coomaraswamy. 

Both the TFG and Al Shabaab are listed in the Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict as recruiters and users of child soldiers. Listed parties must sign and implement action plans to end the grave violation or face the possibility of Security Council sanctions. 

The Security Council in June expanded the criteria for offences that can lead to sanctions in Somalia to include grave violations against children.

 

HREA - www.hrea.org

 

Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an international non-governmental organisation that supports human rights learning; the training of activists and professionals; the development of educational materials and programming; and community-building through on-line technologies.

Run for Positive Lives

The 1^st Run for HIV and AIDS in the Philippines

“Getting to Zero”

The Philippine NGO Support Program (PHANSuP) in collaboration with the Lifeguide Portal - an informational website for people living with HIV operated by Pinoy Plus, Babae Plus and Positive Action Foundation is undertaking the first ever Run for Positive Lives this coming December 10, 2011.

 

In our lives, people have so many dreams such as becoming rich; beautiful; intelligent; successful and so on. There is maybe also one dream that people want the most: living long. Longevity is a big dream of human.

 

In consciousness of Vietnamese, a family which has very old people live in is having a great fortune. Great fortune is having many offspring and living long. In the past, the people at the age of 40 though do not have any important offices in the village, were treated respectfully by all people in the village, as well as in their families. Respecting the old people has become Vietnamese tradition and it is kept until now.

Nowadays, offspring celebrate ''Longevity Day'' when their parents or grandparents are from 70 years old. At the age of 80 or 90, we call it ''Great Longevity", if far more 90 years old, it called "Great-great Longevity". Celebration of Longevity is usually chosen to be held at the really special occasions like Birthday or Lunar New Year Eve.

Besides the meaning of ''Great fortune'', celebration of longevity really has another meaningful purpose because this day is a chance for offspring to show gratitude to their parent. Living piously is a characteristic of Vietnamese and they express this through the thought and the direct actions to their parents in daily life, especially in the celebration of longevity.

In "Longevity Day", offspring may hold a party, all members in family and some guests will come and join. Everbody is all together and deep in the warmth of family atmosphere. Special presents are also prepared to express the gratitude. Thereto, offspring also attach the best wishes of health, they want their parents/grandparents to live long with them, as long as possible!

 To the parents, the material world is may be not really important. The important thing is the deep gratitude - the priceless present from the offspring that they receive. Therefore, celebration of longevity plays an important role in Vietnamese spiritual life.  For over hundred years, this traditional celebration is still kept and brought in to play.

    History of celebration for longevity

     Celebration for longevity is not only a Vietnamese traditional culture but also an occasion to express your respects and appreciations to the elder in your family and relatives

Legend had it that, the people at the age of 40 were considered as the older in their village. This custom originated from Vietnamese history, in the 12^th or 13^th century of Tran Dynasty, Tran King abdicated his throne in favor of his son to organize and manage the country. After that, Tran King came to relax and became a follower of Buddhism. At that time, celebration of longevity would have been held if there had been someone in the village at the age of 50. Although they were not in the high positions in the village, they were always respected. Especially, in the big festivals or ceremonies of their village, only the olders had been allowed to sit on the “cạp điều” sedge mat. The “cạp điều” sedge mat is a kind of mat which had a typical red color, was made from sedge and decorated with many flowers. Up to now, this custom has been preserved and developed. 

 

Nowadays, the more the span of life lasts, the later cerebration for longevity takes place. The offspring usually hold the celebration for longevity when their parents at the age of over 70 years old.

   Preparations

Firstly, the family has to choose a place to hold the celebration. Only the close relatives are invited then they can hold the ceremony at home. If the family wants to hold it bigger then they may choose a restaurant or a hotel. Thus, they have to reserve a whole restaurant or a conference room of a hotel at one specific day. The family also demands some special equipment like microphone, amplifiers or furniture like a special chair for the elder to sit while receiving congratulations.

Secondly, they write or print the invitation letters and send them to those who they want to invite. People who usually are invited are relatives, friends or old comrades, etc. The invitation letter must be formal, nice and easy to read. Sometimes with close friends, the family simply invites them directly by mouth.

The third part is preparing food for guests. Usually they will have a big meal. It depends on how many guests they will invite so that the family will decide to cook by themselves or use cooking service from restaurant. Some specific foods are required like peach (with the longevity meaning) and wine (usually they use traditional rice wine). The menu should be suitable for both younkers and elders. Sometimes they even order a special menu only for the elders of the family. Also, some traditional cakes may be required if the family want the meal to be more traditional.

Sons, daughters and children in the family of the elder prepare presents for the elder. Usually the presents are something the elder can use in his life like blanket, clothes, etc. Children can simply give a special wish for the elder or give him a meaningful present like their own drawing, singing a song, etc.

Nowadays, many families hire a photographer for this day. They even choose some nice destinations to take pictures for the elder. But the picture for the big family is unreplacable and has a strong meaning for the elder so the picture usually has to be very big and is showed in their house.

 

 Rituals and activities

Celebration is usually held on the birthday and maybe the first day of New Year. Its scale depends on economic condition of the family but still includes mainly traditional rituals. In rural areas, celebration of longevity is set up at community house where performs public activities of village. However, cultural house is the place standing for longevity of elders in cities.

According to Vietnamese custom, celebration of longevity includes 2 parts: the first part includes rituals and activities set up at community house or cultural house by local authority and the second part is at home.

In the morning of longevity day, elders together with relatives gather at community house or cultural house. Each of elderly people wears a traditional costume called “ao dai”- a long dress, his head is rolled by a turban. 90-year-old people will wear yellow costume and the same color turban on the head, 80-year-old elders will bring red things but people have age of 70 will only wear red turban. After finishing preparation, they stabilize their seats (people having the same color will sit at the same row). The celebration will start with songs. Some families even hire artists to perform dramas or lion-dancing to bring joyful, exciting atmosphere. Then, representative person of local authority will go to the stage to present briefly about name, age and biography of every elder, then wish them best things as well as give them meaningful gifts. Presents are maybe money, lacquer pictures and so on. At the end of celebration, instead of coming back home soon, they will stay at their seats, drink a cup of tea, eat biscuits and have a talk with others.

The second part of celebration is set up at home. Elders will go back their houses to receive wishes from relatives. Offspring will prepare and do a ritual to thank God for their parents’ longevities. Elders will sit at the centre of living room decorated with parallel sentences, lights, flowers... Younger family members will come to offer a sip of wine and wish them longevity. Besides, according to Chinese legend, Tay Vuong Mau gave Han Vu De, a king of China, a magical peach and said that if he had eaten that fruit, he would have became an immortal person. That’s why offspring can offer peaches instead of alcohol drinks. When the ritual finishes, everyone will sit around the food tray to have a meal.

 Special characteristics

In Vietnam, there are 54 ethnic groups. Therefore, it is said that each of ethnic group also has the typical features and is so different from Kinh people. For example, in some areas, they lay offerings under the legs of an altar.

There are several rules that you have to remember when joining a celebration for longevity. According to the age of the elder, you will give them a picture with a Chinese letter at the centre. If the elder is 49 years old, writing “Phuc” on the picture. Writing “Tho” if the elder is from 49 to 61 years old. “Khang” will be written for 61 to 73-year-old elder and “Ninh” for elder who is 73 to 85 years old.  

Truth is told that celebration for longevity is held in so many Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Japan, China... Every country has its own way to celebrate this day then longevity celebration has many colors itself.

In Chinese culture, peach is long associated with longevity. It is believed that peach of the Heaven can grant one an extra 500 years of life once eaten. Thus, elders usually eat a peach or flour peach in their longevity day.

To Japanese elders, they have mainly 9 milestones to celebrate, in which they wear costume in suitable hereunder colors:

o   At the 60^th birthday, elders wear red costume

o   At the 70^th birthday and the 77^th birthday, a costume in purple is required.

o   At the 80^th, the 81^st and the 88^th birthday, they often wear golden brown one.

o   At the 90^th, the 99^th and also the 100^th birthday, white costume is often wore.

  Some changes

After a long time, celebration for longevity has five biggest changes. Each change has its own reason and influence.

Firstly, we can mention the age to celebrate the longevity. In the past, at the age of 40, one was honored for being an old man. The history of Vietnam recounts that during the Tran Dynasty, in the 12^th and 13^th centuries, a 40-year-old king would give up his throne to his son to become a Buddhism monk. According to village customs, a man of 50 is honored as an old man. Old men stop working and are no longer village officials; however, they are still invited to festivals and to sit in the Communal House where they are honorably seated on red-bordered mats. Longevity still preserves deep significance and showing respect for older people. Presently, when grandparents or parents reach the age of 70, 80, or 90, their children and grandchildren organize longevity ceremonies. It points that the life span has increased recent years.

Moreover, today, in almost every village or urban district, there is an Association of Longevity for the eldest, and women are equally venerated. That is because there is no gender unequally and the longevity ceremony is not for only the rich people. It shows the social justice.

Besides, the celebration day has changed. Unlike Westerners, elderly people in Vietnam are not usually in the habit of celebrating their birthdays. It depends on each location: on the first lunar January or on 15 lunar January, commonly happens in early spring festival. The reason is for starters, few old people actually know their exact dates of birth, as they have no birth certificates. Therefore, the Lunar New Year is the time for family reunions. This is the most auspicious time of year and all family members are likely to be home to join in the celebrations. It might be better understood as a way of giving thanks or honoring the elderly.

Lastly, the gifts and the places to hold the celebration are different from the past. Nowadays, the offerings are often the elderly care goods, such as blanket, clothes, etc, even money. However, as living standards have been on the up, celebrations have become more extravagant for some families. A big celebration will not show the gratitude to the parents. “What important is how children behave towards their parents everyday” – an elderly said. In the past, they celebrated simply and the guests were only invited to enjoy tea and cakes. Now, it becomes more and more prolix and costly. The party is often organized in a luxury restaurant. The young people take this chance to invite rich or VIP colleagues for cash and lavish gifts. We should condemn and criticize it to preserve the right traditional value.

Advices for visitors

·     Avoid to be late coming with any reason.

·     If you are close with the family, you should come earlier to help them.

·     Talk with nice tone, and use proper words, especially with the elders.

·     Wear formal clothes. Do not wear revealed clothes. Especially do not wear RED clothes. Only the elder of this cerebration can wear RED clothes.

·     You MUST meet and give congratulation to the elder who hold this ceremony before join with other guests.

·     Do not give huge amount of money as present. Use it to buy something more meaningful.

 

Nowadays, Vietnamese culture is influenced by globalization. There are both good and bad influences. Although making culture richer, it also modifies our traditional culture. To reduce bad influences, having knowledge about national culture is necessary, especially with student of Faculty of Tourism. Moreover, we can introduce our culture to tourists and their countries. Because ceremonies and festivals are unique features of culture, it is a good idea to research them.

In this assignment, we chose ‘Wedding’ for our topic. Wedding is the most special and important ceremony for a couple also their family. This ceremony marks the beginning of the marriage, as well as acceptance and blessing of family and friends to the bride and groom. To complete the rituals of the ceremony is the obligation for the bride and the groom to demonstrate the filial piety to mother and father, mutual respect and understanding each other.

To complete this assignment, each member has to responsible for the work that divided. At first, we search some general information from the internet and books. Then we compare them with the information gathering from the real life. Finally, we exchange our research and completed the assignment together. 

After finishing this assignment, we have more knowledge about Vietnamese traditional culture, deep in Wedding ceremony. Besides, we also exchange our knowledge learned with other students. It increases the confidence, presentation skill and ability for speaking and listening to English. This is a good preparation for our future job in hospitality industry.

Wedding’s background information:

     In former times, getting married, buying a buffalo and building a house were three most desirous and difficult things which a man wanted to achieve in his life. Wedding is one of the most sacred ceremonies to Vietnamese. The traditional Vietnamese weeding is important not only for the couple but also for the family and the village.  In the past, there almost were arranged marriages; just a few couples dare to get marriage only based on love. Therefore, the family and village played a big role to make decision from the beginning. Choosing the future bride and groom was done very carefully based on two the most important people: the match maker and the fortune teller.

    About the place, the Vietnamese traditional wedding ceremony took part on two days. The first day was held in the bride's home with formal proposal of marriage ceremony. The second day was celebrated in the groom’s house with the certain rituals and wedding banquet for all the relatives, friends, and neighbors. In the traditional wedding, the groom wore the traditional long coat in blue and the bride has to wear the traditional dress in red or yellow.

    Traditionally, weddings were usually held in an ideal period, it is called “wedding season”. It began from the autumn through the lunar New Year festival. At that time, people had spare time and money after finishing almost their seasonal farm work. The weather also was great and suitable for celebrating. Furthermore, following the spirituality, the newly spring is supposed the time for growing and blooming. It is a best sign to wish the newly couple will have the gifted and healthy children soon. The weddings should not be held in the summer because of the high and unpleasant temperature. It is also because of a sad legend “Qixi” Festival or “The Night of Sevens". Therefore, no one wants to celebrate wedding in this time if they do not have some exceptional reasons.

Wedding’s stories:

Nobody knows exactly that where and when the first wedding was happened. Ancient people usually use legend and folk song to explain and educate the next generation about some valuable customs. There are many legends related to traditional Vietnamese wedding but not many people know about “the old men in the moon” story (Ông Tơ Bà Nguyệt – match maker).

Once upon a time, the God was bothered by human’s cunning and many demands. Therefore, the God intended to ask for the human’s craft back. At that time, one mandarin suggested: “In my opinion, you should not take their smart back. People would assume that you are so mean. You just needed to limit the human’s cunning”.

The God felt curios: “How…”

The mandarin showed how scholarly he is: “Nothing works but love can make people be foolish. We just needed to delegate a genie bringing a cord to the earth. Each girl and boy who is near to each other will be tied by the cord. The cleverer they are, the more times we need to cover them. They would have the vicious circle and would have never thought of pestering you anymore”.

The god was so surprise. He praised: “What a clever stratagem!”

He sent an old fairy to the earth to bring this stratagem become true. From this day, people have more chances to fall in love and think of each other. They have not annoyed the God anymore. Also from now, this fairy has been called “The old man in the moon” (Ông Tơ).

 

Above, this is the story in the heaven. Let’s discover the next story to know more how the stratagem happens in the earth.

Long times ago, there was a Confucian scholar named Vi Cố. He was a brilliant and renowned person. One day, while he was roaming, he happened to see an old man with his big note book and the red silk cord.

It was strange for Vi Cố to feel curios and ask about those things. The old man replied with a smile: “I am the God of marriages. I decided all who the destiny of each person is. Here was the silk cord which is predestination for the lovers”.

Vi Cố was very excited to ask the old man about his future destiny. The old man said: “Your predestined wife was a three years old girl. She was a beggar’s daughter at Đông Đô market”.

Vi Cố was so upset and disappointed when hear that. The old men said: “It was a match ordained by heaven; you could not change it or avoid it”.

The day after, Vi Cố went to Đông Đô market. In fact, he saw a woman was begging for living with her three years old daughter at the corner of this market. He got angry and hired a bad man to kill the little girl. The wicked man accepted the offer and did the mission. After that this man runs away because of too scary.

Fifteen year later, Vi Cố passed the examination with flying colors. The prime minister noticed him. He decided to marry his daughter – Tố Lan for Vi Cố. Vi Cố was so happy and grateful. In the wedding night, Tố Lan’s beauty made Vi Cố admire. But he just found a scar on the back of her neck. Vi Cố asked to know why she had this scar. Tố Lan said honestly that she was a beggar’s daughter. Fifteen years ago, there was a wicked man had tried to kill her for no reason. Luckily, her mother could escape from that horror situation. Then her mother passed away, leaving her as an orphan. At that time, the minister had had no children, so he had adopted her. Listened to each word by word, Vi Cố was broken-hearted inside. He asked himself “What a predestined affinity!”. And all the things the old man has told recalling to him.

Ancient people said that:

“ Hữu duyên thiên lý năng tượng ngộ,

Vô duyên đối mặt bất tương phùng”

means

“No matter how far the distance is,

If we have predestination, we will have various opportunities to meet each other

If not, no matter how hard we try; we still will not match each other”.

    Preparations for wedding:

Getting married is one of the most important changes in somebody’s life; not only for the involved couple but also for both families. So it is necessary to have a good preparation before getting married. In Vietnam, the preparations for wedding normally take a long time. After the engagement, both of the two families will go to see a Buddhist monk, spiritual leader, or fortune teller due to the spiritual nature of the occasion to ask a best date and time for the marriage ceremony. This tradition does not change if the family is Catholic. The preparations before wedding in Vietnam normally follow these steps:

-         Decide the wedding’s budget

The whole of our life revolves around money and wedding is no exception. Hence, the first thing that the bride and groom need to do is decide upon their wedding budget. A budget will enable them to decide the grandeur of their wedding. The choice of location, numbers of guests are the factors that are primarily influenced by a budget.

-         Make a checklist

The next thing that the bride and groom need to do is make a detailed wedding preparation timeline. This will enable them to divide the tasks according to their priority and time at their disposal. Important tasks such as booking venue, honeymoon reservations, etc., should be done at least 3 to 6 months prior to the big day. Maintaining a checklist can help them to organize their time and will also ensure that they finish everything well ahead of time.

-         Bookings and reservation

Make all the important bookings when it still have 6 months to go. These include selecting a venue for wedding and reception, choosing a catering service, hiring a wedding photographer, booking a florist and decorator, hiring a music band, hairstylist, makeup artist etc. Meanwhile, also make sure to have the passport and other travel documents in place. Do not forget to make travel and hotel reservations for the honeymoon. 

-         Guest list and invitations

Firstly, they will have to make a list of wedding guests. Then they have to select and buy the invitation cards, send the wedding invitation cards at least 3 to 4 weeks before wedding.

-         Shopping

Shopping for wedding dresses and gifts takes up considerable time of the wedding preparation. The bride and groom will have to make several trips to the shops until they find a perfect wedding dress. Nowadays, Vietnamese brides often choose white dress instead of traditional dress Ao Dai. Besides, they will also have to arrange for bridesmaids dresses and gifts. Attending dress trials and shopping for accessories, shoes is another time consuming task. They will also have to shop for wedding favors, groom's gift, wedding rings etc. About one or two weeks before the wedding, the bride and groom will have to register for marriage certificate at The People’s Committee. One day before the wedding, houses of the bride and groom are well decorated with ribbons, flowers, etc. The atmosphere is full of music and happiness. Just before the wedding ceremony, the groom’s family decorates vehicles with flowers as their responsibility is to go and pick up the bride from her home. The couple needs to make up and dress well; they all want to become the most attractive people in their wedding.

    Wedding’s rituals and activities:

Wedding is one of the most important events in Vietnamese lifetime, not only with the bride and the groom but also with both their families. Therefore, it is usually concluding some main formal rituals. Depending on habits of specific ethnic groups and other areas in the country, getting marriage needs many different steps, but generally a Vietnamese modern wedding has three main ceremonies: The gate touching ceremony, the betrothal ceremony (or engagement ceremony) and the wedding ceremony. The wedding day often is an auspicious day which is chosen in advance. Following Vietnamese thought, a couple’s future depends on “age compatibility” of the bride and the groom, a good days and hours for the betrothal and wedding ceremony. Both parents of bride and groom often consulted a professional fortune-teller to choose a lucky days and hours.

The gate touching ceremony: The groom’s parents bring gifts to the bride’s house and formally ask for an engagement. The groom’s parents present a piece of paper in which groom’s name, age and birth date were written. The bride’s family decides to accept the engagement or not. Nowadays, the gate touching ceremony is not the same as it used to be traditionally in the past, but only the meeting between both families. It doesn’t need the appearance of the matchmaker as well as the cumbersome gifts. At this stage, one of both families can cancel the marriage.

The betrothal ceremony: This is an important ceremony to announce the marriage. This ceremony marks a significant stage in the lifetimes of the bride and the groom. After this ceremony, the bride will become formally the fiancée of the groom. The gifts of the betrothal ceremony usually concludes : betel leafs and areca nuts, cốm cake, wine, “husband-and-wife” cake (bánh phu thê), candied lotus seeds, tea, five fruits trays, a toasted pig.…to show the grateful of the groom to the bride’s parents. The betrothal ceremony is often held half a year or about one week to 10 days before the wedding day. 

The wedding day: It concludes some main rituals. Before the groom go to fetch the bride, his mother and another person in family come to the bride’s family with betel and areca nuts and a bottle of wine to annouce the time when the groom fetch the bride for the preparation of the bride’s family. After that, a respected old man in the family is chosen to be a representative person of the groom’s family. He will lead the groom, the groom’s father, relatives and the close friends of the groom to fetch the bride. The representative of the groom’s family normally go first, the groom’s father, the groom and his friends follow behind. At the bride’s house, the representative gives speech of making offer to fetch the bride in front of both families. With the permission of the olders in family, the groom enters the room inside for giving  flowers to the bride, pays homage to the bride’s ancestors. After that, both the bride and the groom come outside to make greetings to their parents, parents-in-law, relatives and friends. Then, the bride comes with the groom and his companions to the groom’s house. At the groom’s house, they are led to the altar so as to worship the ancestor and make greetings to her husband relatives. Finally, the groom’s family invites the bride’s family to take part in the wedding banquet. The wedding banquet is often held in a luxury hotel or big restaurant with the presence of both 2 families and friends of the bride and the groom.

In general, the wedding rituals has changed so much from the past to the present in order to make it easier, simpler and suitable with the modern life.

     Wedding’s special characteristics:

Just like weddings in other countries, Vietnamese traditional wedding is a colorful and happy event to not only the couple but also their family, friends and everyone who join the event. But there are some features that make a wedding in Vietnam different:

Wedding season in Vietnam is autumn or winter – when the weather is cooler and farmers have less work on the field. Meanwhile, Westerners tend to organize their weddings in the summer and then they usually have a short period of time called Honeymoon.

Because of some ancient believes and superstitions, Vietnamese people always ask the fortune teller to choose an auspicious date to hold the wedding, but this custom does not exist in the West.

Getting married both in Vietnam and in the West traditionally includes two steps: engagement (or betrothal) and wedding. While the groom in the West only has to ask the bride’s parents for permission to get married and present an engagement ring to show his commitment, Vietnamese groom and his family has to visit the bride’s family bearing a dowry: red lacquered boxes full of tea, cake, wine, areca leaf and betel nut, covered by red silk and carried by unmarried young men and women in red clothes. Then, the dowry will be set on the ancestral altar in two small portions, the smaller one will be returned to the groom’s family to show that they have been too generous and the bride's family is not greedy.

Vietnamese brides and grooms nowadays prefer wearing gown and suits like Western couples in the wedding. But traditionally, they wear Ao dai – Vietnamese traditional garment.

In both Vietnam and in the West, the wedding guests gift the couple presents to wish them luck. But Vietnamese people tend to gift the envelope with cash, meanwhile Westerners gift household goods like pots, tea sets, kitchen appliances...

The cakes in wedding are an essential part of every wedding. In the Vietnamese wedding, phu the or su se cake is indispensible. It is wrapped in green dong leaf, which represents for an eternal life and tied by red ribbon – the symbol of the destiny that connects the couple. Meanwhile, a large multi-layered cake, which is usually decorated with icing, always appears in a Western wedding.

     Wedding’s changes:

Up to now, the wedding rituals have many changes. Some bad customs were removed gradually. Besides, the modern weddings also effect strongly from the Western culture. The first change is the rituals. A traditional wedding need to have at least 6 main rituals: Nạp thái, Vấn danh, Nạp cát, Thỉnh kỳ, Nạp tế and Thân nghênh. However, some complicate rituals are removed in order to make the wedding easier and suitable to the young people. Nowadays, the wedding only has three main rituals as above. Sometimes, the gate touching ceremony can be removed as well. The wedding banquet is often held in the restaurants or in the home ground. The bride and the groom exchange their rings. Then they cut the wedding cake as well as pour the champagne to cheer. Secondly, it is the changes in wedding costumes. During the 1930s, when the marriage was still influenced by feudal concepts, the bride often wore váy lĩnh cạp điều (a dress of glossy black with a hem of bright red silk) and the áo tứ thân (four-flap dress). Nowadays, no one wears these kinds of costumes any more. After the first war against France colonialists, there are many changes in clothes styles. At that time, both the bride and the groom wear the áo dài traditional costumes. In the 1980s, the layered Western-style wedding dresses began to appear in Vietnam. Nowadays, the bride doesn’t just wear the traditional costumes in her wedding days. The bride often wears áo dài in the betrothal ceremony. Then, she will change to Western style wedding dress in her wedding day. The groom always wears Western costumes in every ceremony.

In general, the Vietnamese modern wedding has many changes but still storing traditional features. The symbol of wedding is still betel nuts and areca as well as the red color is the main color. Some main rituals are stored, showing the grateful to the ancestor. The betel nuts and arecas , “husband and wife” cake, five fruits tray, tea, Cốm cake,… is the important gifts in wedding custom and also bring the  Vietnamese traditional culture.

    Advices for tourists

Because wedding is a private event, tourists – especially foreign tourists are not welcomed to a Vietnamese wedding. You must be invited as the friends of the bride or the groom or the influential person to the couple or so on. But you can still take some photos of the wedding when some rituals take place outside, on the street… or pose with the couple when they are taking photos before the wedding.

If you are invited to a Vietnamese wedding party, you don’t have to wear a very formal suit with vest, white shirt or tie like you have to wear in a Western wedding, but not too casual either. All you need is a neat and polite outfit. When you are leaving, you should say thanks to the newlywed and their parents who invited you to the wedding.

If you receive the invitation but you cannot come to the wedding party, you should send a gift or an envelope with cash inside as your congratulation to their happiness.

Yet another member of the extended noodle family, bánh cuốn are paper thin steamed rice flour pancakes, much like delicate sheets of fresh rice noodles. These are plucked off of the linen steamer base, and immediately rolled with minced pork and mushrooms, then piled on a plate, sprinkled with deep fried shallots, snipped with scissors into bite sized sections, and topped with fresh herbs such as cilantro or Vietnamese basil. A plate of bánh cuốn is a light dish traditionally eaten as breakfast in Hanoi but now can also be found as a late night snack.

To eat, dip a section of rolled noodle goodness into the accompanying warm fish sauce broth, brightened with a squeeze of fresh lime. You can also pick the leaves off the herbs and add them to the dipping sauce, grabbing a leaf or two as you dip, or you can follow each bite with a chaser of herbs. Bánh cuốn are often eaten with different sides of pork sausages, including sheets of an orange hued, roasted cinnamon sausage called chả quế.

Where to find it?
A short walk north of Hàng Da Market and Hàng Điếu street will bring you to Bánh Cuốn Thanh Vân, just look for the bánh cuốn station—two large covered steaming pots—out front along the sidewalk. Watch as the practiced hands keep the bánh cuốn rolling out with experienced economy of motion, alternating seamlessly between spreading the thin batter on the linen base of one steamer, then in perfect time, turning to the other to peel the delicately steamed pancake off the linen base with a bamboo stick. By the time the batter is spread on its newly emptied linen base, the pancake in the first steamer is ready and waiting. With only 6 tables nestled inside the small open storefront, the pace never slows. Serving 7AM-1PM and 5PM-11PM. Coordinates: No. 14 Hàng Gà street, between Hàng Mã and Hàng Vải (the Hàng Vải corner is lined with bamboo ladders and poles). It is located on the west side of the street, not far from where the street name changes from Hàng Cót to Hàng Gà.

Locals claim that 71 Hàng Bồ dishes up tastier, more thin and tender bánh cuốn than the more famous Bánh Cuốn Thanh Vân, though the dipping sauce is less superior so it may be a wash between the two locations. However, the Hàng Bồ location offers two kinds of stuffing: pork and chicken, and is just a stones throw from Hoàn Kiếm Lake so it is a good stop as you explore the Old Quarter. Open 3PM – 11 PM. Heading up Hàng Điếu Street, turn right onto Bát Đàn and it becomes Hàng Bồ. Continuing west on Hang Bac, the street also becomes Hàng Bồ. No. 71 is on the south side of the street. About 12,000 dong for pork stuffing and 15,000 dong for chicken stuffed bánh cuốn.

The restaurant Quán Ăn Ngon, 18 Phan Bội Châu Street, also does a very respectable version of bánh cuốn.

 

According to the legend, in the 18^th King of the Hung Dynasty, there was a poor family which had got married for a long time but they did not have any child. One day, the wife dreamed a God came and said to give them a child. Nine months ago, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy and named him Phan Tay Nhac.

Nhac was a very intelligent boy. He was both good at literature and martial arts.  At the age of 15, Nhac went to Tan Vien Mountain and asked to work for Son Tinh (the God of Mountain). As Nhac was very smart and loyal, Son Tinh decided to make Nhac as his assistant (Co Muc Phan Quan). At that time, the 18^th King of the Hung Dynasty (Hung Due Vuong) had two beautiful princesses named Tien Dung and Ngoc Hoa. Princess Tien Dung got married with Chu Dong Tu, but Princess Ngoc Hoa was still alone. So Hung King made a competition to find out the best man in the world to be the princess’s husband. Then Son Tinh and his assistant came and showed Hung King his abilities and power to prove that he deserved to be the princess’s husband. He satisfied all the requirements of Hung King so that Hung King accepted to let him be the husband of the princess. After that, the King noticed that Phan Quan was a very outstanding person, therefore, he choosed 3 best looking nieces of his wife and married them to Phan Quan. Then all of them went to Lang Suong Cave. Because Hung King did not have a son to succeed him as King so that the King felt depressed and he gave no care to the state affairs. Hence, Thuc King seized the opportunity and formed his army to attack Hung King’s land. Then Hung King conferred commander on Son Tinh and general on Phan Quan. Phan Quan and Son Tinh leaded the Hung King’s army to expel Thuc King’s army from Hung King’s land. The battle was very fierce. The most important thing to be winners in a war is the speed. So Phan Quan Phan Tay Nhac taught his soldiers how to cook rice fast enough to operate on time. And at the end, Son Tinh and Phan Quan successfully expelled Thuc King’s army. From then on, people held the rice cooking competition annually on lunar 12/02 as Phan Quan’s birthday to commemorate him.

It's the end of AoNikki. I'm moving to my new blog, where you will find some explanations and probably some inspirational words.

AoNikki will stay here, for all your (and my) reading pleasure, but no new update will be made.

I feel like I should really say something meaningful here, but nothing comes to mind. I have a lot of thoughts, questions, sadness, worries, etc. in my head, and that's why I took the reasonable course of action: make a new blog.

Yes, I was being sarcastic. I hope you still enjoy it.

I've read somewhere recently that humans are emotional beings; and since then I've been wondering how true that is. By most people's standard, I'm very rational -- probably also comically logical and personally detached from most things. (Well, maybe my blog posts don't really support that statement, but they are exceptions). By most MIT students' standard, however, I seem a bit emotional -- or so I've been told. For some reasons, I used to spend time pondering which end of the spectrum is right, and was completely oblivious about the obvious answer: neither.

I have yet to see or hear of any human without emotions. This may seem like something easily falsified; but I did put a lot of thoughts into it and still couldn't find a non-fictional example. Most people shows a wide range of emotions, while a few only express some: anger, greed, you name it. So humans are subject to their own and other people's emotions, although not everyone understand and act on them. Regardless, they are still there.

While most people, however, are not rational, thinking rationally is a learnable skill. Many even have a natural tendency toward facts and logic. So maybe the statement "humans are emotional beings" is not completely accurate or, at best, oversimplifies?

It is true, though, that humans are driven by emotions -- even though they may not always realize it. If you are a very logical and nerdy person, you probably would choose to hang out and make friends with other logical and nerdy people, and that is for an emotional reason: you enjoy their company. Or maybe you actually spend most time around people you don't like but have to socialize with to advance your career; well, you also do that out of an emotion: the desire to succeed. You may have decided that the only purpose of your life is to solve the P=NP problem, and that too, is because of the satisfaction you would feel when accomplishing that. Would you still work on it if you know that you'd be indifferent about the outcome? No matter what you want to achieve in your life, you feel the desire to achieve it. That is an emotion, regardless of whether it has a rational or emotional justification.

Regardless of what the answer is, or whether there is an answer, I'm pleased with my share of emotion and rationale and the way I use them. Just as a true master of something understands its limitations, I believe that a truly logical person should be someone who understands where and when logic can be applied. This is not to say that I am a true master of logic. I do, however, think about whether something is a logic or emotion matter, and approach it accordingly.

Personally I think the two are fundamentally different: logic is a method, and emotion is an experience. I think my driving emotion is curiosity. There is of course the usual stuff: the curiosity for facts, for truths, for the understanding of the universe and all that. But the more important aspect of being curious, I think, is the desire to understand different emotions and the experience associated with them. Most people don't welcome adversity and negative feelings, but I do. I value negative experience, I like to unleash any emotion -- negative or not -- I may have about it. Since emotions are so commonly considered the driving force and something personal, it may look like I'm overwhelmed by them.

In the end, however, I chose to experience the emotion and would feel glad and satisfied that I did. I truly see life as a game; and as with any video game, I want to get as close to 100% as possible. Thus it's really not about what approach -- logic or emotion -- is right or more favorable, it's about how I want to play this game. So, you know, experience, be open-minded, take risk, seek adventures, love the adventures, not be afraid -- to think, to try, to feel, fail, succeed, be social, be lonely, be emo, be annoying, get annoyed, find people, avoid people, be silly, be excitable, be happy. All that.

Dear Friends,

The News about floods in Pakistan was like a fire in the News. The response from the international community has been devastatingly slow and according to the Associate Press "U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he has never seen anything like the flood disaster in Pakistan." "This has been a heart-wrenching day for me," Ban said after flying over the hard-hit areas with President Asif Ali Zardari. "I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today. In the past I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this."
Experts have said the situation in Pakistan is worse than the disasters in Haiti, the Tsunami, and earthquakes combined. Thousands are without shelter or packed into camps. Problems with accessing water and food abound. The situation is particularly bad for children and the worst is yet to come.

We need to help those homeless people & flood effected victims.

Spread the word, and join me in supporting this great cause.

Donate Generously

Please & Thank You

Idrees Khan

Hi Friends,

I was watching Star Plus TV of India, I really appreciate & Salute STAR PLUS & to the people involved in Amul Chhote Ustaad-Do Deshon Ki Ek Awaaz, that they arrange such a great program which will bring both nations together and will spread Peace. It’s a great Idea because in this program the participators are Kids (Our Young Generation) they will Spread Peace & pass on the message of Peace to their next generation. I am really impressed, hope with this plate form we will bring peace & tranquility.

Thanks,
Idrees Khan

So, if you could come to Da Nang city, you should come to My Khe beach. Da Nang is famous My Khe beach average American by Forbes magazine as one of the most charming beach six planets. My Khe Beach is located about 6km east of Danang and about 24km north of Hoi An. It’s a seven-kilometre stretch of smooth sand with an average width between 50m and 70m. The gradient is gentle, and its sheltered position in the lee of the Son Tra peninsula softens the autumn winds that restrict swimming further down the coast.The lack of large waves, less than average pollution, and an annual mean temperature around 25 oC, makes it a safe place to swim for adults and children alike.Beaches in Vietnam are seldom private, and My Khe is no exception. Visitors are likely to share the beach with the locals, and there are plenty of them. Most of us aren't very good at swimming, but we love splashing about in the water and making a lot of noise.However, you'll often encounter Vietnamese fishing parties. The technique is to use a couple of sampans to take a very long fine mesh net about half a kilometre offshore. Once the net is in place, two teams of people (mostly women) each take ropes tied to the ends of the net and begin to pull them up the beach.As each person reaches the limit of beach space, she or he drops the rope on the ground and walks back to the water’s edge to repeat the procedure.The whole operation takes about half a day and results in a few buckets of tiny fish that are sold for a few dollars. Watching the process and seeing the scant reward to be shared among ten or fifteen people gives a powerful insight into the reality of poverty. About 10 minutes from the beach, we will go to Ba Na mountain, where Ba Na cable car system was awarded Guinness records for the longest and highest non-stop cable car system with the biggest height gap between its departure and arrival stations. The price of this service is about 200 000 vnd ( about 10 usd). The feeling when you see the mountain and clouds from Linh Ung temple is unwritten. Besides, in the middle of the night, traffic is stopped from crossing the Song Han Bridge and it swings on its axis to allow shipping traffic to pass along the river. It's so interesting, isn't it? Foods in Da Nang are very delicious. the most delicious food is bánh tráng cuốn thịt heo (Pork wrapped in "banh trang"). You should make the rolls yourself from boiled pork, vegetables and noodles. Just roll the ingredients in soft "banh trang" and dip them in spicy fish sauce. Only a dish of pork wrapped in “banh trang” like other rolled dishes, the most important ingredient is pork. Pork for this dish should be rump meat from a 70-kilogram pig. Usually, only 5 kg can be selected and 40% of this is suitable for the dish. The boiled meat must be well done and the pure colour of its fat retained. Pork is poiled in medium fire so that it is not well done so soon. Utensils must be rinsed before touching the meat to maintain its flavour and hygiene. Except for vegetables, fresh onion and green pip bananas, other additional things including fried “banh trang”, noodles (made by rice flavor to roll with boiled pork) are made by the saler for higiene requirements. Hot fish sauce will make the dish more special...Wow, I can't stop myself from dropping saliva ^^ I ate it at Tran restaurant - 300 Hai Phong street. And, bún chả cá Đà Nẵng is the food you should try. The address i've tried is 109 Nguyen Chi Thanh street.

GYCA RFPs and staff met to discuss RFP's work, challenges and goals.

We discussed how to help the RFPs create new policies to ensure greater accountability, communicativeness, ownership and responsiveness. RFPs who take leadership and contribute on a regular basis are often rewarded with free opportunities to represent GYCA at international events such as this conference. RFPs and NFPs who fall out of contact and shirk their responsibilities will be asked to leave and will be replaced.

The GYCA member’s meeting is tomorrow (Wednesday) from 6-8pm in the Bild hostel.


In attendance:
Reshma Pattni (GYCA Program Director),
Sydney (Program Officer- South Secretariat), Lindsay Menard-Freeman (Program Officer- North Secretariat),
Emily Carson (RFP North America),
Mawethu Zita (RFP Southern Africa),
Ajay Uprety (RFP South Asia),
Veronica Ugwu (RFP West Africa),
Myself (GYCA Advisory Council Member & Co-Founder).


Missing from the meeting were:
Ahmad Tammam (RFP Middle East/North Africa),
Muge Cevik (RFP Western Europe).

GYCA RFPs and staff met to discuss RFP's work, challenges and goals.

We discussed how to help the RFPs create new policies to ensure greater accountability, communicativeness, ownership and responsiveness. RFPs who take leadership and contribute on a regular basis are often rewarded with free opportunities to represent GYCA at international events such as this conference. RFPs and NFPs who fall out of contact and shirk their responsibilities will be asked to leave and will be replaced.

The GYCA member’s meeting is tomorrow (Wednesday) from 6-8pm in the Bild hostel.


In attendance:
Reshma Pattni (GYCA Program Director),
Sydney (Program Officer- South Secretariat), Lindsay Menard-Freeman (Program Officer- North Secretariat),
Emily Carson (RFP North America),
Mawethu Zita (RFP Southern Africa),
Ajay Uprety (RFP South Asia),
Veronica Ugwu (RFP West Africa),
Myself (GYCA Advisory Council Member & Co-Founder).


Missing from the meeting were:
Ahmad Tammam (RFP Middle East/North Africa),
Muge Cevik (RFP Western Europe).

GYCA RFPs and staff met to discuss RFP's work, challenges and goals.

We discussed how to help the RFPs create new policies to ensure greater accountability, communicativeness, ownership and responsiveness. RFPs who take leadership and contribute on a regular basis are often rewarded with free opportunities to represent GYCA at international events such as this conference. RFPs and NFPs who fall out of contact and shirk their responsibilities will be asked to leave and will be replaced.

The GYCA member’s meeting is tomorrow (Wednesday) from 6-8pm in the Bild hostel.


In attendance:
Reshma Pattni (GYCA Program Director),
Sydney (Program Officer- South Secretariat), Lindsay Menard-Freeman (Program Officer- North Secretariat),
Emily Carson (RFP North America),
Mawethu Zita (RFP Southern Africa),
Ajay Uprety (RFP South Asia),
Veronica Ugwu (RFP West Africa),
Myself (GYCA Advisory Council Member & Co-Founder).


Missing from the meeting were:
Ahmad Tammam (RFP Middle East/North Africa),
Muge Cevik (RFP Western Europe).