Happy Vietnamese New Year!

I occasionally go to a nail salon near our house called "Nails Only." It is nice, inexpensive, and owned by a Vietnamese couple. I am on their mailing list. This year we received an invitation from the owner to attend a Vietnamese New Year's celebration at a restaurant, Lucky Dragon, for a small fee. I thought it sounded great. So we went. It lived up to my expectations. It was a large event with almost 500 people in attendance (we were 4 of about 20 non-Asian people). At first there was several speeches, including one from guest speaker Senator Amy Klobuchar (who I shook hands with!). There was also traditional and modern Vietnamese music.

Then there was the dragon dance, which was as fabulous as it sounds. Sophia and Juliet were absolutely mesmerized. At one point, a red dragon came close to us; Juliet hugged Adam tight and exclaimed, "Daddy! Hide! Hide!" Once she understood that the dragons were just kids in a costume, she became obsessed. Over and over again she asked if she could wear the dragon costume. Finally, Adam told her they could try to make one at home. I do not know exactly how that is going to happen!

After the dragon dance, our seven course meal began. The girls tried the first few courses and then were too full. I sat next to an interesting women named Phuc (pronounced fu), who is a librarian at the Richfield library near our house. I am going to email her tomorrow, because she plans all of the fun Asian cultural activities at the library and wants to include us! Sophia and Juliet sat very patiently during the three hour dinner, and said they had a great time.

Course #2: Potstickers. Yum!

The Dragon Dance

Juliet ate a lot of her seafood soup. Sophia tried one bite, but only because I made her!



Dragon Sophia. She made the mask at school when they were talking about the Chinese new year.

More of the Dragon dance. Sophia stayed on the chair and kept her distance.

Waiting for dinner. I purchased my Vietnamese dress over ten years ago when I was in a Vietnamese wedding of one of Adam's friends. In the past, I wore it all of the time. I dusted it off, and lo and behold, it still fit!