WEBVTT

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This year's year-end meal at Ms. Dao Thi
Thinh's family in Tien Lu commune, Huong 

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Yen province took place in a bustling
rural atmosphere, with many children and 

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grandchildren, a very familiar scene of
the countryside in the days leading up to Tet. 

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But few people know that to have that
perfect meal, Ms. Thinh had 

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to wait for 27 years. 

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She left Huong Yen to go to Dong Nai to
work as a worker when she was very 

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young. Nearly 30 years of making a
living in a foreign land, she has never 

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returned to her hometown to celebrate Tet with her family. 

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This year, thanks to the "Trade Union
Flight" program organized by the Vietnam 

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Boy Scouts Federation, Ms. Thinh was
supported to return to her hometown in 

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the last days of the year. 

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Her return made the whole family happy
and excited, Ms. Thinh's mother and 

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relatives eagerly welcomed their
children, so the small houses in Tien Lu 

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commune became more crowded and
bustling than every year. 

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The atmosphere of Tet preparation is
bustling, everyone doing their own 

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thing, some ordering banh chung, some
cooking stars, some preparing rice to worship ancestors. 

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Keep the kitchen on fire, fragrant with new sticky rice and meat. 

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The dishes being prepared spread throughout the house. 

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Outside in the yard, children play,
adults work and chat, creating a 

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familiar rhythm of life in the last days
of the year in the countryside. 

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She feels excited, she is happy, she
wishes you happiness, she is excited. 

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For so many years, today all my children
and grandchildren have had Tet with me, 

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I am so happy, grandchildren. 

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This meal, she is very happy, for so
many years, so many years now, she has 

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just been happy to meet her children and
grandchildren, she is fully fledged, 

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she is excited. 

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For Ms. Thinh, this return
brings clear excitement. 

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After 27 years away from home, being
present at the meal is of course with mother and relatives. 

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making her emotional in a very quiet
way, expressed through smiles and excitement. 

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when packing cakes, cooking rice,
preparing for Tet in his own hometown. 

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I feel very happy and joyful, I can't
say that I can become a person after 27 

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years away from home, but today for the
first time I can have a meal together to 

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celebrate the year-end party with my
mother and all my siblings, children and 

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grandchildren on a day with a truly
warm and loving atmosphere. 

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The meal of course closed the year with
a family reunion atmosphere, warm and 

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full in the house of
Ms. Dao Thi Thinh's family. 

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where hometown members gather together
to share everyday, peaceful moments of 

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the last days of the year.