Welcome back to our UO global gifting year-end countdown! Today’s gifting suggestions come to us from Vietnam via Tuan Vu, BArch ’08 and current Business Administration student Nghia Huynh. Following their personal gift picks, Tuan and Nghia have also shared some information about popular gifting holidays in Vietnam.
After earning his Architecture degree from the UO, Tuan Vu worked for Portland-based firms SERA Architects and Yost Grube Hall Architecture before working to found Propel Studio Architecture. As Co-owner and Creative Director at Propel. Tuan specializes in sustainable design with a focus on large-scale projects and master plans. His project experience includes noteworthy buildings in Portland, Oregon and outside of the US, with several award winning projects and competition entries among them.
Nghia Huynh’s academic focus is business operations and analytics. He is currently a research assistant at Lundquist College of Business, where he has also served as a teaching assistant. His interests include event-planning, culture, education, sports, and food as well as storytelling, Vietnamese martial arts, Buddhism, and Christianity. From 2017-2018, Nghia served as an international student advocate in the University of Oregon’s student government (ASUO). He says that one of his favorite pastimes is teaching people how to say his name. Take your best shot and then check your answers with this helpful video!
Tuan Vu, BArch ’08
Architect with a passion for sustainability and community
Top gifts: Trends and traditions
Silk Scarves
Silk items are very popular and also are a good way to support the local economy and families of traditional silk producers and jacquard handloom weavers. It is said that some weaving villages have been producing and weaving silk for centuries!
Li xi or lucky money
It is a tradition to give li xi or lucky money in red packets for the new year. Parents and other elders traditionally gift children li xi. The tradition has grown over the years to include adults (ages 18-50) giving li xi to parents and grandparents also.
Flowers
Flowers like roses are given along with chocolates n for Valentine’s Day. Flowers are a part of our lunar new year (Tet) celebrations as well. Peach flowers and yellow mai flowers are used for decoration and their colors are symbolic of good luck for the coming year.
Top gifts: Personal picks
A donation to UNICEF
UNICEF is working for children’s rights and basic needs in some of the world’s most vulnerable areas. Whether children are impacted by natural disasters, armed conflict, or other serious threats, UNICEF is there to help.
A donation to the Coalition for Rainforest Nations
While at the UO, I was the marketing project coordinator for the Center for Indigenous Cultural Survival. I highly value indigenous cultures, and especially what they can teach us about safeguarding nature. The Coalition for Rainforest Nations helps rainforest communities responsibly manage and conserve the lands on and with which they live.
A donation to the Climate Emergency Fund
My passion for sustainable architecture is based on a belief that we need to do more to work with rather than against the planet. The Climate Emergency Fund helps climate activists advocate for changes to earth-harming policies and practices
Nghia Huynh
Current UO business administration student and research assistant
My top gifts: Trends and traditions
Mứt Tết: candied fruits and seeds
Mứt Tết trays are trays of different candied fruits and nuts that are give for Lunar New Year (Tet). The items all start with the word mứt, which means confectionary or jam. They include pumpkin, melon, and lotus seeds as well as kumkwat, tamarind, and, perhaps most famously, coconut. You may try making candied coconut ribbons, called Mứt Dừa, using this very easy recipe.
Tea
Tea has been grown and enjoyed in Vietnam for thousands of years. Beautiful tea plantations can be found in a variety of areas. from highlands to lowlands and coastal areas. Green, white, and oolong teas are all grown in Vietnam. Floral scented teas like jasmine and lotus green tea are also very common. Most people like green tea varieties best!
Fruit and fruit baskets
Fruit and fruit baskets are good gifts in Vietnam. Fruits include dragonfruit, mangosteen, durian, mangoes, jackfruit, rambutan, rose apples, star fruit, and more!
My top gifts: Personal picks
A donation to the International Cultural Service Program
The ICSP program helps international students like me to both benefit from and give back to the University of Oregon community. I have met so many people from Oregon and around the world through ICSP, and I know those connections and experiences will contibute to my future success!
Oregon items like T-shirts
The majority of UO students and alumni around the world will likely agree with me: University of Oregon gear and clothing are great gifts!
A donation to the students in crisis fund
This has been a difficult year for just about everyone. We have all been affected differently, and I think it is important to help how we can. Sometimes just being there for someone is a big help. But some students, including international students, are facing economic hardships that threaten their ability to complete their degrees. This fund is the best way to help them.
Gifting in Vietnam
Similar to a number of East Asian countries, Lunar New Year (Tết in Vietnamese) is the most important holiday. This holiday gives family members opportunities to return home, reunite and celebrate together. The day after Lunar New Year Eve, people often go to pagodas to make donations and to pray for health, prosperity, and happiness throughout the year.
Vietnam has long observed a number of traditions to honor ancestors. One of the most important times for this is the lunar month of July (Rằm tháng 7), when food and other offerings are made for those who have passed before us. It is also a time for other types of charity.
Vietnam also celebrates the Autumn Moon Festival or Tết Trung Thu, on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. This is when the moon appears the most full, bright, and round. The day marks the end of the harvest season for rice and other crops. There are lanterns, processions, and plenty of delicious Vietnamese pastries and fruits and children are gifted traditional toys like like Đèn Ông Sao (Star Shaped Lanterns) or Tò He (Rice powder shaped figures).
Christmas is also celebrated in Vietnam in some of the country’s small Catholic communities. Gifting and charity are, of course, part of the celebrations!
Our guide in the Mekong Delta was well excited when we gave him a book . I always give nice Aussie calendars if I’m travelling around new year. https://www.tshirtmanufacturerbd.com/