As Lunar New Year approaches, areas around universities grow increasingly quiet. Traffic thins out, while many eateries and photocopy shops close for the holiday. Boarding houses fall silent as most students head home by the 24th or 25th day of the lunar December; those who remain are mainly from distant hometowns, working part-time, or hoping to experience Tet in a new place.

Not as common as apricot blossoms or chrysanthemums, daffodils can still be found in a few homes in Hue whenever spring returns. Enthusiasts carefully trim the bulbs, change the water, and watch the buds day by day, hoping the flowers will bloom exactly at the turn of the Lunar New Year – an elaborate pastime to welcome the new year.

On the evening of February 12, at Phu Bai International Airport, the City Labor Federation organized a welcome and gift-giving program for union members and workers on the “Trade Union Flight - Spring 2026,” returning home to celebrate Binh Ngo Lunar New Year 2026.

On the morning of February 11, Hue Central Hospital organized the “Compassion Bus” program, providing transportation support for underprivileged patients undergoing treatment at the hospital to return home and celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families.

The “Compassionate Bus” program, which brings students with disadvantaged backgrounds home for Tet, has become a humanitarian activity of member institutions of Hue University, giving young people the opportunity to reunite with their families during the spring holidays.

Through an introduction from Ms. Samantha Colón of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (Nevada, USA), I was scheduled to meet Jamie Tran, the owner of “The Black Sheep” restaurant, to talk about cuisine and our shared homeland of Hue...

On the morning of January 2, the University of Education, Hue University, held a program titled “Connecting Spring - Sharing Tet” on taking students home for Tet of Binh Ngo Lunar New Year 2026.

On the morning of January 30, the Coast Guard Region 2 Command, in coordination with the City Party’s Commission for Information, Education and Mass Mobilization and the city Department of Education and Training, organized the city-level “I Love Homeland’s Seas and Islands” contest for the 2025-2026 academic year.

On the afternoon of January 29th, Hue University of Sciences High School for Gifted Students organized an experiential activity titled “Hue Tuong masks - When art becomes heritage” for students. The program is part of the Local Education curriculum, aiming to help students gain a deeper understanding of local history and culture, thereby fostering love for their homeland and an awareness of the importance of respecting and preserving traditional cultural heritage values.

On the afternoon of January 29, as part of the contest “I Love My Homeland’s Seas and Islands” for the 2025-2026 academic year, the City Party Committee’s Commission for Information and Education and Mass Mobilization, in coordination with the Coast Guard Region 2 Command, organized a working delegation to visit and present Tet gifts to Vietnamese Heroic Mothers in My Thuong, Phu Ho, and Thanh Thuy wards and communes.