New Year's Day

Hey, Happy New Year. Near here, over in the park just northeast of Reunification Palace, there are many lights on trees and people on scooters. We were through there just a little while ago. It took ten minutes to navigate five blocks, by cab, there were so many people. They must have just been driving around and around the park. The park's decorations came online on Christmas day, and seem to be geared for the week between the two holidays: wired lighting wrapped around the contours of wire armatures in the shapes of oblong boxes, three feet long, hang from the trees. At approximately the same height, the trees themselves are wrapped with lights around their trunks. There are colorful banners at this height, strobes at this height, and searchlights playing over large, spinning disco lights. The overall effect is pretty startling: like the world has flooded over our heads and refracted light plays in the foliage around us, the roadbeds, the teeming traffic; above us across the park is that consistent and fairy-lit watermark. I have been sick; and indeed felt too sick to go out tonight. I felt sad to stay in, but going out would have made me more homesick. New Year's Eve was always pretty important to me. Once I got a look at the crowds, it made me a little happier about staying in, rather than even sadder. At five minutes till midnight, on Ha Noi TV, a Viet Pop band paused mid-song for an announcer to briskly count backwards from five and everyone sang Happy New Year. We walked up to the roof where we could see dozens of searchlights waving over the city and a few desultory fireworks lighting up the sky over the Rex Hotel (or maybe the tax market). [Cavin]