Chinese New Year 2015

Chinese New Year is celebrated in Lao with lots of red and gold!  It's not as big as Lao New Year, but it's another opportunity for some fun.

Lots of shops sell Chinese clothes for the new year, including for the little kids, complete with hats and little ques.

 We were invited to attend a special celebration at one of the international schools by one of our members.  The outside hallway was decorated with flags of the home countries of students there.  They learn English and Chinese, as well as other subjects.

Peter Curtis, the one in the center, is our Primary student in church and is the one who invited us to the performance.

Everyone was in a big room, with one end used for the performing area. 

 Peter above, and his brother Spencer below, enjoyed performing and Peter did well with one of his parts in Chinese.  Their parents Mandy & Sam Curtis are Malay and Australian, a very nice family.

Inside a nice hotel in Vientiane, they have a permanent display, but this lobby adornment is tailored for Chinese New Year at this time.

Staff at the hotel dressed in appropriate color for the event.

Enter the dragon!  Two men inside put on quite an energetic show. 

Dragon fight, with 2-tiered performers.  Val is on the balcony in the back, getting a video.

These talented performers were changed out several times, without missing a beat.  It gets hot under the dragon costume and they are constantly moving with a lot of energy.

The band, providing almost non-stop music, consisted of drums and cymbals.  The men with fringed pants are the relief dancers that go in to replace the other performers in the dragon suits.

Hotel staff with the dragon people.

After the 20 minute performance, the performers went to a waiting truck to take them to another venue to perform.  They did this for a couple of days.

Onkeo, one of the Branch presidency, invited us to his home for a nice dinner during the celebration and in honor of Gary and Loretta Nielsen's visit.  They were missionaries here from 2010-12 and were well-liked. 

This is Kek, Onkeo's daughter.  The picture on the wall is one of their ancestors.

Leilani is a granddaughter of the branch president.  She is a perky 4-year old and speaks both Lao and English.

 Gary and Loretta talk with Sone, the branch young women's president and a returned missionary who served in California.  

Sone really is only about as tall as Gary sitting down.

Onkeo and his wife, Khamnoi, were gracious hosts and had quite a spread of food.  They invite about 30 people for this special dinner every year. 

 Pres. Kompadith and his daughter, Koungnyang.  Although she looks like she is about 13, she is an accomplished mother of 3 and speaks English very well.  She is sometimes our interpreter.

Grandpa with one of his grandsons.

This was the group for dinner, all members of the Church.  And no, Gary and the elders in back are not standing on anything, although Elder Vance is on his tip toes.  Missionaries include Glenn & Susan Singley, Elder Ty Christian Harman, Sis. Jenny Her, Judy & Val, Elder Kendall Vance, Sister Samantha Holmes.

Hmong New Year

The Hmong people is a culture of people, mostly from the mountain country of Lao, Vietnam and Thailand.  Many of these people emigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s.  We have several Hmong members in our branch of the church.  During the Hmong New Year (last week in November this year), they have great festivals, during which the people dress in their colorful native dress.  Especially the young people dress fancy at this social event.

Lili is one of our members.  She is wearing one of the traditional hats.

Lili and her brother.  The coins on the costumes are made of silver making a noise as they walk.

Many people in Lao ride motorcycles.  This young lady is dressed in her beautiful pink and black Hmong  costume.

The girls can pick a hat to go with their costume, either a turban style one or a round, nicely decorated hat.

Beautiful embroidery is decorating the young men's costumes.

Even the little girls like to dress up in their costumes.  They are very happy to be with their dad.

One of the main events at the Hmong Festival is getting in two lines and tossing a tennis ball back and forth.  This is a time when the boy or girl picks out the person they would like to date and then they throw the ball back and forth.

Many different foods were available to buy and eat at the festiva, including these tangerines. 

 Elder Vance posing with his Hmong friends.

Many Hmong costume's finishing touch is a silver necklace.  Both the boys and the girls wear them.

This man is playing a 2-string instrument called a xor.  He also sang a Hmong song.

The beautiful Hmong dresses were for sale at the festival.

Hats of many colors.

It was a hot day and an umbrella really helped to cool people off.

Early in the morning at the festival they had a bull fight.  We missed the fight but we did see this bull being lead around.

These dresses are hand-sttiched in the Hmong tradition.  Beautiful!!  Elder Vance on left, Hartman on right, 6'1, 6'4" respectively.

We loved the different headdresses and started taking pictures of them.  Each one was unique and matched their costume.

Tossing a ball between boys & girls was a traditional way to show interest in the opposite gender, but it is now just a social custom.

Beautiful pink pleated skirts  with coins at the waist.

Many added pom poms to their hat and costume.

We were told that all these girls were Christians.

Even the boys have their pomp and costumes.

A little modern convenience of most young adults here.

Judy got this older lady to smile.

They enjoy having their pictures taken to show off their costumes.

Loved the expression on the face of the older women.  So much character and live experience.

Even some of the little ones get dressed up.