Three Olympia champions Tran The Trung (19th year), Nguyen Thi Thu Hang (20th year), Dang Le Nguyen Vu (22nd year) shared with Dan Tri reporters about their excitement for Tet and their personal plans for the new year.

Meeting "more magnificent" than every year

This February, Dang Le Nguyen Vu (born 2005, Thai Binh) will become a student majoring in AI (artificial intelligence) at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. Up to now, all the procedures for studying abroad for the 2022 Olympia champion have been completed, the remaining part is to prepare what is necessary to be ready for takeoff.

Before Tet, Nguyen Vu spent time focusing on completing some personal tasks. For the male student, when preparing to celebrate Tet with his family, the busy part begins, including the "task" of polishing the table and chairs with quite complex patterns in the living room.

In addition to cleaning and decorating the house, during Tet, Nguyen Vu often gathers with friends and goes with his parents to wish them a happy new year. This year, the young man will have a much more special Tet.

"For sure, my meetings with my friends will be a little more "grand". I hope I will feel more clearly the flavor of Vietnamese Tet with my family", the male student shared.

Currently, Nguyen Vu is quite ready and cherishes many plans to carry out when he lands in the new country and becomes a member of the Swinburne family. First, the young man wants to explore new things in the city of Melbourne, Australia.

"During the preparation for studying abroad, I received a lot of support from seniors, so I'm very excited to meet everyone there," the Olympia champion expressed.

Nguyen Vu also sent a message to Dan Tri readers: "On the occasion of the New Year, I wish all readers good health, luck, success and happiness, especially to continue to give love and support to Olympia as well as the contestants of the program."

Bringing a suitcase full of books from Australia to Vietnam

The school year in Australia usually ends in December and starts in March, so the summer vacation here coincides with the Lunar New Year in Vietnam. Thanks to that, for the past two years, Nguyen Thi Thu Hang (born in 2003, Ninh Binh) - currently a student at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia - has returned to Vietnam to celebrate Tet with her family.

The 2020 Olympia champion returned to Vietnam at the end of January but had to buy a plane ticket half a year in advance. Because of the 3-month summer vacation, she also took the opportunity to study an extra credit before returning.

Thu Hang only returns home for Tet, which makes her very excited. She always carries two suitcases, each weighing about 20kg. One suitcase is filled with gifts for family and friends back home, while the other is filled with books.

Thu Hang shared that she really enjoyed the feeling of walking around the streets to buy souvenirs and Australian specialties and thinking about the joy of giving them to people. Therefore, the female student prepared two months before returning.

"I am very passionate about reading and collecting paper books, so when I am in Australia, I often go to bookstores to collect good books. Usually at the end of the year, I bring some back to Vietnam, both to keep as souvenirs and to give my friends and relatives a source of English books to read occasionally," the Olympia champion revealed.

Like many young people, Thu Hang is not out of the "house cleaning war" before Tet.

She humorously shared: "My family has a set of dragon and phoenix wooden tables and chairs, which takes at least 1-2 days to clean every year. Luckily, my sister and I have cleaned them so much that we now have seniority. This is probably the reason why I get called home every Tet."

Besides the "tradition" of waking up early to wrap banh chung with the whole family, Thu Hang also loves giving lucky money during Tet. In recent years, she has given lucky money to younger children but is still happy when her uncles and aunts give lucky money in return.

After a year of hard study, Thu Hang plans to gather with her family to celebrate the Year of the Dragon 2024 and visit relatives. The female champion does not have any special plans.

"I'm going back to Vietnam for about 2-3 weeks and then I'll return to Australia to start the new school year. I'm currently studying for a dual degree in Business and Information Technology, so I still have two years of study ahead of me. In my third year, I have to worry about finding an internship, a job, etc., so next year I'll consider going home for Tet," she shared.

Like to write calligraphy and parallel sentences during Tet

In the last days of the 2023 lunar year, Tran The Trung (born 2002, Nghe An) - currently a student at RMIT University Hanoi - was quite busy as he completed his last subject at school and participated in running the Vietnam Students' Basketball League . Because Tet always coincides with the school's end-of-semester break, the 2021 Olympia champion was able to return home before December 23 and was able to spend more time with his family.

Not only participating in cleaning the house and preparing for Tet, The Trung also writes calligraphy and parallel sentences to give to family, friends, and loved ones, as well as to hang in the house to add to the Tet atmosphere.

"People seem to like it," the boy said cheerfully.

Like every year, The Trung asked his teacher to help him compose a pair of parallel sentences that best represented his and his family’s wishes for the new year. The parallel sentences would be hung in the living room.

"I also choose the content to start the year with my own wishes. For the past 3 years, I have started writing by writing calligraphy," the Olympia champion revealed.

On Tet, The Trung's family returns to his paternal and maternal hometowns on the first day, goes to temples on the second and fourth days, and will arrange to visit relatives and friends and welcome guests to their home.

The Trung loves Tet because this is the occasion for everyone to gather together after a year of hard work and study. Especially when studying far from home, the young man cherishes this meaningful reunion even more.

"There are many things to prepare for Tet, but the important thing is that the whole family does it together, which will help us bond more. Perhaps the thing I fear most about Tet is just the questions "Have you started working yet?", "How much is your salary?", "When will you get married?"... that's all," the male student said.

For The Trung, 2024 is an important year with many personal plans. The Olympia champion will complete his university program and make necessary preparations for his plan to study for a second degree as well as find a job. However, at the moment, the young man is still uncertain about anything and can explore many options to find the most suitable one for him.

In addition, this year is also an opportunity for The Trung to hone his skills with his passion for calligraphy as well as basketball refereeing. The Vietnam Shogi Club, of which he is the vice president, also has many opportunities to develop with many exciting events to be held on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Japan Shogi Federation.

"One of the things I hope for this year is that more people will know and try shogi, as well as have more resources to support the Vietnam Shogi Club to develop. The club will also organize more tournaments and make shogi have a place in the Vietnamese community as a unique intellectual sport," The Trung confided.

Photo: NVCC