In Vietnam, family meal is very important. It is one part of a happy family especially when people become more busy with their business. In some big cities such as Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh, parents are always busy, they have to get up early in the morning to take their children to schools before going to work. In the past, a wife often prepares breakfast for the whole family but this tradition or habit has been ignored somehow due to limited time.

Children study and lunch at schools, parents work and lunch at offices or restaurants or somewhere else which is convenient to them. Dinner is an opportunity for them to share a meal and talk together after a hard day. Some dads or moms do not meet their children for days because when they come back home from offices, their children have gone to bed and when they get up in the morning, their children have gone to school. This situation has become more popular and often happens at some families with busy parents who often come home very late or are always on a business trip. Restaurants have still been strange to many people and families in Vietnam. The reason is simple, eating at restaurants is more expensive than at home. However, there are some changes, young families (young wife and husband) prefer eating at restaurants for both of them do not want to involve cooking.

In general, value of family meals has been still highly appreciated. For many people, family meal is one way to keep their family happy. The meal is not simply understood as lunch or dinner, it can be understood as feeling and sympathy, sharing and care. In many Vietnam families, the wives know which are their husbands' or children' favorite dishes, they try to make those dishes as frequently as they can or at least on special occasions. At a moth test, a young pupil writes on a topic: What is success? She writes: "Success is simple, more simple than you often think, success comes when dad and son try to cook a favorite dish for mother on Mother's day or International women's day even if it is not as delicious as others do. How significant a dinner is when members of family have not met each other for a long time.

Vietnam is one the move, changes happen daily, life becomes faster so family meals are nothing if everyone ignores its traditional values. Some men do not want to come back home after work, the dinners and atmosphere of the dinner prevent them doing so. Preparing a daily meal may be simple but its result is great. Unfortunately, many young women forget this faction and try to find happiness somewhere else. They think that success in business brings them everything but if they have a happy family, they will be more successful.

Some foreigners want to explore Vietnamese culture, they often come to families, go to local markets and buy things for a meal. Is this the way to learn how to cook? The answer is "Yes" but the result is more than that.

By Nguyen Phuc Thinh
Co-founder of GoodmorningVietnam!
http://www.goodmorningvietnam.com.vn