A: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, our dear listeners. The Christmas atmosphere is all around and we continued receiving greetings from our listeners around the world.

B: Christmas has become more and more popular in Vietnam with Western-style activities taking place across the country.

German-style Christmas market in Hanoi (Photo: news.zing.vn)

A: One of them is the German- style Christmas Market held for the first time ever in Hanoi, bringing the festive atmosphere to city dwellers. Visitors experienced Christmas with all their senses, purchase special hand-made items and spent memorable moments with friends and family over a cup of hot wine. As is customary in Germany, the Christmas Market is located at a beautiful church, Hanoi’s Cua Bac Church.

B: The highlight of the Market was the Christmas Concert performed by the New Life Bambus Ensemble, which features classical music and international Christmas favorites to sing along.

A: At VOV, we have put up a Christmas tree to hang out greeting cards from our listeners. We’d like to thank Roger Roussel of Canada for his very beautiful 2018 calendar of Canada. In his message to VOV, Roussel wrote: “I’m very happy to send you a 2018 calendar from Canada. Please accept this gift as a token of my appreciation. Keep up the great work at the Voice of Vietnam.”

A: Mr. Roussel. We highly appreciate your regular feedback on our programs and send you QSL cards to confirm your reports for the programs on 7315 khz on November 20^th and 21^st.

A; Richard Chen of Trinidad and Tobago sent us a beautiful greeting card for Christmas with warmest wishes for the New Year. Thanks a lot, Mr. Chen. We hope to receive more feedback from you.

B: We’re surprised to receive a season greeting card with a picture of a dog on it from Mr. Robert Krowlikowski of the US. The card says: “The sender of this card is a supporter of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, one of the US’s foremost guide dog schools. Guiding Eyes for the Blind provides guide dogs to people with vision loss. We’re passionate about connecting exceptional dogs with individuals for greater independence. Guiding Eyes is a non-profit organization with all services provided free of charge.”

A: It’s a great idea of using dogs to help the Blind and creating this card to raise fund for them. Next year will be the year of the dog, according to the Vietnamese calendar, which is similar to that in China. The dog is the eleventh in the 12-year zodiac cycle.

B: A dog is man's best friend who can understand the human's spirit and obey its master, whether he is wealthy or not. Vietnamese people consider the dog an auspicious animal. If a dog happens to come to a house, it symbolizes the coming of fortune.

A: According to the Vietnamese horoscope, those born under the auspices of the dog are honest, friendly and trustworthy. They are protective, generous in their love and have a strong sense of justice. They are also intuitive, good judge of characters and are able to figure out human nature almost instantly.

 A: Generally speaking, people born in the year of the dog enjoy good health for they are happy all of the time. Since dogs are not crazy about seeking for money and power, they feel less stressed and tense at work and in life.

B: Due to loyalty in their personality, people born under the year of the dog tend to choose a career on the principle of servicing others. Dogs are seen as valuable employees, as they work heart and soul at their tasks. They are easy-going and kind, and always are ready to alleviate the workload of others, which make them very popular in their work circle. Recommended careers for dogs include businessman, doctor, police officer, scientist, counselor, interior designer, professor, politician, priest, nurse, clerk, and judge. Dogs are often seen as valuable employees, work well as a member of a team, and are also able to become an accessible leader.

A: For people born in the year of the dog and others, we wish you all the best for the New Year 2018.

B: In a letter to VOV this week, Bob Nagel of the US send us a reception report on the program on November 28 on the frequency of 7315 and rated SINPO at all 4s. He wrote: “As always, I’m happy to hear your programs once again. They are always interesting and informative. I especially liked your Personality of the week program.”

A: Thank you, Bob. We’ll confirm your report with a QSL card. We’d like to acknowledge letters and emails from Grant Skiner and Denis Ironman of the UK, Hayato Furukawa of Japan, hannu Kiiski of Finland, and Richard Nowak of the US. We greatly appreciate your feedback and comments on the technical aspects of our programming. We’ll confirm your reports with QSL cards soon.

A: We welcome your feedback at: English section, VOVworld, Radio the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Check out our VOV Media App available on both IOS and Android platforms to hear our live broadcasts. We look forward to your feedback on the mobile version of vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you all. Good bye until next time.