A: Yes, I think the two celebrations are similar, but different. A solemn rite for Wandering Souls’ Day is organized by the old people in the family. Offerings for the ancestors are placed on the altar, while offerings for wandering souls are placed outside the main door. Incense sticks and votive papers representing clothing and accessories are burned. Rice soup, rice, salt, and sugar are spread on the streets for wandering souls to collect. On this day, children are warned not to go out of the house because there are many wandering souls.

B: Halloween seems more cheerful: With pumpkins carved with funny faces and a typical black-and-orange theme, Halloween is becoming increasingly popular in Vietnamese cities where there are many foreigners. Young people are the most enthusiastic. At some foreign-invested schools, foreign teachers teach the children about “trick or treat”. The most popular activity, seen at almost every party, is wearing Halloween costumes. At coffee shops and bars, scary movies are often screened, while restaurants offer special Halloween treats such as “blood” soup made with tomatoes or tombstone-shaped cookies.

A: I’m reading a letter from Harold Woering of Massachusetts, the US, who tuned in to VOV’s program on October 18 on 9625 khz. He said the signal was very good.

B: Harold said VOV broadcast a great cultural program on the musical instrument called the Zither. “I always thought it was a unique instrument but knew nothing about it. You mentioned it has 16 strings and has a rectangular shape. A man who has been teaching the zither for over 30 years talked about using the fingers to make different sounds. Then a woman, who has only played for a year, talked about her experience. It’s a very informative and educational program. I learned a lot and appreciated the program as well as the music played. I’m glad to see you are still on shortwave and telling the world about your art and culture.”

A: Thank you, Harold, for complimenting our Sunday Show program about the Dan Tranh, 16-string zither. The photo of you and your listening corner with its many receivers and devices is really impressive. We’ll send you our QSL to confirm your report soon.

B: Richard Nowak of Florida, the US, is our regular listener and pen-friend. He often writes to give us his feedback after listening to our program. Of our program on November 9, Richard said he was interested in a story about a photo exhibit in Hanoi with thousands of photos. This sounds very fun, he said, because he loves photography.

A beer shop in Ta Hien street, Hanoi's Old Quarter

A: About a program on beer, Richard said: “This is of particular interest for me as I work at a brewery. We started as a microbrewery and are now a bigger brewery. The show discussed the different types of craft beer in Vietnam including black beer, how beer is made, ingredients in beer, never refusing a beer with a local, and beer culture in Vietnam. This program was great. Thank you so much for including this on the show.”

B: It’s always interesting to learn something about our listeners. It makes us feel closer to our listeners in countries very far from Vietnam. From England, Gerry Neumann said that one of his favourite features on VOV is the ‘Sunday Show’. Gerry said that on Sunday, November 9, “I listened, as usual at 18 UTC on 5955 KHz, the winter time and frequency to Europe, with a SINPO of 55555.”

A: Gerry shared his knowledge of Vietnamese beer from his many visits to Hue city. “The Sunday Show started off with ‘bia hoi’, the very popular cheap beer in Hanoi, made from rice, malt and sugar. When drinking beer anywhere one hears the familiar words ‘100%’, which means ‘bottoms up’. Many other beers are also popular, like imported Heineken, or local beers like Hanoi, Huda, and Saigon beer. Local beers are cheap, delicious and visitors and locals alike enjoy the street atmosphere.”

B: “Listening to this program made me long to sample beer again in Vietnam, but that will have to wait until I come again next year,” Gerry said. When you return to Hue, Gerry, please arrange a trip to Hanoi to visit VOV. We’ll take you to the backpacker streets in Hanoi’s Old Quarter to drink some beer.

A:   This week we were glad to hear from some listeners we haven’t heard from in a long time. Gilles Letourneau of Canada listened to VOV program with a good signal on 6175 khz on November 2. He said “I’ve not sent you any news in a long time but I decided to write to let you know I’m still a faithful listener to VOV programs and always enjoy them very much. I really love your programs. Keep up the good work in helping me learn more about Vietnam.”

A: Jason Creamer is another Canadian listening to VOV on 6175 khz. He also said the signal to Canada is great, at least a S9 rating or better. Toshiya Nishimura of Japan reported that noise was bothersome on the frequency of 12020 khz on November 25 and rated SINPO at 44232.

B: Indian listeners - Najim Uddin, President of the International DX Radio Listeners Club in India, Mitul Kansal, and Kanchan Kr. Chatterjee informed us that they received souvenirs and certificates for participating in the “What do you know about Vietnam?” contest. They hope VOV will organize another contest like that for listeners. Rabisankar Bosu of India happily told us that he finally received VOV’s QSL cards after we resent them.

A: Some listeners in India told us they have not received VOV’s certificates for contest participants. We’re very sorry to hear that and we hope you will be patient waiting for the snail mail. We will not reissue certificates or resend gifts for contest participants. Let’s just hope the packages will arrive Before we go, we’d like to play a song about winter at the request of Toshiya Nishimura, who said winter has arrived in Japan and the temperatures are cold, especially in the morning.

B: Before signing off, let us remind you of our address: English Section, Overseas Service, Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Our email address is englishsection@vov.org.vn. Good bye until next time.