A Family Gathering

I have been very fortunate in being accepted by my colleagues here in Vietnam. Most of them are young - late 20s' and early 30s'. I am as old as their parents but they treat me like I am the same age as them. I am always included in their coffee breaks, lunches, outings, and in this case, a big family gathering.
My friend, Trong's family had a memorial for his grandfather, who passed away about 2 years ago. Trong is pronounced as "chop" with an almost non-discernible "n" sound. In Vietnamese, "tr" is pronounced "ch"
About a dozen friends from the office were invited. There were many of Trong's family friends and relatives from the village as well. Trong lives in a village about 40 minutes outside of Hanoi.
Below are pictures of the party.


A group picture at the end of the party. All the friends grew up in Hanoi except Alan (2nd from the right) and I. Alan grew up in Australia.










This looks like a jug of ice-tea but it's really moonshine, made from sticky rice. It's about 80 proof or 40% alcohol. They kept pouring and toasting.










Mot-Hai-Ba-Jo! or 1-2-3-Jo (which kind of means Go!). This is the Vietnamese version of bottoms-up.












Trong is second from the left.













Not only was there a lot of alcohol, there was a lot of food too. It's all traditional Vietnamese food.