During Lunar New year, most Koreans expect to eat delicious meals and meet their siblings who they don’t meet often. They gather in the same place and have a good time together.
In my case, my hometown is Jeju Island. So, I go to Jeju and meet my parents. During Lunar New Year's day, our family goes to our grandmother's home and prepare for the ancestral rites. I help my mom prepare food for ancestral rites table and be ready for the rites. After the ceremony, all the siblings sit together and eat ttek-guk. When we eat this, it means that we are getting a year old that is why my mom don't want to eat ttek-guk that much. ^_~
Foreigners in Korean traditional costume, ‘Han Bok’
One thing that I really like to do during Lunar New Year is to bow. Because when we make a deep bow to relatives, they give us money! I am sad though that this won't last long because I am getting older. Still, I am happy that until now, I receive “Sebae don”. After the bow and all the greetings, we gather together and have a great time. Sometimes we just drink some tea and talk but most of the time, we play game. The most popular game in Korea involves playing yut. The rule of this game is very easy but it is a lot of fun. That is why many Koreans like to play yut during this holiday season.
There is another important thing that I have to do during the Lunar New Year. That is washing dishes! After lunch and dinner, there are many dishes that should be washed. It is too much so I help my mom and we clean the dishes together. After washing the dishes, my back really hurts and my fingers also feel stiff. I think it will be nice if my dad and other uncles help us do the dishes. But they always don't help us. Maybe it's because of the traditional patriarchal system.
But anyway, the Lunar New Year's day is always fun and it always make me happy. These days everyone is so busy and we can't meet so often even though we are siblings. But because of the Lunar New Year, we can meet and can talk about a lot of things. I really treasure this rare opportunity to catch up with loved ones. I hope that you do too.
By Sun Ah, GEO Class 3-3 (Professor Tom Kim and TA Revan)
