Korean New Year Seollal

 

 As the world celebrated its new year on the 1st of January. Koreans and Chinese celebrate their new year on the 1st of February. As an ex-pat in Korea, when we first moved here almost 5 years back we had no idea what it was by then l had not researched anything about Korean holidays. Only to find out when we went to Costco that all the big shops were closed. So during Seollal, Koreans go to visit their relatives mostly in rural areas. If you are an ex-pat or visiting Korea during Seollal make sure you buy your groceries before the holiday starts.

Seollal or Korean  Lunar New Year is a holiday or celebration which marks the beginning of the Korean Lunar Calendar. Seollal is one of the most important traditional holidays in Korea. The other one is Chuseok. The Seollal holiday lasts for three days.

How do Koreans celebrate Seollal

-food 

-dressing 

-Activities done

FOOD 

The traditional meal for celebrating Seollal is called Tteokguk. Ttrokguk symbolizes the Seollal Lunar new year and this dish is a reminder of the meaning of the new year and the meaning of family. The dish represents all the good luck in the coming year. My twins were soo excited to receive a gift from their nursery which consisted of all ingredients needed for making Tteokguk to take home so that we prepare this meal too they also gave us directions on how to cook Tteokguk. They also got snacks and 1000 won each they were soo happy.

Ingredients for Tteokguk are rice cake, beef bone soup meat dumplings, kimchi dumplings, water, and minced garlic. You can get directions on YouTube. 

Dressing

During Seollal  Koreans celebrate by wearing their beautiful and colorful Korean traditional dresses called Hanbok. If you are an ex-pat like us and you have school-going kids it's best to buy hanbok because definitely most of the kids will be wearing their hanboks and you don't want them to fill out of place. You can buy or rent too. When buying a hanbok make sure you buy a slightly bigger one so that they can wear it for at least 3 years since they are adjustable. If you want preloved or free hanboks you can check online apps like Karrot because new ones are expensive you can get one from 50 000 won.

Activities 

An Ancestral rite 'Charye'

Koreans are traditional people and l have noticed that they follow their culture and traditions. On the official day of Seollal, family members gather together to do Charyne. Charyne is an ancestral rite whereby traditional dishes of ritual foods are set on the table and family members stand before the table from the oldest to the youngest and bow to the spirit of the ancestors. After that, the children will also bow to their elders and in return, they receive money from their  Elders. 

Happy  Seollal 🇰🇷

By Brenda Hlatshwayo