2011 - The Year of the Rabbit

새해 복 많이 받으세요 (saehae bok manhi baduseyo)! or Happy New Year! 
(It directly translates to something like "I hope you receive many good blessings/a lot of good luck this New Year!") 


February 3 was the Lunar New Year (설날), the biggest Korean holiday, and I was lucky enough to spend it traditionally with my "adoptive" Korean family. As some of you may know, an older couple in my neighborhood has taken me in as their own. One day last fall, when I was walking home from school, I heard an old man yelling down the street. Realizing he was yelling at me, I stopped and went back. To my great surprise, he started speaking in broken English. He explained that he had learned English in his army days, had forgotten a lot, but studied and wanted to practice. Thrilled that I had found a way to talk to the older generation of this rapidly changing country, I agreed to visit him the next week and have been visiting the Hongs' every week since. Generously, they invited me to their family celebration. 

Mr. Hong

Mrs. Hong

 The holiday began on the second with food preparation. I helped out for a few hours, during which we made several platters of "jeon" or Korean pancakes. They are made by taking various vegetables and meat, coating them in flour, dipping them in egg, and then pan-frying them. By we, I mean all of the women; men wouldn't think of coming into the kitchen. So, for about three hours, I sat on the floor with four Korean women, communicating with what little language we could muster, cooking, tasting, laughing. I wish I would have had my camera that day. 


On the third, I arrived at the Hongs' at 8:30. The day began with ceremonies. The traditional ceremony is usually only conducted by the men of the family, however, this year Mr. Hong and his brothers had their sister participate because it is her last year celebrating with the family. Next month she will get married and from then on she'll go to her husband's family for the New Year celebration. During the traditional ceremony the family remembers and honors their parents. They set up a table with their parent's pictures and an entire meal laid out for them. The ceremony itself involves burning incense, pouring wine, symbolically feeding the parents, and bowing. At the end, all of the food is put away to be eaten later. Since the Hongs are Catholic, they followed the traditional ceremony with a small Catholic service. (It should be noted that, just as in Western culture, every family has different traditions and rituals, but this is a general idea.) After the service we had breakfast: soup, rice, side dishes, kimchi, etc. 

The table for the ceremony.

After breakfast was many Korean children's favorite part of the holiday: receiving money. All the parents in the family sat on one side of the room and the children stood on the other. All together, they wished their parents a "Happy New Year" and did a full bow (nose to the ground), after which they received money from each person. I was very happy to be an observer of this part of the day, but the Hongs had a different idea. After the children all bowed, it was my turn. I protested and insisted otherwise. I don't mind bowing, it's a humbling, some say demeaning, motion, but I didn't want their money. All of my efforts were useless though. So, along with the toddler in the family, I gave my wishes, bowed, and graciously accepted their gifts. With this portion of the morning complete, we jumped in the car, and headed to the mountain. 

OK, to be honest, we didn't happily jump in the car and breeze our way to the mountain. Just like in any family, many people didn't want to go. It's the same tradition year after year that some people love, some tolerate, and others want to throw out the window - like always saying the same prayer, singing a certain song, playing the same game, or whatever is your family always does, every holiday with groans and moans along the way. Regardless, everyone climbed in the cars and we made our way. What were we doing at the mountain? Honoring the family's ancestors. The vast majority of Koreans are buried in family cemeteries that are always in mountains or hills. Why mountains? Mr. Hong's son explained to me that they are buried there because mountains have a strong and positive energy, full of protection and security. Once at the mountain, we walked to the family cemetery, the men bowed at each grave, the women mostly observed, and the kids played. The daughters of the family bowed, but the women who married into the family never bowed to their husband's deceased family members, neither at home or at the mountain. After the ceremony was complete we returned home for lunch!

For lunch we had the traditional rice cake soup along with side dishes and several types f kimchi. After the meal we relaxed and ate dessert. Eventually the drinking began. The soju and beer were brought out along with meat and the jeon we made the day before. Shots were poured and conversation ensued. I actually didn't stay very long for this part, but it was a good and interesting day. I was very happy to experience a traditional Korean holiday and honored to be surround by such kind and generous people. 

Welcome to the year of the rabbit! If you are curious about your Chinese astrology, here are a couple of sites to explore (one, two). 

건배! (gun bae) Cheers!