Happy (Lunar) New Year--Celebrating the Korean Way

By:  Brittany S

In the Western world, the tradition of gathering with friends and complete strangers alike and bringing in the new year.  In some public setting in slacks with button-ups and sequined cocktail dresses, thousands of people gather with flutes overflowing with the bubbly toasting to "out with the old, in with the new" hopes.  Other circles gather in churches or family homes to count down the new year.  Wherever they may be, the new year watch party takes place December 31-January 1, every year, without fail.

But this is the way in the West.

In the Eastern world, some countries celebrate a different (or an additional) new year, a day determined by a lunar calendar (the "standard" calendar to date is a solar calendar).  This means that the day isn't marked by an annual date perse (every Jan 1 for instance), but it rotates.  This year, Lunar New Year was Sunday, February 10.  And I celebrated it with a Korean family.

Think of this as Korea's national "birthday cake"  (Courtesy: Koreanbapsang.com)

"Seollal" (설날) is the first day of the Lunar calendar.  It is traditionally a 3-day holiday (a day both before and after the new year are a part of the holiday).  It is a holiday in which distant relatives return home to celebrate the new year with their extended families.  Although it is not as popular as it once was, many Koreans still dress in the traditional "hanbok" (한복)to the ancestral ceremonies (or at least more formal attire).  They eat "tteokguk" (떡국) or rice cake soup for good luck and to acknowledge becoming another year older.  (Eat this and age a year!)  Other dishes served during Seollal include galbijjim (braised short ribs), japchae (glass noodles with sautéed vegetables), Korean pancakes, hangwa (traditional sweets and cookies), and about a dozen other side dishes of various kinds of fresh vegetables, meat and fish.

Me stuffed in my (tiny) boss' hanbok one day before work.

Koreans perform "sebae" (세배) or a formal bowing ceremony in front of the family's elders.  They sit at the feet of the elders (starting with the eldest), perform one deep bow, say "saehae bok mani badeuseyo"  (새해 복 많이 받으세요--loosely translates to "have a blessed new year"), then sit and wait for words of wisdom and encouragement from the elders.  Elders also give "sebae don" (세배 돈) or pocket money for good luck in the new year as a reward for this gesture.




So what does this all have to do with me?  Well, this year, Eun Hwa (은화, my Korean name) celebrated as well!  One of my friends invited me to celebrate the holiday with her family.  I felt humbled and honored that she would let me share in that tradition, particularly because my Korean language skills are so limited.  I traveled to Cholwon, a small town near the DMZ (the border between the Koreas) and stayed with her in her parents' home.  I was a bit jittery (as I always am when with a Korean family) that I would mess up a custom, offend or at the very least annoy someone with my ignorance.  I was vaguely familiar with the holiday but had never celebrated it.  Plus this was my first time meeting her family and I would be meeting about 20+ people at once!  But my friend was by my side (most of the time) and helped me feel at ease.

A HUGE mountain that spanned practically everywhere we went in Cholwon!

It is a custom to bring a gift (usually food) to the host, but due to the length of travel and my confused jetlagged state (I had only been back in the country for a couple of days), I didn't purchase one of the many Seollal gift sets and grabbed a bag of fruit from my home instead.  Her mother graciously accepted and prepared dinner for us all (her husband, daughter, son, and me).  Afterwards I played "Rummikub" with my friend and her father.  He is such a relaxed person that he made me feel right at home.  We retired to our room for the night and prepared for bed.  This was my first sleepover in a Korean home! :-)

Probably the most unexpected gift set in my American mind.  This thing costs around $35USD!                            (Courtesy: Koreatimes.co.kr)

I thought the bed was very interesting.  It was elevated to the same height to which I am accustomed, but it was not a mattress; more like a boxspring.  It was an electrically heated box in a sense.  It was so warm!  It incorporates the Korean tradition of sleeping on the floor with the Western tradition of sleeping in a bed.  I'm glad I pulled the covers back before I hopped in bed!  I would have really hurt my knees! :-)  The bathroom was unfamiliar to me as well.  The washing machine was next to the toilet, there was plenty of storage space within the bathroom, and there was no sink, but a low faucet about shin height.  Wondering where the shower is?  There is a showerhead attached to the faucet and the entire floor is shower-friendly tile.

If I were to describe a boxspring for a bed and a faucet for a shower to my family, I'm sure some of them (and perhaps some of you) would think I was in a poor house.  That isn't the case at all.  This family has everything they need and then some.  They have more cows than I could count (almost all of which stood up when I walked out to visit them; how respectful hehe) and a few other animals, they have a hearty family business, have traveled and lived abroad, and the list goes on.  Being with them made me question what measures I (or we as Westerners or Americans) use to gauge poverty or being "well-off."  My apartment has a stand-alone shower but is the size of a dorm room.  This family owns a house and land in a country where apartments are the norm.  It also made me consider what luxuries are and how other things can easily serve as alternatives to them.  Their bathroom was almost the size of my apartment!  Who needs a separate section for a shower when you have all of that!?

All cows stood for me except the brown one.  "How now brown cow!?"

The next morning (at 8am) we went next door to one of her aunt's houses to gather with her father's side of the family.  We had a small church service followed by "sebae" and breakfast.  I was asked to participate in sebae as well.  They even gave me sebae don.  I felt as much love from her entire family as if I was her sister.  And all of this without a sentence of English!  From there we went to her family's church (where I sang along with everyone using my new Korean/English bible/hymnal duo) followed by dinner with her mom's side of the family.  Let me just go on record as saying her grandma is ADORABLE!  She was so tiny and I could see the joy in her face as her legacy sat around her.  We performed sebae again, ate dinner, and sat around joking and enjoying each other's company.  Apparently I now need to start dating someone in the family so I can marry one of them. :-)


In the morning, we returned to her grandma's to have breakfast and say goodbye to everyone.  My friend and I headed back to our respective cities and as I was leaving, the family wished me safe travels, gave me a loving hug, and hoped I would return soon.

Sometimes Sebae Don is given in a small pouch.  Ours wasn't, but traditions evolve.  (As seen on:  roryandjamie.com)

I think I found another Korean family!

"Saehae bok mani badeuseyo!"

If You Get A Man, Make Sure He’s Rock Hard

May 2012-Brittany S.


While my friends back home were “celebrating” Cinco de Mayo, (and by celebrating, I mean taking advantage of the drink & Mexican food specials haha), Koreans were celebrating “Children’s Day.”  For this day, many Koreans took their child(ren) to (amusement) parks, museums, theaters, and other child-friendly places throughout Korea.  Because I knew everywhere I went would be extremely crowded on this day, I chose to stay at home…that is until my오빠 (pronounced “Oppa”)or “older brother” texted me in broken English to ask me if I was free. (To read more about "Oppa" and what it is like to have one, click here.) I felt honored that my Korean family wanted me to celebrate a holiday with them, so I agreed to tag along.

My Korean family consists of a husband and wife, their son, and their son’s friend (and occasionally, his mom joins us, too).  Out of the group, the kids speak the best English and the adults barely speak to me (until the소주/soju (vodka-like alcohol) gets to flowing) because they feel embarrassed by their low levels.  My Korean is far worse than their English, but I try to speak Korean to them as much as I can.  That helps them to loosen up because we are both trying).  Before I thought they just wanted me around to improve the kids’ English, but then I started being invited to dinner and they would cook/buy Western food just for me when the kids weren’t even around.  So fast forward from January to now and that’s how we arrived at the text to come out for Children’s day.  My 오빠 said he’d pick me up at “13 o’clock, O-K?”

When I got in the car, I saw there was a full picnic spread in the back seat.  There was plenty of delicious Korean food for the trip, including kimbap, a cheap, filling, Korean snack.  I like all of the food he packed so I couldn’t understand why he asked me if I was hungry then made a pit stop at a chicken place to buy me something because I said yes.  I’ve been with them for over 4 months, but they STILL think I can’t/don’t eat Korean food (or use chopsticks when I do eat it).  I just smiled in gratitude and he reciprocated with a smile of satisfaction that he had taken care of his동생 (“dongsaeng”=younger brother/sister).

Originally I was told we were going to “see many flowers” by the kids.  I assumed they meant a botanical garden.  Somewhere between driving to the botanical garden and arriving at our destination, they decided to change the itinerary because there was a lot of traffic.  (We also ended up making a random pitstop when he shouted “Brittany…McDonald’s! You like?  We go.” Haha so yea, I got chicken AND a burger before we even made it to our picnic site.)  Instead, we ended up at “Art Valley.”   

Sounds museum-like doesn’t it?  Well, it was a MOUNTAIN.  We ended up walking up a mountain!  OMG.  I was all kinds of sweaty and out of breath while EVERYONE ELSE (as I was the only foreigner out of the 100+ people we saw there) went flying past me.  I wish I would have known we were going to do that.  I would have worn different clothes!

When I finally made it to the top (where everyone else was waiting for me), the view was breathtaking (or maybe I was already winded?).  They told me some people drilled holes in part of the mountain and put dynamite in it to remove part of it.  When they did, water eventually filled in the holes and now there is a natural lake at the top of the mountain.  Cool!  There were fish in it and everything.  We sat down and had our picnic (with another family that caravanned with us) and the kids went around terrorizing everyone and shouting that they are “The Hulk” (I took them to see “The Avengers” the day before).  When we finished, they offered us children (yea, apparently I’m included in that group) some ice cream before we resumed walking.

That's a whole lot of rice wine bottles. O.o

At the bottom of the touristy part of the mountain, there were plenty of statues and exhibits (I guess this was the “valley” part).  My 언니 (“un-nee” or “older sister”) teased me and another woman for being single and told us she knows EXACTLY how to get us a man.  Oh boy.  She waited until the men and children were away then grabbed our hands and went running.  So while we’re running and she’s pulling me along, I’m thinking maybe she is going to take me somewhere to touch something for good luck, or maybe she actually saw some attractive men she wanted us to meet.  I was so wrong.  She took us to a rock statue of the bottom half of a naked man that has been smashed by the mountain.  She tried to get us to go sit on his crotch so she could take pictures, but the most she could get out of us was a shy pose near the feet.  The other woman (who speaks English) told me she’s not satisfied because it’s too small.  Later she even tried to get one of the kids to go and sit up on the crotch.  Wow.

It's called "The Sound of Wind" or something misleading...

I couldn’t help but laugh and blush at this moment.  Laughter is universal.  It was also fun to participate in the same type of jokes I make with American women with Korean women, even with the language barrier.  Body language speaks volumes.  My언니 encouraged us to look for a rock hard man in the future, and if we can’t find one, remember where we left that one.  I guess that goes for all of you single women out there, too.  The statue is located in Pocheon city (in Gyeonggi province) in South Korea just in case you get lonely. ;-) 

 Who knew—on Children’s day, it is the adults who will play!

5 Ways to Fight the Holiday Blues Living Abroad

'Tis the season to be jolly.  When the winter season comes, people are normally filled to the brim with holiday cheer, joy and excitement.  Most people can't wait to eat, drink and be merry with friends and family.  However, this time of year can be extremely difficult for people who are living overseas.  Expats who are far away from home tend to get lonely and depressed when the winter months set in.  Here are 5 ways for people living overseas to fight the holiday blues while in another country.

1.  Make sure to connect with people.  Meet up with your close circle of friends or go meet up with new friends.  There are normally many events going on during the holidays --- even in other countries.  Find out where the events are taking place, get dressed, get out and go have some fun with people.

2.  Make sure to enjoy your alone time.  Though spending time with others is fun, it's also important to spend time doing things you enjoy by yourself.  Spend time on your favorite indoor or outdoor hobbies.  Instead of feeling lonely and depressed, use your time to focus on being creative and/or active and developing yourself.  Some great winter activities include: Hiking, jogging, yoga, skiing/snowboarding, drawing, painting, sculpting, reading, writing, cooking, cleaning, organizing, etc.

3. Focus on new activities and be productive.  Use the winter months to your advantage.  Enroll in new classes, finish a project that you started, start a new project, or get involved with an organization or a book club.  There are countless options that will keep your spirits up.  Make sure you spend your time wisely.

4. Donate and Volunteer.  Instead of focusing on yourself and your depression, focus on others.  There are many organizations that need your help.  Spend your time by volunteering or by raising funds for a charity.  You could create a holiday event or attend an event that will donate toys, needed items or funds to a worthy cause.  Spend some time doing internet research to find out about groups and organizations in your area that are making a difference.  

5. Cook for others and remain in good company.  You are as good as the company you keep.  Make sure to surround yourself with positive and happy people.  Cooking is an essential part of life and survival.  Invite people over and cook for them.  Try new recipes and have deep discussions.  Play games and enjoy the food and the good company.  Going out to eat is nice, but staying indoors and enjoying a home-cooked meal with friends can be even nicer.

  

Living in a different country away from home can be extremely challenging.  Don't let the winter months pass you by without experiencing some joy.  Hibernating is cool, but make sure you get out and enjoy life a little also. ;)

Author: Eve Dennard (South Korea)