[Article] Seollal Brings New Adventures, Old Traditions.

[Article] Seollal Brings New Adventures, Old Traditions.
Cr. - http://www.dynamic-korea.com/

The calendar year in Korea starts on January 1, but the Lunar New Year holiday of Seollal is considered much more important by most Koreans. Traditionally a time for people to return to their hometowns and pay their respects to their family, this year Seollal falls on February 2 to 4. Combined with the weekend, this means most Koreans will have a five-day break.

Most Koreans use the time to return to the towns where they grew up or where the most senior members of the family live, leaving the roads leading out from Seoul clogged with cars. Normally, it takes six hours to drive from the capital to Busan in the southeast, but with the added holiday traffic that time can double or triple. Train and plane tickets are usually sold out weeks in advance of the holiday, and travel within Korea can be extremely difficult during the holiday period.



Once home, most Koreans celebrate the New Year by playing traditional games like yunnori (a board game with marked sticks instead of dice), neolttwigi (a see-saw where players jump in the air instead of sit) or kite-flying. Other traditions include eating tteokguk, a kind of rice cake soup, which supposedly helps turn the eater a year older. For more modern entertainment, most major networks run special programs for Seollal, and many TV personalities like news anchors and show hosts appear in Hanbok, Korea's traditional clothing. Ssireum, an indigenous Korean form of wrestling, is also extremely popular, with TV stations broadcasting the colorful matches for people who can't make it ringside.



The most important part of the holiday is a ceremony called "charye". Performed only on major holidays, this Confucian rite offers food and sustenance to a family's ancestors to pay tribute and ask for their continued blessings. Usually, a large meal of meat, vegetables, rice and fruit is prepared by the women in the family, and set up on a large, low table. Families offer incense, food and wine to their ancestors and perform deep ceremonial bows. Then, the food offerings are turned into a meal for the family to share. In some provinces, people turn the offerings into bibimbap, while in others they eat everything as rice and side dishes.

Another important ceremonial part of the holiday is the first New Year greeting. Traditionally, children and youths bow to their elders and are given advice and an envelope of cash in return. These are much deeper bows than are given in normal situations, involving full prostrations and a formally phrased wish for good luck in the New Year.



For people without family to visit or who chose not to take a long trek outside of Seoul, the capital still offers a wide variety of holiday entertainment. Although many places close their doors for the week, many museums are still open and hold special events. The National Museum and many of the palaces have free admission for people wearing Hanbok and hold special events where people can try various Korean folk games. It's also an unusual opportunity to enjoy peace and quiet within the normally hectic city of Seoul.

This year, many people are taking advantage of the long holiday to take trips overseas, so the airports have been especially crowded. Japan, China, and Southeast Asia are popular destinations, since they're only a few hours from Seoul by plane. Travelers who are heading overseas this holiday should consider arriving at the airport well before their scheduled departure time.