Document Revision: by easc@indiana.edu
new year's day"One of the biggest holidays of the year in Korea is New Year’s Day, called Sol-Nal. To observe this holiday, people usually take off work to be with their families. Often, they go and visit their old parents in the countryside. At that time, the city of Seoul is almost empty. With so many people trying to travel, the roads look like big parking lots. News reports featuring scenes of the traffic congestion taken from helicopters are broadcast all day long. I don’t think the distance between Seoul and Pusan is more than betweeen Bloomington and Chicago, but the travel time on that day is almost 15 hours. It’s unbelievable. |
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"When I was young, many relatives would come to visit us in Seoul because my father is the eldest person in our family. First, my father’s brother and his family would come. Later in the afternoon, my father’s and my mother’s sisters would come. My aunts have a lot of children my age, so I really enjoyed their coming. It was the only day I could see so many relatives at the same time. It was a very happy time.
"On New Year’s Day morning, the younger members of the family honor the older members by bowing to them. Then the older members give the younger members some money as a present. I had two relatives who used to give me quite a bit of money, and my mother would take it away from me because she thought it was too much money for a little child. Those rich relatives are very popular among children.
"That morning we also had a ceremony for honoring our ancestors. My father would begin by offering a prayer. Then everyone would bow at the same time. (Men should bow continuously two times and women should bow continuously four times). He would burn the paper the prayer was written on and light some incense. At that time, we just sat and watched. Then my father and my eldest brother would offer a goblet filled with rice wine to the ancestors several times. If any of us made a noise, my father would scold us. In the room with us was a big table covered with bowls and plates of food, including soup, meat, fruit and cake. Gesturing with chopsticks, my father would invite the ancestral spirits to eat. If he knew the favorite dish of a particular ancestor, he would lay the chopsticks on that dish. Then he opened the window and the door, and all of us would leave the room, shutting the door behind us so we didn’t disturb the ancestors. About five or 10 minutes later, we would return.
"After everyone had eaten, my uncle and his family would leave around noon. Then my aunts arrived with their families. My cousins and I would calculate how much money we’d gotten. Then we’d go outside and play. If there was a toy store open (and there usually was because the owners knew it was their big chance) we would buy a nice toy for ourselves. Later, when I was old enough to go to middle and high school, I would go with my friends to the theater in the afternoon on New Year’s Day."
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Document Revision: by easc@indiana.edu |