Experience Korean Seollal

Foreign students from Sungkyun Kwan University try out a traditional game called "yut nori," a board game played with sticks, at the Korea House Thursday. During Lunar New Year's Day, Koreans enjoy playing various traditional games, including "yut nori," "jegichagi," and "neoltwwigi."

/ Yonhap

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

``Seollal'' or the Lunar New Year, one of the biggest holidays in the country, is here once again. Despite an air of gloom due to the economic crisis, people will try to forget their worries as they head to their hometowns for celebrations this weekend. This year, Lunar New Year's day falls on Jan. 26.

Korean families celebrate this holiday with long-standing traditions involving ancestral rites, eating rice cake soup and playing folk games. For non-Koreans, these customs during the Lunar New Year may seem unique, or even puzzling.

This hopes to serve as a brief guide to the traditional rituals that Korean families observe during Lunar New Year's Day, and includes a list of places where foreigners can experience it for themselves.

Traditional Rituals

On Lunar New Year's day, Koreans wake up and wear their best ``hanbok'' or new clothing ``seolbim,'' which are supposed to be worn throughout the day.

Early in the morning, they pay their respects to their late ancestors by performing the ``charye.'' Much preparation goes to the offerings at the ritual. A traditional table is filled with various dishes, such as ``tteokguk'' or rice cake soup, hot pot dishes, ``jeon'' or Korean pancakes, grilled meat, dried fish and different fruits. There are specific rules on how to arrange the dishes, fruits and drinks on the table.

After the ceremony, family members participate in the ``sebae,'' by performing deep bows before their parents, grandparents and older relatives. Children are always excited since they receive ``sebae-don'' or money from their parents and elders. People also exchange New Year's greetings or ``deokdam,'' wishing each other good health and luck in the New Year.

To attract luck, ``bokjori'' or bamboo-woven ladles are hung inside one's home. ``Bokjori's association with rice, a bountiful harvest and good fortune, have made these ladles a symbol of good luck for the Lunar New Year. These ladles were customarily sold late at night on New Year's Eve by door-to-door peddlers, hawking in the darkness. By tradition, it was considered unlucky to sleep on the night before New Year's day,'' David E. Shaffer said, in the book ``Seasonal Customs of Korea.''

At home, families and friends play games like ``yut nori,'' a board game played with sticks, modern board games and card games. Families head to the palaces and traditional villages for a chance to play traditional games like ``jegichagi'' or kicking shuttlecocks, ``neolttwigi'' or seesawing, and ``tuho,'' people usually go to the various palaces, which offer various events.

New Year Soup

If there is one thing that Koreans have to eat during the Lunar New Year, it is tteokguk, a tasty clear beef broth with soft and chewy rice cakes sliced in oval shapes.

According to tradition, you can only get older when you eat the rice cake soup. This is why some people would ask how many bowls of rice cake soup have you had in your life, instead of directly asking your age.

``The cord-like white rice cake used in making tteokguk implies new birth, while the slicing of this rice cake into round discs, in the shape of coins, signifies a wish for health. In the city of Gaesong (North Korea), rice cake soup called ''joraengi'' tteokguk was made with bottle-gourd-shaped rice cakes. These unique rice cake pieces were also affixed to their clothing as a way of warding off evil spirits,'' Shaffer said.

Fortune Telling

Many Koreans have their fortune told during the two week period between the Lunar New Year and ``daeboreum'' or the first full moon of the New Year. At these times of economic difficulty, more and more people consult fortunetellers to find out what the future holds for them.

In the past, people used yut sticks to see their future. Five sticks, each inscribed with gold, tree, water, fire and soil, are thrown on the ground. One's fortune is interpreted depending on the position of the sticks.

Another form of fortune telling involves the reading of the ``Tojeongbigyeol'' (The Secrets of Tojeong) by a scholar or expert. It involves complicated calculations to find out one's fortune for the whole year.

Nowadays, there are many different types of fortune telling, like tarot cards, palm reading, face reading, ``saju" (four pillars), reading beans, bowl-ash divination, among others.

Where to Spend Seollal

Foreigners may feel left out of the New Year's Day festivities, especially if they do not have any families in Korea. Fortunately, there are several places where foreign residents and tourists can go during the holidays to learn more about Seollal.

One of the best places to learn about the various Korean customs, games and traditions in Seoul is at the Namsangol Hanok Village The village is holding a ``Magnificent Festival Wishing Prosperity for the Year of the Ox'' from Jan. 25-27. Various folk music performances, folk games, food tasting, exhibitions and demonstration of Korean customs will be conducted during the three-day event.

Visitors can learn how to wear a hanbok properly, make ``wish kites'' and other Korean crafts, cut ``garaetteok'' (tube-shaped rice cakes), eat rice cakes, drink ``makgeoli'' or rice wine and even have a ``Tojeongbigyeol'' expert read their fortune for the year.

On Jan. 25, visitors will be taught etiquette and the rules of charye table setting. On Jan. 26, there are performances featuring Pyeongtaek farmer's music and tightrope walking, while on Jan. 27, there is a Bongsan mask dance and Dongchun circus. To get there, get off at Chungmuro Station Subway Line 3 or 4, Exit 3 or 4. Visit www.hanokmaeul.org.

The Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, is also a place to learn about the different customs and traditions during Lunar New Year. Adults and children alike can play traditional games, enjoy entertaining folk performances and make their wishes for the New Year.

There is an on-going ``folk experiences for winter'' event at the village, through Feb. 17. People can find out what it's like to experience their ancestors' winter through activities like roasting sweet potatoes, top spinning on ice, sledding and cooking red bean gruel. Tickets are 12,000 won for adults, 9,000 won for students and 8,000 won for children. Visit www.koreanfolk.co.kr.

The Korea Tourism Organization office in downtown Seoul offers a range of Lunar New Year activities for free. Tourists can try their hand at folk games, make ``hanji'' or Korean paper and wear the hanbok from Jan. 22-27. The KTO building is located near the Cheonggye stream (Jonggak Station Line 1, Exit 5). Call (02) 729-9497.

At the Korean Folk Museum, located near Gyeongbok Palace, there is an on-going special exhibition of Korean artifacts and relics related to the Year of the Ox.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr