Lunar New Year in Korea by Ju C

Many Asian countries have Lunar New Year. Many Americans know about Chinese Lunar New Year, but they don’t know about Korean Lunar New Year.

I want to talk about Korean Lunar New Year. We call it Seollal. I’ll talk about three subjects: food, clothes, and customs. Most Koreans eat tteoggug (beet rice cake soup).  If you eat this soup, you will gain one year in age. I ate many bowls of tteoggug when I was young because I wanted to get old quickly. And Korean people eat Korean party food together. Those are kkochijeon, jabchae, and galibijiim. My favorite food is kkochijean. This food is so yummy.

Many Koreans wear a hanbok (Korean traditional clothes) during Seollal. I wore a hanbok when I was little. I like to wear this clothing. Hanbok is colorful and elegant, but it is a little expensive. We wear hanbok and then bow to our ancestors in front of a ceremonial table. 

We have special customs during Seollal. Many children wait for this day because most adults prepare new, clean money for their children. I remember my aunts and uncles gave money to me. If children bow to grandmother, a grandmother will tell a good speech to them and then give them money. Older people need to prepare new, clean money from the bank. Usually we put money into new white envelopes. Most banks are crowded in this season.

Many Koreans go to ancestral graves. They clean the graves. So, we are so busy during Seollal. Seollal is a big holiday, so we rest for three days.