“Seollal” Korean New Year

“Seollal” is one of the biggest festivals celebrated to mark lunar New Year in Korea. It falls at the end of January every year. This festival marks the harmony, peace and prosperity. It is typically a family holiday. Koreans celebrate this New Year with full enthusiasm. Mostly they pay respect (greetings) to their elders and ancestors. As a blessing they get money from their elders. They also prepare special kinds of Korean foods like, “Takguk” (Soup of rice cakes), “Manduguk” (soup of dumplings), “Jhan” (pancake with vegetables and meat), (“Takmanduguk”) mixture of “takguk” and “manduguk”.

To mark New Year many professor and teachers invite us for a New Year party where I could taste different kind of Korean traditional food. It was really nice experience to taste these foods. I liked “jhan” (Korean traditional pancake) and “manduguk”. However, “takguk” was not suitable for my taste.  In this days all the family member gather together, make foods and enjoy the warm foods in cold weather. They also play different kinds of traditional games. Many Koreans dress up in colorful traditional dress known as “Hanbok” however, now-a-days they tend to wear other formal clothing instead of traditional ones.

I hope coming New Year are full of surprises, happiness and prosperity. Finally, I would like to wish you all happy “Seollal”.