Seollal: Lunar New Year Celebrations in Korea #1

Seollal is coming up
This year, Seollal falls on January 31 of the Gregorian calendar.

What do Korean people celebrate at Seollal?

Seollal (January 1 of the lunar calendar) is one of the most celebrated national holidays in Korea. 
 More than just a holiday to mark the beginning of a new year, Seollal is truly a special occasion for Korean people. Not only is it a time for paying respect to ancestors, but it is also an opportunity to catch up with distant family members who go to get together for this special occasion. 
During Seollal, Koreans traditionally wear hanbok (traditional clothes), perform ancestral rites, play folk games, eat traditional foods and catch up with one another. Read on to discover how Koreans celebrate Seollal.

How to prepare before Seollal?

Seollal demands a lot of preparation, especially in terms of gifts, traveling, and food. As there are many things to purchase for the ancestral rites and gifts, it is usually very crowded in department stores and markets during the days leading up to Seollal. The foods for ancestral rites are prepared with a variety of wild herbs, meat, fish, and fruits all chosen with great attention paid to the quality of shape, color, and freshness. 
As most people are trying to leave big cities to visit their families in their hometown, a recent trend has developed where more parents are visiting their children living in the larger cities as it is more convenient and less crowded. 

Traditional games and ancestral rites at Seollal: 

The morning of Seollal begins with an ancestral rite. Family members, each dressed up for the occasion (traditionally in hanbok, but oftentimes being dressed up is enough), gather in front of the ritual table, and set it with an ancestral tablet and dishes of ritual foods according to the laws of ancestral rites. Once set, the rite begins with deep bows as greetings to the ancestor spirits, and proceeds with offerings and prayers before ending with bidding farewell to the spirits.
The ritual is conducted to express respect and gratitude to one's ancestors and to pray for the family's well-being throughout the year.

Following the rite, everyone eats the ritual food. The main dish of Seollal is tteokguk, a traditional soup made with sliced rice cakes, beef, egg, vegetables or other ingredients. In Korea, eating tteokguk on the New Year's Day is believed to add a year to one's age. People often ask each other, "How many servings of tteokguk have you had?" as a fun way to ask each other's age.

After the meal, the younger generations of the family pay respect to their elders by taking a deep bow called sebae, and by presenting them with gifts. Then, the elders offer their blessings and wishes for a prosperous year. Children often receive sebaetdon (New Year's money) as a Seollal gift. For the remainder of the day, family members play traditional folk games, eat more, and share stories.