Seollal: Korean New Year.

    Before accepting the Solar Year concept, we lived in the Lunar Year, which has only 354 days a year. People used to celebrate the first day of the Lunar New Year. Even after we accepted the Solar Year, we still celebrate the Lunar New Year on the same day. The Solar Year consists of 365 days. That is why we have the New Year's holiday in the middle of January and sometimes in February. Moving to tradition, we prepare Tteokguk, various side dishes, and a lot of fruits for our ancestors. After having a memorial service for our ancestors, we enjoy those dishes with our relatives. It has become customary to visit our relatives on the father’s side on New Year’s Day, and the next day we visit our family on the mother’s side. As I live with my grandmother, I love greeting my relatives who come to visit us.

This upcoming Sunday is Seollal, and I’m looking forward to catching up with relatives I haven't seen for a long time.