The actual “seol-nal” (romanization but pronounced as “seol-lal”) is February 18 but the eve and the day after the celebration are non-working days to give time for the people to go to their hometown and back. Lunar new year is one of the two biggest holidays here. The other one is “Chu-seok” or Thanksgiving day, which is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth month (8.15) of the lunar calendar. As these holidays are based on the lunar calendar, the dates on the gregorian calendar changes every year.
On the first day of the celebration, everybody gathers at house. That’s where they will do all the food preparation for next morning’s offering for the ancestors. For the new year, they had to make “mandu” or Korean dumplings, “jeon” or panfried food, “tteok” or rice cakes and “banchan” or side dishes. They started work after breakfast, at around 9 o’clock in the morning and ended at almost 8 o’clock in the evening. In most Korean families, men just sit around doing nothing. But in some Korean families, the men also help with the preparation and the men in the family are the ones who make the “mandu” and wash dishes after the meals.
On new year’s day, the adults wake up at 6 o’clock in the morning to prepare the table for the ancestral rites (called “cha-rye”). For this, they have to prepare food to be offered and place them properly and attractively on wooden containers (“je-gi”). Every food group has to be represented. There should be food taken from the land as well as the sea. It usually takes about two hours to prepare everything (it’s always a joke trying to arrange the dates and chestnuts on the jegi as they always fall!). Then everybody wears a “hanbok” (traditional korean clothes) before the main “ceremony”. Only the men are allowed to do the offering for the ancestors, but the women in my family also pay respects by bowing (called “jeol”). What goes on in the “ceremony”? The men of the family offer the food to the ancestors by placing the spoons in the rice. They will also fill the wooden cups with wine (“sul”) and place them on the stand. After the offering, a white paper with the ancestors’ names written on it is burned. The descendants then bow (men first then the women) and afterwards drink the wine and eat the food on the altar.After the ceremony, it is time for the much awaited part of every “seolnal” celebration. This is when the juniors bow to the seniors and receive their new year’s money, called “sebe ton”. This equates to the Philippine tradition of going to our “ninong” (godfather) and “ninang” (godmother) on Christmas day for our “aginaldo” (christmas gift).
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