Seollal

On February 7 Koreans celebrated the lunar New Year, or Seollal in Korean. Known to many Westerners as the Chinese New Year, this is one of Korea's biggest holidays, perhaps the biggest. Like Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving, this holiday means a tremendous amount of work for women, particularly the wives of eldest sons. My boss, Sophia, for instance, hosted her in-laws for over a week, preparing huge meals on a daily basis. Part of the tradition of Seollal involves a pilgrimage to one's hometown, so the holiday is marked by an exodus of Seoulites from the city. Traffic last Monday and Tuesday was horrendous. Flights out of the country to places like Japan, the U.S., and southeast Asia were completely booked weeks ago (since many people use the vacation time to travel abroad) . Once I heard that, I actually started to feel a little trapped . . . I couldn't even leave if I wanted to! By Wednesday the streets of Seoul were considerably less congested and typically bustling shopping areas were eerily quiet. Those who stay in Korea are somewhat compelled to head to their home towns to pay respects to their ancestors who are memorialized there. So, with Seoul looking like a ghost town, I'm thinking, "Doesn't anyone call Seoul his hometown?!"

I spent the holiday ice skating and dining at the Seoul Grand Hyatt with a Korean doctor and his family. I've given a few English lessons to Dr. Choi, so he and his wife invited me to join them for some New Year's celebration. I was supposed to eat the traditional holiday dish, a soup called tteokguk which is supposed to make you a year older every time you eat it, but I somehow dodged that bullet. I have a hard enough time trying to figure out how old Koreans are (since they're considered 1 year old when they're born, plus the lunar New Year throws an additional kink in the system) without this superstition clouding my perception. Two weeks ago Sophia's daughter was 8 years old in Korea and 7 years old in Western age. She's somehow now 9 years old in Korea and still 7 years old in Western age . . . and she didn't have a birthday! Your guess is as good as mine.