A Memory from a Korean-American Childhood – Seollal (Korean New Year)

In case you didn’t know, Seollal (sometimes known as Seolnal) is Korean New Year. It spans three days and this year it’s February 15th through the 17th.

It’s a major holiday in South Korea and it’s typically celebrated by getting together with relatives (even the extended family!). Roads and airports will be jam packed with travelers just as the grocery shelves will be packed with fruit gift sets. It’s a lot like what Christmas is here in good old U.S. of A. So it appears holiday travel traffic is pretty much universal. 😣

Seollal Korean-American Style

Growing up in the States we really didn’t do much to celebrate Seollal. I suppose it’s because we didn’t have any family living nearby and flying to where they were (California or South Korea) was cost prohibitive. There was never a three day long fest of feasting and games for us.

Occasionally, we would get together with my parents’ friends who were also displaced from their families. They would have a big potluck dinner, drink, and play yut nori. It was just another way for immigrant families to band together and make a family outside of their blood ties. It was quite nice now that I think about it…. 🤔

The one thing we didn’t skip was sebae which is honoring your ancestors by offering food to the deceased followed up with deep bowing. There’s so, so much bowing! You bow to your deceased ancestors, and then to your living elders. My sister and I got off easy because we just had to bow to our parents. I make it sound like such a chore, which it is; however, I can now appreciate the symbolism of all the bowing. It’s just a way to pay respect.

And the elders, if inclined to do so, will give out cash (maybe fruit or candy instead if it’s your parents). I don’t recall receiving anything from my parents though. But that’s okay because I didn’t know I was missing out on it back then. And more importantly, receiving a gift was not the purpose for the bowing.

Besides these things, there wasn’t much more except for getting complimentary rice cakes and calendars (you know those really long ones that you used to cover school books with) from the Korean grocery store.

Seollal for the Next Generation

…(sounds like a bad episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, doesn’t it? 🤓)

With Seollal 2018 fast approaching, I have to wonder if I should introduce these things to my toddler now. He’s only three but I kind-of figure the earlier the better so that he doesn’t think it’s weird or out of the ordinary later.

Perhaps getting him used to the sights (e.g. putting out food for the deceased) and smells (e.g. delicious Korean food) associated with Seollal will get him thinking that it’s another holiday tradition in this family, just as much as Thanksgiving and Christmas.

True understanding of why we do the traditions we do will take time. I know it did for me. But he’ll know that this is normal for him as part of having a Korean heritage. And hopefully when he’s a bit older, it’ll help him relate to his ancestry as well as have more empathy for people who may have a different “normal” for them.

Do you celebrate Seollal? If so, how? Share in the comments!