In this post, I'll be talking about Seollal, the Korean celebration of New Years. It takes place on the first day of the lunar calendar and lasts for three days, the day before, of, and after. Many Koreans travel to their hometown, similar to during Chuseok, to celebrate with their family. The popular main dish is tteokguk, a soup with sliced rice cakes, beef, and vegetables. Gift giving is also a common activity, most of them include money or gift cards to start off the new year, and for parents or older family, people give ginseng and health related items to care for them. There is also a bowing ceremony to honor the elders called sebae.
The remainder of the day is spent playing traditional games and sharing stories. The most popular game is yutnori in which involves throwing four sticks with marks on one side and moving a pawn based on the number of sticks with the marks facing up you get, similar to rolling dice. It is a simple and easy-to-learn game so that every family member can play regardless of age. The team to get their pawn around the board first wins.
One of the most interesting parts about Seollal is that everyone turns a year older on the Lunar New Year's Day instead of on their birthday. This is symbolized by eating the tteokguk soup and is also why someone's Korean age is different from Western ages.
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=941952 ;
https://www.thespruceeats.com/korean-new-year-celebrations-2118611
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