One of the best ways to learn about a culture is to learn about their festivities and holidays. In South Korea, there are numerous holidays that South Koreans celebrate ranging from Lunar New Year to dedicating the whole day for children. Through this research, I was able to find overlaps between South Korean holidays and Chinese holidays perhaps due to the shared similarities between the two cultures.
One major holiday that is coming up is Lunar New Year, which is celebrated this year on February 1st. Depending on the lunar calendar, Lunar New year falls on a different day each year, but is generally between late January and early February. The Korean Lunar New Year is three days long, and this is arguably one of the most holidays in Korean culture. Traditional clothing such as hanbok is worn, food, rituals, and games are played during this three day celebration. Due to the popularity and importance of this holiday, the travel volume increases significantly. Furthermore, prices of fruits and produce skyrocket during this time of the year due to the high demand. A special ritual called sebae is when the younger children wear their traditional hanboks and perform a special bow to the elderly and wish them a prosperous and great new year. The elders usually in return give the children some money and wish them a great new year as well. Examples of foods eaten during this period include tteok and jeon. Tteokguk is a rice cake soup and jeon is similar to a pancake but can be filled with fillings like vegetables.
I think one special holiday that South Koreans have is Pepero Day. Pepero Day is on November 11 every year and is dedicated to eating chocolate covered sticks. Pocky is the same concept but the bread stick can be covered with strawberry, oreo, banana, chocolate, or matcha favors. Pepero day is on 11/11 because the chocolate covered sticks can arrange to form that date. In addition to Pepero Day, South Korea also has Children’s day. Children’s day is dedicated to children, and many families spend the day going on children-friendly excursions such as amusement parks, zoos, parks, etc. This day is on May 5 every year. Similarly, Children’s Day is also another popular holiday in China, but the date is June 1 instead of May 5.
Another major holiday in South Korea that is shared with China as well is the Mid-Autumn festival or in Korean, Chuseok. This holiday is on a day in September when there is a full moon and this year, it is on September 10. With this special holiday, foods and beverages such as hangwa and songpyeon are typically served. Hangwa is a collection of sweets made out of tteok. Songpyeon is another type of sweet that is shaped like half-moon rice cakes filled with red bean paste, sesame seeds, or brown sugar.
While there are many other holidays South Koreans celebrate throughout the year, these are just a few that I found interesting or have shared similarities between China. During SDLAP 110, I was able to find interesting overlaps between the two countries in terms of language and culture. I hope during this semester, I continue to learn more about South Korean culture such as what an average work week looks like, skincare clinics, history behind the Korean flag, etc.
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