Celebrating Seollal (Lunar New Year)

Seollal (the Lunar New Year) celebration in Korea is a 3-day holiday that is typically very family-oriented. Most Koreans return to their home towns to visit parents and other relatives, share in special meals such as deokguk (rice cake soup), dress in the traditional hanbok (see my "About Me" photo for an example of the garment), play a variety of traditional games including flying kites and neoltwigi (a kind of see saw), and observe the traditional activity known as charye (Children wish their parents a happy new year by performing one deep traditional bow and wishing them many blessings in the new year. Parents reward this gesture by giving them crisp paper money and words of wisdom). However, this new year, my dear friends, Heejin and Jo sacrificed their family time to celebrate the new year by spending their crisp paper money and bestowing their own words of wisdom on ME! Following are a few of the highlights of my 2nd New Year's holiday this year.

Saturday, February 13 (New Year's Eve) - We are up and out of the apartment by 9am, driving through a light snow into the nearby mountains to Ildong Sulphur Springs where we will begin our day with a long, hot bath in the mountain mineral waters. There is a minimal admission fee (approximately $4.35) that covers a towel (about the size of an American tea towel) and a locker key. We enter the ladies side of this public bath house, strip down, hose off and slip into a pool of hot, bubbling water that is so soft it feels like warm molten silk. Without my glasses, I peer through the steam-filled room and see what appears to me as an Asian impressionist painting in motion. Korean mothers with daughters, sisters and friends all soaking and scrubbing and steaming and showering themselves until their skin has that perfect porcelain-like patina. My friends decide this tub is not hot enough, so we wade past the gurgling spring in the middle and climb into a much smaller vat of water with a thermometer that reads 47degrees Celsius (that's just over 116 degrees Fahrenheit)! I took longer to ease myself in than I stayed. Just as my skin reaches a perfect shrimp-pink, I scoop myself out and immerse myself in the cool pool, which has an invigorating and endless waterfall at one end. I am told that alternating hot and cold is good for one's circulation, and I feel certain at this point, my blood is flowing through my body like the lead car of a Nascar race! When I finally catch my breath and the sizzling sounds subside, I try to convince myself that this is good for me and I stay in this frigid liquid as long as I can. Thankfully, my friends find me before I have completely preserved myself in ice and take me to thaw out in an officially designated steam room. Ahhhh, in this balmy box there are warm wooden benches and aromatic vapors wafting through the air, a bowl of cool water with fabric face masks floating in it, and dozens and dozens of eggs steaming in their shells atop the hot rock wall that emits all the steam for the room. I am befuddled and ask for explanation. The girls tell me that tomorrow's traditional morning meal, deokguk (rice cake soup) will require this ingredient of steamed eggs. So I surmise that some things are universal, in that like women everywhere, these Korean women are simply multi-tasking...while they are basking at the bath house. Now fully relaxed and free of several layers of skin, we slither to the shower area where Jo has brought all the necessary products for performing our final pampering. She instructs me as to the order I should apply each cleanser, rinse, mask, toner and lotion; hands me a small, rough, square mitten and heads over to scrub Heejin's back for her. This gesture is customary here and I am touched (literally and emotionally) when the Korean mother who is bathing her child next to me reaches out and offers her helping hand to me. It gave a whole new meaning to, "I got your back".

Sunday, February 14 (New Year's Day) - I awake to the smell of something cooking in the kitchen, but it's not bacon and eggs or even Valentine's cookies. It is deokguk and kimchi and 3 kinds of cold fermented vegetables...for breakfast! Heejin's mother has sent her all the ingredients to make this traditional meal and while she seldom cooks, today she has created a condensed version of the typical spread she would have shared with her own family. Apologetically, she and Jo describe what is missing from the dish and the overall meal, but I am anxious and delighted to participate in such a tradition, so we cheer Happy New Year to each other in both English and Korean and dig in.

Since this day is rich with ancient rituals and cultural traditions, we spend the day exploring the royal palace, Gyeongbokgung. This massive complex was built in 1395, just after the Joseon (Chosun) dynasty was founded and while it has suffered many attacks resulting in great destruction, restoration to its former glory has been ongoing since 1990 and is evidenced in an incredibly ornate beauty that I found truly overwhelming. Our arrival on the scene just happened to coincide with the Changing of the Guard ceremony, in which authentically and colorfully clad guards carrying traditional weapons and regal military flags are cued by drum beats and horns to shift positions and exchange responsibilities of guarding the gates of the city and the palace where the king and royal families once resided.

Marching onward we escape the cold of the open-air exhibits by taking tea and a tour of the National Folk Museum of Korea. Inside I am impressed with the contemporary circle of exhibition halls that allow us to wander through the History, Way of Life and Life Cycle of the Korean people. The museum, as well as everything on the Palace grounds is free today, so we are joined by hoards of visitors for a special performance of a traditional folk dance group called, "Namsadang-Pae". The term refers to a group of migrant musician/actors from the Joseon Dynasty that typically performed in front of common people at places like open markets and rural areas. Today, this talented troupe has been designated as "an intangible cultural asset", and it's easy to see why. These fine folk dancers instantly caught my attention and beckoned me back outside where they captivated me for a solid hour. When the show finished, I had no feeling left in my fingers or toes, but a definite feeling that I, as a common sight-seer had just witnessed a not-so-common sight. Enjoy for yourself the brief video clip I put together from the footage I took at the show.

Monday, February 15 (New Year's Day After) - At breakfast, which consists of sticky rice cakes sprinkled with bean powder, I ask Heejin if any of the mountains here in the city are accessible for hiking. Surprisingly, I learn that there is a trail head only 500 meters from her apartment building parking lot. So, donned in more appropriate attire for another outdoor day, we trek across the street and up to the top of Bonghwasan Mountain. At the summit the "urban-nature" paradox is illuminated in the panoramic vista of this capital city. I push back the hood of my jacket to take in the full view and am taken aback by the fact that I am really here...finally...in mind, body and now Seoul. It turns out I am not the only one taken aback by that fact. As soon as my blond head is exposed, the Koreans "on high" turn their cameras from the familiar to the foreigner and start shooting. Who knew I didn't have to go to Hollywood or Broadway? All I had to do was come to Korea with a fresh bleach job and boom -- I'm a star AND on top of the world!

Once the flash spots have cleared from my eyes and Heejin stops laughing, we descend the mountain and dive into the sea of street life in the Myeong Market, Seoul's most prominent shopping district. As we bump along the boulevard, Heejin estimates that 80% of the people around us are tourists, and of the 80%, 60% of them are from Japan. Evidently the Japanese currency is going strong, and so it appears as though Japan has once again invaded Korea, this time armed with Yen. Conversely, the U.S. dollar has no muscle to flex and I have no income yet, disposable or otherwise, so I keep my cold hands and cold hard cash in my pockets while we simply wander and window shop. It's been so long since I have been in the market for clothes, I am uncertain as to what's in style and age-appropriate for me anyway. The most recent additions to my wardrobe, I didn't have to hunt for at all. I just flew to a particular city and there was my sister, Vanessa, waiting to outfit me. Much like today when I rounded a corner of the underground mall that is a part of the subway station wishing I could add some finery to this festive holiday weekend, and voila, there was Vanessa waiting to outfit me! Good to see you, girl.