Happy New Year in February
Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14 is the month’s major holiday, but for many Asian cultures, this Friday, Feb. 12, the Lunar New Year, is the truly special day.
The Hahns, an Island family of Korean heritage, will be celebrating what in Korean is called Seollal, Melissa Hahn said. She, along with her husband Doug and their children, Natalie, 16, and Kyle, 13, live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and have been weekend and summer residents for a decade.
“But we’re almost year-round residents this past year due to Covid,” Ms. Hahn said.
According to the website Crazy Korean Cooking, “Seollal is the most celebrated holiday in South Korea. It’s celebrated not only to mark the passage into a new year, but it is also a time for families to catch up with each other, pay respect to ancestors and to feast! Korean Lunar New Year marks the first day of the lunar calendar. It is the first day of the second new moon after the winter solstice. The exact day of the lunar new year will vary from year to year.”
For the Hahns, Seollal shares two things all cultures revere and celebrate on holidays — food and family.
“We celebrate Seollal by getting together with extended family and eating rice cake soup, which marks the passage into the new year and turning one year older,” Ms. Hahn said. “The celebration usually lasts three days and includes paying respects to our ancestors by offering food and prayers, getting dressed up in traditional hanbok and performing a deep bow — called sebae — in front of the grandparents and other elderly folks. In return the grandchildren will receive some money, and play traditional folk games.”
And so, to all, “Saehae bok mani badeuseyo,” or “Happy New Year, with wishes for lots of luck to come.”