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      Happy New Years!  Again!  Yep, that's right, it's New Year's Day over here in Korea.  Lunar New Years to be specific.  It is the new moon of February so we turn the pages on the calendar for a fresh start to the Year of the Snake.  Called Seollal, this (and Chuseok) is the most celebrated holiday of the year for Koreans and lasts three days (the day before, the day of, and the day after the new moon).  Seollal is truly a special occasion for the Korean people.  Not only does is grant an opportunity to pay respect to ancestors, it also provides the time to catch up with distant family members.  During Seollal, Koreans usually wear a hanbok (the same customary clothes worn at Chuseok), perform ancestral rites, play folk games, eat traditional foods, and listen to stories of the past well into the night.

      As a foreigner observing my first Seollal, I was amazed by how sacred the holiday truly is.  In the Western tradition of holiday celebrations, I'd say that Christmas, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, and (our) New Year's Day are fairly important.  At least in the sense that the majority of the population gets the day off of work.  Over here, not only is every business open on those days, they're hardly even celebrated (or not even acknowledged at all).  For the first time here, I am shocked that there are literally no places opened today.  Remember, I live in a college neighborhood with a nightlife that easily goes until 6 in the morning, even on weekdays!  And now it's quiet and desolate.

      I am grateful though because I actually have Monday off of school!  This is my first holiday off since the Korean Presidential Election Day on December 20th.  Oops, wait...that's not true.  Remember, I was supposed to have that day off but my school decided to remain open and actually took away a national holiday!  Imagine being one of the Korean teachers and not having the chance to vote for the presidency.  I thought that freedom is what separated us from the North over here!
      Now while I celebrate this very important day over here in Asia, my sleepy little home town of Luling, Louisiana is celebrating the biggest day of the year for them...the Luling Parade (arguably, next to the Alligator Festival)!   I can't believe that I'm missing Mardi Gras but maybe you can't believe that you're missing Seollal!