Every 12 months, a new year begins, but people around the world celebrate it in different ways. In America, it’s called the New Year. In Asia, many people celebrate Lunar New Year. Chinese New Year and Korean New Year are both Lunar New Years, but each has its own special foods, gifts, and traditions.
“I celebrate the Lunar New Year because it’s a tradition in my family. Every Lunar New Year, my family and I gather at one of their houses and eat a special soup called Tteokguk, which is a soup with rice cakes,” Alex Rhee, a sixth-grader, said.
Tteokguk is a traditional Korean soup eaten during Lunar New Year. It is made with thin slices of rice cake in a warm broth. Rhee said eating the soup is his favorite part of the holiday. It’s 떡국 in the Korean language. Kristine Lee and her family also celebrate Korean New Year. She calls the holiday by its official name, Seollal.
“We eat TTeokgukk and play traditional games,” Lee said.
Lee explained Yutnori which is a board game played with four sticks that are flat on one side and rounded on the other. People toss the sticks and the number that land flat side up are the number of spaces the player’s piece moves on the game board. The goal is to move the playing piece around the entire board and finish before your opponents.
Lee and Rhee also practice a tradition of giving money in envelopes as a way to wish kids good luck, health, and success for the new year.
“My cousins and I also bow to my parents and aunts and uncles to get money,” Rhee added.
In Korea, the envelopes can be plain or decorated. Emmanuel Fang, a fifth-grader, celebrates Chinese New Year where money is often given as a gift, too.
“Adults also give children red envelopes with money in it, but the envelopes are just for good luck,” Fang explained.
He enjoys the Chinese New Year because he said he hangs out with family, eats delicious food, and visits relatives.
It’s “the biggest holiday in China and people get a week off from work and school, so they can celebrate with family and they have time to visit relatives. My favorite part about [the new year] is that I get an extra holiday, and I get to hang out with family and relatives.”
Reident Flora Liu celebrates Chinese Lunar New Year, as well. Liu’s favorite part about Chinese New Year is “when relatives spend time together talking, eating and watching TV with everyone.”
Liu said she mostly talks, eats, and cooks with relatives on Chinese New Year. One of the favorite foods that people eat is dumplings.
Liu said that she “enjoyed making dumplings with her family. It was a time when family gathered and talked about the things we have done in the past year.”
