Gwangju Talks – “What does Seollal mean to you?”

Teenagers

Han Min-woo (12)

1. What do you (personally) do on Seollal?

Our family is going to Seoul to meet our relatives. My father’s parents live in Seoul, so we gather there. We make some food and bow to our ancestors. Also, my mother’s parents live in Suncheon, a city near Gwangju. After visiting my grandparents in Seoul, our family visits our relatives in Suncheon. This is really meaningful because we are able to meet the whole family only on this day and on Chuseok, but the trip makes us tired. It takes a lot of time to move around.

2. What do you like about what you do?

I like to eat the different foods on Seollal. My grandparents make delicious food for us, and they look so happy when we go to their homes. I like to meet the whole family. I have a lot of cousins who are the same age as me. It is so much fun to play with them.

3. What do you not enjoy about the holidays?

As I admitted in the first question, it’s tiring to move around. On holidays, the traffic is bad, so it takes more time than usual. Even though I’m not driving, it is still very tiring.

4. What do you wish your family would do on Seollal?

I wish the whole family would go traveling. That would take less time than traveling to Seoul. Also it would be so much fun.

Park Jun-woo (13)

1. What do you (personally) do on Seollal?

I go visit my paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents on the same day because I live near the town they live in. So, we meet the whole family in my grandparents’ house. We make food and bow to our ancestors. We also exchange well-wishing remarks, and visit our family’s ancestral grave.

2. What do you like about what you do?

I like to meet the whole family. Also we have long vacations from school during the holidays. It doesn’t take a lot of time to go visit my grandparents’ houses so I can take a rest on holidays. Also, our family sometimes travels after visiting my grandparents.

3. What do you not enjoy about the holidays?

I do not enjoy going somewhere far away. I would rather rest or play with my cousin at my grandparents’ houses or my own house. I think we have to relax on holidays.

4. What do you wish your family would do on Seollal?

I want to make food with the whole family and take a rest as usual, because that is exactly what this holiday is for. Also, the family gives well wishes to each other. I like to spend time with the whole family, especially my cousins.

20’s

Yoon Eun-Ji (25, female)

1. What do you (personally) do on Seollal?

I usually make traditional foods with my mom, for example, galbi (Korean steak), ddukguk (Korean traditional soup), and so on. While making them, I learn how to make food in my mother’s way and share intimate moments with her. On Seollal, I go to Jeonju, the city where my grandma lives, and prepare for a special ceremony honoring my ancestors. After this ceremony, I bow to my elder relatives, receive some money, and spend time with them.

2. What do you like about what you do?

What I don’t like is to make foods with my mom. For sure, it has a benefit that I can chat with my mother longer than usual, but it’s too hard to enjoy. So if I make less food, mom and I will have a great Seollal.

3. What do you not enjoy about the holidays?

Generally what I don’t enjoy about the holidays is the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. In Korea, daughters-in-law have to go to their mother-in-laws’ homes and make traditional foods all day. Maybe it is due to the Confucian culture that has lasted for such a long time in our society. I love it, but to be honest, I don’t like that the daughter-in-law always has to put her parents-in-law above her own parents and work for them. We should consider that the daughter-in-law has her own parents to take care of and respect her decision freely.

4. What do you wish your family would do on Seollal?

I want to take a trip with my family. Even though we have long holidays, lasting three or four days, because of the ancestral ceremony, we don’t have enough time to take a trip. So I wish our family would go to Europe for our vacation.

30’s

Kim Myung-Ha (34, female)

1. What do you (personally) do on Seollal?

Before getting married, I used to get along with relatives and parents while eating delicious foods. After getting married, it changed a little bit. On Seollal, I first go to my parents-in-law’s home and spend time with them. The next day, I go to my parents’ home and spend time with them.

2. What do you like about what you do?

I just prefer to watch movies with my husband and daughter or drive around.

3. What do you not enjoy about the holidays?

I don’t like what only women have to do during the holidays; for example, women must do all house chores, make food for everyone, and take care of the children.

4. What do you wish your family would do on Seollal?

I would like to go abroad with my family and parents. Because holidays are off days for all people, we can have enough time for our family.

50’s

Kim Jeongnam (52, female)

1. What do you (personally) do on Seollal?

My family and I spend time together and we visit our family members’ graves in order to pay our respects.

2. What do you like about what you do?

I love to play go-stop with relatives because it usually breaks the ice and makes us laugh. Visiting ancestral graves is also my favorite. It is the only way I can meet distant relations. Talking with them, I can recall my past, especially my childhood.

3. What do you not enjoy about the holidays?

I do not like making traditional food and clearing the table. I know those are sort of my duties, but they stress me out.

4. What do you wish your family would do on Seollal?

I want every family member to make food and clear the table together. Maybe some conservative people, especially elderly men, cannot accept or understand my wish. However, the culture that only women should set up and clear the food needs to be changed, and fortunately it is being changed these days.

5. What did your family do on Seollal that it does not do now?

We used to prepare lots of traditional food in the past, but it is simplified nowadays. We are even able to buy the food that is too much work to prepare ourselves. And I do not remember when this changed, but people barely visit relatives to pay their respects anymore.

Kim Seonnam (50, female)

1. What do you (personally) do on Seollal?

I normally make ddukguk and play yutnori or go-stop with my family.

2. What do you like about what you do?

Meeting relatives is my favorite. We can only do this on national holidays like Seollal. We spend time catching up on each other’s health, how we have lived in the last year and the like.

3. What do you not enjoy about the holidays?

There are several things I do not want to do on Seollal, such as preparing food and clearing the table. Even though I feel happy and know it will be worth it when I see my family enjoy the food, it is quite stressful. I also want to relax like other family members.

4. What do you wish your family would do on Seollal?

I wish they would help me make the food. If we divide our work up, with some preparing food while others wash the dishes and clear the table, it would be perfect. And I would also want to do some activities with my family such as visiting ancestral graves, going to the movies, and hiking up a mountain. As time goes by, it gets harder to gather together and spend time.

5. What did your family do on Seollal that it does not do now?

We used to visit each relative’s home and pay our respects to them. Back then, we thought more about the importance of family. Nowadays, the tradition has become dull. Each person’s life has become more significant as individualism developed.

Kim Jincheol (52, male)

1. What do you (personally) do on Seollal?

I visit family members’ graves. I can meet not only distant relatives but my old friends sometimes.

2. What do you like about what you do?

Visiting family members’ graves is a rare chance to speak with my relatives in person and I love it.

3. What do you not enjoy about the holidays?

There is only one thing I dislike about the holidays: I do not like the traffic jams.

4. What do you wish your family would do on Seollal?

I wish my family members and other relatives would get together at the same time and place. We usually start by visiting our cousins and relations on the father’s side. Depending on whether the sibling is a father or a mother in his or her family, the visiting time is always different. In my case, for years now I have hardly met my sister.

5. What did your family do on Seollal that it does not do now?

When I was young, meeting friends and spending time with them was not difficult. However, after I started my family and became a father, it became the hardest thing to me. Sometimes I miss those times.