Solar New Year & US New Year

Korean

In Korea, Solnal is the first day of the first month of the new year. While many Koreans celebrate the New Year on January 1st of the solar calendar, the lunar new year is still popular today. In many Korean communities, the New Year is celebrated twice.

The Lunar New Year starts on February 12 in 2002. According to the Asian Zodiac, 2002 is the Year of the Horse.

The Koreans focus on the family as they celebrate the beginning of the New Year. Children put on new traditional clothes called hanbok. They kneel and bow to their ancestors and elders. Family members wish each other prosperity and good fortune. Then they exchange gifts. Children receive lucky money, candy and fruit from the elders. The family spends time together and have rice-cake soup for breakfast. Children often take this day to play special New Year games.

In parts of Korea, people usher in the New Year with a ritual called Jishin Balpgi. Loud drums and gongs are played to scare off evil spirits of the old year. At the end of the day, friends and relatives join together for dinner to renew their friendship. Sol is a celebration of family and good friends. And for the Koreans, the New Year is about family and community.

Korea uses the solar and lunar calendars. Holidays are celebrated based on both.   The country's time zone is 9 hours ahead of GMT, the same as Japan. 

Most Koreans work M thru F and then a half day on Saturday mornings. Usual business hours are 9:00-6:00 during the week and 9:00-1:00 on Saturday. 

Government offices and most businesses are closed for national holidays.   During the 3-day holidays for the Lunar New Year (Seol-nal) and Harvest Moon Festival (Chuseok) just about every business in Korea shuts down except public transportation.  Return to the calendar

United States

We can trace the origins of a new year's celebration back to the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians, at least 4,000 years ago. In Egypt, the Nile river signaled a new beginning for the farmers of the Nile as it flooded their land and enriched it with the silt needed to grow crops for the next year. This happened near the end of September.

The Babylonians held their festival in the spring, on March 23, to kick off the next cycle of planting and harvest. Symbolically, the king was stripped of his robes and sent away for a few days while the people whooped it up. He then returned in all his finery for a grand parade, and the normal activities of life would return for the new year.

So how did we get to January 1 as the start of the year? That date was picked by the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar when he established his own calendar in 46 BC. The Roman Senate had actually tried to make January 1 New Year's Day in 153 BC, but it wasn't until Caesar stretched out 47 BC for 445 days that the date we're familiar with was synchronized with the sun. We've been on the Julian calendar ever since.  
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Lunar New Year -

Although Koreans use both the solar and lunar calendars, the Lunar New Year (Seol-nal in Korean) traditionally holds more importance than its solar counterpart. During this 3-day holiday, most people gather together with their entire families in their hometowns. The holiday includes many traditions for food preparation and ancestor worship.       Return to the calendar

Independence Movement Day -

March 1, 1919, marked the beginning of the Korean Independence Movement On this day, independence fighters announced Korea's declaration of independence from Japanese colonialism. In response, Japanese police and military forces killed and injured thousands of unarmed protesters.              Return to the calendar

Valentine's Day

Celebrated by exchanging cards, candy, and tokens of affection. Saint Valentine is the patron saint of lovers. The legend of Saint Valentine. Emperor Claudius of Rome attempted to abolish marriage because he felt married men did not make good soldiers (Hmmmm....!)  Valentine, a priest, then married lovers secretly. The Emperor learned of this and had Valentine imprisoned, where he died on February 14, 271 A.D. This is probably only a popular legend, and the customs more likely pagan. There are actually two Saint Valentines whose feast day is on February 14. The second was a Bishop of Terni, or possibly Teramo, Italy, who was martyred two or three years later.
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Arbor Day -

Because of the devastation and deforestation resulting from the Korean War, the Korean government designate April 5 as Arbor Day and made it a time for all the citizens to plant trees and other plants. Decades later, the forests have returned. Nowadays, citizens still plant trees and flowers and clean up the surrounding hilltops and mountain areas, and the day serves as a reminder to respect nature and the environment.        Return to the calendar

Children's Day -

May 5th represents a day of celebration for children, both young and old. Amusements parks, zoos, and national parks become crowded with families enjoying the holiday in the Spring weather.      Return to the calendar

Buddha's Birthday -

The celebration for Buddha's birthday occurs on the 8th day of 4th lunar month (usually  falls in May). Buddhist monks spruce up their temples and hang colorful lanterns. Many of the larger temples also hold festivals and parades.     Return to the calendar

Memorial Day

We hang out our national flag,Tae-guk-gi, at the front door of our house to remember the civilians and soldiers who were killed during the war.      Return to the calendar

Memorial Day -

Celebrated in different countries on different dates. In the United States it is on May 30, but typically observed on the last Monday of May. This day is a tribute to those fallen in all the wars the USA was involved in. Observance includes military and civic parades, and decoration with flowers of the graves of American soldiers. Flags are at half mast until noon. It was called Decoration Day when it was originated on May 30, 1868, by General John J. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. It is now a legal holiday in all the states [except for some in the South?].
Flag etiquette. In the U.S. [et al?] the flag is flown at half mast from sunrise until noon, at which time it is raised to full mast until sunset. A flag should always be raised to full mast before lowering to half mast, and again raised to full mast before removing.
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US Independence Day - 

At the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the US consisted of 13 colonies under the rule of England's King George III. Leading up to the signing, there had been growing unrest in the colonies surrounding the taxes that colonists were required to pay to England. The major objection was "Taxation without Representation" -- the colonists had no say in the decisions of English Parliament.

After nearly a year of trying to work our their differences with England, the colonies again sent delegates to the English Second Continental Congress.   Admitting that their efforts to work with England were hopeless, a committee was formed to compose the formal Declaration of Independence.  After various changes to the original draft, a vote was taken late in the afternoon of July 4th,1776. Of the 13 colonies, 9 voted in favor of the Declaration; 2, Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted No; Delaware was undecided and New York abstained.        Return to the calendar

Constitution Day -

July 17 marks the day in 1948 when the Republic of Korea's Constitution was proclaimed. A day of celebrations and memorials recognizes the cornerstone of the new republic.       Return to the calendar

Labor Day -

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.           Return to the calendar

Chuseok -

The full harvest moon festival occurs on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, and is similar to the American Thanksgiving holidays. The day before 14th and 16th of the 8th lunar month are also holidays, giving a total of three days off to allow people time to visit their hometowns. As the most important of all Korean holidays, during this period people jam the highways to visit their hometowns and family members. Similar to the lunar new year holidays, family members pay respect to their living relatives and visit the graves of their ancestors. Family members exchange gifts and play special games.     Return to the calendar

National Foundation Day

This day marks the traditional founding of Korea by Tan-gun in 2333 B.C. According to legend, the god-king, "Tan-gun" founded the Choson Kingdom in 2333 B.C. This day fills citizens with nationalistic pride over the 4,000+ year history of Korea.      
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Thanksgiving

On Sept. 6, 1620 the Pilgrims set sail for the New World on a ship called the Mayflower. They sailed from Plymouth, England and aboard were 44 Pilgrims, who called themselves the "Saints", and 66 others whom the Pilgrims called the "Strangers."  Of the 110 original travelers  less that 50 survived the first winter.

On March 16, 1621 , what was to become an important event took place, an Indian brave walked into the Plymouth settlement. The Pilgrims were frightened until the Indian called out "Welcome" (in English!).  His name was Samoset and he was an Abnaki Indian. He had learned English from the captains of fishing boats that had previously sailed off the coast.  After meeting Samoset and surviving a second long winter, the Pilgrims had much to celebrate, they had built homes in the wilderness, they had raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long cold winter and were at peace with their Indian neighbors.

The Pilgrim Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native Americans. They invited Squanto and the other Indians to join them in their celebration. Their chief, Massasoit, and 90 braves came to the celebration which lasted for 3 days. They played games, ran races, marched and played drums. The Indians demonstrated their skills with the bow and arrow and the Pilgrims demonstrated their musket skills. Exactly when the festival took place is uncertain, but it is believed the celebration took place in mid-October.

In 1817 New York State had adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.       Return to the calendar

Korean Christmas

Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha

There is no traditional Korean custom for Christmas, although 25% of the South Korean population is Christian.  Gift giving at this time of the year blends with the general year end Korean custom of "settling accounts."    Return to the calendar


US  Merry Christmas

The history of Christmas dates back over 4000 years. Many of our Christmas traditions were celebrated centuries before the Christ child was born. The 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the Yule log, the giving of gifts, carnivals  (parades) with floats, carolers who sing while going from house to house, the holiday feasts, and the church processions can all be traced back to the early Mesopotamians.

Many of these traditions began with the Mesopotamian celebration of New Years. The Mesopotamians believed in many gods, and as their chief god - Marduk.

Each year as winter arrived it was believed that Marduk would do battle with the monsters of chaos. To assist Marduk in his struggle the Mesopotamians held a festival for the New Year. This was Zagmuk, the New Year's festival that lasted for 12 days.

The poinsettia grows wild in Mexico and it is known as the flor de la noche buena - "flower of the good night." It didn't become a Christmas flower in the U.S. until after Dr. Joel Poinsettia introduced it in 1828.

The custom of hanging stockings by the fireplace comes from Greece located in the Mediterranean, where legend has it that Saint Nicholas, then a bishop, dropped a gold nugget down a man's chimney where it landed in his daughter's stocking, making it possible for her to marry because she now had a  dowry.  

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