It's a big weekend around here. You know how they say that everything happens at once? Well yes that does account for long stretches of nothing to do ness and then really busy weekends. We are sooooooooo not an over scheduled family. We never were to begin with and now that we've changed churches we are even less busy. Our kids aren't in a million after school activities; they're not even in one. Maybe next year when there's a school to be after then they will but for now they're not. I'd like them to be but so far money and lack of energy have prevented it. This weekend we are busy, kind of sort of. This is a big celebration weekend.
The Winter Olympics start on Friday night. Usually I can take them or leave them but not this year. This year I'm taking in every last minute of them because this year they are not only in my home and native land but they are in Vancouver. As a foreigner I tell everyone I meet that I'm from Vancouver simply because a lot of people have heard of it and explaining the whole "4 hours northeast thing" is a pain. So we are having a few people over for an opening ceremony watch party and I can't wait.Vancouver was also just named the best city in the world to live in. Tell us something we don't know! Saturday is technically just Saturday but we're using it to celebrate Valentine's Day so that we can avoid the crowds on Sunday and so that Huggyband can stay home in the evening and do homework. Besides, Sunday is Chinese New Year. Although I'm loathe to call it that because of the Koreans dislike of the Chinese they insist that it's Lunar New Year. And, as I'm well experienced at, celebrating a holiday that nobody around you is celebrating is a little tricky. You have to learn to do things in the spirit of the tradition and celebration. So I'll probably just make Chinese food since we live in an area of very few Asians and finding good Chinese food is a challenge. Making it is also hard without the aid of a good Asian market. But..............in case you're interested here's how they do it back at "home."
Korea
By Alethea YipPosted Jan. 7, 1998
Caught between two calendars – and consequently two New Years – Koreans tend to celebrate the lunar New Year, or Sol, with a whole less pomp than other Asian groups. No firecrackers, ornate dragon heads or beauty pageants. Just nice quiet reflective family time, ancestor worship and lots of rich food – naturally.
A feast of juicy dumplings, steaming soups, sticky rice, noodles and sweet fruits is set out during family gatherings. The same type of spread is laid out before alters honoring relatives that have passed onto the spirit world. In addition to the food, Sol is observed by some Koreans by getting decked out in traditional dress, passing out envelopes of money to youngsters who do the obligatory bowing to elders and even taking the day off from work.
Koreans Celebrate a More Subdued New Year
By Janie HarPosted Dec. 16, 1996
Unlike the Chinese with their extravagant, traffic-jamming New Year's celebrations or the Vietnamese with their county fair-like Tet festivals, Koreans in the United States take a quieter approach to the holiday.
For one thing, although the traditional Lunar New Year might be the more widely observed of the two, Koreans here (and in Korea) often choose to celebrate either or both solar and lunar beginnings. Like most agrarian cultures, Koreans followed the lunar cycle exclusively until around the late-19th and early-20th century. That's when Christian missionaries started bringing Western practices to Korea. And then the Japanese, which had already adopted the solar calendar in 1868, colonized the country. In South Korea today, both days are officially observed.
The ways in which Koreans celebrate differ, ranging from a simple gathering of the immediate family to a full-blown affair with numerous cousins and people dressed in old-fashioned Korean garb.
Still, there are a few customs that most families practice to some degree.
One such custom is jae sa, in which family members bow and pay their respects to the dearly departed. Surrounding the pictures on the table are lit incense sticks and carefully arranged dishes of meat, bowls of sticky rice, platters stacked high with persimmons and Asian pears, slinky clear potato noodles called japchae, and colorful confections made of rice.
Korean children also receive envelopes of "good luck" money, but they have to work for their loot with a series of bows to the elders.
Traditional must-eat foods on this day are dduk gook and/or mandu gook. Dduk gook is a soup swimming with glutinous rice cakes sliced into ovals. Mandu gook is simply dduk gook with small steamed dumplings (think potstickers without the frying and you get the picture).
Whatever the practices may be, Koreans and Korean Americans, like everyone else in the world, use this day to spend time with loved ones, reflect upon the past year, make those resolutions, and of course, eat a lot of food.
For an even better description check out http://k-popped.com/2008/02/how-do-koreans-celebrate-lunar-new-year.html (Gotta love the sub title on that one: "We're Malaysian, we're hooked on all things Korea, we blog here." Think I could sub-title my blog: "I'm Canadian, living in the USA, I'm hooked on all things Korean, biased against all things American, I blog here."?)
I have a lot of "good" ? Maybe "distinct" is a better word, memories of sol lal. I remember trying to get my head around the idea of feeding dead ancestors. Feeling the conflict between the Christians who knew that it was wrong and their families who did it. I had a long running joke with some of my friends about how it must be very cold out there at the graveside doing a ceremony and couldn't they just run and drop off a happy meal for the dead? I had a big inner conflict the day the young adults from my church went to visit the head pastor and bowed before him. I had about 2 seconds to make a decision for myself and I chose not to participate. Maybe foreshadowing the situation I'm in now? Back then I had hoped they would understand that my refusal was a cultural thing; now and here they still don't get it. However I smile at the memory of a little girl in her families restaurant practising the bow she would do in front of her grandparents. Motivated by the packet of money she would receive of course, but still cute nonetheless. I have grrrrrrrreat memories of food. Not mandu and not rice noodles but japchae was and still would be (if I could find a good version of it or an easy way to prepare it) one of my favorite Korean foods. Just for the heck of it I participated in the gift buying trend and sent home a very coveted sol lal gift to my parents. It was the highly prized in Korea case of SPAM (SPAM is SPAM even in Asia.) Don't laugh you're talking about a culture that thinks that a case of toilet paper makes a great housewarming gift. Well, at least you know they'll use it.
I was also just reminded that Korea does Valentines Day a little different than we do. In fact they manage to stretch it for a few months. Valentines Day is celebrated February 14th, White Day is March 14 and Black Day is April 14. Check this out:
In Japan, Valentine's Day is observed by females who present chocolate gifts (either store-bought or handmade), usually to a male, as an expression of love. The handmade chocolate is usually preferred by the receiver, because it is a sign that the receiving male is the girl's "only one". On White Day, the converse happens: males who received a honmei-choco ({ｽ`R?, "chocolate of love") or giri-choco (``R?, "courtesy chocolate") on Valentine's Day are expected to return the favor by giving gifts, usually more expensive. Traditionally, popular White Day gifts are cookies, jewellery, white chocolate, white lingerie and marshmallows.[2] Sometimes the term sanbai gaeshi (O{ﾔｵ?, literally, "thrice the return") is used to describe the generally recited rule that the return gift should be two to three times the cost of the Valentine's gift.[3]
It's a little amazing to me that the Koreans would borrow a Japanese holiday but they made up their own in terms of Black Day.Black Day (April 14) is a South Korean informal tradition for single people (a.k.a. Unit Solo/Solo Regiment, lee: ) to get together and eat jajangmyeon (noodles with black bean sauce), sometimes a white sauce is mixed for those who did not celebrate White Day.
The idea is that those who did not give or receive gifts on Valentine's Day (February 14) or White Day (March 14) can get together and eat jajangmyeon (), white Korean noodles with black bean sauce (hence the name), to celebrate their singledom.
Anyways............. Here on this side of the pond Monday is President's Day: an official holiday celebrating the births of presidents Washington (Feb 22) and Lincoln (Feb 12). The only thing stranger about celebrating a holiday that nobody else is is celebrating (although it looks like nobody really "celebrates" it) that really isn't yours. Who cares, it usually means a day off work and school. In China we had Buddha's birthday off but not Christmas Day off. And then there's the whole thing about Federal holiday (affecting schools, banks and the post office, prompting the question "is there mail today?") but not affecting grocery stores, vs real holidays that everybody has off.
There's also Mardi Gras this weekend. Mardi Gras is one of those cool American holidays that Canadians think is cool. We've never lived in an American city that really celebrates it but I'd really like to. Mardi Gras is the carnival right before Lent that ends in Shrove or Fat Tuesday. The day indulgences like fat or rich foods and oil were used up before somber Lent.
Having a British Catholic mother I am familiar with Shrove Tuesday and like her I still make pancakes for it.
My youngest son was born on Shrove Tuesday. In this part of Ohio it's celebrated with some sort of polish donut that I can't reference for you because I can't even pronounce it to look it up. What I remember is not being able to eat those donuts that year because of the impending C-section. Shrove Tuesday is followed by Ash Wednesday and in my post baby stupor I barely remember trying to figure out why some people had ashes on their foreheads the day after Little Bunny FooFoo was born.
I'm also told that the Daytona 500 is this weekend. Thankfully my family is exempt from that and all sports related holidays, except for the Olympics of course.
One December 6th we celebrated St. Nicholas Day in a predominantly German town in some Midwestern state. A smart thinking mommy friend called me the day before to give me a heads up that all of Little Miss Teen's would be receiving token gifts that night and talking about them the next day in school. I didn't want her to be left out so I ran to the dollar store and picked up a couple of things. I thought a new tradition had been born until the next December found us in the deep south. Little Miss Teen celebrated it but nobody else did making everyone confused. My Huggyband pointed out that what had started as a tradition to make her feel included in the end made her feel isolated so we dropped the practise. Kind of, sort of. Some years elves come early and drop off little gifts.
And if you're STILL short of reasons to celebrate may I suggest the following list from http://alum.wpi.edu/~wes/holiday.htm?
February 14th - Horned Lizard Day: For those of us who find Valentine's Day an appallingly saccharine and pointless holiday based entirely on superficial expressions of fraudulent love, Horned Lizard Day provides an opportunity to disorient our friends and loved ones with cheerful comments about interesting reptiles. Are you tired of Valentine's Day's hopelessly tooth-rotting sentimentality? Sick of supporting the flower and candy industries with hollow gestures of false affection? Does the color pink send you into fits of psychotic rage? Then celebrate something worth celebrating - celebrate Horned Lizard Day! I send Horned Lizard Day cards to my friends on this important occasion, both to spread happiness and to let them know what interesting animals horned lizards are. I feel that there is no better way to celebrate the 14th of February than with an animal that squirts blood from a sinus behind its eyes when threatened. See the dramatic struggle.
February 20th - Honey Creeper Memorial Day: Honey Creepers were these nifty little birds with long, curved beaks that lived among the Hawaiian Islands. Alas, Honey Creepers are now extinct. I encourage everyone to donate some time or money to the preservation of the dwindling population of our world's endangered species - and not just today, either.
February 22nd - Parsley Day: Acknowledge the world's greatest garnish by handing it out to total strangers in the street! Wander into fast food restaurants, walk up to the patrons, and offer to spice up the appearance of their boring meals with a sprig of festive green. Visit your friends and bestow upon them the gift of garnish. If no one will accept your offerings, you can always adorn your table with an elegant vase of nice fresh parsley, brightening the room and letting everyone know what a keen grasp of culinary decor you have.
March 23rd - Tulip Shell Snail Day: Okay, so most of you probably couldn't care less about a snail, but I think snails are nifty. Besides, all of the calendar's other listings for March are pretty boring - stuff like Ospreys, Molerats, Avocados, Corn, Long Horn Beetles, and so on. If you really need another March holiday and you don't like this one, I encourage you to make up your own.
April 11th - Red Wolf Day: I really like wolves. I have several wolf calendars, a few plush wolves, and the Folkmanis Big Bad Wolf puppet. Obviously then, I think that Red Wolf Day is worth celebrating. If you're more inclined to celebrate days that will confuse your friends, just wait until Ladel Day.
April 12th - Hermit Crab Day: Okay, so it's only a day away from Red Wolf Day - is this supposed to be my fault? I didn't make up the calendar and I didn't decide what order to put the pages in. Anyway, hermit crabs are really cool. Whenever I visit the New England Aquarium I go to visit the little tanks of poor, tormented animals that children can handle...I pity the poor things. Anyway, I stop to say "hi" to the hermit crabs, and I'm much gentler and friendlier than the children are. I haven't been for ages...I wonder if they miss me.
May 9th - International Sloth Day: Though November 19th is the official day for the sloth according to my calendar, I've been told by a reader of this page that they previously established May 9th to be International Sloth Day. I've got nothing against celebrating the sloth twice a year, or you can choose whichever one you desire. Just don't celebrate too actively, or you'll defeat the whole purpose of Sloth Day in the first place.
May 23rd - The Defenestration of Prague: This is an actual date in history, which warrants note whether you care about the actual event or not. On May 23, 1618, in Prague, a few royal officials were thrown out a window of Hradcany Castle by some noblemen, but survived the fall by landing in a cart full of manure. More importantly, defenstration is easily one of the most totally underused words in the English language. For those who are unaware, it means "the act of throwing something or someone out of a window." The date for this event also falls on an extremely Illuminated day of the year, 5/23, which incorporates both the Discordian number 5 and our old friend 23. Fnord.
May 25th - Towel Day: Towel Day celebrates the life and work of Douglas Adams, who championed the many uses of the towel in his book series/movie/radio series/movie/tv movie/breakfast cereal, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Carry your towel proudly.
Etc, Etc, Etc.
Oh look Huggyband! All the more reasons to give me gifts!
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