Good-bye Seoul, Hello Spokane 12: Happy New Year!

January 28, 2017

Happy New Year! Lunar New Year, that is — officially January 28, which was yesterday where it’s mostly celebrated: China, South and North Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, and Macau. That’s about 1/5 of the world’s population — 1.5 billion people. Most places take three days off. It’s the most traveled day of the year on the Earth, as people empty the cities to return to their ancestral roots, where they honor elders and forbearers in traditional clothing, then switch to new duds and exchange gifts, eat traditional food, play traditional games, and set off fireworks. This year, Beijing asked its citizens to cut back on the firecrackers — it didn’t work, and air pollution levels rose accordingly. In South Korea the holiday is called Seollal, and the traditional food is tteokguk — rice soup, made with rice cakes, beef, egg, and veggies. When you eat it, you grow one year older. Each new year is assigned one of the Chinese Zodiac animals. 2017 is a Rooster year. People born in the Year of the Rooster are busy, talkative, and popular, also candid and loyal. They love the spotlight, and can be vain and boastful. Although it comes in deep winter, Lunar New Year is officially the Spring Festival. Janet has celebrated it that way for years by thinking about her garden for the coming summer. Today she checked into community gardens near some possible rentals. The Spokane Chinese Association sponsored a celebration buffet at a local Pan-Asian restaurant. We didn’t get our act together enough to go. Kinda wished we had — would have been fun to join the world’s largest annual party.