Happy Lunar New Year! To many, this holiday represents a time of togetherness and warmth as the cold weather dies down and people get ready for the Spring season. EnVi collected responses from people that celebrate the holiday all over the world. Check them out below!
@an_haa
Where in the world are you celebrating the Lunar New Year?
Germany
How do you celebrate Lunar New Year?
We have a big family gathering with lots of food and we hand out small monetary gift bags (Hong Bao, or we call it Li Xi) to younger ones. We also dress up with traditional Vietnamese clothing.
Are there any traditions for this holiday that you and your loved ones follow? What are they?
We have the Hong Bao ceremony (younger ones wish the older ones a happy new year as well as luck, health, wealth, etc. and they get monetary gifts in return).
Is there any particular dish that you look forward to for this particular festivity? How do you prepare it?
Banh Chung is a classical Vietnamese dish for Lunar New Year, made from glutinous rice, mung beans, pork, and other ingredients.
Any fun stories that you would like to share from past Lunar New Year celebrations?
As kids we used the money we received as gifts to play games called “Bau Cua Ca Cop” (“squash-crab-fish-tiger”) which is a Vietnamese gambling game using three dice.
What are you looking forward to for this Lunar New Year?
I’m looking forward to meeting the family again after a long time due to COVID-19 as well as having awesome food and quality time with them.
What does this holiday mean to you?
It means a lot. I was raised by celebrating the Lunar New Year ever since I was born. It’s a special day of coming together as a family.
Anonymous
Where in the world are you celebrating Lunar New Year?
USA
How do you celebrate Lunar New Year?
Lots of family gatherings.
Are there any traditions for this holiday that you and your loved ones follow? What are they?
Red envelopes and giving wishes.
Is there any particular dish that you look forward to for this particular festivity? How do you prepare it?
Watermelon seeds that we buy from our local Asian supermarket.
Any fun stories that you would like to share from past Lunar New Year celebrations?
Watching fireworks.
What are you looking forward to for this Lunar New Year?
I’m looking forward to another peaceful year.
What does this holiday mean to you?
It is a part of my culture and a part of who I am.
@jininkorean
Where in the world are you celebrating the Lunar New Year?
South Korea.
How do you celebrate the Lunar New Year?
I celebrate by having family gatherings, paying respect (prostration) towards ancestors, and having 떡국 (rice cake soup).
Are there any traditions for this holiday that you and your loved ones follow? What are they?
Visiting our grandparents in their burial grounds and sharing traditional foods with family.
Is there any particular dish that you look forward to for this particular festivity? How do you prepare it?
떡국 (rice cake soup) which is made of rice cake, eggs, seaweed, spring onion, and oysters (optional).
Any fun stories that you would like to share from past Lunar New Year celebrations?
I remember as a kid, you tend to receive some money in the envelope from adults and I loved it. That was the only thing that all the kids were looking forward to for 설날 (Seollal or Korean Lunar New Year).
What are you looking forward to for this Lunar New Year?
Family gatherings and coming back home.
What does this holiday mean to you?
The warmness, togetherness, hospitality amongst family, and your loved ones
Anything else you would like to tell us?
Lunar New Year (originated from China) is also called “Seollal” [설날] in Korea 🙂
Anonymous
Where in the world are you celebrating Lunar New Year?
Singapore
How do you celebrate Lunar New Year?
We have red decorations, lots of groceries to cook, packet drinks, big family gatherings, red packets of money, and new clothes.
Are there any traditions for this holiday that you and your loved ones follow? What are they?
Saying auspicious phrases on the first day of Lunar New Year to my parents and receiving red packets from them.
Is there any particular dish that you look forward to for this particular festive? How do you prepare it?
Steamboat! I add ingredients that I want to eat inside the steamboat, wait for it to cook, and then eat it with some rice.
Any fun stories that you would like to share from past Lunar New Year celebrations?
I played with my cousins when we met in our grandparents’ home during Lunar New Year.
What are you looking forward to for this Lunar New Year?
The red packet of money.
What does this holiday mean to you?
It is my culture and an important part of my identity.
@cateatsdog
Where in the world are you celebrating Lunar New Year?
South Korea
How do you celebrate the Lunar New Year?
I don’t celebrate Lunar New Year normally, but I have in the past.
Are there any traditions for this holiday that you and your loved ones follow? What are they?
We get a pretty sizable vacation during Lunar New Year here in Korea, and with the pandemic going on, it’s getting more and more common to just spend the break resting at home.
Is there any particular dish that you look forward to for this particular festive? How do you prepare it?
I’m not Korean, but back in my hometown, I was extremely close with a lot of Korean international students who studied at our local universities. I’ll always remember the time one of them taught me how to make ggochi jeon. She invited me to the small apartment she was living in, and all of the ingredients were already sliced up and ready for preparation. Together, we assembled the ggochi jeon to look like colorful banners of celebration, and as she cooked each one in her frying pan, I stood nearby and watched each of the finished ggochi jeon as she carefully arranged them on a nearby platter.
I look forward to making ggochi jeon this Lunar New Year not only because of this memory but also because it’s one of the most beautiful and festive-looking dishes in a traditional Korean holiday spread. Each ingredient provides a different color to the jeon’s flag-like appearance. When it’s served with other types of jeon, it definitely stands out as the most vibrant one. Here’s the recipe:
Any fun stories that you would like to share from past Lunar New Year celebrations?
One year I surprised my Korean exchange student friends by making ggochi jeon and cooking other traditional Korean holiday foods. It wasn’t nearly as much as they were probably served at their families’ celebrations at home, but I remember how touched they felt that they were able to eat some home-cooked holiday food even while being so far away from home.
What are you looking forward to for this Lunar New Year?
Sleep! (And manduguk, Korea’s traditional new year soup!)
What does this holiday mean to you?
For me, it means school is coming soon! Because here in Korea, Lunar New Year is the last big holiday before we start getting ready for a new academic year. (There’s also a lot of graduation ceremonies around this time of year.)
Anything else you would like to tell us?
A lot of people don’t know this, but when figuring out which lunar year you are (i.e.: Year of the Tiger, Year of the Ox), you should use the Lunar New Year’s date to figure out the year instead of January 1. I thought I was Year of the Tiger for so many years of my life, but since my birthday is in January (and before Lunar New Year), I’m actually Year of the Ox – the year before!
Want more holiday content? Check out Team EnVi’s resolutions here!
