Many former members in rural areas return to their hometowns to celebrate the new year with their parents and relatives, but one woman who was planning to visit her husband's family home for the Lunar New Year posted on an online community:
It has become a hot topic. The Korean Lunar New Year "Seollal" is a festival to celebrate the beginning of the year, and is one of the two major festivals along with the mid-autumn celebration of the Obon festival on the lunar calendar.
For example, relatives and neighbors gather together to exchange greetings known as "Sebe (New Year's worship)". One of the things that children look forward to is the New Year's money known as "Sebetton", which they receive after the greetings.
A ritual called "Cha-Ri" is also held, during which special offerings to the gods and ancestors called "Charesan" (Cha-Ri-Taka) are prepared.
In addition, while it is customary in Japan to give gifts at the end of the year, in Korea, gift sales are held in conjunction with Seollal.
As the Lunar New Year approaches, holiday gifts are available at supermarkets, department stores, fruit shops, butcher shops and other privately owned shops. Gifts include fresh and processed foods, daily necessities, and daily necessities.
The products range from basic necessities to health foods, and it is said that there is a difference in purchasing trends between young people and the elderly. The Korean government announced the "Lunar New Year Holiday Measures" on the 9th of this month.
During this time, highway tolls were waived, and in an effort to boost consumption, gift certificates to be used at traditional markets were issued for a record amount of 5.5 trillion won (approximately 5.5 billion yen).
The shopping and tourism event "Korea Grand Sale" will be held from the 15th of this month to the 28th of next month. Meanwhile, on the 22nd, a post was made on an online community saying, "I'm going to (my husband's parents' house) for Lunar New Year.
"I was moved to tears by my daughter who said she didn't want to come," was the title of the post that caused a hot topic. This woman, who has an 8-year-old daughter, usually helps out with the housework whenever she visits her husband's parents' house, and is always bothered by her mother-in-law.
The woman said she tried not to show this to her daughter, but her daughter, sensing that he was in a difficult situation, told her father, "I'm going to go to my grandmother's house.
"Don't go. Grandma will complain to your mother. If you go, your mother will be upset," the woman said. "I never thought an 8-year-old would be able to sense something like that."
"I thought it was good to endure it, but it may not be good for my children," she wrote. The woman decided not to go to her husband's parents' house this Lunar New Year, but to go to her own parents' house.
In South Korea, people tend to accumulate stress before the Lunar New Year and mid-autumn celebrations, and after the holidays, they complain of abnormalities in the spine and joints, dizziness, headaches, stomachaches, palpitations, and other symptoms.
This symptom is called "Korean Festival Syndrome." Some say it is a disease that exists only in Korea and not anywhere else in the world.
People are busy preparing gifts for their relatives and procuring offerings for the ancestral memorial service "Chale." Some people also feel excessive mental stress during the Lunar New Year due to social interactions with relatives.
This "Kougun" phenomenon is said to be especially prevalent among women. The preparations for the festival tend to be concentrated on women, and there are cases where wives lose patience with their husbands who do nothing, leading to a rapid deterioration in their relationships and even divorce.
Some people are calling for the abolition of festivals, arguing that "repeatedly eating and cleaning up afterwards is not really a part of traditional culture."
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, people are being urged to refrain from engaging in activities during these holidays, and traditional events are being postponed.
People were forced to change the way they spent the holidays. However, some people who had been suffering from "holiday syndrome" expressed relief, saying that the burden would be reduced. However, as life began to return to normal,
On social media, some people lamented the possibility of suffering from the "Lunar New Year syndrome" again. According to a forecast by the Korea Transport Institute, 35 million people will travel to their hometowns or travel during this year's Lunar New Year.
He said.
2025/01/27 15:01 KST
Copyrights(C)wowkorea.jp 5