Seollal

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Chance & Travis discuss the detention of a 21 year old American tourist in North Korea & the return of expensive Korean gift sets for the Lunar New Year holiday.
The duo also discuss the results of two polls from the Oink – Only in Korea Facebook group where members answered if they would ever travel to North Korea and what they think of Korean gift sets.

Seollal aka Korean's New Year aka Lunar New Year is around the corner and now that I'm in Korea there are MANY things I would like to do, but still, I have no plans for this year's 4 day Holiday.

1st of all, Seollas is the Lunar New Year and is one of the most celebrated Holidays in Korea -as well as Chuseok-, this year Seollal falls on January 31st of the Gregorian Calendar, this marks the beginning of a new year, unlike December 31st, this date is not a date to go our partying with your friends, it's about Paying respect to our ancestors and gather around with your family to catch up, most Koreans travel to meet their family, Hanbok is used for this day and games are played when the family is together but even if you don't have plans to celebrate this important holiday, you should be ready.

On Friday night we boarded a bus in Suwon expecting hours of traffic packed in between tumults of snow. We hoped the journey would take less than five hours and, if we were lucky, the bus driver would at least leave the reading lights on, unlike the last time we took the bus.

We knew what was ahead. Korean New Year is famous for the lines of impregnable traffic on the express-way, and for the previous two days, both the weather forecast and my father-in-law had been warning us about the snow that was going to stop the world that existed around us.

Two hours into our journey along the expressway I awoke with a shudder and snort. The bus was cruising steadily along the expressway at an unfamiliar speed, perhaps over 80 kilometres an hour, and we were passing Munmak, thaat perpetual traffic black spot on the Yeongdong Expressway.

Hello everyone,

This might be one day late for everyone in Asia, but I hope you are enjoying/enjoyed a wonderful Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day!

In Korea, Seollal 설날 (the Korean name for Lunar New Year) is one of the biggest celebrations in the year. It's a day to spend quality time with family and enjoy great food. In that respect, it's really fitting that this year, Seollal falls on Valentine's Day and that it's one day before Family Day.