차례, 제사, and 고사

While most people are out partying it up every 12/31, I usually spend the night at my grandma’s.  This because my family practices the custom of charye (차례).  It’s a basically a memorial service for ancestors, but to me, it means delicious home-cooked Korean food and plenty of leftovers to take home.

Galbi, bindaeddeok, fish jeon, zucchini jeon, donggeurang ddaeng, japchae, namul, etc.... all my faves

Jesa (제사) is a similar practice held on the actual day said ancestor passed away, however charye is a lot more convenient in that it’s usually held on a holiday when it’s far easier for all the relatives to get together.  Some families do this on Chuseok, but it’s been my family’s tradition to do this on the morning of the New Year.

It wouldn't be a New Year's meal without a bowl of ddeokguk. They say you don't age a year until you eat a bowl

After the ceremony is said and done, it’s time to eat.  My grandma is an AWESOME cook.  Her food is the standard of which I judge all Korean food.  Never been a big fan of her kimchi, however…  Anyways, after breakfast we do the New Year’s bow (세배), which involves passing out/receiving money.  Then we just hang around either playing go-stop or napping from the itis until it’s time for lunch where we eat leftovers.

it's kinda hard to see, but it's basically just fruit, ddeok, and jeon. nothing special

Recently, my company moved to a different building.  This is where I was able to witness a Korean custom that was new to me.  It’s called gosa (고사).  This is a ritual that is normally performed when starting up a new business, or in our case, moving into a new building.  Instead of paying respects to the deceased, you pay respects to a pig’s head, as pigs are a symbol of good luck in Korea.

we also ate pig's head meat (머리고기), but it wasn't this head

The spread of food was nowhere near as impressive as what I get at my grandma’s, but it was interesting nonetheless.  Each department head went and bowed to the pig’s head, then shoved some money in an orifice.  The end result looked like a really fucked up and expensive college prank.