這篇文章選自《韓國風情錄》這本書。文章介紹了韓國的傳統節日——新年，以及韓國人民在新年里的一些風俗習慣。和中國一樣，韓國實際上也過兩個新年，而新年是韓國最盛大的兩個傳統節日之一。雖然每年的陽歷1月1日和2日是法定的節假日，但大多數韓國家庭返鄉團聚都是在陰歷新年，即每年的1月末或2月初。和陽歷新年一樣，陰歷新年也是辭舊迎新的日子。

Solnal (New Year's Day)--First Day of the First Month

This is one of the two biggest holidays in Korea.

Like China, Korea actually celebrates the New Year twice. While January 1st and 2nd are official holidays, most families make the cross-country voyage to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year, which falls in late January or early February. As in the West, this day sends off the past year and ushers in the new. Perhaps nobody appreciates the promise of a new start more than a Korean farmer.

For children, the most popular custom is dressing up in rainbow-colored silk hanbok and performing the sebae(New Year Bow) before all the elders of the family and wishing them pok(fortune) for the coming year. In turn, they are rewarded with golden words of advice and pocket money, the amount depending on their age and position in the family. This is one custom that is in no danger of dying out from rapid industrialization and urbanization, although its focus has shifted from paying calls of respect on elders to paying young children to be good.

Some of the other games that make this day special, but are losing ground to electronic forms of recreation, are a tug-of-war, kite-flying, see-sawing, and yut-nori, a kind of board game played with sticks.

Traditionally for girls over seven, the see-saw was their window to the world. New Year's Day used to be the only time of the year that girls could see over the courtyard walls. Nowadays, the see-saw is more a test of rhythm and balance than the social event girls looked forward to all year.

Jumping up and down on the low, flat board is devilishly more difficult than it appears. There is no fulcrum, so the momentum comes entirely from the timing of you and your partner's leaps.

(This article is excerpted from "Korean Scenes")

（通訊員上海第二工業大學外國語學院錢婧投稿 英語點津陳蓓編輯 ）