Happy 2012! It is now the year of the dragon in South Korea. What does the dragon stand for? It all boils down to representing the year of empowerment. (We like that!)
(At 2 pm today we got to watch Time Square drop the ball live in the comfort of our living room).
Since we’ve lived in Korea, we’ve been exposed to many customs and cultures of friends from all over the globe. We’ve learned that all of these cultures have various traditions and superstitions when it comes to the foods served in the first hours or day of the New Year.
The one thing in common all these cultures have is, they all say the best and luckiest of foods to eat, will help you to live long and prosper in the coming year.
Almost all Of these traditions surround foods that symbolize money in the hopes that the New Year will bring promises of new wealth.
Greens are popular because of their similarity to stacks of green paper money. We Bees are from central pennsylvania, our PA Dutch traditional food to eat on New Years Day is, pork and sauerkraut. We throw in some hot dogs (turkey to keep it healthy, and also because Mrs.B can’t stomach normal dogs) and of course mashed potatoes.
When we lived in the south we learned that they too eat a similar meal, but they throw in black-eyed peas. These symbolize the rich wealth of coins.
So what does our meal exactly mean or stand for? Well we’ve grown up being told that the cabbage (sauerkraut) represents money, but the pork also has significance as well, pigs are sturdy strong creatures, they root in the ground with their snouts, it is always in a forward direction, symbolizing a year of progress and moving forward. Yes, it really is as simple as that!
What is your traditional “good luck” food in the New Year? Well, whatever it is, we wish you good fortune in the new year! Cheers, and Happy New Year!