“This is another ritual from Korean New Years, but I remember after wearing the Hanbok, we did this thing called sebae, where the children bowed to their parents and to adults. We wished them luck for the new year, and for their new year to be full of blessings. Then, they gave us money! I mean.. easy money, right?”

Sebae is probably a ritual that most Koreans follow during the New Years. Even I remember doing sebae to my grandparents and elders when I was a child. This ritual shows how much emphasis Asian cultures, especially, put on respecting elders. This deep bowing allows children to show their respects to their elders, giving them a good opportunity to practice. This is one ritual that I haven’t done in a while and being reminded of it makes me want to start doing it again to my parents.

Irene Choi is a 21 year old, junior, studying Theatre Set Design. She is a friend that I have always heard about, but got close to because we took a class together. All the stories that she told me are from the Korean culture. She grew up living in the United States most of her life, so the folktales are whatever she heard and learned from her parents. She identifies herself as a second generation Korean, but tries her best to keep her identity as a Korean.

Irene told me her folklores in a casual setting. We were spending time together and I just randomly asked her to share any folklore she had.

“Every New Years, as a child, I remember being so excited to wear my pretty dress. My mom would take down the white box from our closet and when she opened it, my dress was there, waiting for me to put it on. My dress was bright red with hints of green and gold. My mom would help me put it on; I needed her to help me because I didn’t know how to tie the bow on the front of the dress. It had to be tied a certain way, not your ordinary ribbon. She would then braid my hair and put it up in a bun. I always felt like a princess with the silk dress rubbing against my skin. My sister and I would spin and spin, watching the dress puff up, creating a really pretty circular shape. There was a flap on the front of my dress where I can fold and hide my hands behind, to show respect to the elders. If I could, I would have worn this dress everyday, but Hanbok is a traditional Korean dress that my family only wore during New Years.”

When Irene started telling me about this tradition that she practiced as a child, I couldn’t help but smile because this was exactly what I did as a kid with my family. I grew up in the United States most of my life as well, but my family still celebrated Korean New Years and I wore Hanbok like Irene did. I never really thought of all this as a tradition, but now that I’ve grown up and I’ve stopped wearing Hanbok, I treasure this Korean ritual even more. Talking about this with someone who’s done the same thing was fun, especially exchanging stories we both identify with.

Irene Choi is a 21 year old, junior, studying Theatre Set Design. She is a friend that I have always heard about, but got close to because we took a class together. All the stories that she told me are from the Korean culture. She grew up living in the United States most of her life, so the folktales are whatever she heard and learned from her parents. She identifies herself as a second generation Korean, but tries her best to keep her identity as a Korean.

Irene told me her folklores in a casual setting. We were spending time together and I just randomly asked her to share any folklore she had.

“In the Korean culture, we celebrate a baby’s first birthday. This is like a sweet sixteen, just when you’re one years old. The baby obviously doesn’t remember this celebration, but it’s mostly for the parents for raising their child successfully for an entire year. One tradition during Dolnal is when the baby gets to “choose” his or her future career. The parents will have laid out different objects in a line. Some of the things may be a stethoscope to represent being a doctor, a book for a lawyer, money for being rich, ect. Then the baby would be seated in front of the different objects and he or she would have to crawl over and choose an object. Whichever object they choose would be their future career!”

As a baby, I celebrated Dolnal as well. Obviously I do not remember any of this because I was only one years old, but there are photos that my parents have shown me. Until recently, I really thought a baby’s first birthday was celebrated this hugely in all cultures. However, I realized it was mostly with Koreans that parents invested in their child’s first birthday because I didn’t celebrate my sweet sixteen like some of my other friends did. I have been to other baby’s Dolnals and they are always great. It is a time to celebrate for their parents and a good time for friends to come together to admire the baby.

Irene Choi is a 21 year old, junior, studying Theatre Set Design. She is a friend that I have always heard about, but got close to because we took a class together. All the stories that she told me are from the Korean culture. She grew up living in the United States most of her life, so the folktales are whatever she heard and learned from her parents. She identifies herself as a second generation Korean, but tries her best to keep her identity as a Korean.

Irene told me her folklores in a casual setting. We were spending time together and I just randomly asked her to share any folklore she had.

Dia de Los Muertos

“My family set up altars and decorated skulls of the people we want.. pretty much we’re inviting the good spirits into our house, kinda like having dinner with them! November 1st is for the children and November 2nd for adults.”

“Why do you guys have separate days for children and adults?”

“Why? uhh I’m not exactly sure. Oh November 1st is all saints day, so you now how children are innocent so it’s a religious holiday. The children celebrate with the innocent saints. And the adults.. they’re not innocent. They get their own day.”

This specific holiday/festival is pretty well known in Southern California. Residents here celebrate this day of the dead as well. However, what made this time different was what Griselda told me about there being separate days for children and adults. I have never heard of that before about Dia de Los Muertos, especially about the part about children being innocent so they celebrate during the first day when it is a religious holiday while the adults celebrate the next day because they are not so innocent. This is a tradition that Griselda had practiced her entire life; it is her life, so it meant a lot sharing this to me.

Griselda Vega is a 41 year old mother of two sons. She also works in the office with me. She was exceptionally excited to share with me her culture’s stories and traditions which made it exciting for me to interview her. Griselda was born in Mexico and lived there until the age of 20, when she moved to the United States. At the age of 21, she was employed, and she works at the same office since then.

El Dia de la Rosca

“January 6. Instead of getting the present on the 25th of December, we get it on this day. We get a shoebox under your bed and give it on the 6th. There’s a bread that we make and there’s a baby in the bread. If you get the bread with the baby inside, then you have to throw a party on February 2nd. We have no Santa Claus. The party is like a feast with tamales, and the person has to cook everything. In Mexico, we don’t celebrate the 25th but on January 6th instead.”

This is a huge part of Vanessa’s life. When I was listening to this, I was confused at first because she had not specified that this was her version of Christmas. I thought it was a completely different holiday, but no. In Mexico, instead of Christmas, they celebrate El Dia de la Rosca. As long as she can remember, Vanessa had celebrated this with her family even after moving to the United States. I think this new type of Christmas holiday is very fun and excited to hear about. Hearing about what they do instead of the traditional Christmas exposed me to a whole new culture. Especially the bread part that determines who plans the party is different for me and it makes me want to try this too.

Vanessa Marquez is another co-worker of mine. She is a married 27 year old. She was born in Mexico and came to the United States as a child. These folk stories were shared to me during break at work in a casual setting.