Melanie's Mostly Writing

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Melanie Lewicka

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Today is Seollal or Korean Lunar New Year. We are at my mother in laws house for the traditional offering of a table of food to the ancestors. A lot of preparation goes into this ritual and it’s done in a very specific way. After the offering we’ll bow to mom and get lucky money. It’s nice that these traditions are still observed, although fewer people do it these days.

I have five days off, including the weekend, for Seollal. I’ve been trying hard with my diet, and have lost 3kg in the last couple of weeks, but the festive period has upset things. We’ve had big family meals and today we had to eat rice cake soup and rice early in the morning. I  have had to sacrifice my diet rather than be rude and say I won’t eat together. I want to get back on track as soon as possible, hopefully tomorrow.

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