For Alaska Airlines’ employees MyHoa T., Sylvia K., and Esther C., the New Year means more than turning the page in a calendar. For their families, celebrating the first moon of the Lunar New Year can be a multi-day-long event that goes back generations. It means families getting together, renewal, fortune, and delicious dishes steeped in tradition.
Here, MyHoa, Sylvia, and Esther, members of Alaska Airlines’ Air Group Pan Asians (AGPA) business resource group (BRG), share what makes this time of year special for them and how even the name of the holiday differs based on where you are from.
While Lunar New Year is the general term for the start of the traditional lunisolar calendar, the holiday also has different names in specific cultures. People from Chinese culture call it Spring Festival, or Chūnjié, Koreans call the New Year Seollal, and Vietnamese refer to it as Tết.
In most Asian cultures that celebrate Lunar New Year, 2024 is the Year of the Dragon.
Celebrating Vietnamese Tết
Records analyst MyHoa T. celebrates Tết from the first day of the first month of the Vietnamese lunar calendar until at least the third day.
It’s about family: “It’s important to me because it’s the only occasion for all family members to get together,” MyHoa said. “We set aside all the troubles and worries of the past year and hope for a better and happier upcoming year.” In addition to gathering to eat, people wear their best clothes and visit their relatives and neighbors, sharing gifts and special wishes. “The elderly receive wishes for health, the adults are wished fortune and success, and the young and children receive money envelopes,” MyHoa said.
Cleaning the house: Tết starts the month before with a ceremonial cleaning of the house from top to bottom, followed by decorating. “In the South, where I’m from, we use yellow apricot blossoms, which represent the spirit of Tết,” MyHoa said. “We also use marigolds-symbolizing longevity, chrysanthemums, cockscombs, and paperwhites.”
Oh, the food!: Food preparation begins a week before the holiday. “We prepare roasted watermelon seeds, pickled onion, cabbage, and small leeks, dried candies, fruit trays, coconut candy, peanut brittle, and a big pot of meat stew cooked in coconut juice,” she said. On New Year’s Eve Day, the whole family gathers to prepare the traditional bánh tét, a savory-sweet rice cake, which takes about 24 hours to cook. “Everyone in the house has a job to do–be it the banana leaves, rice, cooking the meat (pork belly) or rolling and packing the cakes.”
Bonding with family during Korean Seollal
Seollal is a major national holiday in Korea where Sylvia K., pricing team lead in revenue management, has her family roots.
Respect and good fortune: “People wear traditional Korean clothing called hanbok, pay respects to their ancestors through a ritual called jesa, and eat lots of food,” Sylvia said.
“Everyone greets each other with ‘saehae bok mani badusaeyo,’ which translates to, ‘I hope you receive lots of good fortune in the new year.’” Growing up, Sylvia and her brother would saebae, or bow, to their parents before receiving New Year’s money.
The bites: Food is extremely important in Korean culture. Instead of asking how you are doing, Koreans will ask if you’ve eaten yet. “My parents always ask if I’ve eaten, whether it’s 3 in the afternoon or 11 at night,” she said. “For Seollal, my mom will prepare lots of delicious Korean food, but most important is tteokguk, or Korean rice cake soup. The flat oval-shaped rice cakes symbolize money, representing prosperity, and the soup sometimes has mandu, or dumplings, in it – it’s one of my favorite foods to eat.”
Why she loves it: “I love that as a proud Korean-American, I get to celebrate both my Korean roots and American traditions – the best of both worlds. Also, mom’s cooking is the best, so I love any reason to visit home and eat her food.”
Ringing in Lunar New Year with loved ones
For software engineer Esther C., who hails from Mainland China and Hong Kong, being with family and friends is important.
Red Pockets: At Lunar New Year, it’s tradition to give the gift of a bright red pocket (envelope). They are filled with money and symbolize good wishes and fortune for the year ahead. “When I was a kid, I was most excited about getting red pockets from grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunties,” Esther said. Other symbols are the New Year’s Eve firecrackers and the red New Year scroll.
Why it’s special: “To me, spending time with family and friends is the most important thing during the Lunar New Year holidays,” Esther said. “I have many great memories during the breaks and miss celebrating it with my family back in Hong Kong.”
What not to do: “Certain things are taboo during Lunar New Year—such as swearing or quarreling, getting your hair cut (because hair means ‘become rich’ and you don’t want to cut that), wearing white or black clothing (red or gold is lucky), and saying the number four (which can mean death),” said Esther.
Did you know?
While it celebrates the Chinese zodiac and has similar traditions, Japan follows the Gregorian calendar and does not celebrate the Lunar New Year.
The New Year (Oshōgatsu; on January 1) is celebrated and is a big holiday in the country. Read more here.