Just like Christmas and all the other holidays, New Years is celebrated a little differently in Pyeongtaek than what you might be used to. Whereas you might stay up until midnight to celebrate the New Year, in South Korea it’s all about waking up early (or staying up all night) and welcoming in the sunrise on the first day of the year.
1. Pyeongtaek Lake Sunrise Celebration (2019 평택호 해맞이 행사)
If you would like to join a local cultural experience that isn’t promoted to foreigners at all, this is it. We wake up very early on New Year’s day (like 5:00am) and drive out to Pyeongtaek Lake. We then stand around in the freezing cold together and watch the sunrise. It’s a beautiful experience.
The first few years there was actually a huge celebration in the morning with fireworks, snacks, music, sending up our lanterns, and everyone eating a traditional breakfast of noodles together. For the last two years, however, the celebration has been more organic since the city canceled its events due to last-minute complications. Everyone went to Pyeongtaek Lake – despite the cancellation – and hung out together anyway. Whether the city plans something big or not, this is our favorite thing to do in Pyeongtaek on New Year. Usually, about 3,000 people show up to celebrate together.
How to prepare: Dress warmly. You want to wear things that have serious wind stop protection. The wind off the water can be brutal. Bring Hot Packs. This is a Korean trick that works. You can buy them at markets. Keep those hand warmers in your pockets and it makes life way better. A thermos of Coffee. This is our personal touch to the day. We bring big thermoses of coffee to keep us awake and toasty. Blankets. Some folks bring a lap blanket for sitting on the benches or just wrapping up. Totes worth it if the wind picks up.
Arrive by: 6:00 am You need to arrive pretty early because parking can be a hassle. You might end up needing to walk 20 minutes to the community viewing spot if you don’t arrive early. Since we would rather hangout and enjoy the lights display and the culture, we just come as early as possible and settle in.
Official Start Time: 7:00 am (Arrive a lot earlier than that for parking)
Leave late: Don’t expect to rush out to your next event. There will be coffee shops and places to eat that open after everyone watches the sunrise. Plan on going and hanging out for a while to let traffic clear out. Accept that you are trapped for a bit and just enjoy yourself.
Food and Snacks: Don’t expect any foreign food. There might be some, there might not. This is a Korean event, for Koreans, by Koreans. Those of us who call this home are doing Korean things in Korea. If you or the kids are still having trouble adapting to Korean food please don’t be heroes, bring some snacks from home. There is no shame in it. Preparation for these hurdles makes everything more enjoyable.
Dogs. We have taken our dogs and many other people are there with theirs as well. Just don’t take them if they are scared of people, sounds, or don’t aren’t good at staying warm. Ours mostly stayed in our jackets.
If you choose to join in the local adventure, you will find the experience most enjoyable if you sit back and relax. Give it space and give it time. Don’t try to be anywhere too fast or expect things to be like home. It’s new, different, and charming in its own wonderful way. You will be uncomfortable in the cold so dress extra for it. Part of the pleasure of this New Year celebration is that we are all a little miserable together in order to share that one beautiful moment the light begins to rise in the east. It’s a shared burden and a shared joy. This is an experience that brings you into a deeper understanding of what it means to be Korean.
2. Western Style New Year
If you are feeling homesick and want to bring in the New Year in a more western way, we recommend going out near either Paengseong or Songtan/Shinjang. These areas are located near US Military bases so businesses will cater to this experience and it will be appropriately “lit”. Just check with your favorite places or head out on the town. Bars know that New Years is the night for making money and they will have some sort of promotion or party happening. If you like dancing, we recommend checking out the Songtan/Osan AF Base area as they have more dance clubs.
These areas, however, are not especially family friendly during this time.
3. Do Your Own Thang
Since Pyeongtaek has neighborhoods that don’t sleep. (Can’t tell you how many times we’ve accidentally-on-purpose gone home at 5am.) If you go out near AK Plaza or in Seojeongri near Songtan City Hall, you are going to find plenty of things to do. You don’t really need a plan. The plan just sort of happens. There are
Lunar New Year Is Just Around the Corner
Of course, if the January 1 N ew Year celebration isn’t as fun as you hoped, you can always celebrate with us all again in February when South Korea truly brings in the New Year. True, the parties aren’t big at that time but we have a lot more time off which we spend with our families. Learn more about Lunar New Year CLICK HERE
Korean Cultural Note: Age
For anyone who doesn’t know this yet, in Korea we are all about to get a year older on the same day. Instead of celebrating individual birthdays, we do it all together on New Years! To learn more about how Korean age works, CLICK HERE!
Huge thanks to our friends in high places who take time out of their busy days to ask our questions.
Finding this information is like searching for a needle in a Hangul haystack. Even when we can find the information in Korean in newspapers or on the Pyeongtaek City Website it’s rarely complete. For example, articles about New Years just say there will be a festival at the lake on the first and there will be free soup. Thankfully we have some very kind friends and contacts who work for PIEF and the city who call the planners and get the details (like start times) for us. Without
Founded in 2015, the South of Seoul team consists of volunteers on three continents working together to support English-speaking people traveling or living in South Korea. South of Seoul volunteers work with organizations and individuals across South Korea to improve equitable access to information across South Korea. Much of South of Seoul’s information focuses on Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
Blogs published under the authorship of “South of Seoul” include blogs compiled by multiple volunteers to improve access to standardized information unrelated to individualized personal experiences.
