Koreans don't celebrate the New Year like we do in the West. Here they celebrate the Lunar New year, which this time will fall on February 17-18, 2007. They do put some signs in the streets announcing the Solar New Year and they do take January 1st off, but they don't party anywhere near as much as westerners do for that occasion.

Around 10:00 am on January 1st, Ki came knocking on my door asking whether I would like to go have lunch with him and his family later on. I had met Ki walking down the hallway in my apartment building about a month before. Ki is a Korean investor who has a business in Beijing, China. He has a house in Beijing and another house in Seoul, where his wife and children live. He also has an apartment just two doors down the hall from mine, which he visits every once in a while.

I accepted his invitation and around 1:00 pm we all went to the nearby small harbor of Hayajin. We sat outside near some of the moored boats and we had some delicious Sashimi with Soju. Later that evening the four of us went out together again, this time to a small restaurant located in downtown Gangseong, my "home town." There we shared some delicious Bulgogui, which is something like a BBQ that they serve with a variety of small side-dishes.

That was a very nice way to start the New Year.

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