New Year's weekend a friend convinced us to get out of Anjung and come find her in Pohang. So we traveled to Youngil Bay in the easternmost part of the Korean peninsula to welcome in the New Year.
Two Koreans were lighting a lantern, but it was a windy day. We all gathered in a circle to while the paper filled with hot air so it could make it off the ground.
Earlier in the day we noticed the industry in the background, but later that night the whole area lit up like Disney World. We later discovered this was POSCO, the 3rd largest steel industry in the world.
Homigot-Myeon, about 30 minutes drive from Pohang (with no traffic) where the main New Year's activities were located.
There were tons of tents with traditional Korean food.
And all the Koreans were so stunned to see that foreigners had found them. We were 4 of 6 Americans there, less than 20 non-Koreans. So a very nice ajumma gave us cardboard to sit on, and a child ran up and gave me a candy, and a nice man gave me this corn.
At the stroke of midnight, a live chorus sang end-of-the-world themed music while the light and fireworks show ensued. And there was also a fire breathing dragon.
After midnight, everyone tried to find a warm place to sleep until morning. There were heated trailers, but most people were in the main building on mats on a granite floor. First we tried sleeping in a trailer, forming an alliance with a Korean man to keep people from opening the door. It worked for awhile, but at some point the door was left open a crack and the room dropped by ten degrees. Then, like an immigrant family, we left for the main building in hopes of finding space on the floor. A man there was kind enough to let us share his mat with him and his wife, and we fell asleep until the morning.
At 6 a.m. one or two members of each Korean family began meandering outside to stake out seats at the water's edge to watch the New Year's sunrise. It is a tradition for Korean families to watch the first sunrise. Even as we were leaving that morning, there were miles and miles of backed up traffic trying to get there in time to see the first light of the morning sun.
