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The first Seollal gathering for a Korean association and international students since the pandemic
Country
Russia
Date
2023.01.30

Celebrating Korean national holidays overseas is not so easy. Particularly, the Korean Seollal holiday is based on the lunar calendar, so it is not easy to make time to celebrate Seollal in Russia, which celebrates New Year’s Day by the solar calendar. However, one cannot miss the opportunity to have a bowl of tteokguk (sliced rice cake soup), which is the main dish that all Koreans must have on Seollal. People who live with their families would usually make it at home. Sometimes, local Korean churches host tteokguk-sharing events. If both don’t work you, you will have to buy a bowl at a Korean restaurant. However, going to a restaurant is not so easy for international students with limited finances. It’s hard enough to live alone overseas and focus on studying. Not being able to have a bowl of tteokguk can be really heartbreaking. It is one of many difficulties that international students have to endure.


Recognizing this situation, the Saint Petersburg Korean Association invited Korean international students in the city and shared tteokguk with them. On January 23, executive members of the Saint Petersburg Korean Association and the Student Union at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory gathered together in a Korean restaurant to casually celebrate Seollal. For the last few years, the Korean residents in the city hadn’t been able to celebrate the annual Seollal holiday due to the pandemic. In addition to that, many international students had to leave the country or convert to online courses due to the impacts of the war and pandemic, making it difficult to gather a large number of students. This year, the executives of the association decided that they should still spend Seollal together even on a small scale and organized the meeting.


President Choi Seon-do of the Saint Petersburg Korean Association sharing words of blessing with international students

President Choi Seon-do of the Saint Petersburg Korean Association sharing words of blessing with international students



At the gathering, President Choi Seon-do of the Saint Petersburg Korean Association, expressed his regret that they could not spend more time with the Korean students during the pandemic, especially because the Student Union had always volunteered to help whenever there was an event for the local Korean community. He also added that he will look for opportunities for music students to perform on a stage this year. A concert would be a meaningful event that can revitalize the Korean community that has seen decreased activities both internally and externally. In the past, the Saint Petersburg Korean Association and The National Unification Advisory Council jointly held a concert participated by the international students at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. It was a great opportunity for the international students to present the skills that they had honed through hard work on the stage, so the students gladly participated in the event. The executives of the association voiced the need to resume this event in 2023, regretting the interruption caused by the pandemic.


2018 Unification Concert jointly held by the Saint Petersburg Korean Association and The National Unification Advisory Council

2018 Unification Concert jointly held by the Saint Petersburg Korean Association and The National Unification Advisory Council



President Han Hui-jeong of the Student Union at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory expressed, “I would like to thank the Saint Petersburg Korean Association for your interest in Korean international students. I hope we have a chance to create a great stage together with the association.” A concert was planned to be held in 2022, but it has been canceled due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Han continued to emphasize, “I hope to see the two countries achieve peace this year. It’ll be great to have a concert this year.” Russia has now become one of the most popular countries among international students who wish to study music, along with Germany and the United States. Since the establishment of the diplomatic relationship between the Republic of Korea and Soviet Union, many musicians came to Saint Petersburg and learned about various Western composers as well as great Russian composers, such as Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and Shostakovich. It is known that Russia puts the most emphasis on the fundamentals of music education in the world. It would be one of the roles of the association to create an opportunity for the promising musicians who learned music in such a country to show off their skills. In 2023, we hope to see great performances from the international students on stage. It will not only deliver comfort and hope to the Koreans overseas, but also demonstrate the strong friendship between the Republic of Korea and Russia on the private level.


President Han Hui-jeong of the Student Union at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory emphasizing the hope for a concert to be held in 2023

President Han Hui-jeong of the Student Union at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory emphasizing the hope for a concert to be held in 2023



Meanwhile, the Seollal event was held at a Korean restaurant called Eommane. The restaurant owner prepared various pancakes and sweet rice with nuts and jujubes in addition to tteokguk, and served the supplementary food free of charge. Everyone at the event had a great time, having pancakes and sweet rice with nuts and jujubes, which are the special holiday dishes that are not easy to come by outside Korea.  The act of sharing during the holidays enhances the sense of "jeong" (affinity) among Koreans. Through the event, we could learn once again that even the simple act of sharing special food and friendly conversations during Seollal can provide a source of energy that gets us through the difficulties of living overseas. We would like to see the Saint Petersburg Korean Association and the Student Union working diligently together this year to contribute to the Korean community and Russia through music.




Overseas Korean correspondent