제야 (New Year’s Eve)
Midnight gatherings for the Bosingak Bell ringing ceremony in Seoul and watching the year’s last sunset.
제야 (New Year’s Eve) is a significant event in Korea, marking the transition from the old year to the new. The most famous celebration takes place in Seoul, centered around the Bosingak Bell. This bell, located in Jongno District, is rung 33 times at midnight to welcome the new year. The ringing of the bell is accompanied by a spectacular fireworks display, illuminating the night sky and creating a festive atmosphere.
December is the season of songnyeonhoe, the year-end dinners that every office, club and group of friends holds, and 31 December ends with the countdown broadcast live from Jongno, where crowds wait in the cold for the tajong, the ringing of the bell. Many Koreans then drive through the night to the east coast: haeneomi, watching the last sunset of the year, and haemaji, greeting the first sunrise of the new one at Jeongdongjin or Homigot, are the two ends of the same trip. On 1 January families eat tteokguk, the rice cake soup that adds a year to everyone's age.
The pack has 36 words spread across these domains.
Same words in both. Beginner gets more help: matching and completing. Advanced listens and spells it out unaided. Pick it in practice; it locks when you take the scored run.
Practise as often as you like, all year. The scored run happens once, while the competition is open, and cannot be retaken.