Bonne année!

On New Year's, Koreans say:

Sae-hae bok mani badeu-seyo!

sae-hae = new year

bok = Sino-Korean character for "happiness"

mani = by strange phonetic coincidence, this means "a lot" or sometimes "many"

bad = from the verb "bad-da," to receive (pronounce it somewhere between "bahd-da" and "paht-da")

eu-seyo = linking vowel + polite suffix ("badeu-seyo" might be translated "please receive...")

So, literally, this is saying, "Receive much happiness in the new year!"

Drive safely, party memorably, and start the new year with a fresh mind and renewed will.

Lunar New Year, Seol-nal (pronounce it "sull-lal"), is January 22nd, if I'm not mistaken. So I'll be saying "sae-hae bok mani badeuseyo" again, but from Seoul. I leave January 6th.

Peef, yo.

_