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.
_
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