Winter is a time when it is easy for people to become idle, and as a result, people can become weak both mentally and physically. Koreans in the past enjoyed many traditional activities to prevent themselves from dying of boredom during winter, and this month the Review is introducing some traditional activities that Koreans used to do in order to keep themselves occupied during the cold winters.

Ice-Fishing
Ice fishing was one of the traditional activities that Koreans enjoyed during winter in the past. Ice fishing was simply done by making a hole over thick sheet of ice and using a line and fish hook to catch fish. Now and then, people had to move around to find new places to fish and make holes on ice, and the activity provided fishers with exercise to warm their bodies during cold winters. Up until 1960's, the Han River would freeze and people gathered around on Han River to ice fish. However, as a result of pollution, Han River does not freeze the way it did in the past. Although it might be impossible to ice fish on Han River anymore, every year from late December to late February, annual ice fishing festivals are held all over Korea. The 15th InJae Yellow-Smelt (Bing-uh) Festival will be held from December 20th to February 20th this year and visiting this festival will provide a great opportunity to visit KangWonDo as well.

Top-Spinning
During winter, top-spinning was another traditional entertainment that a lot of young children were delighted to spend time with. Top-Spinning is known to have become famous during the Tang Dynasty and transferred to Goryeo, one of the kingdoms of Korea. People made their tops by cutting the edges of wood and they attached old cloth on a stick to be used as a whip. Then, children went to frozen rivers or lakes to spin their top. They used their whips to make tops go around faster on ice. Children competed on who could spin their tops longer and people can still frequently see children playing with traditional tops during the Lunar New Year. Making a top and spinning it on a frozen lake might be a nice way to spend this winter break.

Sledding
Sledding is a fun activity that people around the world enjoys. People from snow countries are probably more familiar with some kind of a sled. The Korean traditional sleds are little different from Western sleds. The Korean sled (AnJunBangYi) consist of wooden board to sit but that barely gives any room to sit comfortably and wooden poles shaped in "T" to maneuver the sled around ice. The Korea's sleds are for frozen lake or frozen rivers rather than sledding down snowy hills. Even now, the sled is a source of great entertainment for children as they discover the fun of sledding on ice and it is a reminder of great past time for adults who spent their childhood during the 70's and the 80's. It is true that the sighting of sleds is less common in Seoul, but many people can find these sleds by visiting different resorts and even to ride them. Mt. Taebeck Snow Festival, which starts every January, is an event where people can experience riding the sleds.

Kores Traditional (Jwibulnori)
In the past, farmers would light a fire on the ridges between rice fields on the first day of the lunar calendar year, and this was called jwibulnori. Jwibulnori was practiced in order to chase off mice and get rid of insect eggs that could harm future cultivation. Later, it developed into a competition between villages to see who could make bigger fires. Villagers thought the outcome of the competition could predict how good the harvest will be for that year. After the Korean War, villagers started to attach strings on tins and lit the tin on fire. Then, while walking around the rice fields, people started fire with the tin or just spun the tin for pleasure. Jwibulnori was an entertaining winter activity that prepared the Korean farmers for next season as well.   

Yes, winter is cold and people are more prone to snuggle under their warm blankets and wait until winter passes by. However, Korea has four distinctive seasons and people living in Korea are bound to face winter every year. So, let’s go out there and maybe experience how Koreans might have lived in winter! Ice-fishing, top-spinning, or sledding or burning rice paddies, if you do not get arrested, might actually be a fun way to spend time this coming winter.