Waldwick, NJ – (February 12, 2020) – Greater Bergen Realtors® (GBR) the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) Northern Jersey Chapter and for the first time, the Global Real Estate Association of Seoul (GRAS) hosted an extraordinary virtual Lunar New Year celebration this past Wednesday, February 10th. The event was spearheaded by GBR’s Global Business Council Chair Sandra Martinez and Vice-Chair William Koumas. GBR Chair Sandra Martinez said, “ I am so thrilled to have been able to kick off the year with GRAS and AREAA. It was a wonderful experience to learn about the tradition and customs of Korea.”
The event had panelists from across the U.S. and Korea. Jane Youn, President of GRAS, Prisca Lee, 2021 President of AREAA Northern New Jersey Gay Cororaton, Senior Economist and the Director of Housing & Commercial Research with the Research Group of the National Association of REALTORS®(NAR), and special guest Charlie Oppler, 2021 President for the National Association of REALTORS® who officially kicked off the event.
NAR’s Senior Economist, Gay Cororaton prepared an excellent presentation on foreign buyers in the U.S. housing market which included an update on the affects Covid-19, and the fact that the U.S. housing is still booming amid the pandemic. Ms. Cororaton said, “Congratulations to the Greater Bergen REALTORS® and its partners—AREAA Northern New Jersey and the Global Real Estate Association of Seoul— on a successful, unique, and fun event on the eve of the Korean New Year! I thoroughly enjoyed the cooking demo and the videos. I can’t wait to see this live next year! In my research on foreign buyers, I often encounter REALTORS® who very much want to work with foreign buyers but who “don’t know how to start,” so this event was an innovative and fun way to increase cultural appreciation and establish those global connections. Keep up the terrific work, GBR, ARREA- NNJ, and GRAS!”
Following Ms. Cororaton’s presentation, GRAS demonstrated what were some of their favorite traditions for the New Year all in attendance. All in attendance took a virtual trip to Korea where they learned about the traditions that make the Lunar New Year celebration so special. They showcased some of their most valued traditional practices that included explaining their New Year attire, a drum performance, and the food.
GRAS member Jeong-Il Lim explained to us the significance of their traditional Tteokguk (rice-cake soup). He said, “The characteristics of rice-cake, the main ingredient of rice-cake soup, is one of the reasons why we enjoy it. First, the rice-cake looks like a long water hose. We are cooking long rice-cake by cutting them into small pieces. We pray for a long life by making long rice-cake and cooking rice-cake soup. Second, round (today's oval) cut rice-cake resembles a coin, It is a wish to make a lot of money. Lastly, the rice-cake for soup is a pure white color without seasoning. White means cleanliness – so putting it all together the rice-cake soup means to wash away all the bad things and wish only good things to happen in the new year.”
In addition, AREAA Northern New Jersey and GBR members prepared the staple dish Tteokguk from the comfort of thier homes. This was a fun and unique experience to have members of AREAA and GBR and the Chief Executive Officer of GBR show-off their cooking skills during the event. President of AREAA Northern NJ and Vice-Chair of AREAA EDGE National Committee, Prisca Lee said, “It was an honor to work alongside GBR, with whom we have maintained a longtime collaboration and mutual respect for over the years. We look forward to continuing this partnership with such an incredible organization. This year, bringing GRAS into our Lunar New Year event this year was incredibly exciting and meaningful for AREAA Northern NJ. We have every intention to maintain and further develop our relationship with our real estate friends in South Korea going forward. Thank you everyone for joining this overseas venture. Sharing this experience was very special."