chuseok

Chuseok (pronounced Chew-sock) was a great experience, even though it was a bit of a marathon at times. In Korea, Chuseok is a holiday where the ancestors are celebrated through offering them food and drink. Generally, people go to their hometown to celebrate with their families. I went with my host family to Seoul for Chuseok. My host father has five brothers and there were all in Seoul with their families. We all crowded into five or six hundred square foot apartment for the festivities.

During the day before Chuseok, I mostly ate, played games with all the cousins and listened to people speaking in Korean. Jisu and I though about going shopping in Seoul, but it was pouring outside. That ended up being a wise choice because there was major flooding in the area we would have gone to. We watched on the news as people were walking in water up to their knees and the subway stations were closed.

The families split up for the night and I traveled about forty minutes to another house to sleep. The next morning (the actual day of Chuseok) we got up early and went back to my host father's oldest brother's apartment. All the women worked on making food and set up a table in the living room with the food on it. Then all the males gathered around the table, lit some incense, said a few words, and bowed before the food. Because I am not a male, I was not asked to participate in the rituals, although I did have to refuse the alcohol that was being passed around afterwards. Later, we made songpyeong, a traditional dessert. We took a rice-based dough, made it into a little cup, filled it with this sweet bean filling and pinched it closed. All the "uncles" thought that I made songpyeon very well, and apparently this means that I will marry a handsome man and have beautiful children. I won't object...

My host sisters and I headed into Seoul with the general intention of going to Starbucks. We first stopped at a Korean McDonalds for lunch. The menu is similar to America, although there are fewer healthy options (okay, no healthy options-not even diet cola) and a couple of interesting Korean/American combos. For example, there is the Bolgogi burger-but I did not try it so I cannot report on the flavour. Later in the day we left Seoul and headed back to Hongseong.

On the whole, Chuseok was a great time to get to know my host family better and experience some of the Korean traditions. I also loved catching up on sleep and having a break from my school work.

 Here we are making Songpyeon!

meeting up with friends!

This past weekend was wonderful. On Saturday I joined two of my Fulbright friends in the lovely town of Kongju. I traveled from Hongsong, and Em traveled from Yesan. We met up with Sam and spent the morning talking at a coffee shop. It was relieving to be able to speak English to a native speaker and to swap teaching stories and advice. The coffee was pretty good too :). Mid-morning, Sam had to leave for an English competition with her school, so Em and I went out for a walk. We strolled along a river (which I later found out from my host family that it is called the "silk" river because it is pretty) and had a great conversation in this covered seating area. The weather was hot and humid, but it was still nice to be outside. In the afternoon we went out in search of lunch. As we were just wandering around, we were having trouble finding any quaint restaurants. However, just as we were about to turn back to the bus station, we discovered the Mary Poppins Cafe. Serving Pizza, Italian Food, and Espresso (as the sign said), it was perfect. The inside decor made the place suitable for a Jane Austin-esque tea party with frilly tablecloths and cozy booths. I definitely want to check the place out again. The ride back to Hongseong was uneventful and I was spent after such a great day.

On Sunday, my host family headed to Yesan, where my host father has family. I opted to stay at the apartment for some R & R. After a slightly lazy morning, I packed my school supplies and headed to my favourite coffee shop, "Latte". I love this place. It is on the second floor if its building and has tables overlooking a street with a lot of foot traffic. Ordering an iced cafe latte (no sugar, please), I proceeded to listen to a sermon by Dan Betzer on my ipod. Talking about encountering the presence of God and focusing on Exodus 40, it was just what I needed this week. I then spent the next couple of hours lesson planning and reading The Three Musketeers. As I was headed back to my apartment, my host family called and said they were picking me up for dinner in Yesan. While this change in plans was unexpected, it ended up being a great trip. We went to two restaurants, but they were both closed. At the third restaurant, my host father dropped us off and headed off to find food that he likes better (apparently he does not like this style of food). I had spaghetti and a fried chicken breast. The combination was a little different than normal, but yummy. After dinner we went to my host father's brother's house. They live way out in the country in a two story wood house. At first I was anxious about getting back to finish my planning for Monday morning. But then I just relaxed and focused on the family time instead worrying about teaching. I learned how to play Omok, a game where one player has black pieces and the other has white pieces. Each turn, the player lays his piece on a grid, attempting to make a line of five. I played against my host sister and her two younger brother cousins. I am definitely hooked!

All and all, the weekend was great.