Chuseok 추석 (Korean Thanksgiving)

Sept. 28 - Oct. 3rd.

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Anna's aunt preparing the 'chuseok' food.

Chuseok  추석 is very much like our Thanksgiving... lots of food, family time and sleeping. However, it's different in that it's also like Memorial Day - where you pay a visit to the grave sites where your ancestors (mostly grandparents) are buried. You also don't just leave flowers and stand there looking at the grave, like what I had experienced in America, instead there are more rituals, which will later be described!










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Anna.. showing me how it's done. (flour then batter, then into
the frying pan!) She was a good teacher, although her
grandmother and aunt might not have thought so.
They are super particular about the way the food should look!

So what did I do for Chuseok? Well, my roommate, Anna, from when I lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico attending UNM is Korean and lives in Incheon (which is about 30 minutes from Seoul). She invited me to her house for the festivities! I heard that you should never pass up on this offer, so of course I didn't. Not only because I knew food would be involved but also because I wanted to see what rituals they performed and also meet her family! Buuutttt traffic on Chuseok is horrendous and it's also nearly impossible to get bus/train/plane tickets anywhere. I had to get mine the week before, so I headed out on Friday night straight from the bus that brought me back from school, since I had all my things with me! I finally made it to Anna's family's apartment around 11:30 that night! They of course wanted to feed me, so I sat down and we ate some fruit. Her dad knew some English but her mom didn't know any. They just kept telling me how much I was like Anna and my character was so good. Anna also told me they kept commenting on how 'flat' her face looked compared to mine! They really love the big nose here.

yes I was using chopsticks to pick up
the slippery shrimp! ... only dropped
a couple.. few.. maybe 10!

The next day, I woke up to the sound of someone pounding on my door. I managed to get up to open it and Anna's mom was standing there saying, 'breakfast'. I went out to see basically 'dinner' on the table. There was meat, and rice, kimchi and soup. Where was the fruit, the cereal, the bread? Nope. none of it! I sat down thinking oh lordy please help my western stomach be able to eat all of this 2 minutes after waking up. I handled it ok. I took as little kimchi as possible and ate more rice than anything. The rest of the day was spent preparing the food for Chuseok. I helped make some patties of something and some fried squash and fried shrimp. It was all traditional Korean food. I had seen most of it, but some things were different. I would list them out, but 1. I don't know the name 2. I don't know the spelling and 3. I frankly can't really remember and besides what does it matter?! It was food and it was good! (for the most part) :)

fryin the shrimp... like bubba gump would do.

The rest of the day was spent napping and then we went out to eat at Mr. Pizza. Anna was already sick of the food we had made, since we had been snacking on it all day, so we decided a change would be nice! We went out with one of her friends and got tons of pizza and salad and fruit and pasta and yogurt with honey for dessert. Now that's more my style!

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Chuseok Ceremony.

the table set for the ancestor ceremony

table and alter like place in Anna's house

The next day we got up kind of early and had to do the 'chuseok ceremony.' I of course had no idea what was going on, but I am a pretty good follower, so that's what I did. We all sat down on the floor, with the table of food for the ancestors in front of us. Anna's dad read some things from a book, they sang some Korean hymn like song, and then her dad and his brother started pouring tea for the ancestors. They would pour the tea set the cup down and then move on to the next one. There were 5 place settings. After that they poured the tea into a large bowl and refiled the cups. Chopsticks and spoons were also placed on top of the food. Between each cup they poured Anna's dad bowed twice. Then we all started to bow. We stood up and first the men had to bow and then we all did. We would stand up and then go to a kneeling position with our heads on the floor. Then stand up and repeat. It ended with a bow (where you lower your head and look at the floor). Then we cleaned up the food.. well most of it and the rest we ate. Again.. meat, kimchi, rice, fried shrimp. But of course the one thing I wanted that was on the table but that they weren't serving was the delicious looking apples and pears. I finally built up the courage to ask if I could eat one of them. They of course let me and my tummy was then satisfied. 

persimmon (the orange one) or kam (korean)

I even got to try a new fruit, called Kam (감). It's Orange on the inside and outside. It has a thin peal that you can't eat? Maybe not. I don't know they peeled it. And then the inside is sort of like a peach. I was just reading up and it looks like some people call it the Korean Mango. I had no idea what it was so Anna got out her smart phone and translated it and when she told me it was called persimmon, I still had no idea! So much for that translation. Oh well I learned of a new delicious fruit, so I was happy. And calling it kam is easier for me now anyway, much shorter than the English word!

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Visiting the grave sites.

bowing at the grave sites.

We packed up and headed to the grave sites. On the car ride there her dad informed me that the place we were going was the 'Lee mountain.' He told me it was their family mountain. His lineage is also traced back to one of the leaders in Korea, which Anna says he is very proud of. We also talked about golf, which he is fond of. I told him to come to America and we will play since in Korea it's around 200 dollars to play a round! Moral of that story, I won't be golfing in Korea! We arrived and I had to pee. (TMI maybe?) There was no toilet in site, but don't worry we went around a small building and popped a squat. Funny thing is Koreans are so used to that since there are still squatter toilets a lot of places! I however am not as used to it, but I am learning! 

Anna's 할머니 (halmeoni) - grandma

Anna's family!

cigarette stuck in the grave mound.

We then hiked up a small hill to find the grave sites. We did more filling of cups and presenting the food and bowing. The only difference from the morning ceremony was we were outside at the grave site and that her dad would light a cigarette and stick it into the ground! It's really difficult to describe all of this especially since I had no idea what was going on, or being said, or even in some cases what I was being fed. I pretty much just did exactly what Anna did or what she told me to do! We packed up, walked down the mountain, and headed to her mom's family's grave site. This was different than her dads since her family was buried in a huge Catholic cemetery. So there was less space, more graves and a lot more people. I got many stares, which Anna noticed and pointed out. Since I guess I am getting used to people always starring! She said it was because Chuseok is such a traditional ceremony so they were probably confused why a foreigner was doing it! We did the same sort of thing. Her mom had brought a little different food for her side. Maybe because it was their favorite? I am not for sure. One of the items was dried squid. You'll have to check out the picture. I was offered but turned it down. I am not for sure my stomach is quite ready for that!

Catholic cemetery, Anna's mom's parents. 

dried squid.... no thanks.  (at least not yet!) - but I'll photograph it!!

face masks.. her brother applied mine - after Anna insisted.
if felt like weird ice cream clay stuff.

That night her parents dropped us off so we could get some food (non-traditional Chuseok food). We chose pap-bing-su (ice cream, fruit, red bean, ice, and a milky substance = best thing in Korea!) and a waffle! Delicious!! We then went back to her house and made some ja-jam-young (noodles with a black bean sauce) and don-caught-su (fried pork cutlet).

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Chuseok - a little more American style...







The next day we slept in and then headed to Rachel and Eric's apartment in Itaewon (Seoul). The sun was shining, we were listening to American music (I guess the army base has it's one radio station) and were driving in her cute little car.

just shoving cars out of the way.... no big deal.

---- speaking of cars.... Anna's car was parked in an underground parking garage near her apartments, of course that's normal since space is so limited in Korea. Well, it's also so limited that people have to double park! Soooo we get down to where her car is and there is a car parked right behind her and a car parked perpendicular right in front of her. No way for her to get out, right? NOPE! There is.. all you do is push the car that is perpendicular to your car, since they leave it in neutral. I have never laughed so hard in my life. Seeing my tiny little roommate walk up to a car, like it was no big deal, and push it out of the way like a little toy car! My dad has decided he will come to Korea and attempt to rearrange all the cars in the parking lot! HILARIOUS! I mean I always knew space was limited but really? I guess they also will leave the keys in the car sometimes as well so you can just move it out of the way if need be. Gotta love their honesty here.


So after shoving a car, we drove off and headed for the massive city of Seoul. We arrived at their apartment and were welcomed by Eric and Rachel and Lucy and Mae! I hadn't seen them since we got off the plane! So, it was sooo nice to see them again and Anna hadn't seen them since New Mexico. Such a crazy thing that all of us were together in Korea. We had all met in Albuquerque and are now all living in Korea. It's sometime hard to wrap my head around things like this!

eating some lunch... they had whatever they wanted
while I was babysitting! Anything to keep them happy :)

We played with the girls and of course talked with Rachel and Eric. Anna spoke Korean to Eric and Rachel and I chatted and caught up! Anna left that afternoon and I went with them to a friends house for dinner. They had a legit 2 story house. Not an apartment.. a REAL house with a yard and a trampoline! We ate grilled chicken and veggies and coconut rice. Best meal in Korea, quite possibly! Then for dessert we had Rachel's homemade pumpkin spice cookies!



I slept so well that night in the same bed I slept in when I stayed with them in New Mexico! It was amazing. The rest of the time there I spent playing with the girls and hanging out. We made awesome food.. my favorite being homemade whole wheat pancakes with strawberries on top! We also played outside and went on a couple of walks. I got to meet a couple of Rachel's friends, which was fun as well! 

Gangnam baby!!

One night we went into Gangnam (you know the place in the song Gangnam Style)! Yup, it's pretty fancy, with lots of fancy people. We stopped by Cold Stone of course for Rachel and got her some ice cream. When we were headed back a Korean guy stopped me and tried chatting with me in English. He said, 'My English is not good. But I want to take you out.' haha I look over at Rachel and her friend and they are snickering. Thanks for the help guys. So I told him, 'Sorry I don't live here.' He didn't really know what I was saying. But he told me, 'You are my style.' So of course I was trying to be funny and said you mean like Gangnam Style. haha

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Everland/Caribbean Bay.

Caribbean Bay entrance.

The next day we headed off to Everland, which is the large theme park in Korea. I decided to go to Caribbean Bay, the water park. I just wanted some sun and to be in my swimsuit one last time before winter! So I parted ways from Rachel and Eric and met back up with them later. Turns out most of the water park area was closed but there was a lazy river and a sauna type pool, which was perfect. Relaxing in the sun was what I had been wanting. Of course I was probably the only one with out a huge hat, or wearing some sort of clothing to block out the sun, but I didn't care. I found a sunny spot on the lazy river and I grabbed onto the wall and laid there! And if you close your eyes you can't see all the people staring at you and when you can't understand the language you don't know what they are saying! I was exhausted by the end of the day and slept well that night! I was happy that I got a slight tan.

gift from Rachel for watching the girls
while she went to Costco
SOOO AWESOME! I had been
missing Avos!

Thursday, I headed home. I got up and packed and ate some lunch and was out by about 2. Rachel's friend helped me try to figure out how to get home, which was nice since I had no idea. Turns out her directions were great and I made it to the bus station with no problem and got back to Cheongju around 5 ish. It was a great week but I was ready to be home and in my own space and relax! I am so glad Anna and Eric and Rachel are here in Korea with me! It's like I have family here :)