Songpyeon (rice cake)
Mrs. Hwang and I are making songpyeon. Korean can sit crosslegged for hours! During meal time everyone sits crosslegged on mats next to a short, decorative coffee tables. It is hard to get used to!!
Grave sites (grassy hills)
Traditional hanbok clothes worn for weddings and holidays. Many Korean people, especially the elderly, don't like their pictures taken so I didn't take very many during the holiday. Chuseok is a huge Korean Harvest Holiday, which falls on the 15th day of the 8th month on the Lunar calendar. Korean families get together and have a "thanksgiving" type festival in which they eat a lot of traditional foods, visit and tend to ancestral grave sites, and play games. There is also a full moon on this holiday, which makes nighttime walks and games common. Also, many people wear the colorful, traditional hanbok, especially the elderly on this day. Since most Koreans live in the city now, for Chuseok everyone travels to the country side where their parents and grandparents still live.
Thursday, the day before Chuseok, I had a party day with all my classes. I started out a bit frustrated because I walked in to find myself locked out of my classroom! But Sophia and I somehow managed to open the door with metal chopsticks! I was then comforted with a nice squeeze and a kiss on the cheek by one of my younger students. The rest of the day was party, party, party!
During Chuseok, the Hwang family invited me to go to Gimje, a small town in the country side just an hour northwest of Gwangju. I had the greatest time, because family gatherings are so special to me and I felt honored being invited to be apart of such a loving celebration. First, we went to Mr. Hwang's parents house where I met his parents, brother, and niece (who was awesome and close to my age). It is tradition for Koreans to make Songpyeon (rice cake) and fried vegetables on Chuseok. We watched popular reality shows, which I found really entertaining because most of the time they were singing, engaging in random competitions, and just being goofy! We played many card games as well, which are hilarious because I don't cheat at all compared to Jin sol, Won tek, and Eun sol. They will steal your cards to look at them if you aren't careful! They fell in love with the games BS (go figure!) and spoons (which we played with the candy you sent, mom!). That night we went on a refreshing walk and stretched under the beautiful full moon!
The next day, I was woken up by several new family members. We had a large breakfast in which I ate rice (I have eaten more rice here in Korean then I have in my whole lifetime!), my new favorite- cam (persimmon), Wali fish, sea weed soup, fried vegetables, different types of mushrooms, and several types of kimchi.
After a long goodbye, we left to Mrs. Hwang's family home. She has a ginormous family (at least 20 people were there) and they all greeted us at the door with handshakes and hugs as soon as we entered. The lunch we had was spectacular with too many foods to name. I did eat octopus for the first time and raw beef dipped in the beloved red pepper sauce. The Korean traditional rice drink is also really good. One of the grandmothers made me sit by her and try EVERYTHING on the table! She was so cute! Their hospitality was so welcoming that every where I turned I was handed more plates of fresh fruit and new foods to try. I wanted to cry because of how much at home I felt with these beautiful people and we could hardly understand each other with my broken Korean! After we stuffed ourselves, we played a Korean stick game, I believe it is called yunnori. It was a blast and everything you did the family laughed and cheered no matter what! Several hours later, I went from being the new one to blending within the family. Even the cutest, most flexible, tyekwando boys, who were four and six I believe, came over to sit next to me! Also, I had a wonderful visit with two extremely nice girls my age. I will never forget these new friends. When it was time to go, all the relatives followed the Hwang family and I out to the van. Mrs. Hwang's mother hugged and kissed me then told me to visit again after saying "Sarang hae yo" (I love you). That was the greatest feeling! I miss my family so much so this experience felt like a gift from heaven. I will never forget this weekend and it will definitely be a highlight in my time here in Korea.
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