My Chuseok Day...

I had heard about Chuseok. Everyone described it as the "Korean Thanksgiving" and that it falls in relation to the lunar calendar, but if there's one thing I've learned since arriving in Korea it's that you should never have expectations about what may or may not happen. Chuseok was no exception to this rule. I woke up at 6:30 am and even though I was told that we would leave the house around 7:30/8 am, when I emerged from my room at quarter to 7, my entire Korean family was ready to go. I was walking towards the bathroom with my towel and told them that I was going to take a shower. Usually I would've asked them if I had time to take a shower, but in this case I was worried the answer might be "no" and there really was no hope for me without a shower. By 7:15 am we were over at the cousins' house. I later learned that these five cousins' parents died about 5 years ago from "disease". The five cousins are really nice, two boys and three girls between the ages of 20 and 29 or so. My sisters and I sat with the girl cousins, while the men performed the Chuseok ceremony for the ancestors in their living room. Next we headed to our house to do the same, and after the ceremony at our house we all sat down for a meal (which was a good thing, because at this point I'd been up for two hours and was beginning to wonder if we would eat any of the food that we had cooked, or if it just all went to the ancestors.) The Chuseok food that we cooked yesterday really was good; however, it is all served at room temperature after sitting out uncovered all night long, so it's not exactly fresh. The only explanation I can come up with for this is that it is simply too much food to cook in one day and because it must be ready in the morning, there is no other choice but to cook it the day before. After the meal we cleaned up and headed to the countryside. Another thing that I have learned in Korea is that when your host family says: "Let's go" you should grab everything that you may need for the next 10-12 hours, because you never know where you're going or when you'll be back. We loaded up in the car with presents and food for relatives. Our next stop was the father's cousin's house in the town of Pyeoson, which is on the eastern side of the island. In each house we visited the women stayed separate from the men, usually in the kitchen while the men perform the ceremony to feed the ancestors; it is the women's responsibility to make sure that the food is ready for the ceremony, but other than that they seem to prefer gender segregation. At this house there happened to be an English San Seng Neem (teacher) and she spoke well enough that we could communicate enough to put everyone at ease including my host mother. After another "Let's go," we were off to the tombs of my host father's parents and grandparents where we poured soju (Korean alcohol) and orange soda on their graves and insaed them in unison. (Insa means to greet which entails a bow and saying hello.) Next we headed to an herb and flower garden tourist attraction. You can see some pictures below. There were many plants and flowers that exist in the United States and we had fun snapping photos at every corner. Afterwards we headed to the mother's family's house in Seogwipo and had yet another meal (third for the day) with her family. When we left their house I assumed we were headed home, but I really couldn't have been more wrong, in fact we were only halfway through our outing. It was about 4 o'clock when we left and we stopped first at a green tea farm where you can sit and sip fresh green tea for free. When we left there I assumed we were headed home, but I couldn't have been more wrong, instead we went to a "motorcycle show" or so it was described to me. It turned out to be a sort of Chinese circus. The only reason I say Chinese is that the people who performed were all Chinese. The place or auditorium where the show was held was called Happy Town, and I should've realized that a name like that is obviously trying to make up for something. The show was great, but it was also a little depressing in the same way that the Nazi prison horse camp was depressing. These poor Chinese performers and acrobats reminded me of those tired horses. They performed acrobatics with the youngest girl looking around the age of 8 years old. First came the acrobatics and then the last show was a motorcycle show where they drive around in vertical circles inside a cage with as many as 7 motorcycles in the cage at a time; it looked VERY dangerous. At the end of the show the Chinese performers lined up as the crowd walked out past them; they all smiled and waved in the hopes of getting a tip. Their costumes were really ragged, and they looked very tired. Later my host dad told me that they do four shows EVERY day! I couldn't believe it! Suddenly I had a vision of them sleeping in cages with some sort of mean old Korean boss who had brought them over from China and wouldn't let them go back. Aside from the civil rights abuses involved, it really was a lovely show. When we left I assumed we were headed home, but of course I was wrong again (I think it's time I gave up assumptions along with expectations.) We went my host mom's sister's house in Jeju City at about 8pm and had a dinner of Ramen noodles, kimchi, and ice cream; not a bad ending to a busy but VERY interesting Chuseok! Tomorrow morning we will get up early and climb Halla Mountain which is the huge volcanic mountain in the middle of the island. It's supposed to be a 7 hour hike, but I'm expecting it to take about 5 hours roundtrip, because things are never as big as they seem in this country (there I go again with expectations...)