Chuseok weekend

   WOW, I've already been living in Gunsan for 2 weeks now, and it definitely doesn't feel like it. Part of that might be because of the holiday that we just had in Korea: Chuseok. Everybody here compares it to "Thanksgiving" in the US, but there was no sign of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pilgrims, or Indians. There was, however, a lot of rice cake, and heaping piles of delicious pan-fried food. Chuseok was celebrated on Monday and Tuesday of this week, giving us a long weekend, so on Saturday I hopped a bus to Iksan (about a 30 minute ride) with Zyna and Sarah, and we met up with some other TaLK scholars that live there. It was great to be reunited with our friends, and we wandered around the city a bit during the day, having a giant feast at the Lotte Mart cafeteria, and then sitting in a coffee shop, telling stories about our schools and students. Afterward, we all needed a looooong nap, and we did just that back at Christina's apartment, before heading out to explore a new area of town. 

More TaLK scholars joined us, and we all ate dinner together---I wish I remember what our meal was called...but it was delicious. Afterward we went to check out an arcade down the street (yes, very nerdy). It was full of high-school aged Korean boys, who didn't even glance up from the game screens to notice the foreigners who had entered. There were these mini-norebangs there, kind of like a singing phone-booth just big enough for 3, and we practiced our singing and Korean-reading skills as we belted out the lyrics to 내가 제일 잘 나가. 

The next day, Christina and I went to the bus station and bought our tickets to Jeonju. Christina's aunt lives in Jeonju, and Charlie's host family invited me to go stay with them for Chuseok, so we decided to take the bus over together. We heard the guy in front of us in line ask for a ticket to Jeonju, so we followed him to find the terminal, and watched him until he got off of the bus, so we would know if we were at the right station----maybe a little creepy, but I don't think he noticed, and at least we ended up in the right spot!

I made my way to Charlie's host-family's apartment, having absolutely no idea what to expect. Luckily Charlie's host-brother speaks English, because his parents don't know much, and my Korean language skills are still so low that besides "hello," "thank you," and "I'm from America," I can't make much conversation. Though it was a bit overwhelming at times, overall it was a great weekend. His host-parents were so welcoming, and the whole weekend was full of those funny moments that only arise through lingual and cultural barriers, and at any given time, I understood 30-60% of what was going on. Kyooho (host-brother, who is awesome) took us to Maisan, a famous mountain outside Jeonju, where there is this temple with stone pagodas that were built by one Buddhist man, by himself, over the course of 30 years. Pretty amazing. And through rain, wind, and storm, not one rock has fallen.

The next day, we celebrated Chuseok in the traditional way, traveling to the burial site of the family’s grandparents and great-grandparents. The burial mounds for this family were in a beautiful spot, on the side of a mountain overlooking a river. The day started out cloudy and hazy, but cleared up in the afternoon, and the view was amazing. Charlie and I watched as the family set up the ceremony, placing different foods on a table in front of the graves, and a mat in front for us to kneel on. I didn’t understand all of the ceremony, but Kyooho talked us through how to pour the correct amount of rice liquor for the grandparents, how to tap the chopsticks on the table (though I accidentally did this upside down, much to the amusement of his family), and 

then bow two times. It really was a cool experience getting to have a “real” Chuseok.

I would write more, but I’ve got to get to school. Overall, the long Chuseok weekend was great, but tiring, and now I have enough kimchi in my fridge to last me for months (Charlie’s host-mother was very worried about me living alone). Yum!