http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?gotoPage=61&cid=262497
So this weekend I was lucky enough to tag along with my family to visit both parent's families for the Korean holiday of Chuseok. This holiday celebrates the harvest and is based off the lunar calendar -- it happens during a full moon. You can wish on the full moon and it will come true. It is also a time for ancestor worship. This year's Chuseok fell extremely early -- it can sometimes fall as late as mid-October. Also, it was a disappointment because it fell during the weekend so there is only 1 day off of work/school (Monday), whereas sometimes it falls during the week and you can miss 4-5 days of work/school if you are lucky. Overall I had a great time and seeing the rituals and some other parts of Korea was really interesting. Of course, I also was exposed to more ignorant Koreans who don't know what to make of a foreigner. I'll tell you about some of the rude things that happened, but don't worry -- I'm pretty used to taking all of this in stride by now.
So we left Suncheon around 8:30am on Saturday morning and our first destination was Jeong-up (in the province to the north of ours), where my host father's mom lives. It took just under 2 hours to get there, stopping at a rest stop along the way to buy ice cream and other snacks. The roads are very busy this weekend with everyone on the road to visit their families and ancestors' graves. The rest-stop was packed and the roads had quite a few traffic jams of stop-and-go, even though we are in one of the more rural provinces of Korea. When we got to Jeong-up, we had to exit a tollroad. There were all these people dressed up and some in costumes as "rice". They were promoting the rice from that town -- I know it's just me, but I can't tell the difference from one kind of rice to another. And all the tollbooth workers were all dressed up in traditional Korean outfits and were super nice and kind -- could you imagine that in America? I think tollbooth workers would be especially grumpy and rude if they had to work during a really busy holiday. I was shocked!
My host father's mother owns a restaurant that serves blow fish (or 복어). The house is the 2nd floor of the restaurant, so I felt a little bit awkward all weekend. The family would sometimes be hanging out downstairs in the restaurant (before or after eating) and then customers would come in. On the other hand, the food was delicious. I feel like all I did this weekend was eat, eat, eat!! Just like a true Thanksgiving I suppose, except no turkey/mashed potatoes/rolls/pumpkin pie. Instead it was rice/rice/rice/fish/soup/other Korean traditional dishes. Saturday after lunch I helped make rice cakes (ddeok) with the cousins -- it seems similar to making sugar cookies with all my cousins for Christmas when we were younger. Anyway, to make rice cake, you ground up rice into a powder, and then add some water and mix in a herb. You knead this into a dough. Then you roll it into little balls, slightly bigger than a golf-ball size, and press it into a little bowl shape. Then you put in some yellow sugar and sesame. (I didn't know this, but maybe you do: there are 3 kinds of sugar -- white (the sweetest), yellow, and black!! White is not very common here in Korea.) Then you press the sides together and make it into a crescent shape, with the sugar mixture enclosed inside. My host mom told me that there's a saying that says if you make a beautiful rice cake shape, you will one day have a beautiful daughter. I tried my best!! :-)
After making rice cakes, I set off with the uncles, my host father, and the boy cousins (yes I was the only girl, as I was for most events with this family) to hike in a nearby National Park: Naejangsan. It is full of maple trees and I guess is gorgeous in the fall -- maybe I'll get a chance to go back and see it? We took a cable car to the top, and I actually ran into another ETA with her host family! Beth! I haven't seen another ETA since we departed in Seoul almost a month ago. It was great to see her and we talked a bit about our respective teaching situations. When we got to the top, there was a nice look-out point. My host father told me a sad story that a friend of a friend's died on one of the peaks of the mountain because in high school a group of 4 went up and started drinking on the peak. Then one of them fell off the cliff and ended up dieing. I guess it made my host father's friend want to become a doctor. But every time he drinks, he still gets sad about his dead friend. I'm surprised he would even continue to drink after something like that happened. We had some ice cream, grapes, peach, and a little bit of makkali (Korean alcohol) before heading down. I guess people think makkali is really sweet tasting and easy to drink -- I think it tastes bitter. :-S Don't really like it myself. I was told the walk down the mountain was very steep -- my host father was worried about me wearing my Chacos (hiking sandels) instead of tennis shoes. I explained to him that these sandels are special hiking sandels, that they were made for climbing mountains. He didn't really believe me, but finally gave up on convicing me to wear my tennis shoes (which aren't hiking shoes, btw). Well, the path down the mountain wasn't steep at all, at least not compared to the mountain I climbed during orientation!! At the bottom we saw, gasp!!, another Buddhist temple. Of course the host father made me pose for a bazillion pictures down there. Then the family felt the need to drive me up to the museum on the peak of a nearby mountain. Wow, let me tell you this forrest musem was so interesting -- all the bugs, trees, etc, just like the last museum my host dad took me to at Suncheon Bay. :-P I'd much rather hike and see nature then go to a museum and read about it. But, I appreciate the kind gesture.
When we got back to the house, everyone insisted I looked very tired, so they made me lay down for an hour. Then it was dinner time. Again, lots of food to eat! After dinner, we went upstairs and I read some of my book (I was finishing Watership Down, so wanted to get to the ending) and watched TV/talked with the family. My host father's brothers gave me presents -- one bought me a hankerchief map of the mountain we hiked. These are very common here in Korea -- no idea why! And the other gave me a necklace with one of the chinese "birth" animals. They figured out I was born in the year of the Pig -- which I actually think I'm born in the year of the tiger?! Who knows, I forget from the last time I ate at a Chinese restaurant and looked at the paper placemat. Anyway, they said it was a "coincidence" that I was born year of the pig -- I don't know if they were insinuating that I was a pig or what? I was slightly offended by that. Anyway, he gave me this necklace, but said he can't remember which animal is depicted on it. I brought a snack from America to share with everyone -- a s'mores trail mix. No one had heard of s'mores, so I tried to explain it, but I still think they were confused. Anyway, I was happy to eat some of it! Also, I got to try one of the rice cakes we made early that afternoon. I was sad to only get one because we made at least 50 earlier.
That evening we went to the downtown park area along the stream. We climbed a small hill which had a pavillion at the top where we could look out over the city. It was so nice out and relaxing sitting up on this hill listening to all the insects. We walked along the hill and the boys played badminton. Then we bought bottle rockets and shot them off over the stream. I told them they were illegal in Iowa! The boys were shocked. I slept on the hard floor in a room with Jun-ho and then the grandma. I hope I didn't talk in my sleep too much. I didn't sleep too well because the floor was so hard. I woke up a couple times and my arms were numb because I was lying on my side and the hard floor had cut off circulation! Yikes!
The next morning I woke up around 7:30. After I got dressed and went downstairs, the men soon started the ancestor worship. The women had prepared a table with all kinds of Korean food (see pics below) and above it was hanging the picture of the deceased father. The 4 brothers were all wearing suits, and then along with the 4 grandsons went into the room and started bowing to the picture of the father. They did 5 sets -- each set included 2 bows where they get down on the floor and completely and one bow while standing. The 5 sets were for each of the 4 sons and then the oldest grandson. Before each set of bows, the sons took a turn pouring a shot glass of soju (alcohol) for their father and then putting a set of chopsticks on one of the many dishes set out on the table. Then they would repeat for the other sons. After they finished this ceremony, they left the room and shut the doors so the deceased father had time to "eat". Then after about 15 minutes they went back inside (I didn't go in this time) and they did some more bows. Then it was time for us to all eat. The food was great, and they set out more rice cakes. Hardly anyone was eating the rice cakes, so after the grandkids all left and our rice cakes were left on the table, I ate 3 of them. Well, I guess this was apparently horrible because I heard the grandma make fun of me for eating 3 of them. I know she had at least 2 herself. I don't understand why it was bad, like I said, we made a ton of them the day before. Where were they all? Whatever, I love rice cakes and don't get them back in the US, so if I want to eat a lot of them this year, then I will! :-)
I was definitely the center of conversation this weekend, and I'm not sure if it was in a good or bad way? I kept hearing everyone say "wey-gook" which means foreigner. So they were saying foreigner this, foreigner that. The word "wey-gook" has a slightly bad connotation as well. So I was pretty offended that I heard them calling me that so often, and my host family was not stopping to translate any of it, so I have no idea what they were saying about me. It was pretty frustrating to know I was being talked about, but not be able to understand it at all. Also, one of the cousins who was 7 was a super rude to me all weekend. Right away when I walked in he pointed to my mole on my forehead and said something. Then later he grabbed my calf muscle and arm muscle and said something about "powerful" and then stuff in Korean I couldn't understand. I'm not sure if he meant this in a good way or not -- Korean women are very weak here. They hardly eat anything it seems like, so they have no muscles. So yes, I am very strong compared to them, but I am so thankful! Anyway, he kept coming up to me and saying things in Korean and I kept hearing "wey-gook" from him all weekend. A few times I asked my host brother what he said to me -- once he asked "Stupid foreigner, why would you take a picture of a grave?" Obviously he doesn't understand that there is a whole rest of the world out there beyond Korea, and possibly, things might be different there than here. Yes, I know he is only 7, but still it is very frustrating. I'm so glad my host brothers have been exposed to foreigners and know that other countries are much different than Korean and so they treat me with respect when I want to ask about or take pictures of Korean things.
After lunch I went with the men to visit their father's grave. I asked if only men do ancestor worship in Korea, and I guess by tradition it was only men. But now women can do it if they want, but most don't. I don't really understand this. Anyway, the father's grave was in my host father's uncle's field. He told me they had to bury him there because he died suddenly and there was no other place. When we were driving around I saw lots of graves in fields -- so this must be common. Isn't it illegal in the US to bury someone on private ground without getting special permission from the government? It must be quite different here. The graves are burial mounds and often there is no headstone. (Again, see pictures below). All the brothers and male cousins again bowed to the grave and they poured soju (alcohol) over the grave and scattered fresh fruits and cookies over it. Then we drove off to the great-grandma's house. She is 90 years old and still kicking! She has lost all her teeth, but her mind seems quite fresh, and she wasn't on any sort of oxygen or anything like that. And she can still walk by herself and everything. I think one of her daughters lives with her. Anyway, she seemed very kind and was talking about when she lived in Japan for 10 years during the Japanese rule over Korea. She told me how after 1 year she could understand Japanese and so thought I would be the same after my year in Korea (I doubt it, since I'm surrounded by so much English!). Then we returned back to the restaurant/home.
Sometime during the weekend I asked my host father about land values, because everyone has been telling me how expensive land is here. (Which is understandable, with so many people living in such a small country, that is somewhere around 75%+ covered with mountains.) Anyway, I asked him how much a hectare would cost (the metric equivalent of an acre) and he had no idea. They use a special unit of measurement in Korea that turns out to be 3.3 meters squared. In the town where his mother's restaurant was, for 3.3 square meters of land it costs about $700. In Suncheon, where we live, it costs about $4000. That is pretty crazily expensive!! But if you think about land in NYC or DC, I'm sure it is pretty expensive also. I told him that farmland prices were increasing in the US and he was shocked. It seems like their basic economic intuition is backwards -- I told him that since crop prices were increasing, farmers could make more money off the land, so the land was more valuable, and prices were going up. It was hard for him to follow the line of reasoning. (Something similar happened when I was explaining to my co-teacher about flood plains, and why people living in the 500 year flood plain would have cheaper flood insurance than those living in the 100 year flood plain. She thought it should be the opposite.)
Around 2pm, we left for the host mom's house, which is along the southern coast. My host father kept making fun of my host mom for being a "real country girl" and finally I stood up for her and said "why is that a bad thing? I'm also a country girl and I'm proud of it." She said "I just ignore him." Good for her. Machismo is too common here in Korea. I'm sure it's not as severe as in Spain/Latin America, but there I never lived with a male, so didn't experience it first hand. Every day when the father gets home from work he has this tone of voice that is so annoying to me -- like "ah, yes, finally your long awaited father has arrived". Is he really that big of a deal? Also, he says rude things to the children all the time, and I try to stand up for them. He is obviously teasing, but I think he is tearing them down and they shouldn't be torn down! For instance, the younger son is really into plants. He loves reading books about plants and whenever we are outside he's running around like a maniac looking at all the plants. The father continuously makes fun of him for this -- I say that I think it's great: everyone needs a passion in life. (Also, on a side note, my older host brother told me that he received very bad grades a few years ago: an average of 90 on his exams one year. For this, he could not use the comptuer for 4 months as punishment! For getting a 90!! I told him that that is a great score, and that grades don't matter very much for us in elementary school. They are more important in high school. Ay yi yi, poor kid!)
Anyway, it turns out that my host mom's village is very small indeed. I don't know the village name, but the town near it is called "Jang-heung". It is a small village right along a bay of the South Sea, the ocean on the southern coast of Korea. The bay is filled with mud, so is a wetland where people catch crabs/oysters/clams. Part of the wetland is actually cordoned off into private pieces of land. This was interesting to me as we learned about some different strategies for managing a public property in my Environmental Economics course this past year.
The host mom's 2 sisters were there and 1 brother. All 3 sisters look very much alike!! We ate lunch when we got there (oh my I was so full!) and we took a walk along the wetland to a small island in the center of the bay where we could see out into the ocean. Later that night we had dinner, and I got annoyed again by comments about chopstick abilities. They also kept doing motions to show me how to eat Korean food -- I told my host father to tell them that I have been in Korea for 2 months and know how to eat Korean food. I think this was probably a bit rude, but it does get very annoying. I do need to work on my patience and just nod and smile more. At lunch they kept insisting right away that I try the raw fish. I said that I would try it, but continued to eat rice and other thigns first. They kept saying "try it! try it!" and I said I will! I did try it eventually, but especially when someone is forcing me to do something (even something I planned on doing anyway) I get stubborn and wait even longer. :-P Serves them right -- I am 22 and don't need to be told exactly what to eat and when to eat it. Chillax Korean people! Between lunch and dinner we went down to Jang-heung's city park along another stream. It was really beautiful! Anyway, when we were leaving there I saw a statue with "4-H" on it -- and even the logo! I had no idea that 4-H existed anywhere outside of the US!
Here are 2 disturbing/random conversations I had with my host father this weekend:
1. People in Korea used to refer to diabetes as the "rich disease" because only rich people could get it becaues they were fat and had access to too much food, while everyone else was having hunger problems. I explained that there are 2 kinds of diabetes -- one is likely cauesd from over-eating, but another type isn't. (I don't know much about diabetes, but I do know one of my skinny friends in jr high was diagnosed with diabetes, so it doesn't only happen to "old, fat" people.)
2. "Good thing you're Catholic"
I guess protestants have a horrible reputation here. My host father was telling me that they are not well-liked at all. He said the Catholics have a better reputation because they "stick by the poor", but that the protestants don't. Also, that the protestants are "too annoying" with their evangelizing. He told me that when his host brother met me on Saturday, he had asked my religion, and when he found out I was Catholic, he was relieved I wasn't Protestant. It seems like Koreans don't understand that Catholic and Protestants are the same religion, just different variations. He went on to tell me that a few years ago a Protestant pastor was struck by lightening and killed, and that everyone in Korea was very happy. My Korean father laughed, and said this expecting me to cheer and think it was hillarious. I immediately said that I thought that was horrible -- that no one should rejoice in the death of others. I also think it is horrible that Koreans seem to use blanket stereotypes about religious people. So if I had been a protestant, would the uncle have refused to talk to me? Scary belief systems here in Korea....
Anyway, this has been a very long post and took me forever to write about! But there was a lot of interesting things I experienced this weekend, and wanted to write them all down so I wouldn't forget and to share with you more about Korean culture!! Enjoy the pictures below, and those of you who got the email link, there are more pictures in my photo gallary!
Ok, these are the "orchids" my host father collects. We had to stop at a shop along the way to his family's house to buy one. To me they all look like grass. :-S
The 4 year old cousin -- cutie! Putting together a Lego police car here.
Host mom kneading the dough for rice cakes! (ddeok)
Making rice cakes with my host brothers and their cousins. ^^
If you make a beautiful rice cake shape, you are supposed to be blessed with a beautiful daughter!
I ran into Beth with her host family on the mountain -- how random!! Hi Beth!!! ^^
View from the top of Naejang Mountain.
Buddhist temple.
Pretty/funky flowers.
Ancestor worship. The picture is of my host father's father.
Ancestor worship -- the 4 sons and 4 grandsons.
Ancestor worship at the grave. Notice the grave is a burial mound.
At the 90 year old great-grandma's house. You can see her sticking her arm out of the window in the background. The lady in pink I think is her daughter (so my host father's aunt).
Yes, cute adorable Korean children.
My host mom's tiny sea-side village. 
Wetlands -- mud for catching clams/crabs/oysters.
Looking out over the South Sea.
Fishing boat!
Sycamore fig -- new kind of fruit!
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