Happy Chuseok!

Annyeonghaseyo and Happy Thanksgiving! Yes, it's only mid-September, but in Korea, it's time to give thanks. This year, Chuseok (also known as Hangawi) fell during September 14-17, which meant a big break from school and work for everyone. During this harvest festival, Koreans reconnect with their heritage by honoring their ancestors and giving thanks for a plentiful harvest. They celebrate by visiting with extended family, playing traditional games, and eating typical foods.

On Tuesday the 13, the last day before Chuseok vacation, children all over the country went to school wearing traditional clothing, called hanbok. For women and girls, it is usually a full-length skirt made of silky material along with a short top with sleeves that ties in the front; for men and boys, it's baggy pants (think Aladdin-style) with a robe-like top that also fastens in front. The designs are bright colors and many have intricate designs, embroidery, stripes, and the like.

Have you ever seen anything cuter? (Ignore my oversized and unflattering rented hanbok!)

Tony's kids lined up to show off their hanbok, ready to bow.

When the kindies wore their hanbok to school, I about died from the cuteness. I love the pride that the Korean people have in their culture and heritage. Considering these kids are aged 5-7 and they likely won't fit into their hanbok next year, many of them still sported beautiful and high-quality garb.

On Chuseok Activity Day, I got to teach the kids how to play Yut Nori, a game based off Confucian principles that also incorporates symbols of the earth and the harvest season. Source

 
Tuesday was our special Chuseok Activity Day at school. We began the day with a comparison of Korean and American Thanksgiving, practiced the traditional Korean way of bowing, and did a fashion show so all the kids could boast their gorgeous regalia. Then, we played games like Tuho (throwing arrows), Catch the Tail (like flag football, without the football), and Yut Nori (I swear the game "Sorry" was probably based off of this ancient, original version). The children also got to design and decorate their own wooden top toys, and then they prepared Songpyeon, a type of glutenous rice cakes filled with mung beans that are very common to eat during the holiday. Legend says if your Songpyeon doesn't look pretty, your children will be ugly, so you'd better form that rice cake nicely!

Whoever prepared these songpyeon must have beautiful children! Source

As a foreigner, Chuseok was not only a well-deserved break from work and an excuse to go on a trip (which I'll detail in the next post), but it also served as a great opportunity to learn about Korean culture in a more hands-on way. I got to eat foods that I might not have tried otherwise, and learn the meaning and symbolism behind different customs and traditions. The other foreign teachers and I even got the chance to wear a hanbok during school! Of course, they looked more like giant nightgowns or bath robes on us because they were cheap material and weren't fitted for our bodies, but it was still fun to play dress up. Most of all, seeing the children celebrate and connect with their own culture in an environment where they're usually only exposed to our language and customs was rewarding... and of course, they looked way too stinking precious in their hanbok!

A blurry bow. Happy Chuseok!

Me in the Mountains

 On Saturday, our director Heather took us to hike Chiaksan Mountain, which is known as "Cure Mountain," as it has been known to heal the spirit, mind, and body. It was a perfect escape from the monotony of teaching and the stale city air.

The five of us scaled the trails at our own pace, and it was a gratifying challenge for body and mind. The climb was a distance of only some 3 kilometers, which seemed much less intimidating from the beginning - but I've been inert for some time, and as the pitch increased, my muscles ached and my breath grew labored and my will quavered, but my resolution solidified.
 

Keeping up with the two Korean teachers was a struggle, not only physically but also because they were so quick (used to the mountainous terrain, perhaps?), I felt as though I were missing the scenery. After all, the destination is miraculous, but the journey is gratifying as well. I could feel the air getting more and more pure, and finally we reached a tranquil spot to collect water and dig into our snack supply. It was a beautiful mashup of nuts and dried fruit and sweet potatoes and felt so nutritious and filling and fulfilling. We filled our bottles at a spigot of natural and pure water from the mountain, and its clean taste was remarkable.
After resting, we continued up and up, steeper and steeper still, until at last we caught a glimpse of our destination: Sangwonsa Temple, a buddhist speck in the mountains of Gangwon-do province.
 

The view from the summit was hazy but beautiful, and I had an unshakable feeling of pride for reaching my goal. The climb wasn't easy, and we still had to make the trek back down during which my legs would shake like jelly, but for the moment I felt as though I had shed the weight of the language barrier and the workload and all concerns. For a substantial amount of time I've felt far from God and from my family and all forms of comfort, but here there were no worries. Now it was just me in the mountains.

There's no answer 'cause it's the weekend

Our first full month has officially come full-circle, and no Friday has ever been more welcome. The cherry on top of this difficult week has included a child spitting a ball of chewed-up rice into my hand and a newly broken cell phone. TGIF.

In the spirit of welcoming the weekend, it's about time I share what Tony and I have been up to on our all-too-infrequent days of freedom. Besides, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  With our first month complete, let's explore what we've done each weekend since we got here.

1st weekend: Korean barbeque with our fellow teachers, shopping for basics - groceries, home goods, etc - and lots of sleep.

Being touristy in Insadong

2nd weekend: We had a Monday holiday, so it was a long weekend, which we spent checking out some local cafés and restaurants. First, though, we had our staff retreat on Friday at a resort in the mountains. There, we got to know each other a bit more, and did some training sessions as well. On Monday, we took our first trip into Seoul. One of the Korean teachers at school lives there, and she took us around the city. We saw two neighborhoods: Gangnam (is the name familiar to you?), which is quite urban, and Insadong, which is more artisanal and attracts a lot of foreigners.  We tried bingsu, or ice milk, which is like ice cream but less heavy.  We had Chinese food - black noodles and sweet and sour fried pork. Yum! It was also our first time negotiating public transit - we took the metro into town (and got twisted around quite a bit) and returned by bus.

At a traditional tea house in Insadong

3rd weekend: Almost nothing! We were very lazy. We strolled our neighborhood, including the local open-air markets in the street, and we took the train to AK Plaza, a big seven-story shopping mall in downtown Pyeongtaek.

Downtown Pyeongtaek

4th weekend: Saturday was a field trip for the elementary kids at the water park, and we chaperoned. Water parks are super popular here; every Monday, at least a couple of students would tell me that they went to the water park over the weekend. Finally, we got to experience it! I chose to wear a one-piece swim suit with board shorts, simply because I was going to be around children all day and thought a bikini wasn't appropriate. Even then, I showed a lot of skin! Many of the kids wore full length pants and long sleeves. Also, the water park required something to be worn on the head at all times - a swim cap or hat. If it fell off in the pool, they'd blow a whistle and yell at you to put it back on! I've never seen so little skin at a swimming pool! only hands, feet, and faces showed. The hats are worn for hygiene and to keep hair out of the pools and drains. As far as the extensive clothing coverage, people want to stay as white as possible here. It's not like in the West where we lay in the sun or pay for sessions of spray tan or tanning beds!

5th weekend (now): We went out for kimbap (like a sushi roll, but loaded with different proteins and vegetables), mandu (dumplings), and topokki (type of rice cake). Not sure yet what else we will get ourselves into this weekend...

Next weekend, *edit: the trip to Crocodile Island sold out before we could book it, so we went to Chiaksan National Park to hike instead.* Then, we have only 2 days of school before Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving. During the September vacation, Tony and I are going to Uleung-do island for a five-day trip. We've got a lot coming up in September! I can't wait to finally start exploring what this country has to offer!