This week marked the 추석 (Chuseok) holiday, one of the biggest holidays in Korea following the lunar calendar. Chuseok translates to the Autumn or Harvest festival and is traditionally meant to pay respects to ancestors.
For the three-day holiday (Wednesday through Friday, with the main celebration on Thursday) I was invited to celebrate with a family that my coordinators know. They used to live in Daejeon and eventually, once their children moved out, moved to the countryside of 공주 (Gongju), right at the edge of the Gyeryongsan National Park. All over Korea, families travel back to their hometown to spend time with their loved ones. The Park family invited me to join them, their two kids who currently live in Seoul for college (their middle child was not present because he is currently serving his year in the military) and their grandmother.
When I arrived, the mother opened up the weekend by describing to me that Chuseok is similar to the United States Thanksgiving. I was skeptical of this, partially because it can be problematic to continually compare Korean traditions to what is familiar to me, but also because Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. That being said, this description ended up being surprisingly accurate!
That was the general trend of my holiday, a collection of wonderful moments that reminded me of my family and my family's traditions at home during Thanksgiving, full of similar ideas but with different follow through.
Just like my family traditionally buys a huge turkey for Thanksgiving, the first thing that I did with my host mother and grandmother was travel to the fish market to buy an enormous skate fish, aka a stingray-like fish called Hongeo. Yes, it looked like a huge whole stingray. If you hold your arms out in a circle, it will give you a good idea of how large this fish was. Those of you who know me well know that I love food and I am eager to try it all, which is why I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that this may be my new favorite fish to eat. It was absolutely delicious. The picture to the right is a snapshot of a piece of the fin they cut off for me!
We spent the weekend watching television and relaxing together, just like my family does during our Thanksgiving. We even watched a Cubs game!
We played games together, but instead of the usual Catch Phrase that my family plays every Thanksgiving, we played a traditional card game called 화투 (hwatu), which the grandmother was the master of.
Instead of going out Thanksgiving morning to play paddle tennis and go for a walk, for Chuseok we went for a hike to pick chestnuts and a bike ride around the surrounding parks.
And most importantly, instead of stuffing ourselves over turkey, mashed potatoes, beans, rolls, and gravy, we stuffed ourselves with rice, kimchi, fish, soup, beef, seaweed, oysters, and egg. Even the conversation over the dinner table mimicked the common conversations at my home. The children spoke to their parents about how difficult it is to find good jobs and affordable housing arrangements, what it means to push for equality among young Korean people, college and the struggles of making money. The mother even mentioned at one point, “honey, you only call me when you need money” (sometimes a conversation at our home as well…).
These similarities reminded me of my family, while the differences helped me experience the wonderful Korean tradition and culture in a new way.
I felt continually welcomed and loved by this family, which I felt (and still feel) overwhelmingly blessed for. It was a wonderful Chuseok holiday, and the stay at the Park home is one that I will hold close to my heart forever.
