The Great Invite

       As previously promised, I present to you all that is Chuseok. Chuseok can be referred to as the ‘Korean Thanksgiving’ and is celebrated on the brightest full moon of the year which occurs on the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar. Contrary to Western society, Koreans still use the lunar calendar for important dates, leading to a number of holidays centered around the moon and its cycle. For 2012, the day of Chuseok falls on September 30th. Chuseok is essentially a celebration of a good harvest, as it’s the time of year that grains and fruits will be at their ripest and freshest. To celebrate a year of successful farming, families will migrate to their ancestral hometowns and 본 가역 (directly translated to ‘main house’, usually the home of the eldest head of the household) where they will dress up in traditional clothing, cook an abundance of food, and pay their respects to their ancestors.

      As I've come to notice, respect for the elderly is of high importance for Koreans. Chuseok isn't simply a feast celebration, as there are three major duties that must be completed:

   -Weeds that have grown around the graves of family members all summer long must be picked and discarded. This is an especially important task for families because Koreans place a great deal of emphasis on saving face before the public. Graves with weeds still growing around them after the Chuseok holiday will make others assume that they have undutiful children, and it's considered an embarrassment to the family name.

   -Respect must be paid to the grave, often in the form of deeply bowing before it and offering grain alcohol, fruits, and meat.

   -An elaborate table setting of food offered to the ancestors. There are several meticulous steps in setting things properly - like lighting candles before the alcohol is poured into three different cups and bowing twice afterwards. Each dish also has a specific area of the table as per this educational diagram...

      So I've received an offer from a Korean co-teacher to spend Chuseok, the country's largest and most important holiday, with his sister, him, and their grandparents in an isolated countryside village from which his grandparents and great grandparents hail. My slight apprehension to this invitation is that I haven't worked with him for a very long time as he began at Worwick Franklin weeks after I did. And it's not that I don't trust him, it's just a lot of pressure to be one of the few, perhaps only, foreigner ever seen by the people of this village, and definitely by his grandparents. Not to mention they will be taking me in for the holiday, feeding me, entertaining me, and allowing me to sleep there. But how can one pass up such an incredible opportunity?! So off I go in hopes that I will not disgrace but honor my family's name and display the utmost of southern hospitality when Luling and Gangjeong-ri collide for Chuseok 2012.