Tag: chuseok (Page 1 of 2)

Yul’s First Chuseok

2018/09/27 / Nic / 0 Comments

We went back to the countryside for Chuseok! Often called ‘Korean Thanksgiving’ it’s one of the big holidays in Korea. Last year I was too pregnant to travel for Chuseok so I missed it last year, and now this year it’s Yul’s first Chuseok! He had a great time in the countryside because he gets lots of attention.

Our friend Sara came with us, as did my sister, who is visiting Korea at the moment. We got the drone footage because Sara brought her drone with her (thanks Sara!). It was also the first time Sara had eaten that much home-cooked Korean food so she was really happy! I often forget the difference between being a foreigner living in Korea and being a foreigner but marrying into a Korean family. I’ve been eating home-cooked Korean food for years and I’m familiar with traditions like the Jesa ceremony. But many others in Korea don’t get to experience that.

It’s always nice to get out to the countryside and breathe the countryside air. However, around Chuseok almost everyone is travelling to the countryside. You have to book bus and train tickets early and the traffic can be a nightmare. We try to travel late at night to avoid the midday rush.

You can also check out Sara’s video of her giving a tour of the fruits and vegetables in the countryside with some bad dad jokes…. haha.

Seoul Life: Kimchi Delivery

2016/10/02 / Nic / 0 Comments

In this Seoul Life video we get a delivery of Kimchi, we go back to the countryside for Chuseok, see Andra Day in concert and catch up with a friend who is having a break from Military service!

Snapshot of my day: Chuseok

2016/09/19 / Nic / 0 Comments

I filmed a snapshot of my day video on Chuseok. We traveled back to the countryside for it. There was the ancestral rites memorial for deceased family members in the morning, then lots of food, relaxing and visits from family. I put on my hanbok to do a big bow to Hugh’s parents and we took the opportunity to take some photos in a field of flowers near the village.

Chuseok Food

2015/09/29 / Nic / 6 Comments

Like in most other countries, the preparation of holiday food is done by women in Korean culture. Even in Australia there tends to be more traditional roles in a lot of families on holidays but it’s more obviously defined in Korea. With my mother-in-law and sister-in-law I helped prepare all the fried food for Chuseok. Koreans don’t mind eating fried food cold so it’s food that is supposed to last for a while. Because so much has to be prepared, it takes hours and hours and my body does not enjoy sitting on the floor for that long. So I had to roll my eyes at Hugh exclaiming his difficulty of not being able to choose what to eat.

Since we have an intercultural relationship I expressed some of my Australianess and told him that if he is not helping with the cooking and is just lazing around, he should clean up outside and make the front of the house look nice for Chuseok, which he did.

Chuseok in Korea

2015/09/28 / Nic / 4 Comments

Chuseok is an important holiday in Korea. Everyone is expected to go back to their ancestral home towns (or wherever their family is) which means millions of people have to travel at once. The traffic is horrendous and the public transportation is completely booked out. Luckily for us, we are already where we need to be! One advantage of living in the countryside.

In this video we show a few snapshots over two days. We prepare food for the ancestral memorial service in the morning (that food gets eaten by everyone later) and have many relatives visit. Since it’s a ‘harvest festival’ holiday we wanted to show the countryside changing around us now that it’s Autumn. Hanbok (traditional clothing) is not necessary anymore, but is nice to wear which is why I put mine on in the evening.

Picnic Set

2015/09/12 / Nic / 3 Comments

If I’d taken a second to look closer I would have recognised what it was, but I wasn’t paying very much attention. Chuseok, which is one of the big holidays in Korea, is coming soon, so places like E-mart have these types of things prominently displayed.

An important part of the Chuseok holiday is going to where ancestor burial mounds are and paying respects and tidying up the graves. There is a ceremony with some food and drink, so this type of set makes it easier and nicer. It’s plastic and portable and easy enough to lug up a hill or mountain. While we have the proper set for the ceremony done in the morning inside the home, I’ve only seen paper cups used up where the burial mounds are. Obviously someone has realised there is a market for a portable set that is easy to carry.

When we post photos online of the food set up in the morning on holidays like this, people are always curious… what happens to all the food?! We eat it! That’s one of the interesting things about this tradition. The food is put out symbolically for the ancestors (about four generations back) but then we eat it all over the holiday. It’s important to remember family members who have passed on. I find it quite moving, especially when we pay respects to Hugh’s grandfather who loved him dearly but died when Hugh was still young.

Commenting on Comments – Chuseok

2014/09/09 / Nic / 4 Comments

Yesterday was a really big day but we still tried to film our Commenting on Comments and edit it. We managed to do that but then exporting took too long and it was already 2am, so we had to sleep and wait until today. So sorry this video is a bit late!

We show you a little bit of Chuseok, talk about Korean towels and ahjummas in the mountains, open a package and Hugh’s cousins bust in with some fireworks.