Chuseok Belated

I really must apologize. I've been in a writing slump. It's not just that I'm busy - which I am. If I really wanted to, I would write in the few spare minutes before I sleep or go to work. But, no - I've not been feeling particularly motivated to write lately.

As you may have noticed from flickr, I have been to Japan. I was really hoping to have been able to go for a week but I couldn't have afforded it. September 13-15 was Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving holiday which only amounted to one day off for me. I took Tuesday to Friday as vacation days with the idea of leaving straight away Saturday. As it turned out, I'm glad I didn't stay away so long.

The weekend was fantastic! Being one of only 3 major holidays in Korea, and one of the long ones, people go all out. Usually this holiday is important for remembering and honoring ancestors, which involved visiting tombs and gravesites, performing formal ceremonies with bowing, and eating... a lot. Starting Saturday, I was full until Monday! My friend Steven (Sung Woo is his Korean name) invited my coworker Lexie and I to visit his father's family in Sangju (1.5 hrs), then his mother's side of the family in Wonju (3.5hrs). So 5 of us hopped in the car and road tripped north. Saturday evening was spent mostly sitting at the country house and eating dinner. We slept in the city in Steven's cousins nice new apartment. Then Sunday morning we woke early to perform/watch the ceremony for the ancestors, eat a big lunch, and visit the family tombs for more ceremonial bowing and eating.

We then drove up to Wonju to find another great dinner. His mother has 3 sisters who all have children our age so it was sure to be a fun time! In fact, after dinner, we decided to go out to a singing room for some drinks and karaoke. I had to get up early the next morning to catch a bus back to Daegu to have a 3rd Chuseok meal with my boyfriends family. Lexie and Steven also got up early to meet the family at the potato field to pick some sweet potatoes. She came back with a few pounds of them!

I got to spend Monday with Deuk Kyun's family and enjoy one more great dinner. His mom won - her meal was healthy and definitely the most delicious of the three! I slept at their house and headed off to Japan Tuesday morning...

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