[Shawn_in_Korea]

Hello Korean families. This week is Chuseok in Korea. I live here with my new son and it is our first Chuseok together!

Some of you may ask, what is Chuseok? Well, most of the Koreans I have asked will say it is Korean Thanksgiving, and has some similar traditions. What it really is is a Harvest Moon Festival to celebrate the harvest. Sinc emost Koreans live int he city, the tradition has changed in the past few generations, but this is what I have gathered.

For Chuseok many Koreans will dress in their traditional clothes, Hanbok. Though many men and boys hate to wear them, so forego it, also, many young single women forego the tradition and they all will just try to dress up nice. In Korea, wearing Hanbok for the younger generations (Under 50) is just playing dres up, they don't really wear it much, but it is a point of national pride to wear it. If they see a foriegn person wearing hanbok, they feel honored and proud, so if you want to wear hanbok for your Chuseok, go ahead, you will not offend anyone (well, maybe some diehard traditionalists, but they exist in all societies.)

On Chuseok, the family will get together. They all usually go to the paternal grandparents house and visit the elders of the family. For many kids, this means getting out of the city and going into the country, where there is green life and fresher air. Many of my students are excited to visit their grandparents.

Gifts are given at this time. It can be all sorts of things, but it is usally a prepackaged gift box, usually of food or an alcoholic beverage (Koreans love to drink, and actually in a year, Koreans drink enough alcohol that every man woman and child in America could have almost two bottles each day for that year to equal it). I have also seen beauty care packages and health packages.

Traditional food at this time is "duk," which is made from pounded out rice dough and some fruits and nuts, though many have sugar in them these days. I actually think the stuff is great and will miss it immensely when I finally come back to America.

Well, that is all I could think of. I just thought people should know about Chuseok if they have Koreans in the family.

For my family, we have decided to make it a Korean day when I get back to America. We will get together and they will try to cook Korean food (I already know how since I live here) and maybe make some Korean crafts, like calligraphy.

[Joyful1]

Shawn,

Thanks so much for the information! I have read about Chuseok in various books, but I am sure it is nothing like actually being there and experiencing it in person. A lot of books explain holidays in the old traditional way - and as you said, changes have been made with the younger generations over the years. I hope my son will be interested in celebrating Korean holidays in some way. I keep them on his calendar just in case!

Happy Chuseok!

[SPD]

Thank you for posting this!!

Sandra