Written by Soomin Lim, J-1 Exchange Student
I am an exchange student from Korea. The Korean holiday I would like to introduce is Chuseok. Chuseok is one of the biggest holidays in Korea.
Chuseok is the leading holiday of the year. It is a holiday in autumn. It is a good season around Chuseok. It is a good day when the year's farming is completed, so it is said that you can spend less effort and work more comfortably than in spring. Especially in rural areas, it is the biggest holiday in the countryside, so everything is abundant and enjoyable during this time. During Chuseok, various customs are practiced to honor abundance. It is also held to honor ancestors and there is a lot of fun.
On Chuseok morning, they prepare songpyeon made of new grains and various foods to perform ancestral rites and visit graves. Songpyeon is a representative dish of Chuseok. We eat a variety of foods together, including taro soup and vegetables, during Chuseok, but songpyeon is also a favorite Chuseok food for those who write radish because it is a sweet and delicious rice cake. Songpyeon is put on a memorial stone and shared by family, relatives, and neighbors. Songpyeon is a food that symbolizes autumn. Songpyeon is made into a round shape by kneading rice flour with sesame seeds, chestnuts, dates, sweet potatoes, dried persimmons, and cinnamon powder.
On Chuseok, there is a variety of games. Gang-gang-sullae, tug-of-war, and chicken fight are played. Gang-gang-sullae, which spins around under the full moon, is not only a simple game but also has a religious meaning to pray for abundant agricultural work.
To tell you an episode of me related to Chuseok, I was 10 years old.
Chuseok is a holiday where the whole family gets together and spends time together. When my cousins got together, I was the oldest one, so I took my younger siblings to the playground. I was playing with them hanging on the iron bar and playing around, and I fell off the iron bar. It was very painful, but I didn't go to the hospital because I could move. The next day, I went to the swimming pool with my parents and went swimming. It hurts but I thought that it will get better after a few days, so I endured and swam. The next day, I went to school and my arms were very swollen. I thought, 'Something is going wrong?' so I asked the teacher for permission and went to the hospital in the middle of class. The doctor said, 'Why did you come to the hospital just now? You have a crack!' and I couldn't participate in the school sports day because I should have been wearing a cast for a month after that. It was the first and last time I was wearing a cast in my life. It's a funny episode when I think about it now, but at the time, I was very sad.
This is my episode. Comparing it to an American holiday, it can be said to be similar to Thanksgiving Day. I hope this article will help you pay attention to the holidays of various countries.