This past Wednesday was one of the most important holidays in Korean culture. In a non-Christian family, Chuseok is a holiday of remembrance for fallen relatives and a time for family and friends to get together to give thanks. I spent Tuesday night with my coteacher and his family in Sancheong, a small town in the countryside outside of Jinju. The whole experience was very Korean - there was always food on the table, neighbors coming over for makgeolli andsoju, and a male-only ritual that involved a spread of food and lots of bowing in honor of dead ancestors. My coteacher did a decent job trying to include me in the majority of conversations but most of the time I felt like an observer to this holiday. A couple of family members speak some English but everyone else seemed too afraid to try or didn't even know where to begin. In turn, their way of being polite was offering me more food even after I'd made it clear that I was about to burst.
Matt, Jing, and Kyeong-rok visited on Wednesday night and were my first official guests inJinju. We went out to a couple of bars and got a chance to catch up - it was refreshing to finally have some people to go out with to these restaurants and bars that have been staring me in the face for over a month now. On Thursday, Matt's uncle picked me up for a group trip to Jinjuseong - a famous castle in Jinju that is known for its significance in the story of multiple, failed Japanese invasions of Korea in the 16th century. We got some great pictures of the castle, its grounds, and some of the huge laterns on the Namgang getting set for the Jinju drama festival in October.
Side entrance to the castle grounds
Across the Namgang
Lanterns
Another relaxing weekend ahead before teaching my first classes in over a week on Monday. Here's hoping I remember how.
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