Sunday, October 08, 2006
Chusok
***each link to Chusok is a different article about Chusok***
Chusok is often called the Koreans Thanksgiving. It is always held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar moon. Chusok always takes place during the time of harvesting. In America, we give thanks to God for our family and all that God has provided for us. Koreans take this time to give thanks to their ancestors for all that they have. It is a 3 day celebration. Chusok Eve everyone packs up and travels to their home towns where they will celebrate with their families. The best way to describe this journey home is a migration. Everyone leaves he big cities and goes to their hometowns. The roads are crowded beyond belief. The typical 5 hour drive from Seoul to Pusan can take up to 12 hours the day before Chusok. Our first year in Country during Chusok we decided to take a short road trip and ended up sitting in the car for 4 hours before deciding to turn around and go home. Since that day, we always spend Chusok at home resting. LOL They also spend the day before preparing many foods including Songphyun or rice cakes made of rice, beans, sesame seeds, and chestnuts as well as Khaegangjong, YakGwa and yultanja (rice flour, chesnuts and honey).
They will begin Chusok day with a large meal and enjoy a time of sitting and visiting with family. Very similar to our Thanksgiving day minus the turkey, ham and football. :-) The evening/night of Chusok they will dress in traditional Korean dress (Hanbok) and make a trip to the family grave site. They then offer food and drink to their ancestors in thanks for all that they have today. This tradition has caused a big problem for many Christian families. Today, many of those families will go to the graves of their family members and lay flowers to remember them, but then go home and sing hymns of praise to the Lord. It is especially hard for the believers who still have Buddhist and Shamanistic families who feel that they are disgracing their families and ancestors by not participating. Please keep these believers in your prayers.
The day after Chusok is spent relaxing with family or making the trip back home. This year, Chusok was on a Friday so everyone got a very long weekend and enjoyed 4 days of vacation. This gave them more time to spend with family.
I know there is SO much more to Chusok than what I have written about. If you are really interested check out the links I gave you it gives many more details than I did. :-)
Chusok is often called the Koreans Thanksgiving. It is always held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar moon. Chusok always takes place during the time of harvesting. In America, we give thanks to God for our family and all that God has provided for us. Koreans take this time to give thanks to their ancestors for all that they have. It is a 3 day celebration. Chusok Eve everyone packs up and travels to their home towns where they will celebrate with their families. The best way to describe this journey home is a migration. Everyone leaves he big cities and goes to their hometowns. The roads are crowded beyond belief. The typical 5 hour drive from Seoul to Pusan can take up to 12 hours the day before Chusok. Our first year in Country during Chusok we decided to take a short road trip and ended up sitting in the car for 4 hours before deciding to turn around and go home. Since that day, we always spend Chusok at home resting. LOL They also spend the day before preparing many foods including Songphyun or rice cakes made of rice, beans, sesame seeds, and chestnuts as well as Khaegangjong, YakGwa and yultanja (rice flour, chesnuts and honey).
They will begin Chusok day with a large meal and enjoy a time of sitting and visiting with family. Very similar to our Thanksgiving day minus the turkey, ham and football. :-) The evening/night of Chusok they will dress in traditional Korean dress (Hanbok) and make a trip to the family grave site. They then offer food and drink to their ancestors in thanks for all that they have today. This tradition has caused a big problem for many Christian families. Today, many of those families will go to the graves of their family members and lay flowers to remember them, but then go home and sing hymns of praise to the Lord. It is especially hard for the believers who still have Buddhist and Shamanistic families who feel that they are disgracing their families and ancestors by not participating. Please keep these believers in your prayers.
The day after Chusok is spent relaxing with family or making the trip back home. This year, Chusok was on a Friday so everyone got a very long weekend and enjoyed 4 days of vacation. This gave them more time to spend with family.
I know there is SO much more to Chusok than what I have written about. If you are really interested check out the links I gave you it gives many more details than I did. :-)
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