Chuseok Celebrations

We had three days off of school this week because of the Korean holiday called Chuseok. It's kind of the equivalent of Thanksgiving in the US. Instead of all of the pilgrim and indian stuff, they use this day to pray for and worship their ancestors. They give thanks for family and it's a huge celebration. In school last Thursday, we celebrated the holiday with the kids. They all dressed up in traditional Korean costumes callen han bo which were beautiful! I have put pictures of the kids up in their outfits. They are made of a silk like material with different bright colors. The girls wear dresses and ornaments in their hair, and the boys wear a sort of jacket with balloon pants. Very hard to describe but you have to see the pictures! We helped the kids make songpyon, which is a traditional food for the holiday. You use a sort of dough made from rice, flatten it, and fill it with a sesame seed mixture or a bean paste, then make it into almost a moon shape. It is then cooked and eaten! Songpyon is very different, and you either love it or hate it. I think it's actually pretty good...like nothing i've ever tasted.

We also played traditional games with the kids and they were so much fun! The boys competed in a came called chicken, where they hold one leg up and kind of hop around trying to knock the other boys over. The last one standing wins. It was so funny to watch! The girls competed in arm wrestling which was also pretty funny. Then the classes competed in their version of a pinata game, where the teachers held baskets over their heads, and the kids threw colorful balls into the baskets. It was fun, getting hit in the face with the balls and all! It was definitely an experience I will never forget. Completely different culture and traditions.