Chusok

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are the Chusok holidays here in Korea. (I can't believe this is already my second Chusok to celebrate in Korea!) Most everybody has these days off work and many people go to their hometown, or the house of the oldest son in the family to meet with relatives, and in the case of non Christian families, they bow to their ancestors, thanking them for the harvest, I think. The traffic is so bad that sometimes a four hour trip can take 12 or more hours, since there are only so many roads and not so many days off to go somewhere.

Last night, a group of us was hanging out in Suji and we saw many groups of foreigners heading out of town with their bags packed to go to Thailand, China, or wherever on their few days off from hogwan teaching. We (the team) are all staying in Korea. One guy from church has invited all of the team over for dinner at his house on Tuesday, the actual day of Chusok. I made plans to go to a prayer mountain where my friend Okja's brother lives. I'm not even sure where we're going, I just know where to meet Okja and her mom on Tuesday morning at the train station. I'm looking forward to experiencing something new and seeing a new part of Korea. Hopefully I'll come back with some good memories and good stuff to tell all of you lovely people who read what I write.

Today after life group, we took a small hike up Namhansanseong, a mountain nearby. We had in mind to watch the sunset, but it was a little too cloudy to actually see the sun go down. We did have a lovely view over Seoul, and the weather was just about perfect - a nice cool breeze up there.

I am wondering if Koreans get the "holiday feeling" of excitement about seeing family and time off, and just a sense of expectation that I get when the holiday season comes in America. I don't have it yet, because this isn't familiar and tradition filled for me yet. Maybe if I live here long enough, I could feel the same expectation in Korea.