Chuseok

Chuseok is a big holiday in Korea. When explaining it to me everyone referred to it as the Korean Thanksgiving. This year it was September 11th and 12th so I got that Monday and Tuesday off school. My understanding about Chuseok is that people go and visit their grandparents, sometimes do some rites to honor their ancestors, then eat a big meal. In school, the Friday before Chuseok all the classes went to the 6th floor (gym/auditorium) to play games. All the children came to school dressed in their hanbok which is traditional Korean clothing. For men it looks like baggy pants that are tighter around the ankles and a jacket-type shirt. For girls it is a skirt/dress and a shoulder piece. The director of the school's wife provided hanbok for all of the teachers. First you put on a long underskirt of tulle to make the dress look big. Then comes the main piece which is tied right above your chest and touches the ground. After that comes a shorter piece that covers your shoulders and is tied in the front. Observe me hanbok-ed out:

Hanboks are extremely modest. Nothing about them is tight and everyone looks a little bit like Mother Goose with the skirt so full. My skirt was even a bit flat in the picture because I didn't have the undergarmet piece on. I tried, but I guess they weren't made with my figure in mind (I was busting out). In tnhe picture ^ I'm holding these plastic arrows that the kids used to play a game where they had to throw sticks into this barrel. I think traditionally the game is called Tuho and is a bit more technical I'm sure, but it was cute watching the kids play.

They split the school into two teams to have a little competition and it was fun hearing the kids all yelling for their team. The second game was balancing a block on their heads while walking. They seemed to enjoy it. Last was tug-o-war between classes. My class ended up tying but we had a good time :)

All around it was a fun day. Here is my class picture with us all looking our best:

I spent most of the Chuseok weekend catching up on sleep and taking it easy. I went into Seoul a couple times with friends and it was nice because it wasn't as busy as usual since so many people had left for the weekend. One day we went to a neighborhood that is touted as the Rodeo Drive of Korea. There were a lot of expensive stores but it was nice just walking around and people watching. My friend and I got dinner at an Italian restaurant there and sat right next to the windows looking out at the street. My favorite part was when a bride and groom walked down the street with a photographer in front of them taking pictures. They looked so cute in the busy lit up street and I'm sure the pictures would be amazing. It was a good night.

On Sunday we went into Seoul again to find the Forever 21 store that's in a market there. I was looking for a pair of pants and we were lucky that this market that's usually packed to the point where you can't move was less crowded because of the holiday. I was able to find pants although it wasn't encouraging that I'm the biggest size they carried. I looked up the size conversion and it said an 8 is a 29. They only had 28s but I was able to make one work.

On Tuesday or the Chuseok weekend I was lucky enough to get invited over to a friend's house. Well actually (if you can follow this) it was my language exchange partner's friend's aunt's house. The aunt is a vice principal at an elementary school in a city called Chonan which is about an hour subway ride away from me heading away from Seoul. It's not common to have Chuseok parties like she was holding but I think she did it because her son was away and she had an American teacher at her school she wanted to invite. I went with my Korean friend but when I got there there were four other foreigners. They were all American's from the same school in Chicago that were teaching for five months as part of their education degree. Here's a picture of the party all seated ready to eat:

(I'm in the red dress sitting next to my friend/language exchange partner)
Everyone was really nice and it's always nice meeting fellow foreigners. I think I was very lucky to be invited because most foreigners pass Chuseok like it's just any other weekend. Instead I got to eat all of this:
It was delicious. After we ate my friend and her friend took me around Chonan to see the city. It was nice seeing a new part of Korea and having a Korean experience even if it wasn't how Chuseok is traditionally done. Look at the food, I'm not complaining :)

Couples

South Korea is the country of couples. I can't get over the emphasis put on being in a couple and the fact that they're everywhere.... EVERYWHERE. Of course I know the U.S. and anywhere else has plenty of couples but here it seems like there is an overload. The culture is very pro-couple and I think is best demonstrated by the fact that not only do they have Valentines Day, but they have a holiday exactly a month later called White Day. I know in the U.S. Valentines Day is greeted with a mixture of anticipation, dread, happiness, and loathing. In Korea, Valentines Day is the day the woman gives a gift to the man then on White Day the man gives the gift to the woman. I've also be informed that there's actually a couple day on the 14th of every month but those are the two with the most recognition. Except April 14th which is Black Day and apparently the day for singles to couple up.

The most hilarious couple-thing here (well hilarious to me) are the couple outfits. No you did not read that incorrectly, there are actually couple clothes. In certain stores here you can find the same clothes: shirts, pants, shoes etc. made for a man and for a woman. The same exact stuff. It is really common here to see a couple walking down the street wearing matching shirts. Not just complimenting colors - but ligitimately the same shirt. They also do it with shoes, backpacks, and entire outfits. I never fails to make me smile. It's almost like a game "look shoes!" "over there, backpacks with matching keychains!" "look, couples jackets!".

I was talking to a Korean friend of mine about it once because I wanted the Korean perspective, especially the Korean male perspective. He said he didn't like it but a girlfriend might suggest the couples clothes as a way of showing you really care about her. I know some guys here are into it though. I saw one couple who had matching dyed hair - no joke. Anyways, my friend did admit that he had couples shoes from a previous relationship. What I was interested to find out though was if it's acceptable to wear the couples clothes if you break up. I mean, maybe the memories would be too painful but here you have an entire wardrobe. Especially the shoes, like nice Nike sneakers. Do you just throw away a $100 pair of shoes because you're no longer dating? Apparently it can go either way although my friend kept the shoes and does wear them from time to time. I wonder if it would be awkward if you bumped into your ex and you were both wearing your couples shoes...

You are in luck because I was able to snap two pictures of couples clothes. I'm not touristy/awkward enough to take pictures of people walking down the street but I had my camera out at a baseball game and thought I could resonably pretend I was taking a picture of the field if I got asked. (Of course that's a moot point because anything they said would be in Korean and I wouldn't understand). For your enjoyment, couples shirts, and couples shoes: