Chuseok Holiday: Part 1

One of the most important holidays in Korea is Chuseok (추석), the Korean equivalent to Thanksgiving. This year, Chuseok fell on September 22nd.  The day before and after Chuseok Day were also included in the holiday and my school gave us an extra day off which meant a 6-day break (including the weekend). This happened a week or so after I got here so it gave me a nice time to be a super-tourist and check out the city.

Facts about Chuseok:

*a time when family members gather to honor their ancestors (paying a visit to ancestors' graves, etc).

*Chuseok falls on the day of the brightest full moon of the year (15th of August according to the lunar calendar).

*On the morning of Chuseok, the ancestral rites table is prepared, including songpyun (or songpyeon)

The Friday before the Chuseok holiday (September 17th), my school had a little celebration for the kids. In each of the classes, we made songpyun (rice cakes in the shape of half-moon). Songpyun rice cakes contain different kinds of sweet fillings such as sesame seeds, honey, sweet red bean paste and chestnut paste.

During my days off, I visited a few different places:

The Children's Grand Park (I live a couple of minutes away from this) We walked around it and took pictures but it was rainy so we didn't go on any of the rides (but I will soon!)

Yes, elephants at the park (and lots of other animals like monkeys, jaguars, etc).

The National Museum of Korea: