Chuseok Weekend

Chuseok Weekend (Sept. 22-26)

Last major holiday of the year, I have Saturday to Wednesday off. On Saturday, my father visited me at my house (Mr. Han’s). Mr. Han told me that my father would like to take me to Busan (2nd largest city) for Chuseok to meet some relatives. That afternoon, we went to the Folk Village which had displays of real and some replicas of Korean history. It had different houses, tools, equipment, games, etc.

On Sunday, my father said we start around 3pm from my house, but he came by around 2 pm to start our trek to Busan. Let’s just say I was having a lazy morning chatting with my girlfriend online, so I wasn’t finished packing. Also, I didn’t know how to open the door with the intercom system, so I ended up getting a visit by the security guards. Oops, but they realized why, when I couldn’t speak any Korean to them.

Normally on non-Chuseok weekends, the trip is about 400 km (nearly 250 miles) and takes about 4.5 hours. Well, on Chuseok weekend it is more like a slow trail to boredom. The first one-third of the trip took about 4 hours and the last two thirds took about 4 hours, so it was definitely one long and difficult journey. My father thought we should make a couple extra pit-stops, but I did drive for one stretch. Yep, the first time I have driven in Korea or for the last 10 months. We finally arrived in Busan and it was late, but we drove around a little bit to see some various landmarks. Busan is a large container port city, so there are many loading docks for containers and also a few shipbuilding yards.

We stayed in a motel the first night. It was ok, but definitely an old style motel and more set-up to be “love motel”, which are very common in Korea, since children sometimes live parents until getting married.

On Monday, I met my great uncle, his wife, and son. One note, my grandfather was the oldest son in his family and the great uncle is the youngest and only remaining child of his generation. My great uncle is 62 and my father is 58 (Korean age), so it is more like brothers in looks. The great uncle’s son (31) is only one year older than me, but is a cousin of my father.

First, we ate breakfast and talked awhile. Afterwards, we went to their home and relaxed. Another of my father’s cousins stopped by, but he seemed closer to my father in age, maybe 50’s. My father (176 cm) is quite tall compared to my great uncle (165 cm?) and older cousin (162cm?); the younger cousin (175cm) is almost as tall.

In the afternoon, we went to Haeundae Beach. It is the most famous and busy beach during the summer in Korea. On weekends, approx. 500,000 people visit the beach on a single day. For lunch, we stopped at Outback Steakhouse. Let’s just say I ate a lot of beef and other food. Next, we walked along the beach path and looked at some sites. Later, we visited the location where they had an APEC meeting. This is a location where George Bush and other Asian-Pacific leaders met with the location rotating countries every year.

In the evening, we just went to my great uncle’s home and relaxed. I ended up going to bed early since I have been fighting a cold. It doesn’t help that my father occasionally smokes and it doesn’t help with my allergies and cold. Oh, I figured out that my father and I were given the master bedroom to sleep. It is a big bed, but rock hard, almost like sleeping on a pool table. The “mattress” is some sort of marble looking material than has a heater underneath for the winter. And they only have a blanket covering that as padding. Definitely, it was the hardest bed that I have slept on in some time.

In the morning, I was happy because I was able to use wireless Internet while everyone was sleeping and getting ready for Chuseok ceremonies. To begin the Chuseok preparation, they have this screen that has some Chinese writing on it and they have a small table prepared where they put food and drink. First, they put a lot of different foods (fish, meat, shrimp, rice cakes, ddok, apples, pears, persimmon, dried items, vegetables, kimchi, rice, and soup, etc.). My great uncle than pours some alcohol for the ancestors.

After that, in a large bowl, he takes some rice and soup from each persons bowl and puts into the large bowl. He also placed a small portion of all of the other food. I am not exactly sure what they do with afterwards. Also, great uncle and son say a few things and do a formal bow. Once that is all done, we ate. Breakfast consisted of all of that food plus pork ribs.

After eating, they talked some more and then my great uncle gave me some money (about 100 dollars). Normally, this might be given to young children, but I think he thought that I should get some money because it was my first Chuseok.

The whole family was happy to get to see me and that my twin brother and I have to come back soon. Also, I guess a great aunt living in Jeju heard that I was in Korea and that she was very happy.

At 11 am, my father and I started are long road trip back to Seoul. If I thought 8 hours to get to Busan was bad. I wasn’t prepared for the trek back. The first stretch getting out of Busan city limits took at least 3 hours. My father is definitely a bumper-to-bumper driver. He showed obvious stress from going so slow.

When we reached the Daegu toll booth at hour 5, traffic had all, but stopped. It took over 2 hours to get past the log jam at the toll booth.

Other things of note:
11 hours to get halfway home
Luckily, my girlfriend called and killed about an hour of the trip
Sent many, many text messages trying to kill time and wish Happy Chuseok to everyone
Janet (friend/fellow teacher) sent many text msgs back to help kill time
Saw a lot of cars pulled over to side to make bathroom breaks for all to see
Had to stop for full Korean meal, where dad thought I didn’t eat enough
Traffic getting better after rest stop
Dead car battery at rest area
Longest road trip for only 400 km distance
Couldn’t believe the number of headlights and taillights burnt out
Once in a lifetime opportunity with Korean father even though we don’t talk that much

Overall, it took 19 hours and arrived at my house at 6 am. I don’t know how long my father stopped on the side of the road for a break and to smoke, but I know that it was the longest most miserable ride. Normally, I would have been complaining until the end of time, but it isn’t too polite, especially in Korean culture. I managed to survive, but my father probably had another 45 minutes to his house.

On Wednesday, I had plans to meet some friends and co-worker, so I couldn’t even catch up on rest. It was a lot of fun because I met Ah Rong and two of her friends for lunch. We went to Samcheong dong (cute old-style Korean area) and walked around the area. Afterwards, I met a co-worker in Daehangno, which is another college area, so many places to eat and drink.