Chuseok: Korean Thanksgiving

I am currently enjoying a five-day weekend thanks to the Chuseok holidays in South Korea. Chuseok is essentially a harvest festival often described as Korean Thanksgiving. This is the time of year when Koreans return to their hometowns to visit family and pay tribute to their ancestors in ceremony and celebration. They tidy tombs and offer various foods and gifts.

Traditional food for Chuseok is Songpyeon (stuffed rice cakes steamed over pine needles) and the school cafeteria served up a Chuseok meal on the last day before the holiday. While the students and teachers will enjoy many traditional foods at their home, this was my chance for a taste of Chuseok.

Also, my department head gifted me a nice towel for Chuseok. Everyone was in a festive mood by the end of the day, and many teachers had left for an early start to the holiday.

Of course, Chuseok is being celebrated differently this year because of the corona-virus. In fact, the government of South Korea has asked that people limit travel and refrain from visiting their hometowns. Special level 2 social distancing rules have been put in place over Cheusok. Seoul has been placed under stricter measures.

Foreign teachers in Busan, such as myself, received additional information and warnings from the Board of Education to be very careful during this time. We need to do all that we can to avoid catching and spreading the virus. The Canadian embassy in Seoul also reached out to Canadians with specific information for the holiday season. In particular, the embassy advised avoiding areas where protests might take place. Even during the pandemic, and in some cases because of the pandemic, protests have occurred in South Korea, mainly in Seoul.

When I was first hired as an English teacher, I reviewed the calendar and circled Chuseok in October as an ideal time to go abroad. Five days of vacation would be perfect for a little trip, and I had pencilled in a visit to Taiwan. Even as recent as August I thought it might still be possible to go. Korea was doing well containing the corona-virus. Taiwan was also doing well. But alas, travel is still not practical with the mandatory two-week quarantine requirements upon returning to Korea, so I spent Chuseok here in Busan.

Naturally, as with any weekend, I spent some at the cafe. This time I visited a nice spot with a view of the sea at Dadaepo Beach. As the beaches are closed to swimmers, I enjoyed my view and walk without excessive crowds or noise. A peaceful start to the holiday.

The weather is still comfortable, warm, and sunny with blue skies in Busan. I decided to spend a morning hiking on Jangsan Mountain on the Eastern edge of the city. I started my hike around 8:30 in the morning, so few people were on the mountain, but most of the hikers that I did see wore their facemasks even though they were outdoors. I had hiked up Jangsan mountain in the Spring so this time I took some gentler side trails and found a scenic view of this "block stream". 

While Chuseok was subdued throughout the country this year and my plans to travel abroad were once again dashed by the pandemic, I really enjoyed my time off from work and was happy to see a few sights in Busan. Downtime is nearly over and teaching resumes on Monday. Happy Chuseok everyone!