Teaching in South Korea



I've written about 추석 (Chuseok) before. It's the "Korean Thanksgiving." Obviously not a Thanksgiving in the American-pilgrims-came-over-on-the-Mayflower-and-had-a-feast-with-the-Native-Americans kind of way. But more of a three day harvest celebration that is centered around their ancestors and their hometowns.

As everyone travels back to their hometowns, there are massive traffic jams throughout the tiny country. Train and bus tickets are booked weeks in advance. Plane ticket prices skyrocket in the weeks leading up to the holiday.

Over Chuseok, the family gathers together (typically at the eldest son's house, of course there are exceptions). They do a sort of ritual in the morning in honor of their ancestors. Shortly after, they go to their ancestor's tombs. They clean them up and make an offering of food and alcohol, usually makkeoli (rice wine).

Some of the traditional foods that they eat include songpyeon (a sticky rice cake), japchae (a noodle and vegetable dish), fruits and bulgogi (meat).

My co-teacher and I were informed that two of the 6th grade classes would be missing English class on Wednesday because all of the 6th grade classes were making Songpyeon. The teacher, dubbed "Fat Man" (he's my co-teacher's friend from their previous school; she insists he looks fat because he's tall. I think he's an average sized guy), invited my co-teacher and I up to their classrooms to watch.

Unfortunately 6th graders are at an age where they hate to have their picture taken. Anytime I lifted my camera to take a picture, whether it was of a student or not, they shielded their faces. Here are some pictures of their work!

 

Most of the students wanted me to try their songpyeon and tell them theirs was the best. Awesome, but as a teacher I have a policy: never eat the food a student makes. Also, I don't actually like songpyeon. I don't like the ... texture? It's too sticky and dry. Just my opinion of course. I know quite a few foreigners who enjoy it.

What's a kid to do? Change his name, of course!

Did I ever tell you that one of my co-workers is getting married in October? One of my co-workers is getting married in October.

So, about 2 months ago, her family prepared some bedding, silver chopsticks and spoons, and money to give to his family. His family would then call over their extended family and they'd check out the goods together. The money is used to get the groom his suit for the wedding. Whatever they don't use, they send back to the bride's family. (I think some of the money went towards something else, but I'm not 100% sure ... )

This week, on Wednesday, they went to a wedding studio and got their pictures taken. The bride and groom try on different dresses and suits at the studio and spend the day taking pictures. Ocassionally, the bride and groom will take pictures outside of the studio, but my co-worker didn't do that. Here are some glimpses of her pictures:

Like in western culture, it's customary for the bride and groom to buy each other a gift. The men usually get a

nice watch while the women get a nice bag or some jewelry. My co-worker went with her husband to buy his watch. He chose one that was 4 MILLION WON. Ladies and gents, using today's exchange rate, that watch costs $3,760. My co-worker said she was hesitant about this, but her parents assured her it was a good idea. She said she would get a bag, but it would be much cheaper. Maybe around 1 MILLION WON. Today's exchange rate has that bag costing a mere $940. I wouldn't be bringing the watch or the bag outside of the house! Not without a bodyguard, anyway.

While most weddings these days are at wedding halls, my co-worker and her husband are getting married in a church. It's the first time in my 2.5 years in Korea that I've heard of a wedding being in a church. Really. They believe that it will make their promise closer to God.

At the wedding, she said it's important for the women to wear some "magic in their chests" (read: chicken cutlets/fake boobs) and for the men to wear inserts in their shoes to make them taller. This is so the guests say things like,  "Wow! He is so tall!" and "Oh! She is so beautiful!"

An inside Korean source tells me that the average Korean wedding these days costs 100 MILLION WON. Today's exchange rate means I only have to save $94,022 before I can get married here! (To be fair, Korean couples don't get gifts at their wedding and they don't have wedding showers. Each guest brings as little as 30,000 WON [or, $28] and up to 100,000 WON [or, $94]. The amount they give depends on how well they know you/how close they are with your famiy. It's all written down in a little book at the wedding and you're expected to return that same amount of money to the family when their next member gets married. The money that they rake in on their wedding day is esentially used to pay off the wedding debts. Unless their parents are rich and the wedding is already paid for).

I'll be back for part 2 sometime after the wedding to let you know how the ceremonies are. I've been to 2 weddings in Korea already, but never at a church. Always a new experience!