HAPPY CHUSOK!

(The tenants of TaeKwon-Do)

It was Chusok here this past weekend!

I was very pleased to get a 4 days holiday!

But what is Chusok? It is a Korean version of Thanksgiving! You eat special rice cakes with sesame seed and pumpkin filling! You give thanks to your ancestors for the good harvest and clean their graves and have a big feast in which you honour the deceased. We honoured General Choi Hung Hi and had a a huge lunch and dinner in his honour. I was a good holiday, but 4 days makes it very hard to want to come back into work. I did not feel like it was a proper Thanksgiving, I had no turkey or mashed potatoes or gravy or carrots, rice and seaweed just doesn't really say Happy Thanksgiving to me, but I still ate a ton of food and got really really full!

Everyone here wore traditional clothing called a Hanbok and went out to their traditional country homes with their families! I stayed in the city and was shocked at how empty it was! All the lights of the signs were turned off and there was no noise at night, no cars to be seen anywhere and very few people out on the streets. It was very eerie after being here a month and seeing non-stop flow of cars and people and crazy lights everywhere, a big change for me, but it was nice to have everyone slow down for a few days.

I have been enjoying it a lot here, the leaves are changing just a little, I still say everyday that I am melting because the heat here is unbelievable for fall-time weather. It is 30 degrees here still everyday and maybe drops down to 15 at night. I miss Canadian fall, but hopefully it will cool down and then I will go climb some mountains and get some beautiful pictures!
I will be sure to post some more pictures soon!
Happy belated Chusok everyone!