Monday, October 8, 2012

AN UNCONVENTIONAL CHUSEOK CELEBRATION



Korean Thanksgiving – Chuseok, one of the major holidays in Korea, is a time wherein locals return to their hometowns to pay their respects to their ancestors and give thanks for the year’s harvest. Chuseok falls during the 15th of August according to the lunar calendar, the days before and after it included in the holiday’s observance.

This year, the Chuseok day fell on September 30. As most of our Korean friends have gone home to their families, we FTAs wondered how we should spend the holiday. Some decided to visit attractions and amusement parks as they are relatively crowd-free. The Filipino TAs however decided to go to Hyehwa, where large portions of the Filipino community gather on Sundays.

Upon arriving to Hyehwa, we were greeted by familiar sounds and the reminiscent smells of home. Food and wares from our homeland were peddled along the streets, all the way from the train station to Hyehwa-dong Catholic Church where we were headed.

The sheer volume of the Filipinos who have come to attend Sunday Mass was rather overwhelming. The Church was packed, and a lot of people were still outside.

It has been a while since we have heard Mass in our vernacular, Tagalog. I then realized how much I missed home. The songs, the prayers, the community, the entire experience somehow tugged at my heartstrings and made me feel something which was not quite homesickness. It was something else. It was like that feeling you get when you read your old journal. That rush, that warm feeling you get from experiencing it again which is just the right mix of joy and melancholy.

There was a feast prepared by the Church after the Mass. Filipino dishes were served, and the sound of merriment echoed throughout the function hall. Food and drinks flowed, together with the laughter and stories of our countrymen. We have met a lot of good people, and we left Hyehwa happy, well fed, and content.

We ended our day out by making a pitstop at Baskin-Robbins, near Yeokgok station. The sugar rush it induced fuelled us well into the night when we shared drinks, food and stories with fellow FTAs and some of our Korean friends who returned to the dormitory early.

The day following Chuseok was spent with Mr. and Mrs. Lazo. They decided to throw a pizza party for the international students who they deemed “Chuseok Orphans” and generously opened their home to those who did not have one to go to for the holiday.

Aside from the pizza, traditional Korean sweets were served, including Songpyeon, a type of rice cake which is customarily prepared during Chuseok.

The couple’s Korean ‘kids’ joined us and gave us an insight as to the cultural significance of Chuseok. We FTAs then shared similar holiday experiences from our own countries, while the Lazos shared the various cultural experiences they had through their trips abroad.

In its very essence, Chuseok is a time for thanksgiving. It’s a time to reflect about the things we are grateful for and show our appreciation for them.

For me, I am thankful that I have family and friends who support me and show me that distance would not keep us apart.

I am thankful for the opportunities given to me, for the experiences I had, and for the ones that I will continue to have.

Most of all, I am thankful that I have met wonderful people who have taken me in and made me feel at home in this foreign land.

Chuseok helped bring me to the realization that despite sadness, despite difficulties, there would always be a lot of things to be thankful for.


- Laurence Enriquez



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