Chuseok: Part 2

After about two calm hours of reading and sleeping in the car we arrived at a stone cottage in a small village. The cottage was on a farm, built right next to a very old traditional Korean home. We were greeted at the car by one of Elijah's nieces and a family friend from China.

Serena, the friend from China was my age and spoke English. Before stepping inside the house, I knew this would be a completely different Chuseok experience.

When I entered Elijah's mother's home I was greeted by about eight visiting relatives. One of the aunts spoke some English and was very welcoming. Elijah's mother was adorable. She sort of looked like a Korean version of my Grandma Jeanne. She was short, always smiling and had the same short curly hair. Within a few minutes we were seated around a table on the floor sharing fruit and catching up (or for me, answering the initial questions: age, boyfriend, why Korea?).

After only being in the house for a few minutes I was told to go take a shower. I was happy to comply with this request and enjoyed being able to clean up and put on warm comfortable clothes. Everyone else in my immediate family also showered and we spent the rest of the night lounging in our sweats. I took an evening stroll around the village with some of the cousins, enjoyed a wonderful meal and participated in drinking some "healthy alcohol" with the adults. The healthy part comes from the fact that there are fifteen oriental medicines in this alcoholic drink. It wasn't the best thing I have ever had, but it also wasn't the worst (Dayton memories!).

I slept in an attic room with the other girl cousins and felt like I was at a middle school sleepover. In the morning I woke up to the smell of breakfast (maybe I am starting to like eating kimchi for breakfast??). We went on another nice walk around the house and all ate our meal together before the other family members would leave and head back to their homes.

My immediate family and I stayed for a few hours and explored Elijah's mother's land and some surrounding areas. We dug up yams and hiked up a small mountain to a temple that was built to honor a Korean general that stood up to protect his people during many of the invasions of Korea. As we walked, we talked about returning after the first snow fall and picked out where we would build our snowmen and what hills we would sled down. Later in the afternoon we said our goodbyes and returned to Cheonan. I am looking forward to another visit this winter.