Happy Thanksgiving!
Chuseok, or Thanksgiving Day, has become many sorts of holiday to modern Koreans in different parts of the country. The majority of families fight other drivers for time and precious miles of deadlocked highways, to flee the city for ancestral homes in rural areas. Others stay put, like my family, which, because my father-in-law is the eldest son, hosts uncles, aunts , and cousins for a ceremony honoring ancestors with food, soju, and bowing. Afterwards, we have breakfast together. The songpyeon (rice cakes) were delicious!
But, traditions are changing. My wife has visited with friends since Saturday, and today she is following her usual weekly schedule by studying English with her study group. Many other families, judging by all the kids playing in the street beneath my window, also elected to stay put.
Of course, Busan is not as decadent as Seoul, so perhaps my neighbors don't feel as guilty about their lives as modern Koreans, My family observes the rites, so there's no reason to go looking for a return to tradition. When the elder generation departs in the next decade, I wonder if the younger adults will take on the burden of squeezing into cars just to sit in gridlock for two days.
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