We have a four-day weekend due to Chuseok, a huge Korean holiday, often likened to Thanksgiving in the West, where everybody travels home and spends time with their families.
Our kindergarteners dressed up in the traditional Korean garb (hanbok) on Thursday, and so did all the teachers. I was supplied with one, but because I'm not Korean, it didn't look that cool on me.
We made songpyeon (a traditional Korean food) with them, using rice dough and beans, and played two traditional Korean games: tuho, where you try to throw arrows into a pot, and one where you jump on your end of a Korean see-saw to try to throw the other person's balance off.
On Friday we took the older kids up to our little gym to play tuho with them for the last twenty minutes of our classes. It was really fun.
Another tradition surrounding Chuseok is finding the full moon and then making a wish. I don't need to make any wishes right now - I don't go back to work 'til Wednesday!
Our kindergarteners dressed up in the traditional Korean garb (hanbok) on Thursday, and so did all the teachers. I was supplied with one, but because I'm not Korean, it didn't look that cool on me.
We made songpyeon (a traditional Korean food) with them, using rice dough and beans, and played two traditional Korean games: tuho, where you try to throw arrows into a pot, and one where you jump on your end of a Korean see-saw to try to throw the other person's balance off.
On Friday we took the older kids up to our little gym to play tuho with them for the last twenty minutes of our classes. It was really fun.
Another tradition surrounding Chuseok is finding the full moon and then making a wish. I don't need to make any wishes right now - I don't go back to work 'til Wednesday!
