It's the thought that counts!
Here inKorea it's almost time for the Chuseok holiday. Chuseok (pronounced "Chew -sock") is an end of summer harvest festival, much like our Thanksgiving. From what I gather it is a time when Koreans visit with their families, exchange gifts, and pay respect to elders and ancestors.
I could tell something was going on when the stores started to put out displays of gift boxes. You see everything from Spam, to gensing oil, to underwear.
Okay, so your American relatives wouldn't be so happy to get this, but apparently it is popular in Korea
One thing you also see in stores now is foldible bedding mats that can also serve as on-the-floor seating. Another item that is popping up all over is traditional Hanbok clothing. I guess that for some families the Chuseok get together is a formal affair.
Aren't they gorgeous?
But my favorite aspect of this time of year is the harvesting of the red pepper crops. I think I've mentioned before that almost every empty lot in town is the site of a shared garden. Every afternoon when I get home from work, Jen and I sit on our balcony and watch several ajummas lovingly tending to their crop. (Ajumma is a respectful term for a middle-aged woman, often a grandmother, who usually wear huge visors to keep the sun off their faces). These ladies work so hard, carriying buckets of water up the hill from a fawcet downt the street, ceaselessly weeding, and carefully consulting on which squash is ready to pick. Anyway, a majority of any garden space is always dedicated to the growing of the fiery red pepper that is emblematic of all Korean food. I love the fact that flavor seems to be more important than sustenance.
Urban agriculture
We have been watching the ajummas tend their gardens all summer, but now its time to harvest all those peppers. So how do they preserve them? They sun-dry them - anywhere they can...
On pedestrian bridges....
The neighbor's parking spot....
Up on the roof. By the way, don't you just love these roofs?
Everywere you go right now you see peppers, peppers, peppers. There are huge bags of them in the grocery stores, piled up on the tarps of street-side vendors, and basically everywere you turn.
Happy shoppers on their way home with a great haul.
To be honest, I'm not sure what everyone is doing with all these peppers, but I think that this is a time of year for making kimchi. No one's told me this, but another item I'm starting to see everywhere from store fronts to roof tops is the ceramic kimichi pot.
It's that time of year
Kimichi fermenting in a traditional Hanok neighborhood in downtown Seoul
So I hope you all enjoy a happy Chuseok, and mabe even get to visit with your family. We won't be around for it, since we have the week off we decided to go to Bali! So next week my blog should have some lovely pictures.
