Happy Chuseok!

It's Thursday night, but I'm feelin' fine because it is the beginning of my four day weekend! Solid.

Chuseok is commonly referred to as "Korean Thanksgiving" in the expatriate crowd, probably because of the time of year and all of the FOOD! It's a major harvest festival held on or near the Autumnal Equinox and Koreans celebrate by returning to ancestral hometowns to share in traditional food and culture with their families. Chuseok (pronounced chew sock) is a three day holiday that, unfortunately for me, falls on a Saturday this year, but no mind! School is cancelled on Monday as well because in this small and crowded country, most holidays are allotted extra days off to travel the congested highways. I'm sorry to say that I am pinching pennies--or won, I guess--because my first paycheck was pretty small. Many of my coworkers are headed to Japan or China for the break, but I'm sure I can make my stay in Seoul exciting! Hopefully I will soon have pictures of hiking extravaganzas and a trip to the National Museum to post.

For now, all I have are these adorable pictures. To celebrate the holiday at LCI, all of the students wore traditional Korean garb to school-- so CUTE! We spent a rather large portion of the day making the customary festival food, songpyun. It's basically a little steamed rice cake (about two inches, max) in the shape of a half moon. Typically it is stuffed with beans, chestnuts, or sesame with honey, but we used raisins.

Alvin, Steven, and Mary are songpyun champs.

Eric and Julie rock it out!

Next we played some Korean games that were not that fun. I mean, they probably are in real life... but with four year olds, it was just too much. They were completely distracted by their outfits and the anticipation of the rice cakes returning from being steamed in the kitchen. Mostly it was just a huge chore.

We finished the day with the Ganggansullae dance. This is a 5,000 year old ritual thought to bring a bountiful harvest. It is supposed to be danced by women in the moonlight, but we just held hands with all of the other classes while music blared from the PA and danced around the hallways. It was a blast! Here are some pictures of my cuties in their fancy duds. I didn't take my camera to school and had to rely on the cell phone, hence the poor quality. Megapixel count aside, don't you just want to pinch their cheeks and take them home?!

Alvin says "Kimchi!"

Julie strikes a pose.

Steven makes a face.

Don't let that smile fool you... Mary is a feisty bugger! She's gonna be a real ball buster some day.

Eric is my singing buddy. He's also the class clown-- a major hoot!