Chuseok and the Arrival of Autumn

With the weather slowly cooling down after the summer heat, Koreans celebrate a traditional holiday called Chuseok, which is not too dissimilar to the United States celebrating Thanksgiving or other Asian countries' autumn festivals. Originating from the Kingdom of Silla, a progenitor state on the peninsula, it evolved into an Autumn harvest festival and becoming one of three major Korean holidays celebrated nationwide.

Because Chuseok is a nationally recognized holiday, many places (except for major stores) may or may not be closed down due to the owners visiting their families. During the holiday, family members gather at the head house of the family to hold memorial services, called charye, to honor their ancestors. Afterwards, family members celebrate by eating together. At these feasts you'd likely see a lot of traditional foods, including foods like songpyeon and yakgwa, which are rice cakes and honey cookies respectively.

There are also a plethora of traditional Korean games to play during this period. Jegichagi is a game very similar to hacky sack, where you have to kick the jegi, or a small shuttlecock/bag and keep it up in the air as long as you can. Another famous game is yutnori, a board game where you throw 4 sticks with different markings to move your pieces across the board.

If you're in Korea around this time, there are a plethora of open festivals for you to experience some of these activities. What will you be doing during Chuseok?