Happy Chuseok!

Tomorrow, 3^rd October, 2009 Koreans will be celebrating Chuseok, the much awaited and celebrated festival in Korea. This means the annual exodus back to the hometowns to reunite with family members in celebrating the Korean Thanksgiving Festival. All public transportation like the airlines, trains and buses will be fully booked I’m sure. I can just imagine all the preparation going on for the big event, all the cooking that has to be done and not forgetting the ancestral worship and the cleaning of the graveyards. Of course there must be new clothes for the occasion too. At no other time other than Chuseok and Solleol, can you find the Korean women mostly dressed in their traditional national costumes, the Hanbok. I can just imagine all the bright colours which is more than enough to delight any photographer. With the added autumn leaves in the background it’s sure to make the perfect picture. Makes me wish I were there. I want to join in to play traditional Korean games at the palace and to taste some of the traditional Chuseok dishes including the rice cakes. I already wrote about Chuseok in my earlier post but I uncovered some interesting things about this festival which I would like to share with you today. I would also like to wish our Korean friends a “Happy Chuseok!”

How to Set the Chuseok Ritual Table

There is no single way to do it right, as it varies from region to region, family to family. But some principles do apply, and here they are: However, the most important thing to remember is sincerity in the preparation of the dishes.

1. Direct the ritual table to face the north.
2. Put better food closer to the soul of the dead.
Put rice and soup first. Then, arrange food in the order of quality and price from the perspective of the past. Put more expensive and better food closer to the souls of the ancestors -- that is, the back of the table. So, a ritual table should be set with fruit, the least expensive and valued food, in the front row; seasoned vegetables and fried dishes (jeon) in the next row; and boiled food in the last row. However, in some regions, the positions of fried and boiled dishes are interchanged. When there are too many dishes crammed in a row, you may move some to another row.
3. Put better food to the right of the soul of the dead.
There are two reasons for putting better food on the right. One is that most people are right-handed and the other is that when we worship our ancestors, we place more senior ancestors on the right. Place meat on the right (west) of the souls of ancestors and fish on the left (east) because meat is more expensive than fish. Put the tail of fish on the right and the head on the left because the tail is the better part to eat. Among fruit, red ones should be put in the east and white ones in the west. It is also worth remembering to place jujubes, chestnuts, persimmons, and pears in that order from left.
4. All food offered on a ritual table should be in odd numbers. 

Foods to avoid are peppers and garlic which cannot be used; thus, kimchi is not offered on a ritual table. (In some regions, white kimchi made without using any peppers or garlic is used.) But according to an official from the National Folk Museum of Korea, "The ancestral memorial service aims to honor our ancestors, so it is permissible to put dishes that they enjoyed in their life on the table."
In Korea, fish, whose names end with "chi" are considered negative, and they can also smell bad. So no kalchi (hairtail), samchi (a kind of mackerel) or kongchi (saury) myeolchi (anchovy) and galchi (scabbard fish) are permitted. There should not be peaches too, since Korean spirits don't like peach trees. But there is no restriction to imported fruit like bananas. The top and the bottom of fruits should be cut off. "The basic principle is to peel the fruit, but after peeling the fruits, the colors change, so it is recommended to cut off only some parts." Cutting off the top and bottom also makes it easier to stack them up. Soy sauce should be served on the table in case the ancestors feel dishes are insufficiently seasoned.

     

You might think that the Hanbok is a piece of clothing just like any other piece of clothing. It’s more than it looks; it takes a great deal of effort to wear it right. For example, you have to know the meaning of its colors. Traditionally, women wore blue skirts for happy occasions and big events. The color has joyous and congratulatory connotations and is what you might consider just right for Chuseok. For the upper body, wear a blouse called samhoejang-jeogori whose neckband, end band of sleeve, armhole and cloth string called goreum used to tie the upper bodice of hanbok are in different colors from the main body, or banhoejang-jeogori where the neckband, end band of sleeve and goreum only are in different colors from the main body.
In the past, no woman who had not given birth to a son was allowed to wear a purple goreum. The norigae is a pendant trinket worn by women to show off their wealth and class. How to wear it differed according to seasons, materials and size; middle-class women usually wore fabric, handkerchief and ornamental knives.

For Men, the Topcoat Is a Must Men's formal attire is completed by a topcoat or durumagi over the hanbok. It has wide sleeves and openings in the back.

For Children, it’s Striped Jacket and Hood. Children wore a five-colored striped jacket until they were six or seven. Each color represents a point of the compass -- blue for east, white for west, red for south, black for north and yellow for the center -- and symbolizes longevity and a healthy life.
Girls wore earflaps or fur hats, and adolescent girls braided their hair and wore red pigtail ribbons until they got married. Boys wore a hood made from a single piece of fabric, and those from wealthy families had them adorned with gold. Even today, on their first birthday and on holidays, babies wear a striped jacket and hood or earflaps.

Let’s see, what’s hot news in Korea right now? Actually I intended to post this yesterday but I had a problem connecting to the Internet and all my plans had to be shelved. So this bit of news about BaeYong Joon’s launching of his travel book, "The Journey in Search of Beauty of Korea" may be already stale news by now. I read that the first Japanese print run of 50,000 copies was sold out instantly, and the publisher would be printing more. I was thinking, had it been an autograph signing session for his book I don’t know how he could have coped with that! Know what, a "2010-2012 Visit Korea Year" was declared during the event and Bae Yong Joon was appointed the goodwill ambassador. Eat your hearts out ladies, here’s a pix of the man himself courtesy of The Chosun Ilbo. He’s got that “certain smile” that seems to capture everyone’s heart. That’s why he’s my idol! You know, I believe he’s also the richest Hallyu star in Korea. He doesn’t make that many movies a year but he gets a lot of money from his endorsement and advertising work. He’s also a shrewd businessman, his company is listed on the Tokyo stock exchange and lately he opened a restaurant in Seoul called Gorilla in the Kitchen. In this restaurant you will find nothing to show that it belongs to him like a picture of himself hanging on the wall. He wants the restaurant to be famous for its food on its own merit and not because of his influence. I really admire this man.

Not only was he in Tokyo for his book launch, he and his co-star Choi Ji Woo of Winter Sonata were at the Tokyo Dome for a promotion event, celebrating the first broadcast of the 'Animation ‘Winter Sonata’ in Japan.

These days’ Korean actors are making waves on the international scene by appearing in Hollywood movies. Remember Korean-American actor Daniel Henney, who acted in “Spring Waltz?” He has landed himself a leading role in the U.S. drama "Three Rivers," which will be broadcast on CBS TV from Oct. 4 on the prime-time slot at 9 p.m. This medical drama is set in the transplant ward of a Pittsburgh hospital.

Lee Byung-hun’s Hollywood debut was in the movie "G.I. Joe." He went a bit further; he also starred in a French film "I Come with the Rain" marking his global debut. French is no problem for him, he majored in French Literature at Hanyang University. Besides French he can also speak English and Mandarin. Wow, not only is he good-looking, he’s smart too.

He’s also got a string of movie awards,

(2006) 42nd Baek-sang Arts Award: Best Leading Actor

(2005) Busan Cinema Critics Award: Best Leading Actor

(2003) 39th Baek-sang Arts Award: Best Performing Actor

(2002) 38th Baek-sang Arts Award: Best Performing Actor

(2001) SBS Drama Awards: Best Performing Actor

(2001) Blue Dragon Awards: Most Popular Actor

(2000) Busan Cinema Critics Award: Best Leading Actor

(1996) KBS Drama Awards: Best Performing Actor

(1995) KBS Drama Awards: Best Performing Actor

(1993) KBS Drama Awards: Best Performing Actor

(1992) KBS Drama Awards: Best Performing Actor

  

However Kim Ha-neul did not go to the United States to act in an American movie. World famous fashion designer Tory Burch recently invited her and Blake Lively, the star of popular U.S. drama "Gossip Girl," to New York to celebrate the Korean launch of Burch's eponymous label. Kim and Lively met together for a photo shoot for fashion magazine Vogue Korea. Here are a few pix from The Chosun Ilbo. How different she looks here.

Guess that’s about all for today. I would appreciate a comment or two as it looks like a one-way street where I’m the only one talking. It’s no fun this way so please write even if it’s uncomplimentary, this way I can correct myself.