This weekend is the Korean Thanksgiving known as Chuseok. Korean holidays follow the lunar calendar, and we should be seeing a full moon this weekend as part of the Chuseok celebration.
(taken from here)
Traditionally, Koreans flee the big cities to head back to their family homes for the three day holiday to feast and pay respect to ancestors passed. Seoul is suppose to turn into a ghost town, we shall see.
(Taken from here)
In the grocery store on post and the ones out in Seoul there are lots of Chuseok gift sets that you can buy to bring to the family dinner as a celebration offering.
(taken from here)
(12 apples for approximately $50 USD!!!!)
Many of the businesses on Post are run by Koreans. To honor their holiday, several businesses on Post will close for the weekend or have shorter hours. Schools were closed Friday to honor the large Korean population and Army soldiers recieved Friday off as well. Many soldiers in Korea are either married to a Korean national or are part Korean themselves so they will be personally involved in Chuseok.
My friend Dan wrote a great post describing his experience being invited to a Chuseok celebration.
It won't be long until our first Thanksgiving in Korea!
