Chusok Begins

Chusok, for the unenlightened--like, say, myself a month ago--is the Korean version of Thanksgiving. By tradition, folks return to their hometowns for the three-day holiday; since Seoul is the size it is largely due to urbanization in the '70s and '80s, I am told it will be pretty empty this weekend. This is probably a good thing overall, since the subway, etc will still run, but be less crowded, thereby making exploration easier. OTOH, most everything will be closed on Sunday.

Meanwhile, it also means that I have no more school until Wednesday (Young-Il takes off a couple extra days). Speaking of school, I took a couple shots of my classroom today, filled to the brim with sweaty Korean teenage boys--hey, hey, now, do not touch your penis, as a couple of them have listed in their class rules assignment!



After school today, Mr Hwang and I walked through the traditional market a few blocks from the school, and had a Korean corn dog and a cruller. It was pretty crowded, as many people are doing their shopping to buy gifts before returning to their hometown for the holiday.


Anyway, Happy Chusok!