Thanksgiving and Chuseok

It’s already a Thanksgiving break. In few days, I am going back to my home in northern Virginia for nearly 10 days. Somehow, before every holiday, I tend to actually “analyze” that specific upcoming holiday such as new years, thanksgivings, Christmas, etc. So thanksgivings coming and I decided to think about that holiday, what it actually means. Obviously, some holidays like Independence Day and Christmas, their meanings are ubiquitous; America gained its Independence and Jesus was born, respectively.

For most of Americans, meaning of thanksgiving is well known because it has been a tradition since forever. For me, not as much, because of Korean tradition that I was so used to for first half of my life. In Korea, there is also a thanksgiving but in totally different sense. It is called Chuseok. It is in August 15th and it is really analogous to the thanksgiving in America. So I just decided to find some facts about the differences between American thanksgivings and Korean Chuseok.

Let’s start with American thanksgivings. It should be boring facts because we have heard about thanksgivings since we were like in elementary school. We have learned that how very first thanksgivings was originated from Plymouth plantation in America and how they were so happy about harvesting and decided to have a feast. It was to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude, mostly religiously, even though it is becoming a secular holiday nowadays. During thanksgivings, we eat turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, stuffing, carrots, and pretty much that is orangish. Then we eat turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, stuffings, carrots, and something orange. Then we gain like ten thousand calories which is like five days worth of eating. When I think of thanksgivings, eating is all I think of. I think that is why sometimes thanksgiving is referred as “turkey day”.

Now, here are some facts about Koran Chuseok. As I said before Chuseok is in August 15th. Korean Chuseok has really long history, perhaps it might have even originated 1000s years ago. Korea, during this holiday, also thanks for the good harvest. However, there is some twist to it. Unlike in America where Christianity was spread and people thanked God for the good harvest, Koreans thank ancestors. Koreans, traditionally, believe that their ancestors are protecting them from harms and unfortunate events and give them a good luck. During Chuseok, Korean families gather and moms make traditional dishes for Chuseok. Many of those dishes contain wheat, rice, fall fruits such as apple and pears. Specifically, there is food called Song-pyun. It is somewhat like dumpling but instead of all the meat and veggies inside it, honey, beans and sesame seeds are in it. Song-pyun is the food that really represents Korean Chuseok, which is somewhat similar to the turkey for the American thanksgiving. Since each song-pyun making is so time taking and needs delicate detail, usually whole family sits around a huge table—including dads, children, and moms – and they all make it together. After preparing all the food, moms lays out all the foods on the plates and lay them neatly down on the table with ancestor’s portrait in the center. Then all of the families bow down to it. It is believed that during the family’s bow, spirits of the ancestors come and “eat” the food. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Koreans wear this traditional dress called hanbok during this holiday. One of the most “horrifying event” during Korean Chuseok is the traffic jam. Majority – like more than 90% of younger generations - of Korean population lives in the urban area and most of seniors live in rural area. During the Chuseok break, around 75% of population in urban area tries to go down to the rural area, to their parents' house. Korea is overpopulated country and it literally takes more than 10 hours of driving that usually takes less than one hour during the regular days. That is why news media refers Chuseok sometimes as “massive population shift”.

There are some pro-founding similarities between Korean Chuseok and American thanksgiving. They both have own distinct traditional foods. Also they are thanking for the good harvest year. And they are both family gathering event and very good at making people fat. However some differences are that during American thanksgiving, God is usually thanked for most of the American families, whereas in Korean Chuseok, ancestors are thanked.

For me, every thanksgiving has been kind of a fusioned holiday, the fusion of American thanksgiving and Korean Chuseok. Since my parents both lived their majority of life in Korea, they are very used to Chuseok. I have few families over here in America and during the thanksgiving, that is 4th Thursday of November, we gather at one place and have a feast and thankings. This is where the fusion comes in. In terms of date we celebrate at, we are celebrating American thanksgiving. But when it comes to food, we celebrate both American thanksgiving and Korean Chuseok. The moms make turkey dinner and some traditional Korean foods. I love it because I both like Korean and American dishes. One thing we absolutely don’t follow from Korean Chuseok is bowing down to the ancestors. My family is super Christians and we believe that bowing down to anything other than God is against the Ten Commandments. But I think we keep two important things from both holidays. That is family gathering and thanking.

I think both the American thanksgiving and Korean Chuseok implies the importance of family knot. Most families don’t see each other because they are so busy during the year but during that day, the Thanksgiving, everyone gathers and have fun with each other. Also, we give thanks for safety throughout the year. Even though we don’t thank for the harvest because we are not farmers, we still thank those hard working farmers who are working really hard to provide us foods. My family and I might be celebrated both holidays in one day. But I think the differences between thanksgiving and Chuseok does not matter. Only thing that matter is their similarities and the importance of them.