Chuseok is one of the most important holidays for the Korean people. In the English speaking world, it is sometimes being explained like Thanksgiving holiday, but to be correct, we must say it has nothing to do with thanksgiving.

Chuseok is a major mid-autumn harvest festival, which is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar on the full moon each year. During this holiday, all Koreans visit their hometowns, spend quality time with their family members and hold a traditional ceremony, offering delicious foods and giving a speech of gratitude to their deceased ancestors.

If the family holds a Christian tradition, they do not have to do a Charye (ancestor memorial services, which have developed from the shamanic tradition), but they still gather with the family members on that day.

In Gyu’s family, we had a very traditional, Korean Chuseok and I even had to participate in the ceremony without any proper preparation. Even though it was a little bit pressuring and unarguably stressful, I have learned a lot not only about the Korean culture but also about myself as a person.

It was an incredible experience, spending this meaningful holiday with a Korean family for the first time and seeing their happy smiles since this year the holiday season was 10 days long!

On the next day, we have visited Korean drama filming location site, Mungyeong Saejae, where most of “ancient” dramas have been filmed. Stay tuned till the end of this video, so you can enjoy some drone footage from the Korean countryside as well.

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