Korea: Moon Festival Symptoms

The Moon Festival is approaching and that means Koreans are debating certain issues related to the festival. People join the long lines of traffic as they had back to their hometowns. And more and more people are heading abroad. While some people enjoy meeting family and relatives they have not seen for some time, others get stressed about the impending encounters. I introduce how bloggers are preparing for the Moon Festival.

One hot issue before the Moon Festival is controlling weight (as a universal issue related to holiday feasts). What is the best strategy not to gain weight and the best tactic to avoid the temptation of the feast?

추석음식은 대부분 고칼로리라 살이 찌기 쉽다. 실제로 친지들과 모여하는 일이 대부분 함께 먹는 일이다. 음식을 함께 먹으며 이런 저런 이야기를 나누기 때문이다. 음식을 함께 먹으며 이런 저런 이야기를 나누기 때문이다. 최대한 적게 찌는 추석이 되기 위한 방법이 없을까?
다이어트가 뭐길래.명절에도 마음껏 먹지 못한단 말인가? 애통해 할 것 없다. 날씬하게 살이 빠져 멋지게 변신하는 것으로 보상받을 수 있기 때문이다. 조금 더 멋진 나를 위해 당분간 음식을 멀리하는 노력! 훗날 반드시 웃을날이 있을 것이다.

Most Moon Festival foods are high in calories, so it’s easy to gain weight. Actually, gathering with relatives and eating together are what we do. That’s because we chat about this and that while we eat. Is there no way to have a Moon Festival where we gain as little weight as possible?
What is dieting! Why can’t we eat as much as possible on festival days? Don’t feel sorry! Through changing to a slim shape after losing the weight, we can get compensation for this hardship. For having a better me, strive to keep food at a distance! In the future, you will have a day you can laugh.

There are other tricks to make use of the long vacation, including those posted on blogs with commercial intentions.

올 추석은 주말을 포함하고 있어 비교적 연휴가 긴 편이다. 바쁜 일상을 보내고 있는 탓에 어쩌면 체형 교정을 꾀할 수 있는 마지막 기회일 수도 있는 이번 연휴기간동안 지방흡입술을 고려하고 있다면 위와 같은 정보들을 통해 여러가지 사항에 대하여 미리 파악한 뒤 신중하게 시술에 임해야만 긍정적인 결과에 도움이 된다는 사실을 잊지 말도록 하자.

The Moon Festival this year is quite long including the weekend. Due to busy days usually, it would be the last chance to change your physical shape. If you consider lipo-suction during the holidays, don’t forget that information I suggest above will lead to a positive result.

For the custom to preparing gifts to elderly people (commonly) during the festival days, bloggers make use of the internet in order to get information and share their experiences.

추석선물준비하셨나요?… 지금까지 제가 준비한 선물 중에 반응이 좋았던 추석선물 리스트를 간추려 봤거든요. 가격대는 3만원-5만원이예요.
1. 과일,굴비,고기 등 차례음식…
2. 올리브유, 포도씨유…
3. 샴푸, 비누세트…
4. 영양제, 홍삼, 건강보조식품…
5. 커피,녹차,국화차…
6. 양말,우산찻잔,그릇세트…

Are you ready for gifts?… Here is a list of gifts for the Moon Festival that have had good reactions from recipients in my experience. The price ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 won [30 to 50 US dollars].
1. Fruits, dried yellow corvine, and meat for worshipping food…
2. Olive oil and grape seed oil…
3. Shampoo and soap set…
4. Nutrients, red ginseng, and healthy aid products…
5. Coffee, green tea, and chrysanthemum tea…
6. Umbrella and socks…
7. Tea cup and plate set

Or some bloggers are busy to grab results of all kinds of polls related to the Moon Festival and popular topics of what kinds of stress people receive during these days. Single people expect pressure from relatives over marriage plans.

결혼 얘기는 이제 두렵지도 않고 담담하다
쏠로들의 추석 얘기가 있어 기사를 올려 본다 아래 글은
< 아이뉴스24>

추석에 가장 듣기 싫은 이야기는 기혼자의 경우 처가와 본가 식구들에 대한 험담이며, 미혼은 결혼 이야기인 것으로 조사됐다.

…지난 9월 5일부터 11일까지 7일 동안 자사 사이트를 방문한 309명을 대상으로 온라인 설문조사해 보니 기혼의 경우 “처가와 본가 식구들에 대한 험담”(55%)이 가장 높았다.

다음은 “경제능력””(39%)으로 나타났으며, 미혼의 경우 “결혼”(42%)에 대한 이야기가 가장 높았고, “취업”(35%)과 “경제능력”(32%) 순으로 나타났다.

명절증후군으로는 “추석 이후 회사업무에 대한 부담”(37%), “지출경비”(30%), “늘어난 체증”(27%) 등으로 나타났으며, 추석 때 이용할 교통수단은 “버스”(40%), “자가용””(37%), “기차”(17%) 등의 순이었다.

부모님께 드리고 싶은 선물로는 “현금”(49%)이 가장 높았으며, “상품권”과 “의류 및 생활용품”이 각각 27%, 20%로 뒤를 이었다…
나이들어 가족들과의 만남이 어색한 사람이 있다면…
이렇게 하는 게 상책이다
내가 힘이 없다면 피하는 게 상책이다
내가 힘이 있다면 즐기는 게 상책이다
내가 힘이 없어도 즐기는 게 상책이다…
쏠로닷컴 정회원 식구들과 22일에 떠날 준비로 분주하다
너무 감사하다…

Talking about when I will marry doesn’t scare me anymore. There was an article about single people like me and I introduce here below.
“(i -News 24)According to the poll, what people don’t want to hear in the Moon Festival is slander about members of their own family side in the case of married people and the marriage issue in the case of single people.
… according to an online poll surveying 309 people from the 5th to 11th of September, in the case of married people, “slander about their own family” (55%) “economic ability” (39%) and in the case of single people, “marriage” (42%), “job” (35%), and “economic ability” (22%) are what people don’t want to hear in the Moon Festival.
The lists of gifts they would like to give for parents were “cash” (49%), “gift voucher” (27%) and “clothes or other living personal care goods” (20%). ”

… If someone feels awkward about meeting family members after growing-up, it’s better to think this way.
If you don’t have enough power, you’d better avoid it.
If you have enough power, you’d better enjoy it.
Even though you don’t have power, you’d better enjoy it.…
I’m busy to prepare my trip with members in solo.com on the 22nd.
I really appreciate it.

Married female bloggers are particularly busy exchanging their hardship over the Internet.

추석 두 주 전..

싱글시절의 늘어지게 영화나 보고, 늦잠자던 좋은 시절은 다 간지 4년째..

점점 더 추석이 싫어진다.

일이 많고 적음… 길고 긴 귀성행렬… 오랜만에 뵙는 시댁 어른들과의 관계들…
그런 고생을 뒷전으로 한다고 해도, 설겆이를 아무생각없이 막 하다가도 욱 하고 치미는게..생겨난다.

불합리함…..

시아버지는 맏이가 아니시다. 하지만. 사촌 아주버님들 중에 결혼하신 분들이 하나도 없으시다. 농촌총각이 비애인가…
그래서 결국 며느리는 나 하나. 그 위로 층층시하…
게다가 교회를 다니셔도 제기에 제사음식을 정식으로 차리시는 신문화..쩝.

결혼 첫해. 그냥 담담하게…귀성행렬에 태어나서 처음 껴봤다. 우리 친정은 그런것 전혀 없는 교회다니는 집이니까.
고생을 고생대로 했지만, 모 그런가보다 했다.

두번째해…끝도 없는 설겆이와..여기저기 들르고 싶어하시는 시아버지..친정은 언제 가라고..일은 죽도록 하다가 마루에서 늘어져 자는 여자들과 방에서 자는 남자들..아침부터 일어나서 움직이는 것은 시어머니를 포함한 며느리들..그리고 난 손주며느리..아가씨는 딸이라고 자고있고..슬슬 짜증이 났다…

올해…
또 어떤 난관이 기다리고 있을까…과연 올해는 하루뿐인 며느리 친정나들이를 어떻게 받아들이실지…

그냥 또 닥치면 다 하겠지 싶다가도…이런 과정이 해마다 돌아온다는 생각만 하면..가슴이 답답하고…속이 쓰리고…이건 아닌데 싶다.
며느리가 종인가..애도 낳고, 돈도 벌고, 일도 해야하는 게.. 모든게 당연하다는 문화.

추석에 해외여행가는 사람들은 얼마나 복받은 집안인가..싶다.

두 주 뒤를 생각하면..벌써 소화가 안 된다..
이 땅의 명절문화..손 하나 까딱 안 하고 먹는 족속들…니들이 먹는 걸 누가 만들고 치웠나..꼭 기억해라…

Two weeks left until the Moon Festival…
When I was single, I could watch movies and take naps… those nice days were gone four years ago.

I have come to despise the Moon Festival more and more.

Whether I have so many things to do a lot or not… long long march to go back to my husband’s hometowns… relations with husband’s family and relatives whom I haven’t seen for a while…

Neglecting those matters, I suddenly feel the madness while I’m cleaning dishes without any thought.

Unfairness…

My father-in-law is not the first son. But other men aren’t married at all.
Is it the tragedy of men from the countryside?
Therefore I’m the only daughter-in-law. And so many relatives…
Even though they go to the church, they adopt a new culture which prepares foods for worshiping ancestors… hm…

The first year of the marriage… without any complicated thought, I joined this long march to the hometown. My family doesn’t have anything like those food-preparations for the ancestors because we go to church.
I had a hard time, but I accepted it.

The second year… endless washing dishes job… father-in-law who wants to visit other houses here and there… They didn’t consider when I could vist my family. Working so hard.. but there are women who sleep in the livingroom and men who sleep in rooms. Waking up in the morning and doing chores are for mother-in-law and sisters-in-law… and granddaughter-in-law which is myself… sister-in-law was just sleeping because she is their daughter. I felt annoyed…

This year….
What kinds of difficult passages will wait for me… How will my mother-in-law accept the sister-in-law’s visit for her own family…

Of course I will do all the chores… But this process comes back every year… thinking about it… my stomach is sore… I feel it should not be like this.
Is a daughter-in-law a slave? Laboring children, making money, and doing chores… society takes it as so natural.

People who go abroad during the festival are so lucky, I think.
Thinking about the festival, I already can’t digest.
Traditional holiday culture here… people who eat without using their hands at all… Who makes foods that you eat and who cleans up? Don’t forget!

The festival days are not happy to everyone, like GeniusCat.

딸이 둘인 우리집… 나와 여동생
어머니 9년전쯤 돌아가시고 동생은 작년에 결혼해서 지금 아버지와 나 둘이 지내고 있다. 추석이 다가오면서 커지는 걱정…나까지 시집가면… 명절 제사를 어찌해야 할지…
인터넷과 주위 알아보니 거의 명절 제사는 포기라고 한다…그나마 기제사도 못 지내는 집도 있다고 한다…이번추석때 결혼한 동생은 제사에 오지 못한다…내년 추석땐…나도 못 오겠지…
얼마전 아들을 낳은 동생과 이런저런 의논하며 통화하는데…
“언니야…나 아들 낳기 잘한 거 같다…” 하면서 울더라…
전화끊고 나도 울었다.
서럽다…
그냥 어짜지 못하는 현실이 너무 안타깝다…
그냥 서럽고 서럽다…
제사는 형식이고 마음이 중요하다고 하지만…
막상 못 지내게 될거라 생각하니 죄스러운 마음…
내가 딸로 태어난 것이 이렇게 후회되고 속상한 적이 없다…
내가 아들이지 못해 시집살이도 더 하셨는데… 고생고생만 하시다가 돌아가셨는데…
명절 제사때 마다 마음이 많이 아플거 같다…
어쩌면 이번 추석아니면 내년 설이 내손으로 엄마에게 차려드리는 마지막 명절제사가 될지 모르겠다..
더욱 정성들여 준비해야겠다…
엄마.. 미안해요.

Our family has two daughters… me and my younger sister.
Mom passed away nine years ago and my younger sister got married last year. So my father and I live together now.
Apprehension while I am waiting for the Moon Festival.
If I marry, who will take care of ancestor worship ceremonies in festival days?
Checking internet and surroundings, most of them give up the worshipping ceremony for the festival days. Some people even give up their own ancestor worshipping ceremonies.
This Moon Festival, my married younger sister can’t visit us. The next year… I might not come back here either…
I talked to my younger sister who just bore a son.
“sister… I think it was good to have a son…” She cried…
I cried after hanging up.
I feel sad…
I feel doleful of the reality which I can’t change. I just sad and sad…
Even though the worshipping ceremony is just formal, but I feel guilty thinking that I might not prepare it anymore.
I was distressed and am regretting why I was born as a daughter. Because I was not a boy, my mom had a hard time…she passed away after going through hardship. Every ancestor worshipping moment, I would feel painful.
Maybe this Moon Festival or the New Year next year will be the last one when I can make the worshipping ceremony for my mom with my hands.
I should prepare it with my heart.
Mother… I am sorry…

1 comment

  • I wish someone would decide on a single foreign name for Chuseok. I’ve heard at least half a dozen variations on ‘Korean- full-moon- thanks-giving- mid-autumn- harvest- day- festival’.

    Personally I’d argue that the clearest and most memorable (and nicest-sounding) name is the Harvest Moon Festival.

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