Two Days before Chuseok

It was two days before Chuseok, and all through the land, the kids wore hanbok and prepared to make ddeok by hand--well, all except my kids, that is. All the kids made rice cakes (actually, songpyeon--a special ricecake made at Chuseok; stuffed with sesame and brown sugar and boiled with pine needles) at their respective schools, but the boys' hanboks were too small being that the only hanbok we have for them are from their first birthdays (parent guilt trip; note to self: get hanbok for New Year's Day) and Dahin just flat refused to wear hers. Once she got to school, I suppose she regretted it since she came home and reported that EVERYONE had on hanbok. Still, I snapped some photos of the little girls who wait for their buses with us every morning and got some shots of the boys 'on the run.'

Meanwhile, since classes were cancelled, I decided to have some 'me' time and went antique shopping with my friends Roald and Katherine (and one of Katherine's fellow Fulbrighters).

There was so much fabulous stuff to see in the shops. The weather was perfect, as well. Sunny, and only a little bit cool.

The shop below contains old movie posters and memorabilia. The owner is an avid collector and not eager to sell to just anyone. His shop was a pleasant break from the 'buy our stuff rich foreigner--it's Korean, I swear' attitude of most of the shop owners. One woman actually drug us, by arm, into her store. I hated to tell her, but that does not make us want to buy anything. Anyway, Roald was in heaven looking over a rare collection of movie memorabilia from the 1920s and 1930s--kept as a scrap book by an actor of the era--in mint condition.

After the shopping day, we relaxed in Insadong in a favorite tea house. I ended up buying two hairpins and a Chinese stringed instrument with a cool design at the antiques market. It was fun to splurge and hang out with my friends before they returned to their respective homes (Australia and the US) as their research periods were ending.

On the way home, I ran into a group of Mexicans performing in the subway. What else would you expect? ;- ) There are more and more diverse types of performances in Seoul's subway system, held at designated 'culture stage' spots. On any given day, you can see Andean music or bellydancing, Tex-Mex ensembles or African drumming.

Of course, the best part of the day was meeting up with the kids on the way home and having Burger King for dinner. Our neighbors went with us and the kids, with their friend Da-eun, enjoyed some icecream at Baskin Robbins.