Happy 추석!

Today (Monday, September 12) is 추석 (Chuseok), or Korean Thanksgiving. As I've mentioned before, I've never spent a major Korean holiday in Korea. I'm not used to having lots of family around, people to make plans with. Getting my American family together for holidays is really easy, because there's just four of us. With my Korean family, it's a little more complicated.

Because my grandfather is currently in Seoul at his second son's (third child's) house, the kids in the family that live in Seoul (or, in my case, Seoul-adjacent) were expected to trek over for the holiday. This uncle is my mother's younger brother and has four daughters, all younger than me. The cousins who live in Seoul are my mother's older brother's kids, two sons, one older and one younger than me. The three of us were to all meet at my uncle's house, but my older cousin said he would meet me at the subway station, since I don't know how to get to my uncle's house.

Convoluted and totally confusing, yes? Turns out, having lots of family means there is more chaos. And it also turns out that traveling via public transit during a national holiday is awful. It doesn't help that I may have taken the longest way possible to get to Seoul (thanks a lot, Jihachul app, thanks) and what should have taken less than an hour took almost two and a half hours.

The first transfer on the subway was pretty easy. The photo above was taken at 대곡 (Daegok) Station, where the app told me to transfer. So I did, because this app has guided me to and from Seoul for the past two months.

I waited at this particular station (in a very rural area) for probably about half an hour, because I didn't realize that my transfer was onto a county line. I mean, really, it's very hard to tell the difference.

So the app told me that I would just make the one transfer and proceed right along to Seoul Station, which is where I was to meet my cousin. Easy. Sure, I had to wait half an hour at Daegok, but if that's the only transfer I'm taking, I can deal. Yeah, not so much.

The train stopped at Digital Media City Station and then we all got kicked out. I looked around and noticed that transferring to the next platform would lead to Seoul Station. Seemed rather straightforward and normal, so I waited for the subway.

I waited ... and waited ... and took pictures ... and texted people ... and waited some more. I think three trains, honest-to-goodness passenger trains, not subway trains, whizzed past in the first twenty minutes. All I did was impatiently pace around that platform, carrying a purse and an awfully heavy camera, listening to Adele and cursing the subway system.

It wasn't until I'd been at the station for well over half an hour that the subway train finally showed up. I dashed in, took a seat, and began realizing that transportation on Chuseok is no joke- people weren't kidding when they said traveling during holidays in Korea is crappy at best.

I'll admit that I did like this station because I like trains, and regular underground stations aren't nearly as interesting to photograph as this type of outdoor station. Proof of Korea's industrialization in the background, with the new tall and shiny building on the left and the new building on the right, still being built.

Finally got to Seoul Station, where there were thousands of people milling around, making me feel suffocated as they crammed together and got all up in each other's personal space. Ugh. I didn't take any pictures at Seoul Station because my cousin and I were calling and texting each other, trying to figure out where the other was and not succeeding.

We finally found each other and walked to the bus stop, where we got on the bus and exited one stop late. Because we were so late and we're both impatient, we trekked to the previous stop, rather than waiting for the bus going in the opposite direction.

The photo above was taken at the first bus stop. The taller tower is Namsan Tower (남산 타워), which I had tons of photos of from last year (can't believe that I haven't posted those pictures yet). I do distinctly remember that Namsan (literally "South Mountain") is very close to my uncle's house, so I knew we were somewhere in the vicinity.

My cousin and I were in a neighborhood mart (a small little store in a small little street that's lined with stores selling different things- groceries, fruit, vegetables, fish, etc.) buying a box of giant Asian pears (a traditional gift during Chuseok) when we saw our aunt and uncle walk down the street. What amazing timing- and thank goodness we didn't have to hike up the rather steep hill and try to find their house without assistance.

My grandfather, aunt, uncle, their four daughters, my two cousins, two congregants of my uncle's church (he's a pastor), and I had Chuseok lunch (so much food), tons of fruit (peaches, apples, and pears), espresso, traditional Korean pastries, walnuts and pine nuts, and then a little more espresso. We all lolled about in a food-induced stupor for a couple hours afterward, talking about insignificant things, teasing each other, and acting very much like a family.

My uncle took a nap in the tent he has outside, which is his little outdoor retreat (he had a movie playing out there while he dozed). Our grandfather nagged his grandkids a little- mostly the two boys. The youngest, a sixth grader, skipped around the room while we watched her. It was so much like a normal family, like my family, but with different people.

That's the cousin that met me at Seoul Station. He worries about me, probably because he's the only cousin I have that's older than me, and because he's older, he feels a little responsible. He is probably the cousin that I am closest to, because I've seen him more than any other cousin. We're not that close, but we're not strangers- most of my cousins are strangers to me, even though we share DNA. Hopefully, being in Korea will help me to feel like my family is really my family. (And that's my uncle's tent in the back- he was in there when I took this picture.)

My grandfather with three of his grandchildren. The two girls are the youngest and second oldest of my uncle's daughters. The baby was probably bored all day because she's the youngest by almost ten years, so we're not very much fun for her to hang out with. The dude is my older cousin's little brother, he's the same age as my sister.

I didn't take the county line on my way home, so it only took about an hour to get back. Never taking that county line again. I shake my fist at you, Gyeongui Line (경의선)!

The transit hiccups had me all tired out before I even got to my uncle's house; it's only just past midnight now and I am wiped out. Tomorrow's technically part of the holiday, but I think I have to go into work for a couple hours and get some stuff done. Poop.

I'm hoping to find Jeongbal Mountain tomorrow, but I may settle for Lake Park, since it's close and easy. I may not have the energy for an uphill hike by the time I'm done with work.

Hooray for short work weeks, at least! And hooray for spending holidays with family!