We traveled to Gumi (then to the farm in Mungyeon). Our friend jokes that this area is like Saskatchewan, because it is small, less populated, and well nothing really to do;) And in parts behind in the times.
We had a great time with them and were lucky enough to tag alone and participate in a traditional New Years day celebration. Once we arrived at the farm we got shooed into the 'kids' room. I must say I was a bit confused. I thought that we were going to be stuck in there all day. It was just ritual. The men had to go into the house first to met Grandma. A short while later we were invited to meet her. We gathered in the house and bowed once and gave her a gift, she was quite smitten or touched or just throughly delighted to have us there. It is tradition to bow once to the elderly (2 for the dead and 3 for Buddha). This also applied to all the uncles that came to the house. The kids at school were delighted because when they bow they get money, lots of it. And when asked what they did most said "in bank" for things like university, and grandmothers house- my kids are about 7-11 let me remind you!
Back to the farm, after the bowing we were offered breakfast. It was tasty and abundant. We found out quickly that it is impotant to try at least one thing off every plate, so that is what we did. When grandma suggested that we have more, you MUST have more. The only way to stop eating was to go for a walk or go take a nap- sounds like christmas to me;) So we walked around the little town which was sucken in between some mountains. It was really a beautiful day, cool and a nice sprinkling of snow. So we walked into the mountain.
In Korea they often have family mountains (for the low price, of about 40,000$) where all the family members are buried. When a person visits the tomb it has an order to who gets to see you first. Grandfather first, which is usually buried further up the mountains, and in our case father next. It is a ritual that the graves be visited on New Years day. In the house the men take care of the offerings for the ancestors. The picture above is from the mountain.
We got back and sat in the kids room to hangout and take a nap. In Korea they heat the room using water running through the floor. Well at this house it was the case. A big pot outside, that in the older days could also steam the rice, boils all day from the fire underneath. Well so it seems that the water had run out, and the floor and our bodies were getting increasly warmer. Suddenly Eun Sook said stand up- so there we had it, the floor vinyl was boiling and the blanket was metling as well. No wonder our a$$'s were burning!
By then it was feeding time again, so into the house we go. Where we are pretty much stared at and talked about. My small hands and hair seemed to be a hit. We were probably the only blonde haired blue eyed folk to ever have had the privledge to visit them in their home. They wondered how we could be so big and not eat very much. Her mother apologized that we had travelled all this way, and barely ate anything. We laughed as the journey was only a two hour train ride which was split into a couple of days. We were able to tell them that it was not uncommon for us to travel 6 hours to alberta [because none of them come to see us;) yes this was a dig] for just a couple of days. We were also able to talk to them about what its like at christmas, where we eat one big meal at a specific time, not like them where the celebration is centered around the table, which includes nibbling constantly.
The aunts were so kind and special, even though we couldn't talk to each other we could all laugh, even if it was making fun of Mike, and his big nose! This is a sign that they care, they tell you if you have put on weight or if your nose is to big; and really wondering if that nose could be real! The aunts helped us in the little things. For example when grandma poured us some maukalee you must have both hands on the glass. It was just such a nice time, I wished we could have spoken. They kept talking into my eyes just as if I could understand them. To bad I couldn't I have a lot of questions. Like what has their life been like since they got married? In Korea once a women gets married she no longer belongs to her birth family, her mother is now her mother-in-law. It is not often talked about either. But apparently times are changing, for that I am glad.
We decided it was time to go before we were able to witness the huge feast, but I guess it is quite impressive. On the way out it took us about 50 minutes, on the way back it was almost two hours. It was the biggest weekend in the calender as people are travelling everywhere. In Korea when the roads get backed up, it is likely backed up to Seoul, and I thought the Deerfoot was bad! I had a sleep instead.
Beacuse of this minor delay, we almost missed our train out. Luckily it is not like home, if you miss your screwed, we caught another train and made it home before 9. The train is so awesome here, it was a fun ride and weekend.
Thanks Mike and Eun Sook for taking us.
The smoldering floor.
The boiler.
The houses. The one on the left is where G spends most her time. The next house to the right is the kitchen and eating house, and where guests sleep. There are two other 'houses' for storage. These houses are often L shaped.
