family gatherings

The past couple of days I've been all over the city visiting family.

Saturday, I went shopping at Lotte Mart (the Walmart of Korea) with my mom, grandma, and aunt. Clothing at Lotte mart is very inexpensive and suitable for non-Koreans (size-wise ;D). I bought 2 work blouses, a dress, and a hat for under 20 USD. Not bad.
(Korean dressing rooms are not for the timid. The mirrors are always outside of the room so you have to step outside before seeing how the clothes fit. I think it's so that the sales clerk can try and tell you how good you look to make a sale. Also, women's dressing rooms usually contain a set (or two) of high heels and some of the mens dressing rooms have dress shoes.)
Other than the clothing, I bought a few childrens books for myself. The books are intro's to reading Hangul for kindergartners. They actually help a lot. I've been studying everyday, every chance I get. My reading and writing have improved a lot. I'm starting to pick up words and phrases that aide my understanding of conversation and ability to give simple responses. I'm getting better at talking to kids... adults, not so much.

After shopping we went to my mom's 4th brother's house (I call him Samchun 4). We had lunch (sang gup sal: pork, rice, lettuce, and peppers) and watched my cousin play the piano. She's only about 7 years old and is amazingly talented.



We went to my grandmother's house that night to stay the weekend. My grandmother, samchun (1), sukmo (aunt), Hana, and Hyun Bin all live in the same house. My mother's family basically grew up in this house. It's very small and old fashioned. There's a large concrete barrier around the house with a staircase that goes up to the roof. At night, my mom, grandmother, Hyun Bin, and I all slept on the floor in the same room. The floors are heated but there's usually no central heating in Korean homes. When it came time to shower, wash-up, or brush my teeth... I did everything the old fashioned way. In the bathroom there's a toilet, washboard, fosset, and three large bowls. The largest of the three bowls is for bathing and the second largest for face washing and brushing teeth. The third bowl was next to the washboard, for cleaning undergarments. My mom kept worrying that I would loathe living this way but i don't mind it. The only thing that seems to bother me is the absence of chairs. Sitting on the floor with no back support gets old after a while. I guess this is why Koreans have amazing posture. I imagine my posture will improve.


(my bathtub and sink)


The next day, we walked over to samchun (3)'s apartment to have lunch. There, I met their 3 children (my cousins) Wonsuk, Junsok, and Minsok. Minsok had suffered severe brain damage about 14 years ago. My mom told me the story later that night.
Sunday was the first full moon of the lunar new year... it was on that same occasion that Minsok was injured. We all climbed up to the roof of my grandmother's house to see the new full moon. The family was doing the same thing 14 years ago when Wonsuk accidently pushed his brother Minsok off the roof. I remember hearing my mom's concerns about the accident when I was little...
Seeing Minsok completely broke my heart. I've never felt that kind of heartache before. I can't help but to imagine what his life would've been like if this had never happened. I feel so sad for Wonsuk too, he was just a little boy at the time and I can tell he is burdened by it.
Wonsuk is very quiet and timid. He's seventeen years old and has a serious interest in zoology. There are different animals all over the apartment. Turtles and fish in the office, fish in the bathroom, fish and hermit crabs in the living room, and a newt. He used to have hedgehogs, lizards, snakes, tarantulas, guinea pigs, and frogs but he gave them away.



(some of Wonsuk's animals)

Junsok is the opposite of Wonsuk. He's ten yrs old, loud and full of energy. Every time I see him, he's playing games on the computer or asks me if he can use my "handeu pone" to play the games on it. Whenever it comes to greetings or salutations he'll bow with his palms together, it's very cute.

Sunday night, the entire family came together for the new year's full moon. We ate a massive dinner. The night basically consisted of eating, drinking, eating, eating, and more eating... with a little snacking and some more eating and drinking. I learned to eat very slow because whenever I finish, someone always makes me eat more. "Meogu Meogu! (Eat! Eat!)". After dinner, we all went up to the roof to see the full moon. My mom told me Minsok's story and everyone kind of grew silent remembering what had happened.



My uncles put together a traditional new years game for the family to play. Its called something along the lines of "Yul-No-Ri". The eldest uncle cut a chunk of plant root into pieces to form a kind of dice and then he made up the consequences of landing on certain spaces on the game. The consequences were singing, spelling your name with your butt (dancing), drinking, and putting money in the winners pot. We played about four rounds. Afterwards my grandmother, all five of my uncles, my aunt, and my mom all took turns singing traditional Korean folk songs. I loved the songs. The way they sing is very interesting and poetic to me. It was a great night.

Today, the family gathered for dinner again. My mom is heading back home to the States tomorrow. My uncle and aunt (samchun 2 and sungmo) are supposed to take me to Mokpo tomorrow, so I had to leave with them. I feel like a big baby but knowing my mom's leaving makes me tear up. I've gotten to share this experience with her thus far and I wish she were staying a little longer.

At first, on the car ride over to my uncles house, I felt a bit lost... I thought about how in the world I'm going to manage without my mom. The 'lost' feeling started to dissipate when I thought about how incredibly fortunate I am to have such a wonderful family over here. Despite the language barrier, they've gone above and beyond for me.

I'm positive everything will be okay :)