On September 28th, 2023, I celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival; Chuseok (추석) or Hangawi (한가위) as it is commonly known in Korean - with my Korean Girlfriend (Pia) for the first time, properly.
The Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, corresponding to the time when the moon is supposedly the brightest and roundest in the sky, is a harvest festival celebrated mainly in China, but adopted by many east - Asian countries as well. In Pia's family, Mid-autumn was a time for the entire family to gather, cousins and all, and she has been celebrating it her whole life. This year, in the absence of family, she decided to celebrate it in a small but meaningful way at my house.
As I have heard, a normal Korean family prepares an immense variety of foods for the festival, and the women of the family have to start prepping a week in advance for the fateful day, where the entire family gathers, to honor those that came before, to celebrate with those that are living now, and overall, to enjoy a large and delicious quantity of traditional Korean foods. In the recluse of my basement in Calgary, a few thousand miles away from South Korea, my wonderful partner took it upon herself to give life to this annual celebration and prepare, what was for me (maybe not for her), a tremendous variety of Korean dishes. The entire ordeal took her close to 3 hours to prepare, start to finish, and the culmination of which was an elegant spread of taro soup (토란국), Korean beef patty Jeon (육전), Zucchini and Perilla leaf Jeon (애호박전, 깻잎전), seasoned garlic stalks (마늘쫑 볶음) and of course, the main attraction for the festival, Songpyeon; the traditional Korean Rice cakes (송편), which are both dessert dishes.
Of course, no Korean dinner is complete without a bottle of Cheongju (청주), but given that the local liquor store did not have such refined tastes, we opted for a bottle of Soju (소주) instead.
After all the food was prepared, we set up the table in front of traditional Korean folding screens (병풍). Where on earth would I get these elegantly patterned wooden screens you may ask? Well, Pia, the generational Gen Z talent brought up a YouTube simulation video that showcased just that. Honoring traditions and ancestors just got Hi-tech, keep up.
Before we ate, we performed the ancestral honoring ceremony. The family typically offers a portion of the prepared food to its ancestor's, who as Pia explained, only get very few chances in a year to get a decent, home-cooked meal (especially these days, where such traditions are slowly dying out, or heavily simplified). As an immigrant, I understand their pain…
To start the ceremony, we pour soju thrice into a cup and circle the cup thrice around a candle (in lieu of incense sticks). We then proceed to bow twice, kneeling and standing. This is basically the whole ordeal, after which we promptly left the room to allow the ancestors to descend (or ascend - for the cynics) from wherever they may be situated to come and enjoy the delicious treats and drink left out for them. We also had to keep the cat outside as he seems to have developed a taste for soju. After around 15 minutes, which we felt was enough time for the apparitions to eat and drink their fill, we finally got our chance to dive into the food like hungry hyena's on a zebra carcass. Pia would never believe me but swear the soju level in the cup was a little lower than when we had left the room…
Usually, we would watch a show on Netflix while we sup, but the occasion warranted only soft background music and tales of past Mid-Autumn Festivals. Nothing supplements a delicious meal like a good conversation, and Pia promptly shared hilarious stories and traditions they would follow. She made it very clear that what we were celebrating today was the 'lite-version' of the festival, and that the scale in her homeland is on another level. This truly made me excited for my journey to Korea next year.
And so we dined and drank to our hearts content, and satisfied that after-dinner craving for something sweet with some delicious rice bean treats and oranges. The drinks never stopped flowing, and the conversations soon turned into song and dance with an at home karaoke session. I even got to sing along to a Korean classic (I believe - 신승훈 - Shin Seung Hoon) and managed to not fully butcher it at least…
And so a beautiful tradition is born in the humble lives of L.S. Thomas and Pia, one I hope to carry on for many, many years to come. Pia, if you are reading this, Thank you. Thank you for exposing me to a beautiful tradition and treating me to a wonderful meal. If your ancestors really came and saw what a wonderful person you have become, they would stay for a few drinks and stories of their own.
Happy belated Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!
행복한 한가위 되세요
With Love,
L.S. Thomas
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