Valentine's Day Korean Style

We just enjoyed our first and only Valentine's Day in Korea. Well, technically just 1/3 of the holiday is celebrated on February 14th. So get ready for a brief lesson on the romantic holiday trifecta in Korea. I couldn't cite every source for this information because I have heard it from several people and read it in several sources. The information is consistent, so my research must be accurate- that's my version of the scientific method! I would like to mention one of the sources. Jason is an American who teaches at a University here in Daegu. He has lived here for 10 year and is married to a beautiful Korean woman. He is our only expert source with a deep southern American accent. He is great- I might have to dedicate a post to the musings of Jason!

Here is one of Jason's FB posts: "Today is Valentines Day, but in Korea that means women give presents to men only. On March 14th, White Day comes and that is the day when men give presents to girls. The two days are separated. April 14th is reserved for Black Noodle Day. This day is for all the single people who celebrate it (sadly) by eating a special Korean food."

Wandering around Daegu the last couple of days, we saw several street displays of typical Valentine's gifts, including chocolates and flowers. I saw a few young women carrying such gifts. I can only suppose they were off to meet their sweethearts. I wonder if starting the celebrations with women buying gifts for the men is a way to guarantee the women get a gift on their day? Maybe. Then again, maybe not!



We have eaten the "black noodles" many times. They are delicious. I can see why they would cheer the lonely! They are called Jajangmyun and are an adaption of a Chinese dish. The color comes from the black bean sauce. You can see a bowl on the menu board in the upper left hand corner. The cost would be less then $3 American. For another dollar (1000 won) you can get the large size, which easily feeds two. Of course they come with "panchan" or Korean side dishes. This typically includes kimchi and pickled radish. The young missionaries love to eat here- they get a lot for their money.

So how did we celebrate? Fred bought me a sweet pine scented candle- a little reminder of the mountains. I made him cinnamon rolls. That evening we enjoyed another Korea adventure as we went to a part of Daegu we had never visited; a new subway stop. We met up with Elders Yun and Lee for a delicious dinner at a restaurant that served Korean and American style chicken, but in mostly Korean fashion. This may have been the first time we've eaten at a local restaurant where they brought forks and didn't even offer us chopsticks. It felt weird!!!


Here is a picture of two forever Valentines! A picture before the gray hair and middle age spread. I can't imagine this Korea adventure without the love of my life. We are companions in the truest sense of the word. Ours is an eternal relationship, bound by the Lord's temple covenants. So here we are in Korea. Hoping to invite others to receive these choicest of all blessings.

Bring on the Blue Horse

January 31st , Lunar New Year, began the year of the Blue Horse. The years are based on the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The symbols repeat themselves in 12 year cycles.

I hope you will enjoy one more post about  Lunar New Year. Its one thing to research it and another to experience it. Thanks to our good friend Sup we witnessed some traditional rituals up close and in person. We also participated in some. Later in the day, we provided our own version of Seollal for the young missionaries.

Traditioal Seollal Celebration:

The ancestor rituals begin first thing in the morning, so we arrived at Sup's house about 7:45. His niece and nephews were already decked out in their hanbok. Don't they look adorable? Sup lives in a very nice home with four generations of his family. Traditionally, families gather for the ancestral rituals at the family homes of the oldest/first born male. The wives go to the homes of their husband's family. Since Sup's father is the oldest of his siblings, Sup's uncles and their families come to his home.



Shortly after we arrived they served Ddeokguk (rice cake soup). It was quite delicious. Koreans almost always eat sitting on the floor at very low tables. We have done that a couple times, but it isn't a pretty picture. They served us at a coffee table and we sat  on a couch.. One of Sup's brothers is setting the table. He is in hanbok because this is the first Lunar New Year since his marriage.


The food preparation takes several hours or sometimes days. In the past everything was prepared from scratch, but now they can buy many of the ritual foods already prepared so it cuts down on the time and effort. We witnessed the final steps. This is a brother's wife. The women do most of the cooking. Both of his sisters-in-law were dressed in hanbok. Sup and his brother worked on the presentation of the foods for the ancestor table. They are careful to trim off the ends to make it easier for the ancestors to eat and also so they can display the foods in a pleasing way.

The food is placed on special dishes used only for ancestral ceremonies, which occur seven times a year. They are laid out in a very specific order and all plates must have odd numbers of food, never even numbers. Notice the two octopus? This is a delicacy that is saved for special occasions. It is quite expensive. They also cover all of the mirrors in the home in anticipation of the arrival of ancestors.

Since Sup's mother passed away earlier this year, they had a special ceremony for her. This is his father's prayer room. It is set up with the ritual foods, but on a smaller scale. You can see a picture of his mother. The family members took turns going in and bowing to her.

The rituals focus on honoring their ancestors through offerings and bowing. They also bow to their father, and older siblings. Young children bow to their elders and receive money in return. Sup's niece and nephew bowed to us and we gave them each a couple thousand won. (A thousand won is worth about one dollar, but it sounds pretty amazing.)                           

 We most likely will not ever implement these rituals into our family traditions, but I think we can learn from the Koreans to remember and value our ancestors in a more personal way. We were not able to stay for the full celebration because we had work to do for our own. But we had a wonderful time and felt honored to be included.

Our "meguk" version:

 
The young missionaries like to come to our home to have "American food" and we are happy to oblige. But I really wanted to provide some traditional Korean food for our young Korean missionaries on their important holiday. So I went to the Internet in search of information and recipes. I made the ddeokguk (the traditional soup) with a slight American flair- I used beef broth instead of anchovy base. I just couldn't handle the fishy smell and taste. It was pretty good, but my favorite was the japchae. It's a Korean stir fry using "glass" noodles, made from sweet potatoes. It takes a while to make, but is "jeong mal mah she seo yo" -or really delicious. It's one of my favorites. Even though the internet version was great, I am hoping to take a class and make sure I fix it according to Korean tradition! I also served dried persimmons and chuseok crackers (purchased at a Korean market). The missionaries were so excited and very appreciative. They spent the entire day with us, playing games and watching church videos. Then we ended the day with a real American meal- steak and potatoes!