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This weekend is "Lunar New Year" for South Korea. It's a very special occasion that everyone celebrates. I spent all day with Jin's family. We visited her mother in law's home where they held a memorial service for her father in law who has passed away. This day special traditional Korean food is prepared and it's believed that the spirit of the loved one comes to eat the meal in the home. I was invited to participate in the ceremony and felt very honored to be there. The eldest son of the family leads the ceremony that has everyone kneel and bow three times. Food and Soju was offered to their father's spirit. Women traditionally aren't part of this service. There was then a traditional bowing ceremony where the different generations of people kneel and bow to each other and wish each other a Happy New Year. The elders also give money to the children as gifts. I made 10,000 won! Which is about $10. After the ceremony we all sat around a table and enjoyed a yummy lunch.
We then visited the grave of their father which is in the mountains. The scenery was very beautiful during the drive. At the grave, another ceremony involving food and drink took place. After that, we visited another relative's home where we did the traditional kneel & bow greeting and I made another 10,000 won!
We had more food and I was taught to play a traditional Korean game called "Yut Nori." It involves a few sticks with two sides. One side is rounded and the other side is flat with markings. How the sticks fall determines how many places you can move on a board that accompanies the game. I won two rounds for my team, but we still ended up getting spanked! It was a special treat and an honor to spend so much time with Jin's family and I had a wonderful time.
What I learned today about Korea: 1) I'm pretty good at Yut Nori!
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