Intercultural Life

Category: Korean Countryside (Page 1 of 10)

Back in the countryside

Chuseok in the countryside

It’s been hard to make any content at the moment, for example comics are just too exhausting, but when we can film a bit I can edit it into little videos. In this video we are back in the countryside to visit Hugh’s parents for the Chuseok holiday.

It’s been about 2 years since we’ve been back there and we made sure Hugh’s parents were vaccinated so the risk was low for them. It was nice to be back, but also quite exhausting for me at this stage of my pregnancy. Hugh did get a chance to fly his drone though, which is near impossible to do in Seoul without special permission. The other reason why it’s been hard to make much content lately is because firstly, we are really not going anywhere due to the current situation of the world. And secondly, Hugh is very busy with his company, so even filming at home becomes a challenge.

That said, I am glad when we can do something as it’s great to be able to look back in years to come. The charye (ancestral memorial rites ceremony) is still done by Hugh’s family, but may eventually fade out as Hugh may be unlikely to continue the tradition. But I am always happy to be included in this element of Korean culture.

We also went to the Goseong Dinosaur Museum, which we have been to before, but Yul doesn’t remember. I suspected the actual museum would be closed but at least there are the outside attractions and the real dinosaur footprint fossils to see. Yul heard me mention “museum” and got really excited because he loves museums. At least he was satisfied with everything else, but would have been nice to actually go inside the museum. So many things catered to children like museums are immediately shut in these times while places for adults stay open. While it’s been hard for everyone, children have been so negatively affected during this pandemic. Hopefully next time it will be open, and in the meantime we try to book for the Natural History Museum in Seoul when we can. I definitely miss the days of deciding to go to a museum on that day and just showing up and being able to go in!

Now that Yul is almost four, I have a better understanding of why so few families live in the countryside and prefer urban areas. The Korean countryside is not really set up for young children, at least in this area. Korea is very mountainous, so it’s great for adults that want to hike, but it means all valley areas are usually farm lands. I don’t mean the western ideal of rolling hills and space type farmland. With not much space the areas are often taken up with green houses for growing produce, sides of the roads are all irrigation ditches and many things are dangerous to children. It’s not an idyllic lifestyle.

Yul couldn’t understand why there was no convenience store or park for children there. In order to go to a park we have to cross the bridge to the next town. The one time we went to a playground, he was disappointed that there were no other children there to play with. Countryside areas no longer having families living there is a big problem these days, but I can’t blame families for moving when so many rural areas don’t have the infrastructure for raising children. You would think a rural area would have more places for children to play, but there was less than what is easily accessible for us in Seoul.

That’s some of my thoughts and perspective after living in Seoul for years and then going back to a rural area with a child. Hugh’s parents will retire in years to come and want to live closer to the sea, so will move. I’m hoping a more seaside area will at least have more public access areas that our children can enjoy in years to come when they visit.

Taking our dinosaur obsessed toddler to a Dino Expo

When your kid loves dinosaurs so much….

Honestly, I don’t know how Yul ended up this obsessed with dinosaurs. The obsession started before we even introduced him to dinosaurs and before we bought him any. You can watch the video about buying him his first dinosaurs here. But we have no problem with it and are happy to indulge him. I think studies have shown a link between intelligence and dinosaur obsession in kids, and no wonder, as they memorize dinosaur names and scientific facts. It gets their little brains working. Yul is not even 2 years old yet and is already trying to say Triceratops. It comes out something like “too too ta” though haha.

We had already planned to take him to the Goseong Dinosaur Museum, which we have visited before we had Yul. My sister in law suggested the Goseong Dinosaur Expo instead and it ended up being a great idea as there are so many things for kids to do. Although the expo was in 2016, all the big exhibits are still there and it’s open to the public. Even on the weekend there are minimal visitors so it made for a nice day out. There are limited food options with some areas and kiosks not functioning so it’s best to bring a packed lunch. Some of the halls no longer have exhibits but there is still plenty to see and do. Also, it’s on the coast and there are nice areas to walk and see more dinosaur footprints.

We weren’t sure how Yul would handle this big day out, but he loved it so much. When some dinosaurs roared he was a little scared, but only scared enough to stand behind me and hold my hand. For everything else, he was OBSESSED. So much so that he was heart broken when we had to leave. But we will visit again and we still need to take him to the Goseong Dinosur Museum.

Yul’s First Chuseok

We went back to the countryside for Chuseok! Often called ‘Korean Thanksgiving’ it’s one of the big holidays in Korea. Last year I was too pregnant to travel for Chuseok so I missed it last year, and now this year it’s Yul’s first Chuseok! He had a great time in the countryside because he gets lots of attention.

Our friend Sara came with us, as did my sister, who is visiting Korea at the moment. We got the drone footage because Sara brought her drone with her (thanks Sara!). It was also the first time Sara had eaten that much home-cooked Korean food so she was really happy! I often forget the difference between being a foreigner living in Korea and being a foreigner but marrying into a Korean family. I’ve been eating home-cooked Korean food for years and I’m familiar with traditions like the Jesa ceremony. But many others in Korea don’t get to experience that.

It’s always nice to get out to the countryside and breathe the countryside air. However, around Chuseok almost everyone is travelling to the countryside. You have to book bus and train tickets early and the traffic can be a nightmare. We try to travel late at night to avoid the midday rush.

You can also check out Sara’s video of her giving a tour of the fruits and vegetables in the countryside with some bad dad jokes…. haha.

Yul’s First Lunar New Year

Yul’s first time in the countryside for Lunar New Year!

We headed back to the countryside for Lunar New Year recently. It was the time Yul had been down south to the area where Hugh’s parents live, and where we had previously lived for 2 years. Usually we would catch the bus but decided to take the fast KTX train instead as it’s more comfortable for traveling with a baby.

I also hadn’t been back in the countryside for a while as I hadn’t been able to travel when pregnant. It was great to get out of Seoul and breathe the countryside air again. It was also a lot warmer than in Seoul. Hugh’s parents had seen Yul once before but this time they got to spend a whole week with him. They were over the moon and so incredibly proud to be grandparents. Hugh’s sister and her husband live in the area as well so we got to spend some time with them too.

As you can see in the video, Yul was given lots of money! It is a tradition for children to do a big bow for relatives and are then given some money. We will probably use it to buy some things for him. We also did the Jesa ceremony in the morning which is a way to pay respects to deceased family members. And of course we ate lots of food. In future we will have a car and be able to drive down south more regularly hopefully.

We were sent some suitcases from SHAPL, which could not have come at a better time! I was dreading pulling out our old battered suitcases and had been meaning to buy some more anyway. These new ones were so smooth and nice to use and made traveling so much easier. You can check out more designs on the SHAPL website and also get these suitcases through the Kickstarter.

 

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Korean Englishman Farm Visit Behind the Scenes

When Josh, Ollie and Joel needed a farm to film on, we were only too happy to volunteer. It also gave us the chance to head back to the countryside for a weekend.

The Korean Englishman channel is HUGE in Korea. It was school holidays when they visited, but I’ve been giggled to myself seeing some comments from local high school students who now realise that Josh and Ollie and Joel were right near their school but they didn’t know!

Ghosts and Korean Folklore

This was a very spur of the moment video. We were showing a friend around the village and started talking about ghosts so I filmed a bit with my phone. We covered only a few ghost stories in this area as there are many more. There are many falling down, creepy houses too. Although I make a webtoon that has ghosts and supernatural beings, I’m actually quite a skeptical person and take these stories with a grain of salt. (But I mean… Of course all the characters in the Nicholalala webtoon are real!!! haha).

Childhood Memories

About 2 weeks ago we traveled to the area where Hugh’s mother is from and where Hugh spend a large amount of his childhood. It has been many years since they had been back. We visited his grandparents’ burial mounds and paid respects, we also saw many elderly relatives and found the house that Hugh lived in as a small boy.

When Hugh was only about 1 year old, his father became very ill and he had to go live with his grandparents as his mother spent all her time looking after his father. It’s not unusual for children to live with grandparents in Korea, either back then or today. You still see grandparents doing a lot of the child minding in Korea and sometimes children live with their grandparents for years like Hugh did. It was very strange for him to see that area again. He was close to his grandparents and grew up thinking they were his real parents, so the transition of moving back with his parents was difficult for him. His grandfather passed away when he was quite young and his grandmother passed away while he was doing his military service.

Korea has had such rapid development in the past few decades, so it’s interesting to think about what Hugh’s childhood was like in the 1980’s and how it differed from mine in Australia.

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