New video up on the Nicholalala YouTube channel. I show you what’s been happening in the countryside, answer some questions and talk about what I will miss (and won’t miss) in the Korean countryside.
Tag: living in korea (Page 3 of 9)
I’m rebooting the Nicholalala channel! I don’t want it to just be vlogs, though vlogs are still a big part of it. I’m going to try and do a video like this once a week, showing some clips, answering some questions, and recommending books etc.
The reason why it’s been a while since I regularly posted on that channel was not only because of being so busy but also because I was thinking about what I wanted to do with this channel. I really want to do more YouTube videos independent of My Korean Husband, and talk about about the Nicholalala Webtoon and also talk about a bunch of other topics (let me know if there is something in particular you’d like me to make a video about).
We filmed this before we were in Australia for 6 weeks. This is the ancestral memorial rites for the Gwon/Kwon family. Hugh and I were researching online the exact word for this type of one but couldn’t find it, there doesn’t seem to be as much information about it. It is Jesa, the ancestral rituals, but not exactly the same as the more commonly done ones. This one is done once a year with the head family and it honors 8 or 9 generations back. Because the Gwon family were part of the yangban (the traditional ruling class) they have all the records of how far back their family goes.
In Korea, Catholics, Buddhists and the nonreligious practice ancestral rites, but protestant Christians do not usually. Although I identify as Christian myself, I have a lot of issues with the type of Christianity in Korea and how culture can be erased when Western missionaries push their own beliefs but that’s a discussion for another day. These ceremonies show appreciation and respect to the family’s ancestors as well as strengthening ties with living family.
You can see the different treatment of men and women in Confucianism in traditions like this (and still to this day in modern society). But it is gradually changing. Just recently for Lunar New Year Hugh’s immediate family decided it wasn’t fair for women to have to do 4 bows when men did 2, so it was changed to women doing 2 as well, because as Hugh put it, “Confucius was sexist”. At the Gwon family ancestral memorial I could see the difference in attitudes depending on how old the male family member was. Hugh was actually quite shocked that the women couldn’t eat with the men and had to prepare all the food, and a middle aged family member was helping carry the food across for the women, while the older men didn’t seem to give it a second thought. Confucianism has some good elements, but some benefit from some modern changes. The culture can be kept but updated for a modern Korea. In fact modern Korea could benefit from going back to some Confucian ideals of not having corrupt leaders, but again a discussion for another day.
This was the first time Hugh had done this particular ceremony as usually only his father does it. Being in an international marriage and mixing your culture with another does make you start to appreciate your own culture and where you come from. It’s good to understand your own heritage as you also adopt another. In recent years I’ve discovered more about my own ancestors and my ancestor who arrived as a convict in Australia on the first fleet. My father and I visited her grave and contemplated how she was just a young girl who had stolen some fabric and was sentenced to death, but then transportation, and how hard her life must have been. I was incredibly moved to visit her grave but also felt helpless as there were no words or rituals to be said in respect for her. So because that is lacking in my own culture (unless someone dies in a war) I can appreciate these rituals in Korean culture.
Learning another language when you are an introvert can be very difficult because so much language learning involves socializing. I’m not shy at all, and I definitely love talking to people, but my mind and body needs to rest after intense socializing. Speaking in Korean makes it so much harder because my brain is doing so much more work, so after my Korean lessons – which involve mostly talking – my brain is totally fried.
I also envy those who are learning Korean in a Korean university and that’s it. The core part of their life is just language learning. For lots of other people, language learning has to be crammed into an already busy life. I speak some Korean with Hugh, but it’s easy for me to slip in English words or explain what I mean because he speaks English. My teacher doesn’t speak any English. She also tells me big stories where I have to concentrate very hard. I do enjoy my lessons, but my brain isn’t as young as it used to be…
We’ve been in Seoul since last week and have been pretty busy, so haven’t been able to upload much. BUT we are filming a lot of stuff while here.
Also while here I had some hospital visits and filmed this quick video about restaurants in Korean hospitals.
Not all Korean hospitals are like this, but they are definitely different to Australian ones.
In Korean culture it’s polite to give things to people with 2 hands, or with the other hand supporting your arm. It’s especially important to do that with someone older than you or if they are in a higher position.
Being married, we don’t need to always give things with 2 hands (though some people who have a more formal marriage may still always do it) so it was funny that Hugh did it by reflex when he was concentrating too much on something else but still didn’t actually look at me.
Within a marriage you can also do it on purpose to show respect or care but is not necessary all the time. Also because I’m not Korean and our marriage is a cross cultural marriage, we are changing between 2 different cultures constantly.
We talk about being called ahjussi or hyung and how I got a Korean tutor. We also comment on some comments!
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