Chuseok experiences in KOREA

Chuseok is one of the biggest festivals in Korea. Millions of Korean wait for this occasion throughout the year, so as to foreigners. Originally, it declared the autumn beginning and the corps harvesting. Recently, it became a getaway vacation from the fast-paced daily life of Korea This year, because of COVID-19, people are discouraged from using public transportation and engage in a social gathering in general. Therefore, our team is sharing our beautiful memories as a chuseok gift.

*My experience (Anni Naharin Sultana)--------

Cloth is the identity of a country. Korean traditional cloth, ‘Hanbok’ is so beautiful, elegant, and colorful. Before coming to Korea, one of my bucket lists was to wear ‘Hanbok’. In chuseok, Korean and foreigners wear ‘Hanbok’ and take beautiful pictures on the premises of Gwanghwamun palace. The people who live outside Seoul may be going to some traditional place in that area and wear ‘Hanbok’. To wear this beautiful silk cloth, you don’t have to buy it. There are many rental shops where you can rent the ‘Hanbok’ and matching accessories, you want.

I was in Busan during my first chuseok. I went to the ‘BEXCO hanbok museum’ where you can get a free hanbok experience. I chose to wear the Joseon dynasty hanbok and changed into a Joseon woman. Do you know what the difference between Joseon and Goryeo dynasty’s female Hanbok is? In Joseon Hanbok, the upper part of hanbok ( 저고리- jeogori) is shorter than Goryeo Hanbok.

I went to Gyeongbuk Palace and tried Goryeo Hanbok in last chuseok. It was a queen attire and after wearing that beautiful dress, I was feeling like a queen. 😊

Though this year, I could not do anything for the unfortunate situations, but these memories are still vivid and making me happy. I hope that next Chuseok will be better than this.....🙂

** From another team mate (Shakhawat Hossain)-------

The main attraction in chuseok mainly wearing a ‘Hanbok’ both Koreans and foreigners. But my experience was a little bit different from others, it’s my thinking. I past my first chuseok in 2018 in Seoul with my Korean labmates. And one of my labmates invited me to his home for chuseok festival and they arranged Korean traditional food for that. They were offering freshly harvested rice, songpyeon (송편- rice cake), jeon (전), meat, fruits, vegetables, and alcohol, which were are carefully prepared, arranged, and presented to the ancestral spirits.

After the service, family members enjoy the food together with me in Korean style. This means a table packed from corner to corner full of colorful banchan (반찬 - side dishes) and main dishes for everyone to share. It was amazing for me and one of the most memorable in my life.

***Our maknae (막내) member is from Vietnam (Hoàng Mạnh Thắng). He is also sharing his chuseok experiences in Seoul with all of you.

Chuseok maybe is the only period of time in a year in which Seoul is not crowded. Traveling around Seoul during Chuseok seems not a good idea, but let me share to you some tranquil experiences I had with Chuseok in Seoul.


Bongeunsa Temple was known as Gyeonseongsa Temple, which is located in the north of the COEX mall and was built in the 10th year of Silla King Weongseong (794). In 1948, the Queen Jeonghyeon upgraded Gyeonseongsa Temple and changed its name into Bongeunsa Temple.

The temple stands out on a high hill overlooking the high-rise city with thousands of white lanterns. Coming to the temple in the afternoon, you can feel a peaceful atmosphere while hearkening to the vibration sound of many wind chimes. Besides those things, you can randomly catch one of these moments like this picture down here.

One middle-aged Korean person was talking with a young Westerner in the middle of a temple. I found that moment so interesting. To go to Bongeunsa Temple, you can take the train line 1, get down at Bongeunsa Temple Station exit 1, and then see the COEX mall. After that, it is only 150m straight walking more, you can arrive at Bongeunsa Temple.

**** When some one is being nostalgic, one of our team members from Pakistan (Durani Sabeen Mehmood) is celebrating chuseok with Pakistani traditional foods.

As we all know that, it was advised by the Government to avoid traveling during Chuseok Holiday this year to avoid spreading the virus or even contracting one. Respecting the Government, I canceled all of my plans for traveling to different cities and stayed in Seoul. But staying in Seoul doesn't mean that I had to stay in my room all day long. But to be honest, that's what I did 🤣. I stayed in my room watching Netflix and working occasionally on the assignments. The festivities of Chuseok are amazing, but this year we missed out on a lot. But safety is better than a cure. Since I didn’t go out much, so I missed eating Korean festive food a lot. I am not a good cook in general, so let alone talk about making the Korean festive food and that too delicious was out of the question for me. Therefore, what I did is that I called my mother and asked her to help me make our festive food so that I can share with my neighbors who didn’t go to their hometowns either. With the help and instructions of my mother, I successfully made the following Pakistani traditional food ---------

Chicken Roast,

Spicy Beef Kabab,

Side dishes,

Sheer Khurma (as dessert) I shared this food with my neighbor.

They were truly happy, and their smile made my spending 4 hours in the kitchen worthy (yes I am a slow cook 😋). I also invited my two friends who live nearby, maintaining social distancing, for food at my place. Holidays and festivals make me sad because I miss my family back home a lot. It doesn’t matter if it’s our Muslim festival, Christmas or thanksgiving. Nothing beats the importance of family, but as such as I miss my family, Korea has given me some wonderful friends who have become my family now. Cheers to happy and sad memories.

***** Hiking is not a bad option to spend the vacation for nature lovers. Our two team members, Adel and Ashna had spent their chuseok vacation with the charm of nature. Let's listen to their story...........

(Adel)..........

Hiking is an integral part of the identity of Korea. Korean geography and the rocky nature of the lands being a peninsula have both rooted to the fame and popularity of hicking among Koreans. While my county Egypt, the original name meant "the flat land where the river flows" we lack such mountains with the only ones being in the Asian part of the Sinai province, accessible only after a 10 hours drive from most of the Egyptian cities. Thus, coming to Korea opened the doors for me to explore and engage in this marvelous activity. The difficulty of the climb along with the thrill and reasonable danger amount to an exciting journey. This vacation I chose to climb the muak peak, situated in the heart of Yonsei University to avoid the risk of COVID-19. Although considered a relatively easy climb route, the scenery is beautiful. The trees started to take the fiery red color of autumn and the cold breath of October was unthinkably refreshing. The experience was fulfilled after reaching the top. The psychological reward of reaching the destination with the feelings of thrill being close to the edge are very addictive. Along the route to the peak, many Korean seniors could be seen indicating the healthy and active life style adopted by them and reflecting one of the admirable and positive aspects of the Korean culture.

The hike is never complete without a picture on top of the peak. Because of the elevation, an amazing atmosphere and picture background are almost guaranteed throughout the year regardless of the season.

(Ashna)..........

I spent this year chuseok in Seoul. Due to coronavirus, I wasn't able to travel however I decided that with two of my friends we will go hiking. So we woke up early in the morning in chuseok and we got ready and went to achasan mountain 아차산. The mountain is quite big and Pretty. It takes the whole almost to hike the entire trail to the peak. Luckily that day the weather was super nice so we tried our best to hike as much as we could. One of my favorite things to do on the mountain is to grab a coffee and sit somewhere and enjoy my coffee while looking down the city of Seoul. So I got into a 편의점 (mini stop shop) and I got hot coffee (not exactly how I would like my coffee to be but still it worked) while hiking the mountain. Honestly, it was beautiful.

Then with my friends, we found a perfect spot that looks down the city and we enjoyed our coffee. There were a lot of Korean families also moms and dads and their children in the afternoon that started coming for the hiking. So I spent my chuseok in a peacefully adventurous way and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Festivals bring people closer, make our relationships strong. Even though for COVID-19, people are refrain from going outside, can't hangout with friends, but everyone has their own way to enjoy.

HAPPY CHUSEOK..........💕