The two biggest holidays in Korea are Chuseok and Seol-nal (Lunar New Year). The Chuseok holiday lasts for three days with the second day being the Thanksgiving day itself. Did you know that many Korean women dread the holidays? The biggest reason is the chore associated with it ~ cooking, serving and cleaning. Aside from that, there’s also the financial burden of preparing gifts and the traffic as millions of Seoulites drive to their provincial hometowns during this time.
In my case, we didn’t have to drive that far as our í°ì§‘ (keun jib or “main house”) is just a few minutes drive from where we live. I don’t have to dread Chuseok that much since my husband is the third son so I still have two elder sisters-in-law who do most of the cooking. What I dislike (but not really “hate”) is after Chuseok when my parents-in-law stay at our place 😀 It’s because when they are here, I have to prepare their meals and that means AT LEAST nine side dishes every time!
Last Chuseok, there was a news feature on a product that doubled its sales. Everyone in the living room watching TV that time laughed ~ the product is called 가짜 ê¹ìŠ¤ (ka-jja kip-seu) or “fake cast”.
The product is less than 15,000 won (around 15 USD) and it is for those who want to pretend they’re hurt to avoid doing chores. One of the company that sells the product online claimed their sales doubled at Chuseok holiday.
Here’s the link for the news cast online from KBS ~ fake cast. (in Korean)
My eldest sister-in-law said that if we ever come to a holiday wearing a cast, we also need to present a medical certificate. ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹
I guess that product will not sell as much at New Year’s time. It’s already on TV!