Happy Chuseok

If I had a TV show that centered on my students, this picture would be the trademark photo:

Students dressed in hanbok for Chuseok, Korea's Thanksgiving

Chuseok, Korea's thanksgiving, is today. People return to their hometowns and stay overnight at family homes. They eat traditional foods, play games and have the same family squabbles and joys that American families have. 

We celebrated Chuseok at school on Friday. Because Feinschule Language School has so few students and teachers, we are truly behave like a dysfunctional family. We wore hanbok, the traditional dress; made and ate songpyeon, a rice cake dessert; played games and even celebrated with a little American flair. 

Kristen making songpyeon with Kate and Andy

A month before Chuseok, Jenny asked me to make a Korean piñata for our school celebration. 

"Koreans have piñatas? What do they look like?"

"You know. They are like a round or rectangle shape."

"No, I don't know."

"It's just a round or rectangle shape. We fill it with candies like a piñata."

So, I performed a Google search to find the simplest round or rectangle-shaped project possible: a cereal box filled with candy, sealed shut with festively red tape and featuring the children's patriotic artwork. Thursday, the day before the party, I showed the piñata to Jenny. 

"Oh. That's not Korean."

"What do you mean? What does a Korean piñata look like?" 

"We use a paper rice sack. We throw balls at it and the paper breaks easily. Your box is too thick. The balls won't work."

For you, Dad

Feeling like Pedró, from Napoleon Dynamite, when he's told that in America, he can't make a piñata in the shape of his opponent, I found out that a Korean piñata cannot be made from a cardboard box. Given the short notice of this news, my piñata had to suffice and modifications had to be made. In Mexican and American style, we used a large stick to hit the piñata instead of throwing balls. 

"Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian..." 

And then I showed them how we do things in America

The cardboard cereal box was too strong for the children to break, so Kristen and I had to help out. Apparently, Kristen had some built up aggression toward Brian.

Back inside it was time for group pictures. No holiday is complete without the family portrait.