5.Chuseok

Like any other country, South Korea has its festivals. One that draws my attention is Chuseok ("Korean Thanksgiving"). Since koreans still use the lunar calendar, a lot of their holidays are centered on the movements of the moon. This holiday occurs on the 15th day of the eight month of the lunar calendar, which is on september to early october on the solar calendar. 

During this holiday, families reunite and share food with each other, and they also talk about their lives, and give thanks for the good harvest. Families reunite at the house of the parents or grand parents. Families pay respects to their ancestors during this holiday, they prepare delicious food, and "charye" is a custom in which people set a table with food for their ancestors, and they have to do this the right way, with the correct procedure and with respect. Another custom is "bulcho" in which people clean their ancestors graves, they take out the weeds, and this is a symbol of respect for the family, and during "seongmyo" they bow before the grave. 

Chuseok´s representative dish is the songpyeon, its made from the newly harvested rice and is filled with beans, sesame seeds, chestnuts, or brown sugar. When families gather to make songpyeon, they try their best to shape it beautifully, since people say that if it has a beautiful shape, you might meet a good husband or have a beautiful daughter.

But, what happens after all this respectful events? Well, people have fun! There are games, like the Woman circle dance (which they do dressed with a hanbok) or the wrestling game, or people can just have fun chatting or drinking and enjoying the festival with their loved ones.

Sources:

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=811650