Yesterday I got to spend Korean Lunar New Year with a real live Korea family. It's one of the big days for ancestor worship in Korea - I detest the term since it's not really "worship" but there's no other term I know to express the uniqueness of reverence for the deceased in Asian countries.
A lavish table is set: fish, fruit, rice, rice alcohol, sweets. The ancestors are symbolically served (there were three courses I think). I also noticed some that at the beginning of one "course" the father banged the chopsticks three times on a plate. There's also a lot of low bowing. At the celebration I observed the father and son bowed alone and then with the daughter. The mother did not bow, although she did slave over the food the night before, which I think counts for something.
I'm describing it all rather banally, but really it's one of the most beautiful ways to remember one's ancestors that I've ever seen, although it is quite peculiar to me that going back three generations means you probably never met the people you are honoring.
Me hizo pensar en la tumba de familia en Lugo. Yo no hago reverencias a su memoria. Ni soy muy consciente que existieron. Pero hay valor en recordar a los antepasados. Nuestros origines "Reales," asi en el sentido de un real que existe y ha existido (existio?) y forma parte de nuestra persona mientras yace irremediablemente lejos de nuestro propio tiempo y espacio.
제가 진짜 피곤해.... =.= 이제
좋은 설날이 됐다. 한국에 대해서 좀 더 알게 됐다.
또 호박 식혜 최고다! ^^
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