Thursday
22nd January 2004
I woke up in the morning finding the weather even coldeer than yesterday...BrrRRr....Hopefully the weather will warm up soon enough....i can't believe i have to leave two days later....Time really flies man.....I am gona miss my grandparents...Sobz....So i have to enjoy my stay to the maximum until i step out of Korea....i guess...
Things started great in the morning....My family and i carried on the tradition of New Year by praying to our ancestors......with lots of food made by my mum,aunt and grandmother......We put the food on the table infront of us and bowed on our knees and offer them wine by going threes rounds around the burning stick(May sound strange but that's the tradition).......After that we had our breakfast which was delicious....Yumz....But the worst part of it was that i had to wear my uncle's Korean costume as i didn't had one which was so big....and i looked like a dork(although i am alreay one without it) in it.....But i am glad it was over.....
A couple of relatives visited us in the afternoon with lots of stuffs.....We gathered and bow down on our knees to our grandparents as a form of respect as they were the oldest at the moment.... i think....Not too sure i guess.....Of course i did too....and got lots of money from him as he knew this was my first time celebrating my new year here and wanted me to be happy.....After many continuous bowing down on our knees,i had earned 12 million won which is about 170 dollars.....Not bad eh?? now i know the feeling of you people getting money in form of red packets from your relatives.....After they were gone which was afetr a couple of hours, my family went to Seoul to visit my maternal parents which was my mother's family.....Traffic was a jam of course.....It's Korea, not Singapore....Could really tell the difference....Although it was quite a close distance, it took us almost two hours.....But we made it......When we reached there, my other grandparents came out in this cold weather to welcome us.....I guess grandparents are grandparents afterall, all eager to see their grandchildren........They were all amazed how tall i grew since my last visit.....They even said that i've become more handsome but of course i didn't believe them...Because i know myself damn well....Hahaha....Anyway, we first bowed to my grandparents and aunts on our knees like we did in my paternal grandparent's house.....Of course my wallet became thicker too....You know what i mean....Heheh....We chatted,shared our experience and had our dinner together but the worst part eventually came naturally which was leaving them....Felt like every step away from them tore my heart but i had no choice i had too little time here...i guess.....They stayed outside seeing us off til we went off in the car...i guess they must have felt as i did.....But hopefully i will come back soon enough......So we went back....Going back was way better then coming...the traffic was much better,do we reached in 30minutes to see our other realtives who hadn't visited in the morning already inside awaiting us.....We shared lots of stuffs together....They were sad to find out that i will be leaving in two days time...So was i....
Today turned out to be the greatest day of my visit...maybe even the greatest and most meaningful day in my entire life as today is the first time i celebrated my new year by carrying out the traditions that i have never did in Singapore as i had no relatives there......For that i was very delighted as i waited for this day for many years...So did my grandparentsd....They were looking forward to celebarte with us....Today i felt warm even though the temperature reached as cold as minus 18 degrees as my realtives and grandparents made me realize my sense of belonging which kept me warm for the day,maybe even throughout the year...Or my life....i hope....Hopefully,i can come back next year too!! Korea rox forever!!! Guess i'll stop writing here....So tired....Happy New Year people.....Hope you've had some great time with your relatives like i did.....May God bless every single people i know.....Peace.....
-S.H