a family ceremony

Yesterday we had a special dinner. On the anniversary of a father's death day families prepare an array of dishes and perform a ceremony. Here is what we did:

During the day some family members prepared some special dishes, such as twigim (like tempura). In the evening some extended family member came over. Some family took out a lacqueur table and set it up. The table height was the same as a regular-sized Korean table where you sit on the ground. The length was about a foot longer than our usual dinner table. On this lacqueur table, over twenty side dishes and main dishes were placed. The surface of the table was covered with bowls of food.

At around 9 we began the ceremony. First, my oldest brother-in-law stood in front of the table flanked by the males in the home. Between him and the table was a small glass filled with uncooked rice. Standing upright in the glass were three burning sticks of incense. My brother-in-law took a small glass of alcohol and a saucer and rotated it three times counter-clockwise above the burning incense. He then placed the glass and saucer on the table. On the left side of the table stood one of our cousins. He lifted a pair of chopsticks, held them from the top, and drummed the surface of an empty metal rice bowl. Then, my brother-in-law led us as we bowed to the table three times. We took turns leading this ceremony. As we proceeded with this ceremony, an empty bowl at the table was filled with rice and a spoon was placed upright in the rice.

This ceremony represents inviting my father-in-law to dinner and showing our respect to him. Traditionally, Koreans believe that a ghost remains with a family for a number of generations. During the ceremony Katie became pretty upset because she had never seen something like this before. The bowing coupled with the prolonged silence also may have bothered her. We told Katie to say hi to her grandfather.

Today, I took the subway to the COEX building to buy a book I saw there two weeks ago. My sister-in-law gave me the money for the book after she heard me talking to Suk Ja about it. [I intend to talk to Suk Ja about diamonds tomorrow.] The book is called Target North Korea: Pushing North Korea to the Brink of Nuclear Catastrophe. I've read the first two chapters and they're quite interesting. In these chapters, the writer explores alternative views of the origin of the Korean war and the conflict itself.

Ran up Namsan today. Running in the evening is superb. The temperature drops and the hum and buzz of the cicadas is relaxing.

Tomorrow I intend to drink coffee, run, and read more of my new book.
I will commute to work on Monday. I've tested the trip and it's about an hour and a half. This will be my reading time.

Ciao