Chuseok in Sokcho!

This past weekend was Chuseok in Korea, which is Thanksgiving. Basically, Korean families get 4-5 days off to spend with their families. I spent my Chuseok with the people I consider my family here in Korea. There were 10 of us that were going on the trip, Me, Tracy, Nick, Damien, Ross, Julian, Carolina, Jonne, Mary Anne, and Brandi. However only 7 of us left on the Friday night. We had to catch a couple of trains and then our bus to Sokcho. The bus ride was 4 hours, which was a miracle because we were all told traffic would be crazy during Chuesok, but we got lucky. The bus made one stop for us to get off, stretch, pee and eat. We arrived in Sokcho before midnight, so we dropped our stuff off at the pension we were staying at and headed out to find some food.

On Saturday we all slept in and waited for Joanne, Carolina and Brandi to arrive. Once they got here we changed and headed to the beach to soak up some sun, swim and enjoy some rest and relaxation.

This is a view straight out into the middle of the beach from where I was sitting. It was absolutely stunning for a Korean beach. The beach was hot, and beautiful, but the sand was a bit too be desired.

Koreans aren't normally the swimming type and when they do swim it's usually with clothes on. Well, this one little boy was absolutely adorable playing with his sister on the beach in his white underpants.

We spent most of the afternoon on Saturday enjoying the beach and the insanely hot weather. Saturday night we cooked up our own food on the BBQ the pension provided us with, drank (not me, just so were clear), told stories, listened to music and just had fun doing nothing.

Julian was the chef for the evening, so he BBQ us some hot dogs and bread that were tasty. I'm not a huge fan of hot dogs, but it's better than starving to death. This was the crew I spent my 5 day long Chuseok weekend with. We were one great big happy family. From Left: Mary Anne, Nick, Carolina, Julian, Damien, Alyssa (she wasn't part of our crew), Brandi, Joanne, Ross, and Tracy.

Saturday night once we headed down to the beach for some night time fun. We bought some fireworks, met some other foreigners and hung out. Tracy and I turned in early again because we just wanted to be rested and we weren't drinking. The others stayed on the beach a while and then most of them came back to the pension shortly after we did.

Sunday we all slept in because most of the hungover people needed the rest. Once we finallt got motivated we ate, chilled and then headed back to the beach for some more sun, swimming and relaxation. However, the sun was shining as warmly on Sunday and it was very windy, so it made for a rather cool day on the beach.

Some of the crew going for a swim. The colors of the water was beautiful. I noticed a sailboat go sailing by while chilling on the beach, so I took a picture just for my mom. Cheesy? I know, but she does love sailboats.

Once we finished spending the day at the beach we went to eat dinner, shower and hang out for a while at the pension. That night we headed out into the night again and ended up on the beach for some more late night fun.

Carolina and I at the pension.Mary Anne and I heading down to the beach together. Oh! How much fun sparklers can be, but add a beach at night and they are ten times better. Carolina, Joanne, Mary Anne and I are proving that in this picture.

Sunday was the last night we spent together because five of the crew members had to head home Monday morning, so they could be back to teach on Tuesday morning...Suckers!