Recently, I was kindly invited to take part in a Korean family Kimchang ceremony. For those of you unsure, this procedure involves the preparing of kimchi for the next year. Usually it involves Chinese cabbage, being washed, prepared, and mixed with various spices before being stored, ready to be eaten at a later date. Before being involved in this process, I was unaware how important it was to Koreans and to what extent it played a large part in their lives. I arrived at Jeehee's grandparents home on the saturday evening. Not only was it my first time to partake in such a festival but it was also my first time to spend the night in a Korean family home. I was surprised to have such a warm greeting from Jeehee's grandmother, however later on, I realised I shouldn't have expected anything less. The warmth and importance of being involved in family activities in Korea, is very overwhelming. After being invited inside, and cordially taking off my shoes and sitting on the floor with the whole family (grandparents, father, brother..) I was invited along with Annie, (my Hong Kong companion) to kneel on the floor and bow in front of both elders. It was new and a little embarassing for myself, however I soon realised that everybody took this very seriously and it was nothing to be ashamed about at all. After enjoying a rather traditional evening watching korean dramas and English premier league football ( hehehehe :p) I retired to my room to be greeted by a nice warm floor!!!
I was up very early in the morning to prepare to make the Kimchi, as early as 6 I heard uncles and aunties already preparing for the day's hard work ahead. As soon as Annie and I had been treated to a quick breakfast, (the usual rice, vegetables and a quick drink), we were out into the yard to prepare the kimchi.Yet, first things were first I slipped into my professional Zipel apron (courtesy of Samsung ;) ) , my ajumma style gloves and got ready to dive in.
The way the system worked, Jeehee informed me was very heirarchical. In her family especially only married couples and elders were able to involve themselves in the mixing of the spices with the cabbage...the chore of cutting the roots away from the cabbage was left to the 'youngsters'. Jeehee, her brother, Annie and myself. Although this may seem a little unfair, the system was still very exciting, I eagerly watched the ajummas work away consistently, almost effortlessly perched perusing the cabbage and making the mixing look like an exotic art!!!! However, it took myself a lot longer to make the cabbage chopping look like perfection!!!!
After a long hard morning of working, we finally finished, preparing over 200 cabbages. We then had to continue packaging all of the kimchi into freezer boxes to be packed into the specialized kimchi refrigerators, both for Jeehee's grandparents, her own close family and her uncle...yet, the best was yet to come.
A long hard day well spent, we quickly retreated to the dining table to enjoy a sumptuous meal. I don't know whether it was the hard work, but the food tasted truly delicious....I am sure if Jeehee's cooking is anything like her families she will make a great housewife someday!!! :P hehehe
I fondly look upon that time at the house as being a very great experience, enabling me to get a lot closer to Korean culture, I even had a short calligraphy session!!!!
