My ‘to do’ list for Chuseok

I’m writing this on the Thursday afternoon before the second biggest holiday in Korea: Chuseok.

Nobody’s getting much work done as everyone’s already spaced out for the long holiday ahead. As you’ve probably gathered by now, This is the big traveling holiday when Koreans go to their home towns. Lately there’s been a growing trend for families to take vacations abroad for Chuseok, meaning even international travel is booked solid several months in advance.

All of this means that we’re looking at the single best week of the year to be a resident of Seoul. It’s peaceful, the weather is usually nice, and there is enough stuff going on to keep you from getting too bored.

I started drafting this post with the intention of gathering information on all of the stuff going on during Chuseok. Well…. that didn’t so much happen since I’ve been busy tweaking the way our calendar displays events, and if I waited much longer to make this post it would be useless.

Therefore, I decided to simply list the things that I look forward to doing this Chuseok. Feel free to add your own plans, especially if you plan on going with a group to a particular bar where people will be hanging out.

Going to Black Angus. I’m thinking probably Monday for lunch. The steak sandwich there is killer. No, literally, it will kill you from all the cheese and white flour. I don’t indulge at Black Angus very often specifically because of the steak sandwich. Sure, I could eat a nice steak and steamed veggies, etc, but every time I go there that steak sandwich just looks up at me from the menu like a sick puppy. How could I not choose it?

Reading. One thing I miss about teaching is having the down time to read books. These days the only reading I get done is on the bus or subway (which has also been keeping me from continuing to study Korean), so over Chuseok I plan to put in some quality time at my favorite coffee shops sipping espresso and reading. I need to hurry and finish up Uncommon Grounds so that I can read History of the World in 6 Glasses and the 44 Laws of Power. I’ve got the book I am Legend on the way, but it doesn’t look like it’ll arrive for a couple more week.

Improving Seoul Steves. Somewhat related to the last one, I will also be working on stuff for Seoul Steves. This means cleaning up html stuff, perhaps finding a new format/template, and following up on projects that I’ve wanted to do but have fallen by the wayside. I’ve been itching to buy a new computer and if I end up doing that, I will put that under the “Improving the website” category, hehe. Hopefully a lot of this work can also be done at coffee shops.

Running. Not going to work for a long stretch of time also means not making it to my gym for a long time. I’d like to make up for it by doing some interval training at the track near my house, or maybe just running up and down the hill in front of it.

Socializing. For a lot of expats, Chuseok is the ideal time to meet up with friends for barbecues, house parties, etc. I don’t have any definite plans, but I’m betting something comes together at the last minute.

Dropping by Itaewon. Some time during the long weekend I plan to make a leisurely visit to Itaewon for some Indian food and to drop by the International market there. It’s time to stock up on oatmeal. Every morning I have a bowl of oatmeal with a scoop of strawberry whey protein and a small scoop of Beneful fiber added. It’s fast and healthy (unlike my diet the rest of the day). Oh yeah, and I always add Costco frozen blueberries too, which brings us to-

Attending the SeoulSteves.com 5-on-5 Flag Football meeting at Big Rock Brewery in Gangnam. If I wake up early Sunday morning you may just see me there for the breakfast buffet as well.

Drinking some good wine. I’m currently taking medicine for an ear infection and can’t touch any of the quality bottles I’ve collected over the past few months attending all these various tastings. I’m off the meds as of tomorrow afternoon.

Stocking up on stuff at Costco. Costco will be open every day except for Tuesday. Tuesday is technically Chuseok-Day, so Costco, and most other shopping centers will still be open on Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, however, Seoul will be like a ghost town.

Chuseok Package deal at the JW Marriott hotel. I think that it probably is not too late to book a Chuseok package at one of the big hotels. It usually includes dinner, breakfast, and some kind of spa privileges. I know that the Hyatt hotel by Namsan is offering a competing package, but I heard from a reliable source that the rooms at the Marriott are much nicer and the gym and spa are also nicer, even though the Marriott package only includes a 30 minute foot massage for one person while the Hyatt is offering a 60 minute full-body Shiatsu. Also the Marriott package comes with two free movie tickets, and has lots of shopping, movie theater, etc, attached to the hotel. Plus, you can check in at 2pm and don’t have to leave until 2pm the next day.

The only thing to watch out for on the Chuseok packages are what Koreans call “ten-ten” That is, ten percent tax plus ten percent service charge. The service charge is there so that you don’t tip, even though the actual maids, bartenders, etc, don’t see a dime of it. This means that the 240,000W Marriott Chuseok package ACTUALLY costs about 280,000W. Oh, and I heard that the 70,000W credit for dinner at the cafe really isn’t enough to cover the whole bill, which will run over 100,000W.

Still, I’m looking forward to having a nice time with my S.O. I’ll let her have the foot massage while I’m swimming or working out at the health club.

Travelling around Korea. Okay, remember that thing I just said about not travelling? Well, there is an exception: The weekend after Chuseok should be decent for traveling around Korea, and many expats in Korea will have the full week off. It is looking quite likely that I’ll be spending at least a couple days in Mokpo.

It could also be worth seeing if the USO Canteen is open on Monday or Wednesday, since it’s impossible for me to go during the week.

As you can see, R&R is high on my agenda. I need to get some quality time in with my Xbox 360 and the pile of DVDs I’ve purchased over the past couple months but never got around to watching. If I don’t spend too much money, buying a suit might make it onto the agenda in the middle of the week as well. Honestly, I’ll be surprised if I actually get to even half of this list, but that’ll be fine by me because slacking off is going to be what this mini-vacation is all about.

How about you? What are your plans for Chuseok?