Next week is the Korean holiday of Chuseok, a time for family and food and eating songpyeong, which are traditional Korean rice cakes. My Korean friends keep telling me that the closest comparison they can think of for this holiday is American Thanksgiving, and though this comparison helps set the tone for holiday, I imagine it does not begin to encompass everything that Chuseok is. SO I decided to investigate just how similar the two holidays are!

Similarities and Differences between Chuseok and American Thanksgiving:

• Similarity: Both holidays are for giving thanks .
• Difference: During Chuseok, Koreans give thanks to their ancestors. During Thanksgiving, we say what we are thankful for in our lives, with the hope of also remembering the Native Americans who are the reason we survived in the new world.

• Similarity: We eat a lot of food
• Difference: During Chuseok, Koreans eat not only sogpyeong, which can be filled with sesame seeds, beans, red beans, or chestnuts, but also jeon (korean pancakes) and traditional liquor.  During Thanksgiving we eat turkey. And stuffing. And apple pie. And more turkey. And stuffing. And pumpkin pie.

• Similarity: Both holidays celebrate the harvest and having an abundance
• Difference: Chuseok celebrates the harvest with dance, like the traditional ganggangsullae performed by women dressed in hanbok, games, and wrestling (known as ssireum). Thanksgiving celebrates the harvest with American football. Followed by food.

• Similarity: Both holidays involve family
• Difference: During Chuseok, families gather for memorial services to honor their ancestors and traditionally visit family graves to pull weeds and show respect. During Thanksgiving we eat food surrounded by our families, and hope to catch up between quarters of the game.