Celebrating Chuseok Together: Making Songpyeon and Memories

Hello everyone! It’s Korean Language Village! You may know us as the Learnstay program, but that’s not all we do! As our goal is for everyone to build their own village in Korea, we run a language exchange meeting where foreign and Korean friends meet once a month to not only practice languages but also share their cultures, gain valuable experience, make friends, and create unforgettable memories together. Every month, we carefully decide on the theme of the meeting to make it more interesting and fun for everyone.

This warm September, the theme of the meeting decided itself. This year, September 24–26 was Chuseok was Chuseok (추석) — one of the most important traditional holidays in Korea. Chuseok is a mid-autumn harvest festival during which family members gather together at the home of the oldest family member, spend time together sharing food and interesting stories, playing games, and visiting the tombs of their ancestors to thank and pay their respects to them.

We decided to gather our international friends to help them learn more about what this festival means with the help of our Korean friends! Together, we learned what Chuseok means, why people celebrate it, and, of course, its traditions. The highlight of our meeting was giving everyone a chance to make Songpyeon (송편) — a traditional Korean rice cake dessert. We found out how to make it, what fillings to use, what shape to make them, and how hard it actually is!

At the beginning, the rice dough wasn’t actually helping us to learn this process, but with practice and a little bit of patience, we all figured out how to do it. It was so much fun to make them! We tried different fillings, and each filling required a different technique to make Songpyeon. Most of our friends decided that the most demanding one was sweet sesame (깨소) because every time someone tried to make a round-shaped Songpyeon with this filling, it was falling apart, hahaha.

One of the most creative parts for our friends was to decide what shape to make. So, as a result, we had lots of masterpieces! We had birds, flowers, pumpkins, crowns, and lots of other interesting shapes that could possibly exist in our minds!

As a result, we made a lot of beautiful and delicious Songpyeon, which we shared and enjoyed eating together! This meeting brought not only new knowledge but also new friends and unforgettable memories!

Thanks for staying with us!

What if moments like this one at Chuseok, where you experience Korean culture firsthand, could happen every single day? With our Learnstay program, you not only live with a Korean host family but also get to use the language you learn in class right away in everyday life! If you want to learn real Korean and experience everyday life in Korea beyond the classroom, our Learnstay is the perfect place to start!

Want to find out more about our Learnstay program? Feel free to contact us via Instagram DM or book a free consultation on our website!

Stay tuned and see you next time!