How wonderful it is to see your relatives for the first time in ages. My Grams, Mum's Mum, and I hadn't seen each other in four years, and this was our first reunion since my arrival in Seoul a little more than a month ago. She isn't one for showing a lot of emotions, unlike my other gran, who is very much all for it. Makes for an interesting contrast of grandmotherly loves.

My visit to grams in Yeosu, maybe a two-hour trip from Seoul, coincided with one of the biggest holidays in Korea, Chuseok, equivalent to American Thanksgiving. Or, I guess, Christmas for my New Zealand. It's a day of family gatherings, of preparing food and eating them together, of paying our respects to the deceased, of lots of talking and drinking, in high spirits.

Yeosu, where Grams lives, is kind of the family turf of her husband's family. That is, my Granddad Kim, whom I never got to meet since he passed away when Mum was only twenty. It was wonderfully weird to be greeted by all these relatives, huge numbers of elderly and middle aged men who all welcomed me just because I am part of the family by blood, even though we were otherwise perfect strangers. What a strong link blood makes! I got to witness and experience the ceremony where we remember each of the deads, going back the generations. Then we ate in their memories.

The rest of the time was spent in Grams' house. She lives alone in a modern white house with a huge wooden deck and a huge empty front yard. Around her place, though, are the various crops of veges that she tends to. Pumpkins, cabbages, chilli, aubergines, beans... She farms small batches of them then gives them out to her children when they come to visit. Grams has always been the provider of her brood.

This is one of the dogs of my Mum's cousin... my cousin once removed?! I always get confused with relative terms... I just call him uncle, haha.
He has three dogs at the moment. This one had recently given birth to eight puppies. All given away except for one.
This one. How cute is she?!!! Only a month and a half old, she is the cutest ever. Friendly and not too shy. The wee girly holding the puppy is my cousin once removed's granddaughter. What does that make her to me? Erm.. let's just say she's my niece. She's eight years old, and just as cute as the pup.
Pup begging for Mummy's milk. Mummy, give me your tits! Haha. As little dependants we are constantly seeking for attentions from our parents, and especially our mothers. They cook for us when we are hungry, clean for us be it ourself or the house we live in, hold us when we are sad, guide us when we are lost, punish us when we have done wrong. As adolescents we may rebel to detach ourselves from them. However, as more independent adults, there are still moments when we want to go back and be held, be fed, and even be told off, sometimes.
Grams' place is wonderful. It's quiet, secluded, and has clean air, unlike the polluted air of the capital city. All weekend I was enjoying the sun and the view of the green mountain and fields from the front porch of her house. This morning I was lounging on the deck, monkeying around, then when I was getting off the ledge, somehow got these splinters slid right into my palm and fingers. Ouch! I ran to Grams... though I soon decided it was better for me take them out myself, after all, because the way she was trying to do was way too painful... Eek. All good. All out now.

I always tear up whenever it's time to leave and Grams and the white house gets smaller and smaller through the back window as my pick up drives out of her driveway. The only thing about her place is that it's too far for me to visit whenever. If I don't tag along with uncle when he drives in, I'll have to take the hour long metro, take a bus from the station, then possibly a taxi from the bus stop (depends on the day, I think). Who knows when I will get to see her again? Ah, soon enough, soon enough, when I will be glad to be back in my grandmother's nest for another goodness' rest and feed.

So 'twas my Chuseok. Now back to my other gran back in town. I have a town gran and a country gran. Aren't I lucky to have two grandmothers who love me so much? :)