Today my co-teacher told me that the father of a dear woman in the office died yesterday, and that she would not be in school for the next week. All schools in Korea provide seven days off for the death of a family member. I learned several fascinating things from this discussion.
1. In older times, the first-born son had to guard his parents' burial tomb FOR THREE YEARS after their death. He would set up a small cabin on the grounds and stand guard. Whoa.
2. There are a fair, and I would say equal, number of Christians and Buddhists in Korea today. Funerals are often moments of serious contention when they occur in families containing both religions. Now this would only be the case if a Buddhist and a Christian married, which happens often. My co-teacher told me that her family is this way. She said there was major upheaval in the family about the way in which her grandfather would be buried. To this day, she claims, the rift is still a source of major resentment.
3. All Korean women must wear white Hanbok to funerals. Hanbok are the "traditional" dress-like outfits worn by all Korean women to special events. I have seen them quite often outside of wedding halls, but I never considered how they might come into play for a funeral. They are also usually multi-colored, but apparently the funeral Hanbok must be all white. Thus, Korean women must buy a specific "funeral" Hanbok. In keeping with the true Korean way of things, men only have to wear a dark, Western-style suit.
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