|
Koreans traditionally eat new rice on
Chusok (Chuseok),
which is more or less equivalent to America's Thanksgiving. In 2000, the rice harvest was running late
because of dry conditions. But there's no arguing with tradition, so at least some of the rice crop had to
be harvested early. It could be that the farmer took just enough rice from this field for his own family's celebrations. Or maybe he just hadn't finished the harvest when Margaret shot this photo. This field is right across the road from the KEPCO (Korean Electric Power Company) office where Margaret tutored. Kangnung (Gangneung) has very little by way of suburbs. It's not unusual to see crops growing within sight of city buildings. That's one of the things we like about Kangnung (Gangneung) and Korea in general. The view from this angle looks a little different today, over a decade later. Out beyond these fields, you can now see ... businesses. It was supposed to be farmland forever, but after Margaret left, a developer built a big shopping center. Apparently Korean won in sufficient quantity speak at least as loudly as US dollars.
|