Tuesday was the 2nd anniversary of the death of MyeongHee’s father. That requires an ancestor service to be held, so on Monday evening we went to Pohang after work. We didn’t get there until 10:15pm or so and they were ready to start the service as soon as we got there. A traditional ancestor service begins right at the stroke of midnight, but people having far-flung careers and what not, they started around 10:45. Modern Korea has forced at least that part of this otherwise ancient ritual to bend a little.

We arrived and immediately the women brought out enormous trays of food and placed them on the floor. From there they set them on polished wooden pedestals and put them on the ceremony table. All the while, I was hoping for a bite to eat since we’d had to drive rather than eat. Instead, I watched as the table filled with meat, fish, rice dishes, fruits and vegetables. This looked no different from the Chu Seok dinner table I saw back in September. Missing, though, were the big wax cakes from her mother’s 70th birthday. After the table was set, the brothers passed a little wine and incense over the table. They took turns and each twice bowed deeply. Then they rearranged the food, put the spoon into the rice and took out a spoonful or two. Then they turned out the lights, we all bowed our heads and we gave the ghost a minute or two to chow down on whatever he wanted before they turned the lights back on. I had to keep from snickering to myself that when they turned the lights on someone would have snarfed down a plate or two and claimed a miracle had occurred. Sort of a whole Benny Hinn cum Laugh In thing. Nope. Not a thing. Just my smirking into my collar. It seemed a little strange, but only because westerners don’t have such ceremonies.

Then the entire group took turns bowing deeply, beginning first with the brothers, then me, then the women. Since this is an ancestor service, MyeongHee’s mom, the widow, didn’t bow. She did, however take some of the rice wine and sprinkle it out ceremoniously onto the patio. That finished the ceremony and I thought we might be able to eat then. No such luck.

We had to first transfer all the food from the wooden pedestals to regular dishes. Some food never made it back to the table. A couple of grilled fish disappeared and most of the fruit didn’t survive either. Once everything was on regular plates, we could eat. By then it was close to midnight and older brother had to drive back to Masan, about 2.5 hours away. He waited patiently while his wife did the dishes. She’s got it bad. Tradition holds that the oldest brother is head of the family when the father dies. His wife is then in charge of all the family celebration preparations. She does a pile of cooking and cleaning when we all get together. Anyway, they left after midnight and I slept on the floor shortly thereafter.

The next morning we headed back to Ulsan. It had snowed overnight in Pohang and there was a one-inch layer in most places. It was melting as it hit the roads so driving wasn’t really a problem. It was a gorgeous drive back through the coastal mountains, filled with snow-coated trees like so many candy canes. The snow was actually really helpful. On Monday, we had another hwang sa, a yellow dust storm that blows in every spring from Mongolia. The snow washed it right out.