For immigrants, Chuseok is time to share friendship

Immigrant wives make songpyeon, half-moon-shaped rice cakes eaten on Chuseok, during a charity event in Busan, Wednesday. They shared the food with low-income families and North Korean defectors. / Yonhap

By Kim Se-jeong

Iresha Perera, 37, will have a Chuseok party the day after the holiday, together with members of “Talk to Me,” a support group for immigrant wives she founded.

Women like her who settled in Korea after marriage and Korean members of the group will bring their Chuseok dishes and authentic dishes from Vietnam, the Philippines and Sri Lanka for a small feast.

Born in Sri Lanka, she came to Korea in 2002, and has been married now for 10 years.

“Holidays are when you are reminded of your own home. If you are new, in particular, it can be a hard time,” Perera told The Korea Times as to why she is organizing the dinner.

She is one of almost 300,000 people who have settled in Korea after marriage. A majority of them, mostly women, come from China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan.

The rising number of new marriage immigrants has pushed the government to open support centers for multiracial families nationwide to help them. Many NGOs were also created to help them.

During the Chuseok holiday, the support centers organize events such as making rice cakes, playing traditional Korean games or trying on hanbok, traditional Korean clothes.

Perera misses her family at home.

But, the nostalgic moment isn’t so hard to deal with for her, because she found ways to stay connected to her home town, Kaluthra.

Her group “Talk to Me” founded a school there. Since 2011, 557 students have enrolled in the school, receiving free education supported by individual donors in Korea. The work enables her to her visit hometown once a year. In July this year, she spent one month in Sri Lanka with 16 volunteers from Korea.

“This is one way I can give hope to people. And I am doing this by not just giving them fish, but teaching them how to fish. I feel good about what I am doing,” she said.

She has her own family that she celebrates the holiday with. Her family is small, she said, and the holiday celebration is becoming smaller and simpler.

This view is shared by Usswarya Chasamah, 33, from Indonesia,

“Oh, it’s much simpler and convenient now,” Chasamah said, who arrived in Korea 10 years ago.

During the first several years, she had to cook for more than 20 people at each holiday, all by herself.

“In Indonesia, everybody helps everybody. But I was all by myself as there were only few women in the family.”

She later realized it was part of Korean culture.

But, since her family moved to Seoul three years ago, she only has to feed six people. Her in-laws fly to Seoul from Gwangju, South Jeolla Province to celebrate Chuseok.

Like Perera, Chasamah also runs an organization with other married immigrants, and that is an important part of her life. Members are from more than 20 countries, and they sing and dance together. They are sometimes invited to appear on TV shows.

“I want to go home to visit, but it is not so easy. But, at least I have my own family to share things with, and these activities have helped me a lot.”