You wake up smashing your alarm clock and look up at the calendar. The date is colored red. It is Chuseok, finally. You expect something special to happen and walk out the door. Mom is preparing breakfast for you. While you are eating the hot bowl of rice and deliciously cooked fish, you hear a shocking announcement form you mom. “Did you pack your bag for your academy?” Something suddenly strike your mind you have 9 hours of academy for every single day of the Chuseok holiday. You walk gloomily back into your room, with your hope and dreams of holiday long gone. You stuff your books into your backpack, sling it on your shoulders, and trudge heavily out your front door towards the hells of academy.
On a scale from 1 to 10 in terms of happiness and excitement, I'd rate my Chuseok a 1. Maybe 2 or 3 for the excitingly difficult SAT practice tests I had to take. In fact, I believe most Korean high school students will have a similar rating for their Chuseok as mine. No students have their Chuseok. It is just an another day at an academy. I thought I was the extreme case because I have only about two weeks left until SAT. But on my way to the academy, I was astonished by the number of students crossing roads with backpacks. It was quite sad to see all the teenagers (including me) who can’t have a break from the vicious cycle of studying. It made me wonder what is the meaning of any holidays existing in our country. Is it ‘right’ for students to go to full-day academies even national holidays?
Well, it is a choice of the students and their parents. But still, I think that this phenomenon is not helping. In my perspective, traditional holidays are there for a reason. I’m not saying that we should all pray to our ancestors like we did hundreds of years ago. Still, I think it would be more beneficial to stop the hard work for a few days and spend some free time. Since a long time ago, Chuseok has been a break time from all the hard work of agriculture. Then why can’t student have this break? Students are not problem-solving robots. Chuseok would be a good point to gain energy and start the race again (at least, for me). In any forms, rest is comfortable.
The causes are understandable. Everyday you rest, you feel you have fell behind the competition to university. But still, Chuseok is Chuseok. Maybe a decent day with your dear family, or at least a pleasant day on a sofa watching television would not be so detrimental for you. Next year, I will do anything to do nothing on my Chuseok holidays (sounds pretty ironic) and I wish everybody can do the same.
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